Chapter 5

 

WY Quality Counts Continuing Education Grants

 

Section 1. Authority. The Department of Workforce Services (DWS) is authorized under the DWS Act W.S. § 9-2-2601(c), W.S. § 9-2-2602(b)(vi), W.S. § 14-4-204, and the Wyoming Administrative Procedures Act, W.S. §16-3-101 et seq. to promulgate rules and regulations to be used by the DWS in the discharge of its functions.

 

Section 2. Purpose. The WY Quality Counts Educational Development Program provides funding for training of owners and staff of child care facilities through the use of Continuing Education Grants to upgrade the skills of child care workers to enhance the quality of child care provided by the industry.

 

Section 3. Eligible Training. 

 

(a) Eligible training for Continuing Education Grants must adhere to the following requirements:

 

    (i) Be training that is not normally provided by the child care facility;

 

    (ii) Upgrade a participant's current skill level;

 

    (iii) Have a direct relationship to the participant's occupation;

 

    (iv) Provide a skill upgrade that enables the child care facility to remain competitive in the industry;

 

    (v) Be completed in a maximum of three (3) months; and

 

    (vi) Enhance the quality of the child care provided by the child care facility in at least one of the following program competencies:

 

      (A) Child Development and Learning in Context;

 

      (B) Family-Teacher Partnerships and Community Connections;

 

      (C) Child Observation, Documentation, and Assessment;

 

      (D) Developmentally, Culturally, and Linguistically Appropriate Teaching Practices;

 

      (E) Knowledge, Application, and Integration of Academic Content in the Early Childhood Curriculum; or

 

      (F) Professionalism as an Early Childhood Educator.

 

Section 4.  Allowable Costs and Payment Process.

 

(a) Grant funds shall only be used for costs associated with the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

      (ii) Travel costs include transportation, lodging and meals directly related to the training, which shall not exceed the rates provided for state employees in rules and regulations of the State Auditor;

 

      (iii) Instructor's fees and travel costs where the instructor is brought in for the training by the child care facility and is not an employee of the child care facility; and

 

      (iv) Fees for continuing education units and certifications that may be obtained during training.

 

(b) Grant funds shall not be used for the following:

  

(i) Participant wages and fringe benefits;

 

   (ii) The child care facility's administration costs which include, but are not limited to, bookkeeping, reporting and record keeping;

 

   (iii) The child care facility's cost of preparing a Continuing Education Grant application;

 

   (iv) Purchased, rented or leased equipment;

 

   (v) Instructor's fees and travel costs where the instructor is an employee of the child care facility;

 

   (vi) Assessments, testing and certification exams that are not included in the training;

 

   (vii) Capital construction of any kind; or

 

 (viii) Membership fees.

 

 

(c) The child care facility approved for a Continuing Education Grant shall be required to pay ten percent (10%) of approved allowable training costs. The remaining ninety percent (90%) of approved allowable training costs shall be the total grant award.

 

(d) Grant funds shall be paid directly to the child care facility.

 

Section 5.  Applicant Eligibility. 

 

(a) An eligible applicant shall be:

 

(i) An owner or staff member working for a minimum of fifteen (15) hours per week in a child care facility as defined in W.S. § 14-4-101(a)(vi)(D) or (K);

 

(ii) In good standing with the WY Quality Counts Educational Development Program; and

 

(iii) The child care facility is in good standing with the WDTF program.

 

 (A)  A child care facility who is enrolled in the WY Quality Counts Educational Development Program shall not be concurrently enrolled in a DWS WDTF training program for the same training.

 

Section 6.  Application Process. 

 

(a) Applicants shall complete and submit an official DWS Training Grant Application form.

 

(i) Applications shall be submitted at least forty-five (45) days prior and not more than one hundred and ten (110) days prior to the scheduled start date of the scheduled training.

 

(ii) Applicants shall include proof of the training's compliance with Section 3. Eligible Training.

 

Section 7. Ongoing Child Care Facility Requirements. 

 

(a) Once an application has been approved by the WY Quality Counts program manager, the child care facility shall enter into a written agreement as set forth by DWS for each grant request.

 

(b) The child care provider shall submit final report documentation within forty-five (45) days after completion of the mandatory employment period that provides documentation of the following for each participant:

 

(i) Satisfactory completion of training;

 

(ii) Completion of a DWS-recognized training evaluation survey; and

 

(iii) Completion of the mandatory employment period reporting, and receipt for payment of training expenses, including travel.

 

Section 8. Ongoing Participant Requirements. 

 

(a) Once an application has been approved by the WY Quality Counts program manager, the participant shall adhere to the following requirements of the grant:

 

(i) Enter into a written agreement as set forth by DWS;

 

(ii) Sign an agreement to the repayment and mandatory employment requirements in accordance with Section 10. Participant Termination, Repayment and Mandatory Employment Requirements; and

 

(iii) Remain in good standing with both the approved training program and the WY Quality Counts Educational Development Program.

 

Section 9. Child Care Facility Repayment Requirements.

