Pa Child Care and Daycare Information

[The information provided is believed to be accurate but not guaranteed. Please review information is up to date and correct.]

Child care and daycare centers can enroll or qualify for certain programs and accreditations. These programs and accreditations are designed to allow a provider to enroll in them by obtaining certain standards of child care or by attending training that focuses on making a safe place where children can learn, play, and grow.

Some of these associations have special interest for specific areas child care and daycare environment. These programs and accreditations provide education to centers to help them develop their criteria or train their staff to be better prepared.

Below are links to Pennsylvania child care and daycare programs and accreditations associations.

Keystone STARS
Keystone STARS is a quality improvement initiative for child care programs in PA. Programs can receive a STAR 1 – STAR 4 rating (STAR 4 being the highest).

To read the criteria for each STAR level to understand more about what each STAR means, visit the PA Keys website at http://www.pakeys.org/stars/CountTheStars.aspx.

Accreditation

NAEYC - National Association for the Education of Young Children
National After School Association
NAFCC - National Association for Family Child Care
NECPA - National Early Childhood Program Accreditation
T.E.A.C.H - T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA

You can use a flexible spending account to pay for child care or you can claim the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. If you paid someone to care for a child, spouse, or dependent, you may be able to reduce your tax by claiming the Child and Dependent Care Credit on your federal income tax return. See the links below for more detail on this credit.

http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq-kw39.html

http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq-kw72.html

Below you will find links about FSA (Flexible Spending Accounts).

http://www.growingfamilybenefits.com/dependent_day_care_fsa

http://www.fool.com/school/taxes/1998/taxes980528.htm?terms=child+care+FSA&vstest=search_042607_linkdefault&mrr=1.00

Licensing Agency Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Bureau of Child Day Care Office of Children, Youth and Families 1401 N. 7th Street, Bertolino Bldg., 4th Floor P.O. Box 2675 Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675 Phone: 717-787-8691 Fax: 717-787-1529 Hotline: 877-4-PA-KIDS (within state)	Child Care Subsidy Agency Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Bureau of Child Day Care Office of Children, Youth and Families 1401 N. 7th Street, Bertolino Bldg., 4th Floor P.O. Box 2675 Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675 Phone: 717-787-8691 Fax: 717-787-1529 Hotline: 877-4-PA-KIDS (within state)
Head Start - State Collaboration Office Pennsylvania Head Start - State Collaboration Office Center for Schools and Communities 1300 Market Street, Suite 12 Lemoyne, PA 17043 Phone: 717-763-1661 Fax: 717-763-2083	Child Care Food Program Agency Pennsylvania Department of Education Attn.: State Director, Division of Food and Nutrition 333 Market Street, 4th Floor Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333 Phone: 717-787-7698 Fax: 717-783-6566 Hotline: 800-331-0129
State Child Care Resource & Referral Contact Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Bureau of Child Day Care Office of Children, Youth & Families 1401 N. 7th Street, Bertolino Bldg., 4th Floor P.O. Box 2675 Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675 Phone: 717-787-8691 Fax: 717-787-1529	Office of Child Support Enforcement Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Bureau of Child Support Enforcement P.O. Box 8018 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8018 Phone: 717-783-5441 Fax: 717-772-4936 Hotline: 800-932-0211 (within state)