Tag: child care insurance

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) – More than two dozen parents will not have to find a new daycare, after thieves stole the air conditioning units at a local childcare center. MOREAdditional LinksThat’s because an area property management company and a heating and cooling business is stepping in and replacing all six air conditioners for free. Benchmark KC will begin installing the units Saturday morning, and the center hopes to be back open on Monday or Tuesday. Soldes Adidas The thefts happened during a two month period, and the most recent one happened last weekend. The thermostat inside the George Washington Carver Child Care Center, located at 43rd Street and Jackson Avenue, told staffers what they already knew Thursday: It is hot. It was so hot inside that the 28 children couldn’t stay there. “At 3 p.m., the thermometer said it was over 84 degrees. So, because of state regulations, we had to call all the parents, and the parents had to come pick their children up,” said Lynn Beard, director of the childcare center. The extremely hot conditions are what staffers have to deal with after thieves ripped their air conditioning units from their foundation. The first three were stolen in May. Beard had been working to replace the stolen A/C units, when the thieves struck again. “When we went out there over the weekend, the other three were gone,” she said. Beard believes the units were stolen, so thieves could sell the copper. fjallraven kanken bag Al Smith with Right Temp Heating and Cooling said these types of thefts happen all the time, and it’s likely thieves didn’t’ get much money. “They probably had a $100 job here, and it cost this place thousands, tens of thousands of dollars,” Smith said. ffxiv gold He said the center had to replace all six units because of the size of the building. One unit would likely break down from overuse. Mochilas Kanken Madrid “Think about the money you’ve put out for the one unit – it’s six in one hand, half a dozen in the other,” Smith said. ugg australia Beard feared she would have to close her doors if she couldn’t get the air conditioners replaced, because she didn’t want to put the children at risk. “It’s a big disappointment for us and them, because they love us and we love them. We want them here, but we have to make it safe,” she said. The center didn’t have insurance, so Beard was going to have to pay out-of-pocket to replace the air conditioners. Estimates were between $13,000 and $20,000. Copyright 2013 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) All rights reserved.

By Catherine Sweeney The Journal Record NORMAN – Former schoolteacher Nancy Goodrich has been working in overdrive since May 20. She began her own private day care center in Moore in 2009. Her pregnant friend couldn’t find one that didn’t have a two-year waiting list, she said. Now, All About Kids also has a two-year waiting list. At the beginning of May, the day care center with 40 employees was providing care to 182 children, she said. soldes timberland Then the tornado came. “We have one building that was completely destroyed,” she said. Kanken Big “And we had a lot of roof damage.” The main building suffered damage to the roof and to a wall. ugg bottes ffxiv gil The damage was exacerbated during a second storm when rain poured into the building through holes in the roof. chaussure timberland homme Because the building that was demolished was a small metal building, less than $4,000 is needed to rebuild, she said. But the roof and wall damage to the main building will probably cost close to $50,000. asics tiger She has already received a $22,000 invoice from the roof workers All About Kids hired. Because Goodrich is still in negotiations with the insurance company, she will be paying for the roof repairs out of pocket. She is not sure how much they will reimburse her. adidas zx pas cher “I still haven’t gotten a written report from them,” she said. adidas tubular shadow asics gel lyte 5 For two weeks after the storm, she had to close the day care center because of the damage. adidas zx flux Eagle Heights Church on S. Portland Avenue opened its doors to the children, but Goodrich asked many parents to keep their kids home for the week. “We had 27 the first week and 38 the second week,” she said. Of the 182 children before the tornado, 40 of the children they kept had to leave, she said. ffxiv Items Some parents were displaced because of the storms and had to move. The weekend before they moved back in, Goodrich and her husband spent their time cleaning, she said. On Saturday, they worked from 9 a.m. botte ugg pas cher to 8 p.m. air max homme Sunday’s hours were even rougher, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. “I did not want them coming back not having things ready,” she said. They also received help from a group of 14 volunteers from a Kentucky church, she said. “We feel like we need to help you guys,” one told her. The men helped put up a temporary fence while the women stayed in and cleaned all of the toys. Together, the group helped clean her parking lot. https://www.goldufo.com/ffxiv-gold Other members of the community offered a hand as well, she said. nike air max 1 “It was just amazing to see the amount of people who came out and knocked on my door,” she said. Everything is back to business, she said. adidas zx 500 Even though her number of children has dropped, she has no intentions of laying off staff members, two of whom stayed during the weekend to help with the cleaning. nike air max 2017 soldes “I’m not letting them go,” she said.

