Child Care Management System Update

The Government's Child Care Management System (CCMS) project is a national child care computer system designed to improve the way Child Care Benefit (CCB) fee reductions are managed.

It will also provide improved information on child care supply and usage for families, services and the Government.

According to the Government, when it is fully operational the CCMS will bring all approved child care services online to standardise and simplify the administration of CCB.

Child care services will be able to provide information directly to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) via the Internet to allow calculation and payment of CCB fee reductions on behalf of children in their service.

While parents will be able to access an online statement from Centrelink to obtain details of the CCB payments made on their behalf to their child care service(s).

The CCMS is to be rolled out progressively across child care services from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2009. Long Day Care and Family Day Care services were to begin transitioning from January 2008.

In Home Care, Vacation Care and Occasional Care Services were expected to start transitioning from July 2008 and the Government expects all services to be operating under the new system by July 2009.

However extensions may be granted in the case of exceptional circumstances and services are required to contact the CCMS help desk to negotiate these extensions.

How will the new system work?
Once a child care service is operating under the CCMS staff will be required to submit information via the internet about all the children in their service. Child care providers will use their CCMS software to send attendance information via the internet on either a weekly or fortnightly basis.

This information will be used by the Family Assistance Office (FAO) to calculate the CCB payment for each eligible family. Instead of the current quarterly advance/acquit process, payments of CCB for each child will be made once attendance information has been received and processed by DEEWR and the FAO.

In addition, an Enrolment Advance payment system is being introduced to assist services to maintain their cash flow in the period between when a child starts care and when the first CCB payment is received. This payment will be a flat amount for each eligible enrolment and can be used at the discretion of the service. Once the child leaves care, the Enrolment Advance will be recovered by DEEWR.

Transitioning to the CCMS
By the time you are reading this you will probably be well on your way to transitioning to the new CCMS. Services are required to contact DEEWR about a transfer date and once the date is agreed they have 30 days to prepare for transition to the CCMS.

Preparations may include;

• Applying for financial assistance
  DEEWR is providing financial assistance to help child care services cover some of the costs of moving to the new CCMS. Services need to apply for assistance before they start the transition process.
• Upgrading or purchasing new software
  One of the most important steps in transitioning to the CCMS is to ensure your service has the correct computer hardware, software and an internet connection.
  
  To receive CCB fee reductions under the new system child care providers will have to use software which has been registered with the DEEWR for use under the CCMS.
  
  Some software providers have already updated existing service software packages or introduced new packages that meet DEEWR's requirements. Click here for a list of registered CCMS software suppliers or here for a list of software suppliers currently developing CCMS solutions.
• Training staff
  DEEWR has produced a range of booklets designed to make it easier for child care services to train their staff in the new system. Click here to download a range of training resources.
• Creating enrolments for the children in your care in your CCMS software
  Once the CCMS is operational and you have the necessary information from parents/guardians you should be able to start creating enrolments for the children in your service. It is at this time that you should also indicate whether you wish to receive an enrolment advance.
  
  Once enrolments have been created you should be able to start recording attendance for each child using the CCMS. At the end of each week of care these records should be submitted to DDEWR which will pay the CCB. This payment should be passed on to eligible families as a reduction in their fees.
  
  Once you have started operating under the new system any outstanding statements of child care usage will need to be lodged with the FAO Child Care Payment Team for processing and acquittal. Once these have been lodged the FAO will calculate any adjustments required and advise DEEWR, who will make any final payment or create a debt to recover any overpaid funds.

Debts and overpayments
If your service has an existing debt with the FAO this will be transferred to DEEWR which will take over responsibility for its recovery. Your service will be contacted shortly after transition to the CCMS to discuss recovery arrangements.

If your service has a debt with DEEWR due to overpayment as a result of the acquittal of a statement of child care usage lodged with FAO, these funds will be recovered through the reduction of future payments under the CCMS. This will generally occur over a period of up to 13 weeks.

Support
The Government has established a new helpdesk to provide information and support for child care services as they transition and start operating under the new system. The helpdesk also provides assistance relating to CCB policy for child care services.
 
The CCMS Helpdesk is available Monday to Friday between 8am and 8:30pm AEST/AEDT.

To contact the CCMS Helpdesk:

Phone: 1300 667 276
Email: CCMSHelpdesk@fahcsia.gov.au