Learn how to participate in Maryland EXCELS.
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For Child Care and Early Education Programs
If you wish to enroll a child whose family uses Child Care Scholarship, you must be a Maryland EXCELS participant.
Child Care Provider Portal
All providers participating in the Child Care Scholarship program—including licensed centers, letter of compliance facilities, military centers, registered family child care providers, and informal child care providers—must register and use the Child Care Provider Portal.
Key Features of the Portal:
- Licensing Application: Easily complete your licensing application, whether it's an initial or continuing application.
- Informal Application: Submit and manage your informal application directly through the portal.
- Attendance and Invoicing: Track and manage attendance records and invoices for children receiving Child Care Scholarships.
- Program Information: Review and update your program information annually, or as soon as any provider details change, to stay compliant with MSDE requirements.
- Scholarship Requests: Access a list of all pending scholarship enrollments for your program.
- Delegated Admin: Grant staff members permissions to assist with managing licensing and scholarship-related tasks.
- Document Management: Upload and manage all supporting documents through the self-service feature in the portal.
Invoice & Payment History
Providers can use the Child Care Provider Portal to submit child care scholarship program invoices for payment, view the status of invoices, record voluntary closure dates, and record child absences to ensure accurate reporting.
Manage and Track Attendance
Providers will manage and track attendance by submitting timely and accurate attendance records utilizing the child care provider portal.
Upload Documents
Providers will use the upload feature to efficiently process and upload important documents. For example, if you need to upload sign-in/sign-out sheets or documents required by your licensing specialist.
View Scholarship Requests
Providers will use the Child Care Portal to accept or decline scholarship requests made by families requesting enrollment in a child care program.
Learn how to register for the Child Care Provider Portal
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Getting Paid: Co- and Advance Payment Basics
Co-Payment
The family co-payment is the amount that the family pays for child care and is an amount assigned by the State. The amount of the co-payment for each child decreases if families are receiving scholarships for more than one child. Families eligible for Temporary Cash Assistance and Supplemental Security Income have a $0 co-payment. Many child care facilities charge an additional amount to families -- this is called an additional fee and is the difference between the amount they charge any family, the reimbursement amount and the State assigned co-pay. Payment information should be clearly addressed in any provider contract.
Advance Payment
Advanced, Enrollment-Based Payments
- MSDE will pay providers in advance, not retroactively; and
- MSDE will issue the advance payment based on enrollment, where enrollment is defined as the number of children appearing on the child care providers invoice by the last Saturday of the previous calendar month.
How Advance Payment works?
Service periods are condensed from every two weeks to a single, monthly service period. MSDE will then pay providers in advance, MSDE processes Advance Payment based on the number of children on a provider’s invoice by the last Saturday of each month. MSDE will do so via the total amount of the Advance Payment divided into two payments dates: one the 15th of the month for services provided the 1-15th; and the second on the 30th for services provided the 16th – end of month.
The Advance Payment amount is based on enrollment the attendance of children with enrolled scholarships. Unless a child’s absences have exceeded 60 days within a calendar year, the Advance Payment will include payment for the days of absenteeism.
Learn more about Advance Payments
Attendance Audit: How to Avoid Having to Pay Back Money
“Maryland EXCELS helps me as a provider to look at what I’m doing every day and to improve the quality of our child care.”
-- Terri Milburn, Registered Family Child Care Provider from Harford County.
Getting Help with Child Care Scholarship payment issues
Inquiries related to the Child Care Scholarship (CCS) program payment inquiries must be sent to CCS Central 2 by phone at 877.227.0125 or by using the link online. "Using the Link" is the best way for providers to get fast and accurate information from CCS Central 2.
Child Care Scholarship Providers - Child Care Scholarship Provider Inquiry
For more information on the Child Care Scholarship Program CLICK HERE.