Since the issuance of the Disaster Proclamation, some child care facilities’ certificates of compliance expired during the temporary closure. The Department’s intent is to support child care facility efforts to reopen to the greatest extent possible, and to continue to support their efforts to provide a safe and healthy environment for the children they serve.

Any child care facility that has temporarily closed due to COVID-19, plans to reopen, and has a certificate of compliance that is expired as of Nov. 30, 2020, or thereafter, will be considered permanently closed unless they contact the regional office to communicate the facility’s plan to reopen and follow the protocols outlined below. The facility must contact the regional office before Dec. 11, 2020, or within 10 days prior to the expiration of the certificate of compliance, whichever is later.

The protocols below address different circumstances that may apply to child care providers and steps providers must take to reopen a facility that is temporarily or permanently closed and plan to reopen due to COVID-19.

1. PROTOCOL #1: The facility will reopen before the certificate of compliance expires, and the facility has been closed for no more than six months due to COVID-19:

A child care facility that is temporarily closed for no more than six months and plans to reopen within the effective period of its certificate of compliance (i.e., the certificate of compliance has not expired) must complete the following steps prior to reopening:

• • • The legal entity/operator must notify the regional office two weeks prior to the date they plan to reopen the facility.

2. PROTOCOL #2: The facility will reopen before the certificate of compliance expires, and the facility has been closed for more than six months due to COVID-19:

A child care facility that temporarily closed for more than six months and plans to reopen within the effective period of its certificate of compliance (i.e., the certificate of compliance has not expired) must complete the following steps prior to reopening:

• • • The legal entity/operator must notify the regional office two weeks prior to the date they plan to reopen the facility.
    • The legal entity/operator must also review and sign the Notification of Reopening Attestation statement (see Appendix A-1) and return it to the regional office prior to reopening the child care facility.
    • These steps are the steps that are to be completed if the facility plans to reopen before the end of the Disaster Proclamation or before March 19, 2021 (whichever is later).
    • The legal entity/operator should contact their regional office for further guidance if they plan to reopen after the end of the Disaster Proclamation or March 19, 2021 (whichever is later), or after their certificate of compliance has expired.

3. PROTOCOL #3: The facility closed due to COVID-19 and will reopen after its certificate of compliance has expired (length of closure irrelevant):

A child care facility that temporarily closed and plans to reopen after its certificate of compliance has expired must complete the following steps prior to reopening:

• • • The legal entity/operator must notify the regional office by Dec. 11, 2020, or within 10 days after the expiration of the certificate of compliance (whichever is later) that they plan to reopen the facility.
    • The legal entity/operator must review and sign the Notification of Reopening Attestation statement (see Appendix A) and return it to the regional office.
    • The legal entity/operator must submit a renewal application to the regional office via email, postal service or Provider Self Service.
    • A certification representative will conduct a renewal inspection.1
      • • For school age programs in a school building, compliance with regulations at 55 Pa. Code § 3270.241(b), and § 3280.221(b), relating to requirements specific to school-age programs, will be assessed.
    • A provider may not begin operation until the Department has issued a renewed certificate of compliance.

4. PROTOCOL #4: The facility surrendered its certificate of compliance and plans to reopen:

A child care facility that surrendered its certificate of compliance due to COVID-19 must complete the initial application process for a certificate of compliance. The legal entity/operator should contact their OCDEL regional certification office to discuss the next steps in their reopening process.

The contact information for the appropriate regional office can be found here.