Latest News

DISCLAIMER: This is one of many regular updates that ELCMC is providing. This posting exists to make previous updates more easily accessible, so some information provided may now be outdated.

6M-8.620

ELCMC Staff Directory 7.2020

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Our Early Learning World is BUZZZZZZZZing                 with TONS going on….please find below IMPORTANT UPDATES to help you navigate through all that is happening:

Regarding VPK –

• FY19-20 END CLASS RECONCILIATION: Your reconciliation reports and accompanying letters are uploaded to BLUEJEAN. Please review, sign and email the letter to finance@elc-marion.org  NO LATER THAN JULY 31, 2020. ß This will allow us to release your final VPK payment for FY 19-20!

• START DATES FOR VPK FALL 2020: At this time, we are not changing start dates for VPK UNLESS YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO. If you have chosen August 10, 2020 as your start date, you should keep this date unless you receive further instruction. We anticipate learning more about this topic tomorrow and will send a follow up email about VPK at that time.  If you are choosing to change your start date, please log into your VPK Application, update your calendar and submit it so our team can approve it.

• CONTRACT ORIENTATION: As you may recall from the Provider Webinar last week, we are NOT conducting a VPK Orientation this year as the contract has not changed. We originally had planned two sessions this week to cover the VPK contract, these are not occurring. We will continue to offer 1:1 technical assistance as needed for our new providers. We are planning to do a virtual open house in August for our providers to share up coming plans and programs ELCMC has to offer than can support you and the families we serve as a community.

• CONTRACT EXECUTION: As VPK Applications are being approved by our Quality Team, Scott Stevenson, Quality Initiatives Director is initiating your contract for VPK. This is an electronic signature as you have completed in the past. As Scott is initiating your contract, you will receive an automated email notification asking you to review and sign the contract.

IMPORTANT things to remember:

1. Ensure your legal business name (as listed on your W-9) is the name in the contract.
2. Ensure you write your title (Director, Owner, CEO, Etc.)  where it is asks for this information NOT your site name. 😊

• QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLANS: ELCMC will continue to work with our providers who have a plan in place to support you in successfully reaching your objectives outlined in the plan.

• VPK ASSESSMENT: As VPK Classrooms open back up this fall, please keep in mind that you will need to complete the VPK Assessment. Below is the link to Bright Beginnings where you will order your new kits and input your VPK Assessment information. Attached is F.A.C. Rule 6M-8.620 that outlines kit ordering information and deadlines for VPK Assessments. You will want to ensure you mark you calendars to have AP1 (Assessment Period 1) COMPLETED within the first 30 calendar days of VPK. Assessment results must be entered for each VPK child no later than 45 days calendar days of the first day of each VPK Class.

I know some of you have had some issue logging into bright beginnings – remember you do have to register for the current program year. Below is a screen shot of the log in page and links to Bright Beginnings and additional assessment info:

• Access the link for VPK Assessment information here: http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/vpk/vpk-providers/assessments-flkrs
• Access Bright Beginnings here: https://brightbeginningsfl.org/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fCoalitionSecondaryAdmin%2fDefault.aspx

Regarding COVID-19 –

• First Responders – program will be continued for new enrollments through July 31, 2020

• First Responder Bonuses – We will continue to pay bonuses for enrolled BG1-ESS children until you reach your $12,000 bonus – as funding is available.

• Parent Co-Payments – ELCMC will continue to pay parent co-pays through August 31, 2020

• Provider Attendance Payment based on Enrollment – ELCMC will continue to pay providers based on your current enrollment for SR and for VPK (as applicable) through August 31, 2020.
  • This means you follow the same attendance completion instructions as you have been doing since April 2020. We will send these instructions out with our meeting agenda for next weeks Provider Webinar.

• IMPORTANT HAND SANITIZER INFORMATION Issued by the Office of Child Care Administration for Children and Families: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recent urgent warning to consumers and health care providers about hand sanitizer products that are labeled as containing ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but that have tested positive for methanol contamination. Methanol (i.e., methyl alcohol or wood alcohol) is a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested and can be life-threatening when ingested. As per the FDA news update hyperlinked below, “Methanol is not an acceptable active ingredient for hand sanitizers and must not be used due to its toxic effects. FDA’s investigation of methanol in certain hand sanitizers is ongoing. The agency will provide additional information as it becomes available.”