 

(a) Failure of a child care facility to submit final report documentation in accordance with Section 7. Ongoing Child Care Facility Requirements, shall result in the requirement to repay to DWS all funds that were paid to the child care facility, to include costs incurred in the collection of fees.

 

(b) The repayment shall be made, or a repayment agreement shall be signed, within thirty (30) days of the date the notice of termination was sent from the WY Quality Counts program manager to the child care facility.

 

(i) Failure to repay Training Grant funds as requested shall result in the referral of the case to a collection agency for appropriate legal action and placement on the list of child care facilities that are not in good standing with the WY Quality Counts Educational Development Program.

 

(A) The WY Quality Counts program manager shall send the notice of termination via electronic copy to the child care facility's email address on file and via physical copy to its mailing address provided on the application.

 

 (c) When the grant funds have been paid to the child care facility by DWS and the child care facility has not made payment to the training provider, or the child care facility has

made payment to the training provider but the payment is refundable, the child care

facility shall:

(i) Notify DWS, in writing, as soon as possible of a participant's withdrawal  or absence from the training event; and

 

(ii)  Repay to DWS the grant funds associated with the participant(s) who did not attend the training event.

 

(d) When the grant funds have been paid to the child care facility by DWS and the child care facility has made a nonrefundable payment to the training provider, the child care

facility shall:

 

(i) Notify DWS in writing, along with the verification that the non-refundable

payment was made;

 

(ii) Notify DWS as soon as possible of the participant's withdrawal or absence

from the training event; and

 

(iii) Repay to DWS the grant funds associated with the participant(s) who did not attend the training event except for the nonrefundable training payment.

 

(e) When the grant funds have been paid to the child care facility by DWS and the child care facility, for any reason, withdraws or cannot participant in the approved training

event, or fails to perform the duties of the child care facility as described in the written agreement with DWS, the child care facility shall:

 

  (i)  Notify DWS in writing, as soon as possible of the cancelation from the training event; and

 

  (ii) Repay all of the grant funds for the training event to DWS. In the case where the child care facility has paid the training provider and payment is nonrefundable, repayment to DWS shall be made for all grant funds that were paid, to include any costs or fees incurred in collection.

 

Section 10.  Participant Termination, Repayment and Mandatory Employment Requirements. 

 

(a)  The participant shall be terminated from the training program if the participant fails to:

 

(i) Complete the approved training;

 

(ii) Remain in good standing with the training program and the WY Quality Counts Educational Development Program;

 

(iii) Submit a training survey;

 

(iv) Provide verification documents on time to the child care facility; or

 

(v) Meet the mandatory employment requirements.

 

(b) Any participant who is terminated from the training program is required to repay the portion of funds that were paid to the child care facility on their behalf to the DWS, to include costs incurred in the collection, unless a Waiver of Repayment has been approved by the WY Quality Counts program manager.

 

(i) A Waiver of Repayment may be approved if the participant submits a request, in writing, to the WY Quality Counts program manager that outlines one of the following reasons the participant was unable to adhere to the requirements:

 

(A) Experienced a major medical occurrence;

 

(B) Activated for military service or has a spouse activated for or relocated in military service;

 

(C) Deceased, in which case a representative for the scholarship participant may submit the written request; or

 

(D) Encounters an emergency or hardship, involving themselves or an immediate family member that reasonably precludes the ability to complete the approved coursework.             

 

(c) Repayments due to DWS shall be made, or a repayment agreement shall be signed, within thirty (30) days of the date the notice of termination was sent from the WY Quality Counts program manager to the participant.

 

 (i) The WY Quality Counts program manager shall send the notice of termination via electronic copy to the participant's email address on file, if available, and via physical copy to the participant's mailing address provided on the application.

 

 (d) If the participant fails to repay training funds or sign a repayment agreement within the thirty (30) days of the date the notice of termination was sent, the WY Quality Counts program manager shall refer the case to a collection agency for appropriate legal action and place the individual on the list for individuals that are not in good standing with the WY Quality Counts Educational Development Program.

 

(e)  The participant shall agree to work for or contract with a child care facility for a mandatory employment period of one hundred (100) hours if the cost of the training is five hundred dollars ($500) or less and shall be completed within a six (6) month period.

 

(f) The participant shall agree to work for or contract with a child care facility for a mandatory employment period of two hundred fifty (250) hours if the cost of the training is more than five hundred dollars ($500) and shall be completed within a nine (9) month period.

 

(i) The mandatory employment period shall begin:

 

(A) The month immediately after the training has ended; or

 

      (B) If the child care facility is closed during the summer, the first day the child care facility reopens in the fall.

 

(g) If the participant is laid off due to lack of work, the grant participant shall obtain employment with another child care facility and complete any remaining mandatory employment period hours.

 

(h) In the event that the child care facility closes, the participant shall obtain employment with another child care facility and complete any remaining mandatory employment period hours.

 

Section 11. Grant Program Limitations. 

 

(a)  The child care facility shall not substitute funds normally provided for training or funds obtained from another source with Continuing Education Grant Funds.

 

(b) The grant funding limit per participant shall be one thousand three hundred dollars ($1,300.00) per state fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).