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Universal Preschool

Colorado

Provider Updates February 2025

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  • CDEC Office Hours
  • Reminders
    • Payment Memo
    • 24/25 Direct Enrollment Selected Status
    • Help Desk
  • Awarded Hours Eligibility 25/26
  • Program Specific Link Update
  • 25/26 School Year: What’s Next
  • How to View and Decline Matches
  • CDEC Decline Reasons
  • Edit Seat Counts by Type
  • Provider Resources

Topics

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CDEC Office Hours

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CDEC Office Hours

  • AU office hours have been scheduled as follows:
    • 2nd Tuesday of each month at 2pm- meet.google.com/vxn-siwg-zed

  • Community (including FCCH) Provider office hours with simultaneous Spanish interpretation have been scheduled as follows:
    • 1st Tuesday of each month at 6pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83557451399
    • 4th Monday of each month at 1pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88949693259
      1. We’ll be keeping in close contact with CFCCA on the need for FCCH-specific office hours.
  • School District office hours have been scheduled as follows:
    • 3rd Thursday of each month at 4pm- meet.google.com/jpw-svxi-qsv

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Reminders

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Reminder- Payment Operation Memo

Please review this memo that formalizes and builds upon the original payment communication that went out in July. This is why, you may notice, it is dated for July 2024.

In it you will find more details and information on payments and reconciliation. These memos are also posted on the CDEC website for future reference.

We will address further payment questions at Provider Office Hours.

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Reminder- 2024/2025 Direct Enrollment Selected Status

Due to pre-registration for 25/26 and concurrent 24/25 direct enrollment, the “selected” status under the matched tab is not visible. Instead of viewing students directly by clicking on the selected status you will need to use the filter feature.

First ensure you are in the correct program year and then from your matched tab, click on the Status drop down. Then, click on the box next to “selected”. This is how you will be able to see the students who have selected your program and continue to follow the direct enrollment process for the 24/25 program year.

Status drop down

Click the box to see selected students

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The new Help Desk is now live! Parents, providers, and LCOs can now reach the Help Desk team by:

Colorado Universal Preschool Help Desk

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Awarded Hours Eligibility for 25-26 family applications

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Awarded Hours Eligibility for 25-26 family applications

For the 2025-26 school year, families and providers will receive verification of the child’s awarded hours before each placement phase. The first verification letters were sent out on January 27, 2025. Providers also received confirmation that awarded hours listed on the enrollment report were final on January 27, 2025. The following slides include detailed information regarding family notification and reading your enrollment report.

Please attend any of the Provider Office Hours (mentioned in slides above) for any questions regarding these eligibility awards.

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Chart Title

Awarded Hours Eligibility for 25-26 family applications

Before each matching round and biweekly throughout direct enrollment, we will send the communication below to the following groups:

Families eligible for supplemental hours: These are families who submitted their application within the validation window and meet 270% FPL (Federal Poverty Line) income, plus one additional qualifying factor. 270% FPL (Federal Poverty Line) Income plus one additional qualifying factor.

Families ineligible for supplemental hours: These are families who do not meet the 270% FPL (Federal Poverty Line) and/or do not have any other qualifying factors, but have selected at least one full or extended day option.

Eligibility Notification Schedule:

  • January 27th by 5pm: Families who submitted their application by 10:00 AM on 1/22/25.
  • February 3rd by 5pm: Families who submitted their application between 1/22/25 and 10:00 AM on 1/31/25.
  • March 3rd by 5pm: Families who submitted their application between 1/31/25 and 10:00 AM on 2/28/25.
  • Notices will be sent bi-weekly after the March 3rd Notice.

What you need to know:

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Chart Title

Awarded Hours Eligibility for 25-26 family applications

Your enrollment report shows initial eligibility details in the "Child Eligibility: Hours per Week" column. To see who received the eligibility letter on 1/27, check the "Application Status Last Updated" date. All applications submitted before 1/24/25 at 10:00 AM have been verified. We are working on adding a column to the report to indicate whether a family has received the eligibility notification. Thank you for your patience as we improve this process.

No matter the order of the numbers of the HPW, the child is eligible for all hours including the highest number listed in the report. These values indicate the number of hours per week the child is eligible for, such as:

  • 10 HPW = Eligible for up to 10 hours of free preschool per week
  • 10 HPW, 15 HPW = Eligible for up to 15 hours of free preschool per week
  • 10 HPW, 15 HPW, 30 HPW = Eligible for up to 30 hours of free preschool per week

HOW DO I SEE WHICH OF MY STUDENTS QUALIFY FOR SUPPLEMENTAL HOURS?

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Program Specific Link Update

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Program Specific Link Update

The program-specific referral link will bypass the age eligibility requirement when a family fills out the application through that link, so it is important that you pre-screen for age eligibility before sharing the referral link with families.

This also means that, moving forward, please only share your links with families whose children you know are age eligible. If a family registers through the link you share and their child is not age-eligible, the system will not catch this ineligibility and proceed with the application which could cause payment issues in the future. The Universal Preschool team is looking into this issue and resolutions.

You must confirm eligibility, including age eligibility, for all students before enrolling them into your program in the Colorado Universal Preschool provider portal. Colorado Universal Preschool can not pay for age-ineligible children per statute.

