Supporting all children and families with their Early Learning and Care (ELC)  and School Aged Childcare (SAC) needs. Supporting ELC/SAC providers and their Staff teams in the delivery of the National Childcare Schemes.

County Roscommon Welcome Guide Ukrainian 23rd June 2022

National & Local Refugee Response re ELC/SAC & Childcare Programmes

Roscommon CCC are the local agent of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). We coordinate the local response in relation to the national childcare programmes supports required to respond to the childcare and early educational needs of Refugee families and children arriving in the County. Parents can be referred to Roscommon CCC for information & support on how to register for subsidies towards the cost of childcare under the national childcare Scheme (NCS) and/or look at their childcare options including referral under the Sponsor Referral Programme.

Roscommon CCC can meet parents/carers on an individual basis and go through all their options and support them in applying for supports under the national childcare schemes/supports. In this respect Roscommon CCC have put together some information for families, agencies, and staff teams that we hope may find useful.

It has been confirmed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) that it is under the current national schemes that supports for childcare options are available for the Ukrainian refugees.

Note: It is the wish of the department (DCEDIY) that parents/carers are referred for support regarding early years provision and the national childcare programme supports to their local CCC (Roscommon CCC) where we can offer on one-to-one support to access whatever scheme and support that is most appropriate for individual. If you wish to refer anyone who may require any support regarding the DCEDIY funded childcare schemes & application process please contact the team at Roscommon CCC 094-9622540 or email: info@roscommonchildcare.ie

Supports available from Roscommon CCC:

Roscommon CCC will:

• Support parents/families with identifying their childcare options/needs
• Support parents/families on a one-to-one basis in applying/completing the application process for the National Childcare Schemes in association with the Parent support centre if required
• Link parents to our Tusla registered Early Learning and Care (ELC), School Age Childcare (SAC), Childminding Services and Parent & Toddler groups throughout County Roscommon (in this regard we have conducted a capacity survey for County Roscommon and have identified occupancy level, current vacant places and the potential to increase capacity in County Roscommon particularly in ELC and SAC sessions.
• Assist when planning relocations of refugee families with children to match with current capacity in ELC/SAC services.
• Deliver ‘Play and Stay sessions’ aimed at providing an opportunity for play with our qualified and vetted staff team in accommodation centres/hotels and will have play boxes/packs provided to those attending our national early years initiative/approach.
• Liaise with centres that are accommodating Ukrainian refugee children and families regarding ELC/SAC supports under the National Childcare Scheme
• Liaise with local relevant agencies/organisations
• Disseminate resources regarding the NCS and the ELC/SAC sector which can be found on our website at www.roscommonchildcare.ie

A Parent’s guide guide is now available in English/Ukrainian and Russian and can be accessed below:

English guide: https://www.roscommonchildcare.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/A-Parents-Guide-To-Childcare-in-Ireland-updated.pdf

Ukrainian guide: https://www.roscommonchildcare.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/A-Parents-Guide-To-Childcare-In-Ireland.UKRAINIAN-1.pdf

Russian guide: https://www.roscommonchildcare.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/A-Parents-Guide-To-Childcare-In-Ireland.RUSSIAN.pdf

National Childcare Scheme (NCS)

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides subsidies to help parents meet the cost of quality Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare.

Under the National Childcare Scheme, subsidies are available for families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years who are attending any participating Tusla registered childcare service, including any Tusla registered childminder and school age childcare services.

There are two types of childcare subsidy for children over 6 months of age:

• A universal subsidy for children under 3. Children over 3 who have not yet qualified for the ECCE are also eligible. It is not means tested and provides 50c per hour towards the cost of a registered childcare place for a maximum of 45 hours per week.
• An income-assessed subsidy- available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years. This subsidy is means tested and will be calculated based on your individual circumstances. Your rate will vary depending on your level of family income, your child’s age and educational stage, and the number of children in your family.

More information on the National Childcare Scheme can be found here: https://www.ncs.gov.ie/en/types-of-subsidy/

Note:

If you (and your partner, if you have one) are working, studying or training, the maximum number of subsidised hours available per week are 45.

If you (or your partner, if you have one) are not working, studying or training, the maximum number of subsidised hours available per week are 20.

In both cases the available hours include hours spent in school or preschool. The remaining hours can then be used for ‘wrap-around care’.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Free Preschool Programme

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a universal free pre-school programme available to all eligible children for two years before starting primary school.

In line with primary schools, the programme runs from September to June for three hours per, day five days per week.

All children are eligible from the September after they turn 2 years and 8 months. The upper age limit is 5 years and 6 months. This means that, in order to be eligible, a child cannot turn this age at any point before the end of the pre-school year (i.e. end of June). The table below outlines eligibility for the free preschool programme by birth month.

More information is available here: https://www.ncs.gov.ie/en/childcare-schemes/

Eligibility for ECCE by birth month

Birth date between        Eligible enrolment date(s)

1 January 2018 – 31 December 2018     1 September 2021 & 1 September 2022

1 January 2019 – 31 December 2019     1 September 2022 & 1 September 2023

1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020     1 September 2023 & 1 September 2024

1s January 2021 – 31 December 2021    1 September 2024 & 1 September 2025

Access & Inclusion Model 

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a model of supports designed to promote inclusion and to ensure that children with disabilities can meaningfully participate in the ECCE Programme in mainstream pre-school settings. AIM is a child-centred model, offering a range of tailored, practical supports based on need and does not require a formal diagnosis of disability.

More information on AIM supports is available here: https://aim.gov.ie/

The free preschool programme is not affected by the National Childcare Scheme. The National Childcare Scheme will ‘wrap-around’ the free preschool programme hours, providing financial support towards the cost of childcare for the hours spent outside of preschool.  This means that National Childcare Scheme subsidies can be can be used for any hours spent outside of preschool, up to the maximum hours available to you.

In all cases, the hours of subsidised care available to a family under the National Childcare Scheme are inclusive of time spent in preschool.

An income-assessed subsidy for children up to 15- available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years. This subsidy is means tested and will be calculated based on family individual circumstances. The rate will vary depending on your level of family income, your child’s age and educational stage, and the number of children in your family.

Sponsor subsidies

The legislation that underpins the National Childcare Scheme details the five statutory bodies that can refer a child under S.14 for a fully funded sponsored place. This means that the parent(s)/carer(s) of a sponsored child will pay no fees to the childcare provider. There is no income assessment involved.

Each Sponsor has an agreement with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth as to the grounds for making a referral, the hours that may be referred and rates per hour to be paid to the Provider. To refer a child, the Referral Officer on behalf of the Sponsor, completes a Sponsor Referral form. The Referral form may be posted directly to Pobal or given to the parent to submit as a scanned copy through the Parent Portal.

Once received by Pobal, it is converted to a Sponsor Application by staff and processed the same day. The result is a Sponsor CHICK (Child Identifier Code Key) that is used to register the child in the usual way, depending on availability of a place at a service. Referrals may be marked ‘urgent’ and Pobal can facilitate cases where a child registration is urgently needed. In Sponsor cases the parent is not required to approve the registration, and payment will follow in the next weekly payment run.

If you require any support regarding the DCEDIY funded schemes & application process, please contact the team at Roscommon CCC 094-9622540 or email info@roscommonchildcare.ie