U.S. Office of Personnel Management Guide for Implementing Child Care Legislation

Marketing the Program to Your Employees

Ideas for marketing your agencys tuition assistance program:

• Place announcements on pay slips. Example: "Interested in financial assistance with your child care costs? Your agency can help you with licensed and/or regulated family child care costs or center-based child care costs. For more information, call" (insert the name and phone number of the administrator of your program).
• Post fliers and posters in your agency: Example: "Child Care is CostlyYou may be able to receive financial help with your child care costs for licensed and/or regulated center-based child care or family child care. Call .for more information."
• Use electronic bulletin boards. Example: "Your agency may be able to help you with your child care costs. Recent legislation permits Federal agencies to provide financial assistance to lower income Federal employees for child care in licensed and/or regulated center-based or family child care homes. If you believe you might qualify for such assistance during FY2000, please call to learn more about our program."
• Let employees who use your on-site child care center know about this legislation. Send fliers home with parents of children enrolled in your child care center.
• Set up an information telephone line that has a recorded message about the program. Include information about who should be contacted if an employee is interested in application materials.
• If your agency plans to make the program a first-come, first-served program or set a deadline for applying for tuition assistance, make that point clear in the marketing materials.
• Make it absolutely clear to your employees that this program is not an entitlement program and only applies to licensed and/or regulated child care.

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Information for Interested Employees

What should the Federal employee interested in this program do?

Federal employees interested in participating in this program should contact the individual or organization named on their agencys announcements to get more information about the tuition assistance program. Employees should also obtain a copy of the final regulations. After reviewing the available materials, if employees are still interested and their child is not yet enrolled in child care, employees should identify a licensed and/or regulated child care provider of either center-based or family child care, and assure there is a space for their child before applying for tuition assistance.

If Federal employees already have their child(ren) enrolled in licensed and/or regulated child care (center-based or family child care), and they wish to receive tuition assistance, they should fill out the tuition assistance application forms, submit them to the person or organization named on the agencys form, and wait for a decision. Once they receive the decision, they must sign the agreement form and return it to the organization administering the program.  See Appendices B, C, D and E for sample forms.

If the legislation is extended or permanently enacted, employees will be required to apply for the tuition assistance subsidy on an annual basis.

How can Federal employees obtain a copy of the regulations and identify child care services that are licensed and/or regulated?

Information about identifying child care services is included in OPMs publication, Child Care Resources Handbook. The handbook is available on OPMs website at http://www.opm.gov/wrkfam. Employees may also request a copy from OPM via email at workandfamily@opm.gov or by writing to the following address:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Family-Friendly Workplace Advocacy Office
1900 E Street NW, Rm.7316
Washington, DC 20415-2000

Employees may also wish to contact their local and/or State agencies that regulate child care that is center-based care or family child care.

What is involved in the tuition assistance application?

Employees must submit an application form and be prepared to provide copies of their recent pay stubs and latest IRS tax submissions. If a family receives local and/or State child care subsidies, they must indicate the source and the amount on their application.

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