ECE Equity Funding - Questions and Answers
Contents
Q: What is Equity Funding?
Q: What is Equity Funding for?
Q: What are the objectives of equity funding?
Q: What does our service need to do to apply for a review of our service's equity index?
Q: When will my service receive our equity funding?
Q: How can our service spend our equity funding?
Q: What are the reporting requirements for equity funding?
Q: What is the role of umbrella organisations and pay units?
Q: What are the payment rates for equity funding?
Q: What if my service disagrees with the equity index we have been allocated?
Q: What if our service did not participate in previous children's addresses collection processes?
Q: When is the next update of the Equity and Isolation Index?
Q: How do new services apply to receive equity funding?
Q: Who do I contact for more information about equity funding?
Q: What is Equity Funding?
A: Equity funding provides additional targeted funding to some early childhood education services. Equity funding is an `add-on' to the early childhood bulk funding subsidy.
Q: What is Equity Funding for?
A: Equity funding is targeted to licensed early childhood education services:
- in low socio-economic communities
- that may have significant numbers of children with special education needs or from non-English speaking backgrounds
- in isolated areas
- that are based on a language and culture other than English (including sign language).
Q: What are the objectives of equity funding?
A: The objectives of equity funding are to:
- reduce educational disparities between different groups in New Zealand communities
- reduce barriers to participation faced by those groups that are under represented in Early childhood Services
- support Early childhood services to raise their level of educational achievement.
Q: Which services are eligible to receive equity funding?
A: Prior to 1 July 2011 services can apply to have their eligibility determined if they are a licensed, community based early childhood education service..
From 1 July 2011
All services can apply to have their eligibility determined if they are a licensed early childhood education service, either through the new service process or the review process.
Private ECE services that might become eligible for equity funding after 1 July 2011 will be sent a service application pack, from the Ministry, to ascertain the addresses of children who attend their services to assign an equity index rating. The Ministry will advise services of their equity index rating and any resulting Equity Funding entitlement.
Q: What does our service need to do to apply for a review of our service's equity index?
A: The service needs to read the review of equity index material, and obtain review application packs. These packs are available from the Contact Centre, Resourcing Division (details below), or from the Resourcing/Funding section of the Ministry's web site (www.lead.ece.govt.nz).
Q: When will my service receive our equity funding?
A: Payments of equity funding occur at the same time as payment of the early childhood bulk funding subsidy (ie March, July and November).
Q: How can our service spend our equity funding?
A: Equity funding must be spent with the equity objectives for participation and quality in mind. How each service spends their equity funding will depend on the component (or components) the service is eligible for. Suggestions for ways to spend equity funding are available in your ECE Funding Handbook.
Q: What are the reporting requirements for equity funding?
A: Services must report directly to parents and the local community on how they spend the additional resourcing. These reports may also be subject to external review by the Ministry of Education and/or ERO.
The reporting mechanism may be decided at the discretion of individual services (or the Pay Unit/Management group). At minimum each service must include the following information in their annual report (presented at their annual general meeting):
- an outline of the amount received under each component of equity funding
- a brief description of what the funding was spent on
- a brief outline of the reasons for spending the equity funding in that way
Q: What is the role of umbrella organisations and pay units?
A: Services grouped under an umbrella organisation such as a Playcentre Association, may wish to combine the funding they receive if this allows them to address particular equity problems identified in their community. Umbrella organisations must only do this if they have the full agreement of each of the services that generated the funding.
Q: What are the payment rates for equity funding?
A: For Component A: Low Socio-Economic Status and Component B: Special Needs and Non-English Speaking Backgrounds.
The actual amount of funding generated by an individual service is determined by its equity index and the actual Funded Child Hours (FCHs) claimed by that service (through the RS7 Form).
As with the bulk funding subsidy, payment of equity funding will not exceed the maximum of 6 hours per child-place per day, with a limit of 30 hours per child-place over 7 days.
The scale of rates increases according to the equity index, which means that a service with an equity index of 1 receives a higher FCH rate than a service with an equity index of 4. This is because a service with an equity index of 1 has been determined to have a higher proportion of children from low socio-economic communities than a service with an equity index of 4.
The payment rates (November 2010 onwards) for these two components are:
Low Socio-Economic
Rate per FCH |
Special Needs and Non English Speaking Backgrounds
Rate per FCH |
| EQI 1 $0.42 |
EQI 1 $0.20 |
| EQI 2 $0.33 |
EQI 2 $0.13 |
| EQI 3 $0.18 |
EQI 3 $0.09 |
| EQI 4 $0.09 |
EQI 4 $0.08 |
For Component C: Language & Culture Other than English (including sign language)
Payment under this component is not tied to the size of a service, and is paid by way of a fixed monthly grant.
Services will receive $2,116.68 per annum, or $176.39 per month.
For Component D: Isolation
Payment under this component is not tied to the size of a service, and is paid by way of a fixed monthly grant. The grant increases to reflect higher degrees of isolation within the eligibility threshold. This means that more isolated services receive a higher rate of funding.
The payment bands are as follows:
| Isolation Index Bands |
Monthly Amount |
| 2.54 and greater |
$290.45
|
| 1.84 - 2.53 |
$150.52 |
| 1.65 - 1.83 |
$99.95 |
Q: What if my service disagrees with the equity index we have been allocated?
A: A service can apply for a review of its equity index. To be eligible to apply, the service must have experienced significant changes:
- in either the community profile, or catchment area from which children are drawn; or
- show that the census data used to generate their equity index does not reflect the characteristics/situation of children attending their service.
Only those services that have participated in the process to-date (eg supplied children's addresses) are eligible to apply for a review.
Any application for a review must be supported by evidence that a change has occurred. This information will need to be more recent than Census 2006 data.
Q: What if our service did not participate in previous children's addresses collection processes?
A: If a service did not previously supply necessary information but now would like to, the service can be incorporated into the "new services" process. The service will need to advise the Ministry of Education that they want to be included in the next children's address collection process.
Q: When is the next update of the Equity Index?
A: The equity index will be updated after the completion of the next census.
Q: How do new services apply to receive equity funding?
A: Twice a year, new services are sent a children's address collection pack. This determines eligibility for funding against components A and B of equity funding.
Isolation index is calculated automatically based on a services location. Services will be notified of whether they are eligible for funding on their funding advice notice a couple of months after opening.
If you think your service is eligible for funding against the Language and Culture other than English (including sign language) component of equity funding, you need to complete the EC15 Language and Culture Attestation Form and return to:
Resourcing Division,
Ministry of Education
PO Box 1666, Wellington.
This form is available from the ECE Forms webpage.
Q: Who do I contact for more information about equity funding?
A: If you would like to know more about equity funding contact the:
Contact Centre
Resourcing Division
Ministry of Education
PO Box 1666
Wellington
Ph: 04-463 8383
Fax: 04-463 8374
email: resourcing@minedu.govt.nz