Section 50.1360  Program Monitoring, Workforce Education, and Complaints

a)         Program participants shall be monitored by the Department and its Qualified Partners to ensure that funds are spent as specified in Section 50.1330. Monitoring may include desk audits and/or on-site reviews of the program participants.

b)         The Department and its Qualified Partners shall review a percentage of submitted payroll and other documentation per quarter.

c)         The Department and its Qualified Partners will create a notification system for child care assistants, early childhood assistants, and early childhood teachers employed by a program participant to report if they are not receiving wages at or above the program's required wage floor. The notification system will allow for anonymous notifications. Any indication that a child care program may not be meeting required wage floors may lead to an audit.

d)         Child care programs with more than one staff member that receive an award must post and keep posted, in a place easily accessible to all classroom staff working in participating classrooms, at least one notice that indicates:

1)         the program and classrooms participating in the Smart Start Workforce Grants;

2)         the required wage floor; and

3)         how to access the notification system.

(Source:  Added at 48 Ill. Reg. 14957, effective October 1, 2024)