Child Care Provider Portal

TWC Child Care Attendance: UPDATE – Reinstatement of Absence Policies ON HOLD

On June 16, 2020, the Texas Workforce Commission took action to reinstate requirements for the parents of children receiving Child Care Services (CCS) to record their child’s daily attendance, to become effective July 20, 2020. Children are generally allowed 40 unexplained absences during a year. However, parents have not been required to record their attendance since mid-March, when the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was first being felt across the state. TWC did not want to penalize parents who were unable to take their children to child care or were unable to record attendance, based on the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Given the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in the state, the Commission revisited this policy on July 14, 2020 and took action to hold reinstatement of the absence policy.

What Providers Need to Do:

• Continue to report weekly attendance data for subsidized children in accordance with your Local Board’s policies.
• If you are ordered to close by a state or local health authority due to COVID, notify your Local Board/CCS offices about your status (in addition to notifying Child Care Licensing).

Please direct questions to your local workforce solutions/CCS office.

Child Care Attendance: Reinstating Absence Policies on July 20th

On June 16, 2020, the Texas Workforce Commission took action to reinstate requirements for the parents of children receiving Child Care Services (CCS) to record their child’s daily attendance, which will become effective July 20, 2020.   Children are generally allowed 40 unexplained absences during a year.  Parents have not been required to record their attendance since mid-March, when the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was first being felt across the state.  At that time, only essential worker parents were able to use regulated child care.  And, many child care providers were restricting parent access within child care operations.  TWC did not want to penalize parents who were unable to take their children to child care, based on the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Effective July 20, 2020, subsidy children’s absences will be reset to 0, and all parents will be required to record their children’s attendance using the state’s child care automated attendance system.  Absences will begin to count again and child care can end once the 40 unexplained absences limit is reached for a child.

Absences for any families who have been asked to self-isolate or quarantine based on instructions from a medical professional or other state/local authority will not count as an unexplained absence. Absences related to a child care provider’s involuntary closure per an order by a health authority will also not count as unexplained.

What Providers Need to Do:

• Make the swipe card machine available to parents to record attendance (or your phone if you are a home-based program).
• Let families know they must record attendance and if their child has a COVID-related absence, they should notify their local CCS office.
• If you are ordered to close by a state or local health authority due to COVID, notify your Local Board/CCS offices about your status.

What Parents Need to Do:

• Locate your attendance card and start using it to record your child’s attendance; you must only swipe once per day (swipe “in”).
• If you cannot locate your card, contact your local CCS office as soon as possible to request a replacement card.
• If a health professional or local health authority instructs you and/or your children to quarantine or self-isolate due to COVID, notify your local CCS office.
• If you do not need care right now or do not plan to take your child to care, contact your local CCS office to discuss your options.
• If your child care program is unable to provide services to your child because they do not have space available, contact your local CCS office to discuss your options.

Child Care for Essential Workers

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has begun phasing out the emergency program to subsidize childcare for Texas’ essential workers. Subsidies were put in place to assist both essential workers and child care centers during limited enrollment. With Texas re-opening, those essential workers who are already on the subsidized plan will continue to receive child care for the three month period they were initially approved for under this program.

Eff May 12, 2020, Workforce Solutions North Texas is no longer accepting applications for Child Care services for Essential Workers.

Essential workers may also apply at any time for TWC’s regular subsidized child care program for low-income families if they meet eligibility requirements. Click here to apply for child care services https://ntxworksolutions.org/child-care-interest-form/.

Parent Share of Cost (PSOC) for Child Care Reinstated Eff 6/1/2020

In March, TWC commissioners also authorized payments to child care providers to continue even when subsidized children were absent. And effective April 1, TWC waived the Parents’ Share of Cost (PSOC) for At-Risk Child Care. By doing so, TWC effectively paid 100 percent of the cost to providers even while children were absent. This short-term measure was put into place to ensure child care centers continued to receive full reimbursement, as parents would not pay their portion while their children were absent.

Effective June 1, TWC will no longer pay Parent Share of Cost (PSOC) for parents receiving financial assistance . As children return to their centers, parents will resume paying their share of child care costs. 

Please call our office for more information @ 940-723-8774. Please visit the TWC website for more information about childcare.