EYES Update 15 September 2020

Despite COVID-19, Early Childhood Ireland’s Early Years Employer Service (EYES) is here to support you and can be contacted Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm, by phone on (01) 405 7103 or by email on eyes@earlychildhoodireland.ie. The EYES team is here to help with a range of issues related to the running of an Early Years and School Age Service, including your questions on COVID-19. If you can’t reach us, please leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will call you back when they are available.

NCS – sponsor groups

This is a reminder of the sponsor process under NCS. NCS makes special arrangements for vulnerable children and families, a referral is required from a sponsor body for this. The following designated statutory bodies may make referrals for childcare support under NCS:

• Minister for Education and Skills
• Minister for Justice and Equality
• Child and Family Agency
• HSE
• Local authorities / homeless agencies

Each sponsor body has its own eligibility criteria, and its own referral form, which sets out those criteria. The sponsor decides if a particular child is eligible; eligibility may include age rules (e.g. HSE only refers children under 4 years). The Sponsor Referral Officer will have the relevant referral form and will link with the family to complete the form, which then must be signed and stamped by the sponsor.

Sponsors decide on the number of hours and weeks the subsidy will cover, up to a maximum of 45 hours and usually up to 52 weeks.

The sponsor process:

1. Referrals are posted to the NCS. They may be marked ‘urgent’ and these will be prioritised: the CHICK will be issued by email and also by phone.
2. NCS receives the referral and it is converted to a Sponsor Application on the system.
3. The CHICK notification is emailed to the sponsor contact (Local Authority/homeless Agency, HSE, Tusla) or to the parent (in the case of DJE and DES referrals).
4. The sponsor shares the CHICK with the parent.
5. The parent brings the CHICK to the provider to set up the claim for the child.
6. A flat rate is paid by DCYA to the provider.

Parents do not pay fees where the child has a sponsor subsidy. Attendance rules for sponsored children take into account this vulnerable cohort (see Chapter 14 of the NCS Policy Guidelines for details).

Higher Capitation Applications – common issues

With the opening of the higher capitation application process, the EYES team has been contacted by a number of members who have been attempting to fill out their applications. We would advise following the guidance provided in the Higher Capitation Applications Guide, as published by Pobal.

Some members have noted that they have had difficulty editing or deleting previously saved or submitted staff members for higher capitation. Please note that on some computers it may be necessary to scroll fully across to the right-hand side to see the upside-down yellow arrow, which will allow you to edit or remove the submission. Then when you go to ‘staff’, you can click to remove a staff member or edit details and make any other changes that might be necessary.

Other members have also queried the process if a staff member has a Letter of Eligibility for Higher Capitation, rather than a qualification. In order to add a Letter of Eligibility, access the ‘Lookup Records’ screen and search for ‘other’, tick beside ‘other’ and press ‘select’.

As per the screenshot above, complete as follows:

• Title/Subject of Award = Letter of Eligibility
• Awarding Body = DCYA
• Training provider = DCYA
• Country = Ireland
• Tick the “Meets Minimum Regulatory Requirement” box
• Attach the Letter of Eligibility at “Attach Qualification Confirmation”
• Click “Create”

If you have any other issues with the Hive or Higher Capitation applications, please contact the EYES team.

Do you have a question for the Early Years Employer Service team?

Please submit your question below and see it featured in upcoming EYES updates in Early Times Weekly.

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