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Programs and Accreditation | Provider/Child Ratio | Agency and Contact Information | Paying for Child Care

Parent's Page
[The information provided is believed to be accurate but not guaranteed. Please review information is up to date and correct.]

This page is dedicated to parents or individuals who have children in a Pennsylvania care facility. This page will be updated with new and useful information and tools for parents.

Child Care Check List

(American Academy of Pediatrics)

Programs and Accreditation

Keystone STARS.

Keystone STARS is a quality improvement initiative for child care programs in PA. Programs can receive a STAR 1 – STAR 4 rating (STAR 4 being the highest).
To read the criteria for each STAR level to understand more about what each STAR means, visit the PA Keys website at http://www.pakeys.org/stars/CountTheStars.aspx.

Accreditation

NAEYC - National Association for the Education of Young Children
National After School Association
NAFCC - National Association for Family Child Care
NECPA - National Early Childhood Program Accreditation
T.E.A.C.H - T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA

Provider/Child Ratio

Age Range	Ratio For Daycare Centers
Infants	(1:4)
Young toddlers	(1:5)
Older toddlers	(1:6)
Preschool	(1:10)
Young schoolage	(1:12)
Older schoolage	(1:15)
Mixed age group	ratio for youngest child in group

Age Range	Ratio For Family Child Care
All ages	(1:6) [no more than 2 of whom may be infants and no more than 5 may be a combination of infants and toddlers]

Contact Information for Pennsylvania Daycare and child welfare.

Licensing Agency Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Bureau of Child Day Care Office of Children, Youth and Families 1401 N. 7th Street, Bertolino Bldg., 4th Floor P.O. Box 2675 Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675 Phone: 717-787-8691 Fax: 717-787-1529 Hotline: 877-4-PA-KIDS (within state)	Child Care Subsidy Agency Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Bureau of Child Day Care Office of Children, Youth and Families 1401 N. 7th Street, Bertolino Bldg., 4th Floor P.O. Box 2675 Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675 Phone: 717-787-8691 Fax: 717-787-1529 Hotline: 877-4-PA-KIDS (within state)
Head Start - State Collaboration Office Pennsylvania Head Start - State Collaboration Office Center for Schools and Communities 1300 Market Street, Suite 12 Lemoyne, PA 17043 Phone: 717-763-1661 Fax: 717-763-2083	Child Care Food Program Agency Pennsylvania Department of Education Attn.: State Director, Division of Food and Nutrition 333 Market Street, 4th Floor Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333 Phone: 717-787-7698 Fax: 717-783-6566 Hotline: 800-331-0129
State Child Care Resource & Referral Contact Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Bureau of Child Day Care Office of Children, Youth & Families 1401 N. 7th Street, Bertolino Bldg., 4th Floor P.O. Box 2675 Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675 Phone: 717-787-8691 Fax: 717-787-1529	Office of Child Support Enforcement Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Bureau of Child Support Enforcement P.O. Box 8018 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8018 Phone: 717-783-5441 Fax: 717-772-4936 Hotline: 800-932-0211 (within state)

Paying for Child Care

Flexible Spending Account\Child Care Tax Credit - Information

http://www.fool.com/common/pages/down.aspx

http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq-kw72.html

http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq-kw39.html

http://www.growingfamilybenefits.com/dependent_day_care_fsa