FDA updated the original list of more than 24 hand sanitizer products to avoid, now listing 75 such products to avoid on this FDA webpage; those products can be viewed either by clicking on the “Methanol Contaminated Products List” button at the top of the webpage or by scrolling

down to the bottom of the page and then by clicking on any or all eight pages listing the 75 hand sanitizer products.

        See the entire article here: FDA Updates on Hand Sanitizers with Methanol

• Excellent Resources for COVID-19 Updates:
  • Department of Health – Marion County – COVID-19 Call Center Available 24/7: 1-866-779-6121or email COVID-19@flhealth.gov
  • Office of Child Care
  • Florida Association for the Education of Young Children ß Registration is now open for their Annual Conference – held Virtually this Year!
  • Administration for Children & Families

• We STILL have Face Masks available – we are also still collecting responses for the Clear Masks bulk order potential – take the survey here: https://www.quicktapsurvey.com/survey/4de66571b1df06d2ffb91e2b77d56e22
  • We will be distributing Paper Towels to sites needing them as well as Hand Sanitizer – quantities are limited – send an email request to Susan Dewey (her email works now 😊): SDewey@elc-marion.org.

We are looking at the potential of ordering latex gloves and antibacterial cleaning supplies as we have heard from numerous providers that you are having difficulty in locating these items. More to come on that.

• Sickness Policy for Child Care Providers – We are getting a few providers who are in need of updated sickness policies. If you have a good one that you have updated to include how you respond to positive COVID exposure, please forward it to me and we will distribute it to everyone.

• Commercial Cleaning/Disinfecting Services: Please note, ELC does not endorse or recommend any specific companies or services over another, however, we wanted to share a few service providers who our local child care community is using when they need to deeply disinfect their sites:
  • Blue Ribbon Cleaning Company, Inc.
  • Heavenly Housekeeping
  • ServPro

Regarding School Readiness –

• Scott Stevenson is working initiating FY 20-21 School Readiness Contracts for those of you who have already receive your CLASS Observation this past Spring. Please watch your email for the contract initiation alert. Follow the same instructions as above for VPK contracts regarding entering the accurate information. 😊
• ELCMC will be scheduling CLASS Observations for those of you who have not had it completed at a later date – we are not sending staff out to your sites while COVID-19 cases are rising.
• Contract Extensions – Next Steps: We will need to complete a Contract Amendment with those of you remaining on the SR Contract Extension. We will be in touch when this is available to execute in EFS Mod (provider portal)

General ELCMC Update –

• Starting the week of July 26, 2020, ELCMC Lobby will go back to being temporarily closed to the public. We will keep our office hours Monday through Thursday, 7am to 5pm, Fridays, 7am to 3:30pm.
• Our team will continue to conduct business via email, telephone, and through web access including webinars and Zoom.
• Our next Provider Meeting will be on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 @ 1pm – we will send the Agenda before the meeting.
  • Here is the registration link if needed: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6210003599024279822
  • YouTube Channel for other content and previous meetings: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdBecLo1ZBlsdfSH_tXoJyA/

Thank you,

Elizabeth Deola

Chief Program Officer

2300 SW 17^th Rd

Ocala, FL 34471

Telephone: (352) 369-2315 ext. 234  Fax: (352) 369-2308

Email|Web: edeola@elc-marion.org | www.elc-marion.org

ELCMC hours of operation are: Monday-Thursday 7:00 AM- 5:00 PM and Friday 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM.

DISCLAIMER: This is one of many regular updates that ELCMC is providing. This posting exists to make previous updates more easily accessible, so some information provided may now be outdated.

Agenda 6.30.2020

CARES ACT Child Care Section

Hello Everyone,

Summer is here and we are continuing to face each day with new opportunities and learning different ways to shine in this new world we are living in! Recently, Florida has experienced an incredible increase in the number of residents testing positive for the Covid-19 Virus impacting our world. This update is PACKED with resources and information for you!