By: Insurance Journal Childcare providers across Indiana are scrambling to find money to pay for broader criminal background checks of employees and educate staff about new rules to improve safety and prevent child abuse ahead of a July 1 deadline. Indiana lawmakers this year beefed up requirements for home-based daycares, licensed centers and ministry-based child cares that accept vouchers to help pay tuition costs for low-income families this spring. new balance femme The changes come a year after a 1-year-old drowned in an Indianapolis church’s baptismal font during daycare hours. cheap ffxiv Items Barbara Newton, director of First Presbyterian Preschool in Franklin, said she supports the tougher standards. “It’s expensive, but the cost would be even greater if you did nothing,” Newton told the Daily Journal. “Some parents are forced to seek out the cheapest options for child care, and this will help make sure the cheapest option is also a safe one.” The changes come at a cost for day cares, which must fingerprint all employees and conduct detailed FBI background checks. Those costs will rise to about $40 per person, up from the $7 charged for limited state background checks used in the past. The FBI checks must be done every three years. Melanie Brizzi, child care administrator for the state’s Bureau of Child Care, said digital fingerprinting and national criminal checks will prevent day-care operators from unwittingly hiring people with a history of felonies or child abuse in other states. Mochilas Kanken Big The national screening also checks for aliases, nicknames and other spellings of names. Adidas Zx Flux “The national check has several advantages. nike air jordan soldes No. Chaussures Adidas chaussures nike air max Fjallraven Kanken No2 1, it’s consistent for all provider types. And using the national FBI database captures criminal behavior from other states outside Indiana,” Brizzi said. Current daycare employees have a year to get fingerprinted, but new hires must go through the screening before they come in contact with children. adidas superstar soldes Newton said she plans to find the money to screen all 30 of her employees immediately. “We want to get this off our to-do list,” she said. Fjallraven Kanken Big asics gel kinsei 6 Other changes include increased training for daycare workers to help them recognize signs of abuse and new rules requiring infants to use sleep sacks instead of blankets in cribs. Elisabeth Jones, interim director of First United Methodist’s Learning Tree childcare classes, said she supports the new standards. timberland pas cher “In general, it’s a good move for the state of Indiana to keep all of us on a level playing field in regards to who is taking care of our children. nike air max The national background checks will help with that,” she said. adidas pas cher She acknowledged that the cost of the background checks is a concern at her 30-employee operation but said the additional outlay will be worth it in terms of safety. “I feel like the more systems in place to regulate these things, the better the state can watchdog whichever facilities aren’t compliant with the safety of our kids,” Jones said.

By Warren Reporter Project Self-Sufficiency offers open enrollment appointments for New Jersey Family Care, the health insurance plan offered by the state of New Jersey to eligible children and low-income parents, every Wednesday morning, from 9–11 a.m., and every Thursday, from 6 – 8 p.m. New Jersey Family Care is a comprehensive health insurance program that provides a wide range of services, including visits to a physician, eye glasses, hospitalization, lab work, x-rays, prescriptions, regular checkups, mental health, and dental coverage. Medical services are available at Health Maintenance Organizations in each county. Depending on family income, there may be restrictions on certain services. Coverage in the health care plan is available for children 18 years of age and younger, as well as parents who meet income eligibility requirements. Eligibility is based on family size, monthly income and other factors. Parents and guardians who have not resided in the United States as Legal Permanent Residents for at least five years are not eligible for NJ FamilyCare. nike internationalist However, any pregnant woman, regardless of date of entry can apply and be determined eligible. chaussure nike pas cher The income eligibility level for children’s coverage is 350% of the federal poverty level. For example, children in a family of four with a monthly income of up to $6,432 could be eligible for coverage. ugg pas cher The program is also accepting applications from parents and guardians with work income at or below 133% of the federal poverty level. nike air max classic bw For example, parents and guardians in a family of four, making up to $2,444 per month, may be eligible. However, some parents and guardians in a family making up to $2,444 may not be eligible because income such as unemployment, child support and government benefits are counted differently. Parents at higher income levels may have the option of purchasing health insurance for their children at reasonable rates through the New Jersey Family Care ADVANTAGE program. Applicants will be eligible for New Jersey Family Care only if they have been uninsured for a period of at least three months, or if health coverage was lost due to layoffs or other factors. Depending on income, other exceptions may apply for families privately paying for health insurance or for COBRA benefits. For many families, New Jersey Family Care will be free. Other families will pay a monthly premium based on their income and small co-payments for some services. Immigrant parent/caretakers who are legal permanent residents of the United States must have had that status for at least five years in order to be eligible for NJ FamilyCare. Children age 18 or younger in “Qualified” immigrant status are able to apply for NJ FamilyCare, regardless of the date that they entered the United States; they do not have to wait five years to be eligible. “Qualified” status includes a lawful permanent resident, a refugee, an asylee, a Cuban-Haitian entrant, an undocumented resident whose deportation is being withheld by USCIS, an Amerasian immigrant, a child of an honorably discharged United States military veteran, a child of a member of the United States military, an immigrant paroled for over one year, or an applicant under the Violence Against Women Act. Certain American Indians born in Canada are treated the same as a United States citizen for the purpose of Medicaid eligibility. new balance Applicants are required to bring proof of income, citizenship information, social security number, and information about existing health coverage to the enrollment appointment. Interested applicants are encouraged to call Project Self-Sufficiency or visit the New Jersey Family Care website, njfamilycare.org, for more information. Individual appointments at Project Self-Sufficiency are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Project Self-Sufficiency is located at 127 Mill Street in Newton. To register, or to find out more about enrollment in the New Jersey Family Care program, visit projectselfsufficiency.org or call Project Self-Sufficiency at 973-940-3500.

