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Office of Early Childhood & Out-of-School Learning |
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Use Nimble to Share Open Jobs on Social Media
Indiana's early learning and out-of-school time providers have access to the Indiana Educator Job Board, a birth-to-grade-12 talent marketplace. You can post jobs, hire top talent, and streamline your hiring process through the Nimble Job Board.
Recently, a child care provider hired for five open roles — including four lead teachers. They even hired a candidate within seven days of posting the job. Nimble's social media sharing tool allowed them to easily share their roles on Facebook to increase visibility and attract more candidates.
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Receive Professional Development Support from INAEYC
The Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children (INAEYC) has several upcoming opportunities for child care providers:
Register for the 2025 IN Early Childhood Conference: Registration is open for the 2025 Indiana Early Childhood Conference, which will be held March 28-29 at the Indiana Convention Center. Register here today.
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Learn How the CCRR Network Supports Families
You have a local partner who's invested in the success of your program and the families you serve. Indiana's five regional Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) agencies are ready to support you and the families in your community. CCRR agencies provide two specific forms of support to families:
Referrals to child care and out-of-school time programs: If you have families on your waitlist, you can direct them to your CCRR agency to help them find child care until a spot opens in your program. If you have openings, CCRR agencies can also provide referrals. Be sure your information is up to date.
Support for other basic needs: CCRR agencies use the Family Resource Navigator to connect families to resources and services for basic needs. This includes transportation, housing, utility support, career training and jobs, and health and well-being supports.
If you have a family in need of assistance, please connect them to your local CCRR agency today.
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Stay Up to Date with Pay by Enrollment
The Excessive Absence Policy will soon change from 45 occasional absences to 40 in an enrollment year. This applies across all programs attended by children with vouchers in an enrollment year. Vouchers will be terminated when a child reaches 40 occasional absence days (or 20 consecutive absence days). Once terminated, the family must wait 90 days to reapply that child for the waiting list. Please remind families about the importance of consistent attendance and how it benefits children and programs.
Information on 1099s for 2024 Taxes
If your child care program accepts Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) or On My Way Pre-K (OMWPK) vouchers, you will receive two 1099s for 2024 taxes if you worked the entire year. This is because Indiana transitioned payment vendors in 2024. One 1099 will be from Conduent (previous vendor), and one will be from Tyler Technologies (current vendor). You must file both 1099s with your taxes. These 1099s will be mailed to providers by the end of January.
Back-up Attendance Requirements
You should keep a back-up attendance method in addition to what is submitted in the portal. This can be done through your Child Care Management System (CCMS), another electronic tracking system, or paper attendance sheets. Food program menus cannot be used as your back-up method.
These records must be recorded or signed by the parent and must match what is submitted in the portal. State auditors will start reaching out to providers soon to review your submissions and request your back-up attendance records. Make sure you are checking your submissions carefully and immediately reporting any errors or overpayments to the State.
Get Pay by Enrollment Help
Looking for more Pay by Enrollment support? The Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning (OECOSL) and SPARK Learning Lab are hosting a webinar session tonight (January 27). Join us from 6:30 to 8 p.m. ET. Register for the webinar.
For more Pay by Enrollment provider support, call the SPARK Help Desk at 1-800-299-1627. Families can get support by calling Indiana 211 or their local eligibility office.
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Practice Healthy Habits with Calm
It's never too late to begin healthy habits. Invest in yourself this year by using Calm's curated collection of resources to build habits that stick. Get started by redeeming your premium Calm app subscription today.
To access your subscription:
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Visit IndianaSpark.com/calm
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Click the 'Get Started Here!' button
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Complete the interest form
- Use the unique code on the confirmation page to redeem your subscription
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Follow the instructions on the next page to get started with Calm
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Attend Upcoming SPARK Learning Lab Trainings
Explore upcoming training opportunities through SPARK Learning Lab. See a full list of upcoming face-to-face training, live webinars, and live resources, plus read training descriptions and find registration instructions at IndianaSpark.com/training.
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Download the My SPARK Learning Lab App
Save time in your busy schedule by using the My SPARK Learning Lab mobile app. Access the best resources on the My SPARK Learning Lab app in minutes. Available for iPhone iOS and Android, this app is free to download and available in English and Spanish.
Just like the desktop version, the My SPARK Learning Lab mobile app offers early education and care programs the ability to:
- Complete the Program Growth Tool, a program-level assessment to help program leaders identify areas of growth
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Access SPARK's knowledge center, including tools, job aids, and resources
¡Accede a los mejores recursos en My SPARK Learning Lab y solo inicia sesión en tu cuenta de I-LEAD una vez con la aplicación móvil de My SPARK Learning Lab! Disponible para iPhone y Android, esta aplicación se puede descargar gratis y está disponible en Inglés y Español.
La aplicación My SPARK Learning Lab está aquí y lista para descargar. My SPARK Learning Lab ofrece a los programas de educación y cuidado temprano la capacidad de completar la Herramienta de Crecimiento del Programa, una evaluación a nivel del programa para ayudar a los líderes del programa a identificar áreas de crecimiento y acceso al centro de conocimiento de SPARK, que incluye herramientas, ayudas laborales y recursos.
Ahora puedes disfrutar de todos estos excelentes recursos directamente desde tu teléfono. Esta aplicación es gratuita y está disponible para IOS y Android. La aplicación también está disponible en inglés y español.
¿Tiene preguntas? Comunícate con el servicio de asistencia de SPARK al 1-800-299-1627, envíanos un correo electrónico a Help@IndianaSpark.com o visita la función "Chatear con un experto" en IndianaSpark.com.
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