All About COVID-19:

We have had a few providers contact us asking what they should do if they are made aware that the site may have been exposed to someone with a positive case of COVID-19. Below you will find resources to assist you in making decisions regarding “next steps” after being exposed to a positive case of COVID-19:

• ChildCare Aware Coronavirus Flowchart: When Should I Close My Child Care Program?
• CDC Updated Information (as of May 29, 2020): Childcare, Schools, and Youth Programs
• A few things to consider as you make hard decisions:
  • Is your emergency plan updated to include a plan of action for a pandemic and or other emergency situations such as a hurricane or threat of violence situation (bomb threat, active shooter, violent client) – this should be your go-to guide to help you remain consistent in taking action when necessary. Having a detailed written plan can provide confidence and support to ensure your teachers, children and parents remain calm and make decisions based on action needed and not emotion or fear. Here is a resource to help you in adding language to your current plan to address Covid-19: himama preschool-podcast-covid19-emergency-preparedness
  • When you make a decision, it will set a precedence for the next time a similar situation occurs, try to stay as consistent as possible when addressing similar situations.
  • Communicating with families/caregivers:
    • While keeping confidentiality requirements in mind, ensure you communicate timely and appropriately with your parents/caregivers.
    • Include a written notice with only the needed details of the situation and including the action plan you are taking to respond to the situation. This will allow the families to make informed decisions that best meet their needs and invoke trust and confidence in your proactive response.
    • Social media posts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) are effective to reach large audiences in a short period of time, however, social media posts often spark long-lasting conversation and can spread information across vast audiences with positive, negative and neutral outcomes. Once a message goes viral on-line it is very difficult to retract it. Use caution when using this method.
    • Email is also effective to communicate with a large group simultaneously. When using email, ensure you use the ‘bcc’ or blind carbon copy option when including all parents/caregivers in one communication, this protects all users from exposing personal information. Notice when you receive these emails from me, you can’t see who all received it except ELC staff.
    • To ensure your email communication is received, you may consider a mass calling service such as https://www.call-em-all.com/ or https://www.phonevite.com/ to send a voice call or a text message to parents alerting them of an important message.

• Corona Virus Resource for Child Care Centers
• Childhood Preparedness Website
• Marion County Department of Health

Face Masks Available at ELCMC: Thanks to a partnership with the amazing Marion County Homeless Council, we have facemasks available for your facility. If you are interested in obtaining a quantity of facemasks, please send an email to Quality@elc-marion.org and one of our team will make arrangements for you to pick up your masks. Masks are white cloth, washable, one size fits most. Side note – https://mchcfl.org/home has some great resources and opportunities, check out their website!

• COOL THING ALERT!à We also have a face mask dye for the dye-cut machine if you wish to make your own. Send an email to Quality@elc-marion.org or give any of the Quality Team a call to set an appointment up to come use the provider workroom. 352-369-2315, Ext. 231 or 249.

University of Florida Lastinger Center Opportunity: The University of Florida’s Lastinger Center for Learning and College of Education are surveying parents, teachers, and caregivers about their experiences during the COVID-19 closure of education programs. The survey takes less than 10 minutes and your responses are anonymous. Data collected will inform planning and policy efforts at the local, state, and national levels. Please take a moment to click the link below and complete the survey.

Direct Link to Parents/Caregivers Survey: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eFGhiv06805NK1D

Direct Link to Early Childhood Educator Survey: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2hq82UhGdiKNZDD

Direct Link to K-12 Educator Survey: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eQIFlw1aaIVJdiJ

Next Provider Meeting: This Tuesday, June 30, 2020 @ 1pm: Our next Provider Webinar will be held on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 @ 1pm – if you have registered for previous meetings, then you should already be registered for this meeting. The current schedule for webinar meetings is:

• • • June 30, 2020 – 1 pm
    • July 14, 2020  – 1 pm
    • July 28, 2020 – 1 pm
  • The agenda for this meeting is attached. Feel free to forward this email or invitation to anyone who would benefit from participating in these meetings.
  • If you need to register, click here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8415203909269758988
  • NEW!!! Access previous meetings on the ELCMC YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdBecLo1ZBlsdfSH_tXoJyA/

Update on the CARES Act:

Two weeks ago we shared info on the CARES Act. Here is a link to the entire 143-page document that details numerous directives impacting our community: FLDOE Reopening Florida’s Schools and the CARES Act.pdf

This PowerPoint has numerous live links that you may find helpful as you navigate through the document.

