|
Keystone Stars
What is Keystone Stars?
Keystone Stars is a voluntary quality improvement program
funded through the State of Pennsylvnia Department of
Public Welfare that recognizes child care providers
who exceed state health and safety licensing requirements.
Pennsylvania providers can be designated as Star One,
Star Two, Star Three, or Star Four based on achieving
performance standards in three areas (Staff Education,
the Learning Environment, and Administration) that have
been identified as making a difference in the quality
of child care.
Group Day Care Homes and Child
Care Centers who meet the following participation criteria
may apply:
- A provider must have a regular certificate of compliance
for one year prior to date of application and
- Have zero or one verified complaints for one year
prior to date of application
Family Day Care Homes who meet
the following participation criteria may apply:
- Owner/operator has a GED/high school diploma.
- Family Day Care Home (FDCH) has been operating
with the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) Certificate
of Registration for one full year.
- Have zero or one complaint verified by DPW in the
past year. A verified complaint is a complaint alleging
one or more regulatory violations that have been confirmed
by DPW. A verified complaint results in DPW's citation
of the non-compliance.
- Owner/operator has 12 hours of documented training
in two years prior to the date that the application
is signed, regardless of your date of registration.
- Two of these 12 training hours have been in the
areas of health and safety (not including First Aid).
Merit Awards are available
to centers who have met the performance standards for
a given star. For award dollar amounts,
click here.
Education and Retention Awards
are part of the Keystone Stars resource system for
child care providers. These funds will assist providers
to establish a stable work force as they work toward
higher levels of quality. The Education and Retention
awards supply financial awards to eligible staff employed
by the provider in order to reduce turnover and improve
the education of early childhood professionals. To be
eligible a site must:
- Have at least a Star Two designation on the date
of the Education and Retention Award application
- Serve subsidy children
- Be located in a school district with a minimum of
35% of total enrollment below the poverty level, or
with an aid ratio of greater than 0.6.
- Be responsible for any employer based costs in the
distribution of awards
For additional information
and/or to request an application for the Keystone Stars
Program please contact Child Care Resource Developers
(CCRD):
1500 South Columbus Blvd.
2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Phone: 215-271-1267
Fax: 215-271-1607
|