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25/26 School Year

What’s Next

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Chart Title

2025/2026 School Year

The last pre-registration nightly batch is on February 3rd. Families will accept or decline their match between February 3rd-10th. If you have families who missed the CoC window and you would like to ensure their placement during direct enrollment please contact your LCO to reduce your seats.

Family Matching

  • December 17 - February 5: Registration through upk.Colorado.gov opens for families.
  • February 10: First family-to-provider matching round runs.
  • February 12 - February 21: Providers review and accept or decline matches.
  • February 24: Families notified of first round matches. Families must accept or decline by March 3.

*Important Note- At this time, the enrollment form for the 25/26 program year is NOT ready.

Please wait to complete enrollment in the Universal Preschool Portal until you have heard from CDEC that the form is ready. Completing enrollment early, before the new form is ready, could result in you having to complete the form twice. We will send out a message to all providers when the enrollment form is ready for you to complete with a reminder to check age eligibility.

  • The second family-to-provider matching round will start on March 10th. Please see the 2025-2026 Universal Preschool Calendar for more details.

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Chart Title

2025/2026 School Year

Non-IEP Direct Enrollment:

Beginning April 1st until the end of the 2025–26 school year direct enrollment for non-IEP families will occur directly through providers.

IEP Registration:

December 2024 through the end of the 2025-26 school year: As families whose children have IEPs submit their applications starting in December, they are assigned to an AU. Starting in January 2025, the AU can place the student into a program using the Program ID through the AU Portal.

March 2025 through the end of the 2025–26 school year: Special Education Administrative Units (AUs) and school districts will request placement of students in accordance with their IEPs and CDEC will support direct upload of those identified placements. Providers will accept matches within 2 weeks of receiving a match; families will have until the start of the school year to accept matches.

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How to View and Decline Matches

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Chart Title

How to View and Decline Matches

  1. Login to the Provider Portal at provider.upk.colorado.gov/welcome.
  2. Navigate to the “Matched” Tab.
  3. Select the correct year to view in the top drop down menu.
  4. Select the correct location to view from the middle drop down menu.

Pro Tip:

  • When reviewing this screen, users have the option to filter by status to better manage matches
  • New records will show a “new” tag
  • Pre-Registration matches will show the pre-registration element for verification

Pre-Registration Element

Status Filter

New Record Tag

Location Drop Down

School year drop down

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CDEC Decline Reasons

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The following types of programmatic preferences were included in the Program Set Up Form. If you checked any of these in your PSUF and choose to decline a match for one of these reasons no further action will be needed for those declines.

  • I have confirmed that this family will not be able to meet my participation requirements as a co-op
  • I have confirmed that this child does not meet the language requirement to participate in my program
  • I have confirmed this child does not live in the district and is ineligible for my program
  • I have confirmed that this child requires specially designed instruction that my location cannot support
  • I have confirmed that we do not have an open general education seat in my location
  • I have confirmed that this child does not meet additional factors to qualify for Head Start
  • I am a provider who grants preference to an eligible child who is residing in foster/kinship care

CDEC Decline Reasons

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The following decline reasons are only available during pre-registration:

  • I am a provider that prioritizes placement for the children of my employees
  • This child does not qualify for pre registration because they are not a current student
  • This child does not qualify for pre registration because they do not have a sibling that currently attends my program
  • This child does not qualify for pre registration because they do not have a family member on my program staff
  • You selected the correct Location (District) but the Provider selected does not match our understanding of your continuity of care preference
  • You selected the correct Provider but your Program does not match our understanding of your continuity of care preference

CDEC may deny requests for declines.

CDEC Decline Reasons

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We also recognize that certain providers may have specific requirements of families in order to participate in their program that are not outlined in the Provider Program Set Up Form.

If you need to request to decline a placement based on a requirement that is not listed in previous slides and not in the Program Set Up Form you must reach out to your LCO for next steps in processing your request to decline.

In order for CDEC to approve a decline based on a reason not listed in your Program Set Up form, and the reason for decline is outlined in your program’s handbook as approved by licensing that is published in your provider profile, your handbook must be submitted to your LCO as part of the CDEC review process.

CDEC Decline Reasons

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Edit Seat Count By Type

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PROGRAM SEATS: EDIT SEAT COUNTS BY TYPE

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HOW TO EDIT SEATS BY TYPE

The ability to adjust seats is only to be available during the direct enrollment phase of each school year. Providers have the ability to add to the number of seats by type directly through the provider portal to ensure accurate information is presented to families.

To edit seats by type:

  1. From the locations tab, Select the three dots next to the program name for the program you’d like to adjust, and then select “edit seats”
  2. In the resulting pop up, select the plus (+) sign to add seats
  3. Click Save to save the seat change

If you do not see the “Edit Seats” functionality, it is not currently enabled - please contact your LCO. If you are interested in removing seats, please work with your LCO as defined in the provider handbook.

*NOTE- For the 25/26 school year during Feb 4 - Feb 9: Providers can adjust seats by adding seats on their own, or by connecting with their LCO to remove seats. If you need support with other seat adjustments please reach out to your LCO.

2. Add Seats

3. Save

1. Select three dots

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Provider Resources

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Provider Resources

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THANK YOU.

Questions?