• We have attached the Child Care Portion of the act.
• Funding Initiatives and progress as of 6/27/2020:
  • Provider Mini-Grants – PROCESSED! IF YOU APPLIED FOR A MINI GRANT – LOOK FOR YOUR PAYMENT DEPOSIT. IF YOU NEED TO APPLY – CONTACT SCOTT STEVENSON ASAP!!! ßLAST CHANCE!
  • Teacher Professional Development Stipends– IN PROGRESS ß UPDATE:  We are working on the submitted applications. Trainings must be completed by 6/30/2020 and applications submitted as soon as possible after to receive payment.
  • Kindergarten Transition Program – UPDATE:  ELCMC is working with the Marion County Public Schools on potential options for this program.
  • Financial Supports for VPK/SR and Non VPK/SR Child Care Providers – UPDATE: You’ll want to pay attention to emails and join our Provider Meeting this Tuesday @ 1pm!
  • VPK to Kindergarten Progress Monitoring System – MORE INFO COMING SOON
  • Parent Co-Pays Paid – IN PROGRESS ß ELCMC will continue to pay Parent Co-Pays until July 31, 2020!
  • First Responder/Essential Medical Personnel Enrollments – IN PROGRESS – UPDATE: ELCMC will continue to enroll families into this program until July 31, 2020. More info to come on Tuesday during Provider Meeting.
  • Bonus Payments to Providers serving BG1-Ess Clients –  maximum $12,000 total. – PAYMENTS BEING MADE EACH MONTH FOR ELIGIBLE ENROLLMENTS!

Thank you,

Elizabeth Deola

Chief Program Officer

2300 SW 17^th Rd

Ocala, FL 34471

Telephone: (352) 369-2315 ext. 234  Fax: (352) 369-2308

Email|Web: edeola@elc-marion.org | www.elc-marion.org

ELCMC hours of operation are: Monday-Thursday 7:00 AM- 5:00 PM and Friday 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM.

DISCLAIMER: This is one of many regular updates that ELCMC is providing. This posting exists to make previous updates more easily accessible, so some information provided may now be outdated.

Beckers Classroom Kit 6.2020

CARES ACT Child Care Section

DOE Order No 2020-EO-04 Summer VPK

June Calendar -Virtual Study Buddies 5-12-20

NEW Virtual Study Buddies_FLYER_

Provider Meeting Agenda June 16 2020

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Our team here at ELCMC sends our warmest love and support and thanks to you for continuing to offer PHENOMINAL Child Care Services to the child and families in our community! To show our THANKS and ongoing APPRECIATION for ALL you do, we are sending you an AMAZING Classroom Kit! Details are attached to this email and listed below:

PROVIDER APPRECIATION CLASSROOM KIT:

• All providers contracted with ELCMC (including out-of-county and VPK only) will received over the next week or two a shipment from Becker’s School Supplies
• Attached is a list of all the items you should receive in your Classroom Kit.
• The Kit will arrive in 3 boxes.

·       Check all items in, Sign and Date the Packing List, Upload the Signed Packing List to BlueJean as soon as possible.

CARES ACT:

Last week, very important information was released on Reopening Florida’s Schools and the CARES Act. Here is a link to the entire 143-page document that details numerous directives impacting our community: FLDOE Reopening Florida’s Schools and the CARES Act.pdf

This PowerPoint has numerous live links that you may find helpful as you navigate through the document.

• Pages to focus on may include: 5-10, 23-28, 79-88, 94-100
• We have attached the Child Care Portion of the act.
• Funding Initiatives include:
  • Provider Mini-Grants – IN PROGRESS
  • Teacher Professional Development Stipends– IN PROGRESS
  • Kindergarten Transition Program – MORE INFO COMING SOON
  • Financial Supports for VPK/SR and Non VPK/SR Child Care Providers – MORE INFO COMING SOON
  • VPK to Kindergarten Progress Monitoring System – MORE INFO COMING SOON
  • Parent Co-Pays Paid – IN PROGRESS ß ELCMC will continue to pay Parent Co-Pays until July 31, 2020!
  • First Responder/Essential Medical Personnel Enrollments – IN PROGRESS – ßELCMC has enrolled 566 children into the BG1-ESS program so far!
  • Bonus Payments to Providers serving BG1-Ess Clients –  maximum $12,000 total. – IN PROGRESS

