3-A-1 Funding eligibility
Introduction
This page outlines the eligibility conditions for the ECE Funding Subsidy.
Licensed services receiving the ECE Funding Subsidy must meet these conditions at all times.
Chapter 4 contains eligibility requirements for 20 Hours ECE.
Additional compliance
In additional to the rules in his handbook, ECE services must also comply with relevant legislation, such as:
- the Education Act 1989
- the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008
- Inland Revenue legislation, rules and regulations
- health and safety regulation.
Failure to comply may in some cases affect your funding payments.
Eligible services
Early childhood services are eligible for the Funding Subsidy if they are licensed and open continuously for at least 2.5 hours per week.
Sessional services operating a session of 2.5 to 3 hours will receive funding for 3 hours.
Eligible children
Funding can be claimed only for children who fill a child-place and are less than 6 years of age.
Funding cannot be claimed for:
- children enrolled in school
- children on a waiting list who do not attend
- casual bookings made for children who do not attend.
Child-places
Each service is licensed to provide early childhood education to a maximum number of children at any one time.
This is called the number of ‘child-places’ that the service may provide.
Dual enrolments
Children may be enrolled at more than one early childhood education (ECE) service but funding cannot be claimed by two services for the same hours of attendance. Parents/guardians must attest that their child is not enrolled at another service for the same times (See Section 6-1 for further details on enrolment records).
In a dual enrolment situation, funding may be claimed only by the service at which the child was present.
Dual enrolments - Correspondence School
Children enrolled at The Correspondence School may be funded at another ECE service for up to eight hours per week.
ECE services must note this arrangement on the child’s enrolment record (see Section 6-1 for further details on enrolment records).