By TIM MEKEEL, Business Editor tmekeel@lnpnews.com In May, St. Paul Christian Early Learning Center in Lititz lost its administrative assistant, when she left for another job. But before hiring a replacement, St. Paul learned that a new alliance of local child-care programs had a full-time one who needed more to do. So St. Paul and the alliance, named Early Childhood Innovative Connections, decided to split her salary and have her work for both. “That saved St. Paul $12,000 a year in one little move,” said Gail Price, St. Paul executive director. This philosophy of sharing services, expertise, resources and expenses is driving the launch of ECIC — the first organization of its type in the state. After operating on a pilot basis for a year, with 10 child-care programs involved, the alliance shifts to expanded, permanent form Monday. Sixteen programs will be participating. Together, they serve more than 1,800 children and have more than 350 employees. Three more programs have verbally expressed their intention to join. The innovative alliance seeks to relieve the financial and time pressures on child-care programs and their directors. “It’s a different way of thinking,” said June Hershberger, executive director of ECIC and its parent organization, Diamond Street Early Childhood Center in Akron. “This means coming out of our silos and asking how we can operate more efficiently. “It’s a real shift in our mindset. But it will be better for us and the kids,” she said. For a monthly membership fee, ECIC handles common tasks facing all child-care programs. These include recruiting potential new and substitute teachers, offering state-mandated orientation sessions for new hires and offering training for teachers, directors, parents and board members. The alliance also will gather and share information about the wages the member programs pay and the tuition they charge. In the future, ECIC envisions handling enrollment, billing, payroll, purchasing, insurance and other tasks for its member programs. Beyond those services, ECIC sees itself someday giving scholarships to needy children and telling businesses how to get tax credits for their donations. Hershberger explained that more efficient programs find it easier to raise the quality of their programs. “If you can save money, you can put that money back into quality, because quality programs cost more,” said Hershberger. Ditto for saving time. As Hershberger and Price described it, the typical child-care program has its director handling many business-related tasks. Those are essential for keeping the bills paid, the lights on and the doors open. But that’s not what the directors are trained to do. “You have directors that have degrees in early childhood or elementary education, not business,” said Price. “One person just can’t do it all,” she continued. “If we can take away some of those responsibilities — I should say burdens, almost — then the director can spend more time in the classroom mentoring teachers and working with families.” That sounds good to Michelle Harbaugh, founder and executive director of Steps to Success in Leola. Since opening Steps to Success in 1995, she’s seen it grow to 101 children and 22 employees — and seen her workload grow accordingly. “I just knew there had to be some way to work smarter and get the same or better results,” said Harbaugh. Buy FF14 items Harbaugh joined the pilot effort and, like all the pilot participants, has stayed in the alliance. Fjallraven Kanken mini The alliance’s applicant pool by itself was appealing enough to convince Harbaugh to join and stay. Not only has it spared her the time and aggravation of finding candidates, the pool has higher-caliber candidates than she could find on her own. “That alone would make me sign up,” she said. “It’s such a stress reliever for me.” A state early-learning official likewise sees significant merit in the alliance. “This is very much a leading-edge initiative…,” said Barb Minzenberg, deputy secretary of the state Office of Child Development and Early Learning. “It’s a very smart approach.” Minzenberg noted that the child-care industry “is not a richly resourced field,” making the sharing of services a wise strategy. “Even the best and most efficient early childhood providers are challenged to simply break even,” she added. Hershberger said she got the idea for the alliance in 2010 from an article in a professional magazine about shared services. She took the idea to the chairman of the Diamond Street board, Gerald Meck, the former CEO of United Disabilities, who supported it. Next Hershberger approached the Lancaster County Community Foundation. The foundation provided a $20,000 grant for 2011, then a $50,000 matching grant for the next year. That was enough to hire a consultant, form an advisory group of program directors, present professional-development sessions and take out newspaper ads tied to the national “Week of the Young Child.” With that momentum, ECIC next rolled out the pilot program in 2012. More support came when PNC Bank donated $5,000 both last year and this year. asics gel lyte v The pilot program’s main feature was that shared staffing pool, which ECIC stocked by attending job fairs and visiting colleges. The pool ended up with more than 50 applicants. Any of the programs in the pilot effort could tap any of the applicants in the pool. The applicant pool is part of one category of