SUMMER VPK:

• Marion County has 257 children who may be eligible to attend the summer VPK Program!
• The children included in the number above are those who were enrolled in your Fall VPK programs but did not complete their 70% of the VPK program.
• OEL has released this week that the required number of hours for the Summer VPK Program is a minimum of 200, not 300 as required pre-pandemic.
• Providers will still receive payment for 300 hours of program.
• VPK Assessments have been waived for the Summer VPK Program.
• Classes may begin with less than 4 children attending.
• All other programmatic requirements must still be met – including teacher requirements.
• Executive Order #2020-EO-04 is attached.
• If you are interested in becoming a Summer VPK Provider, please send an email to Scott Stevenson at SStevenson@elc-marion.org.

GENERAL PROVIDER INFORMATION:

• IMPORTANT à Two Surveys will be released this week in EFS-Mod (Provider Portal):
  • Registration Fees
  • Provider Closure Survey (same thing as last month) ß If you were closed for even 1 day for EITHER VPK or SR, you need to complete this if it is available to you.

• Our next Provider Webinar will be held on Tuesday, June  16, 2020 @ 1pm – if you have registered for previous meetings, then you should already be registered for this meeting and probably got an email adjusting our schedule.

The current schedule for webinar meetings is:

• • • June 16, 2020 – 1 pm
    • June 30, 2020 – 1 pm
    • July 14, 2020  – 1 pm
    • July 28, 2020 – 1 pm
  • The agenda for this meeting is attached. Feel free to forward this email or invitation to anyone who would benefit from participating in these meetings.
  • If you need to register, click here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8415203909269758988
  • NEW!!! Access previous meetings on the ELCMC YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdBecLo1ZBlsdfSH_tXoJyA/
• OEL has released a neat new way to obtain Professional Development – See attached opportunities for Virtual Study Buddies!
• ELCMC will be scheduling Virtual VPK Contract Orientation in July – this is for the 2020-2021 program year.  More info coming!

Thank you,

Elizabeth Deola

Chief Program Officer

2300 SW 17^th Rd

Ocala, FL 34471

Telephone: (352) 369-2315 ext. 234  Fax: (352) 369-2308

Email|Web: edeola@elc-marion.org | www.elc-marion.org

ELCMC hours of operation are: Monday-Thursday 7:00 AM- 5:00 PM and Friday 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM.

DISCLAIMER: This is one of many regular updates that ELCMC is providing. This posting exists to make previous updates more easily accessible, so some information provided may now be outdated.

EO20-131

NAEYC Virtual Institute 5.15.20

PDF NewsLetter.May

Phased In Reopening

Provider Meeting Agenda June 2 2020

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Can you believe next Monday will begin JUNE!?!?! Wow!

Major Info in this update:

• OPENING UP ELCMC TO THE PUBLIC
• PROVIDER MEETING INFO
• MAY 2020 ATTENDANCE SUBMISSION
• PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEWSLETTER AND OPPORTUNITIES
• DCF RESPONSE TO EXECUTIVE ORDER 20-131

OPENING UP ELCMC TO THE PUBLIC:

We are gearing up ELCMC to open back up to the public beginning Monday, June 1, 2020.  Attached is a flyer you can use when talking with parents about ELC needs. This notice is also on the front doors of our office, and on our website/social media.

We will also begin to offer SOME face-to- face trainings – including a Hybrid CPR/First Aid Course. The following procedure will take place for any face-to-face trainings:

• Enrollment is limited to 18-20 participants – we can sufficiently provide separate space with 6 ft of distance between each participant in order to remain within the guidelines of the CDC.
• Each attendee will be screened for wellness including temperature taken and simple verbal questionnaire of how they are feeling upon arrival at the ELCMC building.
• Each attendee will be required to sign in BEFORE entering the building and is HIGHLY encouraged to not bring any additional people (children or companions) to the training with them.
• Each participant is required to wear a face mask and gloves while in the ELCMC building.
• Surfaces are cleaned and sanitized before the training and immediately upon the conclusion of training.

