Child Care Management System

1
Child Care Management System
PSCQ is a project of the Health and Community
Services Workforce Council Inc.  The Australian
Government funds the Professional Support
Coordinator initiative as part of the Inclusion
and Professional Support Program.
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Session 3

• At the end of this session participants will
  have knowledge of
• What is CCMS?
• When does CCMS start?
• What will I need to do to prepare for transition?
• How will the CCMS affect me?
• How will CCMS affect my scheme?

3
What is CCMS

• What is the Child Care Management System
• Way of moving information between services, DEEWR
  and Centerlink over the internet
• New way that CCB fee reductions will be managed
• Improve the information on child care supply and
  usage
• Schemes will provide attendance information to
  DEEWR via the internet to allow calculation and
  payment of CCB reductions

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What is CCMS

• How will it work
• Schemes will send information about all children
  in their care over the internet weekly or
  fortnightly to DEEWR
• Payments processed by DEEWR and sent to schemes
  bank account
• Calculation of CCB will be undertaken by Family
  Assistance Office

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When does the CCMS start?

• CCMS will be progressively implemented from
  January 2008.
• FDC and LDC will be the first service types to
  move to the new system.
• Until a scheme moves to the new system, current
  arrangements will continue.

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Timeline

• Schemes will be contacted by DEEWR regarding a
  date for transition.
• Letters sent to scheme
• 60 days prior to transition
• 30 days prior to transition

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Transition

• The CCMS is being progressively implemented
  across over 11,000 child care services
• Services started transitioning on 4 February 2008
• All types of child care services need to
  transition

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Key Changes

• How will CCMS affect the scheme
• now deal with DEEWR rather than the FAO
• Move from quarterly in advance payments to
  payments in arrears
• No longer be required to calculate reduction
  amounts FAO will do this
• Payments made weekly (or fortnightly) once
  information on attendance is received

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Transition

• How will CCMS affect carers
• Start collecting parent and child CRNs and dates
  of birth (DOB).
• Practice sending time sheets to coordination
  units in a timely manner.
• Carers will not need to purchase a computer. If
  carers currently use a software program to
  calculate fees they can continue to do so.
• Carers will need to inform parents of total
  absence days

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How will CCMS affect parents?

• Parents still deal with FAO
• Eligibility for CCB remains the same
• Still elect to receive CCB as fee reductions or
  lump sum
• Online statement from Centrelink called View
  Child Care Attendance Online Service Facility
  which includes details of CCB payments and
  absences

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How will CCMS affect parents?

• No longer have to tell FAO which service their
  child is using
• Provide date of birth
• Nominate hours at each service
• Absences

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Enrolments

• An enrolment must be created for each child in
  your care.
• Three types of enrolments
• Formal
• Informal
• AMEP/Other
• The types of enrolment relate to
• Who is responsible for the child's fees
• Information parents supply to the service (CRNs
  DOB)
• Multiple enrolments may need to be created for
  the same child in certain situations.

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Types of Enrolments

• What information do parents need to give you or
  your scheme?
• Formal Enrolment
• Childs DOB
• Childs CRN
• Parent/Guardian DOB
• Parent/Guardian CRN (for that child parent
  combination)
• Informal Enrolment
• No CRNs but
• Childs DOB and parent/Guardian DOB
• Can be formalised
• AMEP/Other
• Childs DOB and parent/Guardian DOB

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Enrolment Advances

• An enrolment advance is available to schemes once
  a child is formally enrolled.
• Enrolment advance amounts 125 for FDC in house
  care
• Enrolment advances will be recovered once an
  enrolment has ended

15
Enrolment Scenario

• Aimee and her daughter Fleur have previously
  been enrolled at your service using an informal
  enrolment. Aimee tells you she has contacted the
  FAO and is eligible for CCB by fee reductions.
• What will you do now?

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Attendance Absence records

• Attendance records
• For all children in care
• Submitted over the internet to DEEWR
• Can be submitted individually or in bulk
• Can be submitted weekly or fortnightly
• Submitted no later then 14 days after the end of
  the week which the attendance relates to

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Attendance Scenario

• You provide care for Jane 5 days a week.
  Janes parents are not eligible for CCB.
• Do you need to submit attendance records
  for Jane under CCMS?
• You also provide care for Jack on Monday,
  Tuesday and Wednesday. Jacks parents claim CCB
  as fee reduction. You submit your attendance
  date to your scheme on Wednesday afternoon and
  they process it on Thursday.
• When would you expect your CCB payment?
• Your schemes deadline for submitting
  attendance is Friday afternoon and they only
  process on Monday morning.
• What would happen if you were late
  submitting your attendance records?

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Absences

• Each child had 42 days per financial year this
  includes public holidays (no evidence is
  required)
• Additional absences may be claimed in certain
  circumstances
• FAO will maintain a count of absences for each
  child
• You must keep families regularly informed about
  the number of absence day taken.

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Additional Absences

• Available after the 42 days
• Only absences that the meet the additional
  absence reasons will attract CCB after the 42
  days
• In addition to this additional absences must meet
  certain criteria

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Absences Scenario

• Arthur normally attends your service on
  Wednesdays and Thursdays. Arthurs mother Fran
  rings on Tuesday afternoon advising that Arthur
  has the Chicken Pox and that he will not be
  attending care for 3 weeks. You check Arthur's
  records and see that he has only used 10 absence
  days this financial year.
• What type of absence will you record for
  Arthur?
• Will CCB be paid for these absences?
• If in the same case, after checking Arthurs
  enrolment record you see that he had already used
  43 absence days so far this year, and Fran brings
  in a medical certificate on Thursday morning,
  what type of absences would you record for Arthur?

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For more information

• CCMS helpdesk for Schemes/Carers
• www.fahcsia.gov.au/childcare or
• www.deewr.gov.au and follow the links

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Help for Parents

• FAO
• phone [phone]
• www.familyassist.gov.au

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Important Points to Take Away

• Read all the information you can about CCMS
  including
• Information from your Scheme
• Special editions of Child Care News
• CCMS Website especially FAQs
• Start collecting dates of birth from parents
• Work with your Scheme to develop policies and
  procedures for
• recording absences
• fees