services, dubbed “Staffing Connections,” that ECIC will offer its member programs going forward. Starting Monday, ECIC will manage the staffing pool via cloud-based software rather than a spread sheet. “Staffing Connections” still will include three days of state-mandated orientation for new hires. But the sessions will be offered more frequently. Topics will include pediatric first-aid and CPR, child-abuse awareness and fire safety. Under “Professional Connections,” ECIC will offer eight hours of leadership training for directors and two hours of training for teachers. There also will be training for board members, parenting workshops and a mini-conference. Again, these will be presented more frequently than when ECIC was in its pilot phase. Under “Information Connections,” ECIC will track and share tuition rates at its member programs. The alliance also will give member programs access to “SharedSource Pennsylvania,” a website of best practices. To be eligible to join the alliance, programs need to have one of two qualifications. They must be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Or they must participate in the state Keystone STARS early-childhood quality-improvement program. Fees for membership in ECIC are pegged to the size of the program. Those with up to 49 children enrolled pay $99 a month. For those with 50 to 99 children, the fee is $149 a month. ffxiv gil For those with 100 or more children, the fee is $199 a month. For those fees, Hershberger pointed out, the programs receive more than financial benefits. Their directors also find an opportunity to share ideas and issues with supportive and knowledgeable counterparts at other programs. “There’s the tangible savings, but it’s not just that,” she said. Besides Steps to Success, St. Paul and Diamond Street (two programs), other alliance participants are: Cocalico Care Center in Denver, Reamstown Childcare and Early Learning Center, Grace Place Childcare and Learning Center in Lancaster, Columbia Childcare and Learning Center, Sonshine Child Development Center in Lititz, Children’s Corner at Moravian Manor, New Holland Early Learning Center, Head Start in Lancaster (three), God’s Little Gifts in Lancaster and Sunshine Corners in Strasburg.

By Julie Small, KPCC The state’s health insurance marketplace, Covered California, authorized a set of benefits months ago that included dental care for children, but now the marketplace is telling insurance companies to strip out the dental coverage. Mochilas Kanken No.2 bottes ugg People would then have to pay extra for a dental plan for their children. California’s insurance commissioner Dave Jones warns the move could reduce children’s access to dental care and urged Covered California to include the benefit in plans that will be sold when the marketplace formally opens October 1. basket nike tn The change will also drive up costs for consumers, he says. new balance avis asics gel lyte 3 In a June 27th letter to the board that runs Covered California, Jones says he talked with insurers that originally submitted bids to sell their products on the state’s marketplace and argues dental care is essential. “A child’s overall health and well-being requires access to dental care to ensure oral health,” he wrote. new balance homme Covered California is the state’s new health insurance exchange set up as part of the federal health law. It will open Oct. 1 and will be a place where individuals can shop for health insurance which will go into effect Jan. 1. basket adidas zx flux timberland chaussure Covered California’s website still shows pediatric dental services as a covered benefit under its health insurance plans. The Affordable Care Act does not require that health plans include dental coverage for children. buy ffxiv Items Mochilas Kanken Dana Howard, a spokesman for Covered California, argues its move is about consumer flexibility. ugg soldes adidas stan smith femme adidas “I understand what he’s concerned about, but Covered California likewise is concerned about good dental coverage,” Howard said. nike free nike air max homme The change ”is simply to provide more options for the families to have a stand-alone plan, so they can have a broader choice of the networks or the plans that they would wish to have cover their children.” Howard says they were able to make the change and still offer plans that are affordable. louboutin pas cher soldes timberland 2017 asics Covered California will offer nine different plans for children ranging in price from $8to $35 a month. nike air max 90 “You have to look at the reason why people don’t buy dental insurance for their children, and we believe we’ve answered that problem.” Howard said. nike air max 95 But at least one major insurer who bid to sell plans on the state’s marketplace told the commissioner it had planned to offer children’s dental for $6 a month as part of a larger package, but will now charge $26 a month for the separate product. Fjallraven Kanken Classic Christian Louboutin Pas Cher Covered California’s board is expected to sign contracts for health insurance plans this week, in effect locking in the decision to separate children’s dental care. nike air max 90 femme 2017 The six companies selling children’s dental plans on Covered California are Anthem Dental, Blue Shield of California, Delta Dental of California, Health Net Dental, LIBERTY Dental Plan and Premier Access Dental.