Summary

AWI State‑Level VPK Program Administration

Finding No. 1:   AWI should enhance procedures to promote the accuracy and completeness of the VPK Program data maintained in the Enhanced Field System (EFS).

Finding No. 2:   AWI should continue to provide technical assistance to the coalitions regarding the establishment of VPK provider calendars in EFS.  Such assistance is needed to ensure that the calendars contain the required number of instructional hours and that VPK provider payments are properly made.

Finding No. 3:   AWI should adopt procedures that require monthly reconciliations of the EFS and AWI financial records.  To ensure the accuracy of the financial records, any differences noted during the reconciliation process should be timely investigated and resolved. 

AWI Procedures for Coalition and School District VPK Program Administration

Finding No. 4:   AWI should develop procedures requiring that all VPK records be promptly and securely returned by the provider to the coalition should the provider’s contract be terminated for any reason.

Finding No. 5:   As required by VPK law, AWI should prescribe a provider profile format for coalition use and ensure that statutorily required information is included in the profiles and that the profiles are timely provided to parents.

Finding No. 6:   AWI should take appropriate actions to ensure that coalitions timely obtain and properly retain the required parental certification naming the selected provider and directing that payments be made to that provider. 

Finding No. 7:   AWI should establish procedures to assist coalitions in the verification of provider eligibility.  In addition, AWI procedures should require that the coalitions document the provider’s eligibility before the provider is allowed to deliver VPK Program services.

Finding No. 8:   To ensure that VPK providers are timely informed of their eligibility status in advance of their planned VPK start dates, AWI should require that coalitions adopt internal processing benchmarks that establish the timeframes within which the steps in the VPK provider application review process must be completed.

Finding No. 9:   AWI, in consultation with the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), should establish procedures and provide technical assistance to the coalitions regarding acceptable documentation for and review of private provider VPK instructor eligibility.

Finding No. 10:                AWI, in consultation with DOE, should provide guidance to the coalitions and district school boards to ensure that public school VPK instructor eligibility is timely verified and appropriately documented.

Finding No. 11:                AWI, in consultation with DCFS and DOE, should develop procedures and provide technical assistance to coalitions regarding timely verification of private VPK provider licenses or accreditations.

Finding No. 12:                To provide AWI and the coalitions with the guidance necessary to consistently and equitably determine the eligibility of potential VPK providers, AWI should seek legislative clarification regarding acceptable accreditations. 

Finding No. 13:                As the State agency responsible for administration of the operational requirements of the VPK Program, AWI should develop procedures for reviewing student attendance records and verifying provider compliance.  So that interagency duplication of monitoring activities is minimized, AWI should ensure that the procedures require coordination between the coalitions, AWI, DOE, and DCFS.

Finding No. 14:                AWI should provide technical assistance to the coalitions to ensure that the coalitions comply with AWI-adopted procedures for VPK provider payments and for the maintenance of records.  In addition, AWI should enhance procedures to provide detailed instructions to the coalitions for paying VPK providers.

Finding No. 15:                AWI should implement procedures to analyze consolidated EFS data.  In addition, AWI should adopt procedures requiring coalitions to periodically review EFS data for errors and potential fraud.

AWI Monitoring of VPK Program Local Administration

Finding No. 16:                AWI should continue to enhance its VPK Program annual eligibility and triennial performance monitoring processes. 

Finding No. 17:                AWI, in consultation with DOE, should develop policies and procedures describing the process to be used to verify public school provider and district school board compliance with the operational requirements of the VPK law.  

The Director of the Agency for Workforce Innovation's response is included at the end of this report as APPENDIX A.