PROVIDER MEETING INFO:

• Our next Provider Webinar will be held on Tuesday, June  2, 2020 @ 1pm – if you have registered for previous meetings, then you should already be registered for this meeting and probably got an email adjusting our schedule.
• We are moving from weekly meetings to bi-weekly meetings on the following days at 1pm:
  • June 2, 2020
  • June 16, 2020
  • June 30, 2020
• The agenda for this meeting is attached. Feel free to forward this email or invitation to anyone who would benefit from participating in these meetings.
• If you need to register, click here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8415203909269758988
• NEW!!! Access previous meetings on the ELCMC YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdBecLo1ZBlsdfSH_tXoJyA/

MAY 2020 ATTENDANCE SUBMISSION:

• DUE DATE: Wednesday, June 3, 2020 by MIDNIGHT!!
• The attendance process will be the same as it was for April. See instructions for School Readiness and instructions for VPK below.
• If you were closed AT ALL (even just one day) you may need to complete the survey again this month. If you see the survey on your Provider Portal, please complete it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Instructions: School Readiness

• Mark the first 3 absences for each SR child as an ‘A’
• Mark all additional absences beyond the 3 with a  ‘A’ –  IMPORTANT:  absences related to COVID-19 in any way (parent laid off from work, potential exposure, being precautious, etc.) need to have the comment “Absence due to Disaster” under the reason.  NOTE: The “A” will convert to a “D” once you view the summary of your attendance before submitting.
• Doctors Notes for absences related to COVID-19 are NOT required.
• Complete this process for ALL ENROLLED School Readiness Children for the month of April 2020
• For School Age Children who are typically attending PART TIME – you will need to manually change each day that they attended to FULL TIME ß Do this ONLY if the child attended.
• If the child transferred to another site, you can only claim them through the last day of attendance.
• Sign in/out sheets should be uploaded as usual to BlueJean – no additional notes needed.
• If your site was closed, there is no need to upload blank sign in/out sheets.

Instructions: VPK

• Mark absences for each day your VPK program was open as you normally would.
• For Long or Short Forms: If you are unable to get the parent signature, write “Child stopped attending on ________________” (enter date) on the form  OR write the reason you were unable to get the parent to sign. If your site was not closed, you must make two attempts to contact the parent for signature.
• Upload sign in/out sheets and Long or Short Forms as you typically would to BlueJean.
• If your site was CLOSED – you still must upload the LONBG or SHORT form to BlueJean with your submitted attendance.

FOR PROVIDERS WHO WERE CLOSED:

• The closures have been entered into your Provider Portal by our team.
• Complete and submit your attendance for all children enrolled as you typically have done.
• If you were closed AT ALL (even just one day) you may need to complete the survey again this month. If you see the survey on your Provider Portal, please complete it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

IMPORTANT: ENSURE YOU HAVE SUBMITTED YOUR NOTICE OF CLOSURE OR REOPENING TO Edeola@elc-marion.org.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEWSLETTER AND OPPORTUNITIES:

Our Professional Development Team has been busy creating a new opportunity to connect with you about Professional Development. Please see the attached News Letter for a TON of great content to support you during this unprecidented time.

Another opportunity for training through NAEYC is also attached.

DCF RESPONSE TO EXECUTIVE ORDER 20-131:

Dear Provider,

Please see Governor DeSantis’ Executive Order 20-131 that lifts restrictions on child care programs and allows summer camps and youth programs to become operational effective as of May 22, 2020.

As a result of the Executive Order, please see the following updates on capacity and group sizes for all registered and licensed child care providers:

Q. Are there limitations on capacity?

A. Only limitations on capacity as licensed. Providers are encouraged to consider recommendations for group sizes and social distancing measures issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Q. Are there limitations on group sizes?

A. No; however, the CDC recommends that group sizes remain small and that there be no mixing of one group with another group.

For licensing ratios, the Office of Child Care Regulation or the local licensing agency, will continue to monitor and cite for any violations.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Deola

Chief Program Officer

2300 SW 17^th Rd

Ocala, FL 34471

Telephone: (352) 369-2315 ext. 234  Fax: (352) 369-2308

Email|Web: edeola@elc-marion.org | www.elc-marion.org

ELCMC hours of operation are: Monday-Thursday 7:00 AM- 5:00 PM and Friday 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM.