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T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA Recipient Manual
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA
Recipient Manual
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA is administered by:
MN Child Care Resource & Referral Network
380 Lafayette Road E, Suite 103
Saint Paul, MN 55107
(651) 290-9704
www.mnchildcare.org/TEACH/
September 2012
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T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA Recipient Manual
Dear Scholarship Recipient,
Welcome to the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA Scholarship Program! We’re very excited that you
have accepted the challenge of continuing your education while working in the early childhood and/or schoolage care field. To ensure that you have a successful experience in our scholarship program, you are receiving
this handbook as part of your scholarship acceptance packet.
Please carefully read through each section of this manual before signing your contract; we want you to have a
clear understanding of T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA and our expectations. Each section is designed to provide you
with specific information about how the program works. The last page of this manual contains a T.E.A.C.H.
Staff Directory and contact information. Please contact us with questions or concerns you may have. We are
here to help you have a successful experience with T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA.
We hope you find the T.E.A.C.H. Recipient Handbook useful and refer to it often throughout your participation
in the scholarship program. We wish you the best and look forward to working with you as you pursue your
educational goals.
Sincerely,
T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA Scholarship Program Staff
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T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA Scholarship Program
Table of Contents
Scholarship Introduction & Overview
 What is T.E.A.C.H
 History of T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Project
 History of T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA
 T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA mission statement
 Administering Organization
 Funding
 Available Scholarships
 Eligibility
 Role of the Counselor
College Application & Admissions Process
 Applying for Financial Aid
 Applying for Admission
 Contacting an Early Childhood/Child Development Advisor
Scholarship Recipient Policies and Procedures
 Contract Requirements
 Requirements of the Scholarship Recipient
 Registration and Charging Tuition to T.E.A.C.H (MNCCR&R)
 Adding, Dropping or Withdrawing from Classes
 Grades
 Bonus and/or Raise
 Commitment
 Failing to Complete Your Commitment
 Contract Completion
 Contract Renewals
 Graduating
 Switching Scholarships
Reimbursement Forms & Procedures
 Tuition
 Books
 Travel
 Release Time
T.E.A.C.H. Communication
 Newsletter
 T.E.A.C.H. Web Site
 Facebook
T.E.A.C.H. Staff & Counselor Directory
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T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA Scholarship
Introduction & Program Overview
What is the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Program?
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA is a scholarship program intended to help early childhood and schoolage care professionals increase their levels of education, compensation and commitment to the field.
History of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Program
The Teacher Education And Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) Early Childhood® Program began in North
Carolina in 1990 to upgrade the level of education of the teachers working with young children, while making
the educational process affordable, increasing wages and reducing turnover.
Over the past two decades, the program has received national attention as one of the first to link teacher
education and compensation. Teachers have completed on average 14 credits each year, turnover rates have
decreased and salaries have increased because of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Project. The program has
since expanded to more than 20 states across the nation. For more information on the creation of T.E.A.C.H. in
North Carolina and states that currently administer the program, visit www.childcareservices.org.
History of T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA, a program of the Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral
Network (MNCCR&R), began in 2002. In its first year, T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA served a select portion of
Minnesota only, offering the CDA and associate degree scholarship options. During the fall of 2003, T.E.A.C.H.
MINNESOTA awarded its first bachelor’s degree scholarship. Currently T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA serves child care
providers and centers statewide, offering a variety of scholarship models to meet providers’ needs.
As the licensee agency, MNCCR&R sets Minnesota’s policies and procedures for operating the T.E.A.C.H.
program within the guidelines established by North Carolina, the license holder of T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood®.
In making decisions that impact T.E.A.C.H., MNCCR&R utilizes input from the T.E.A.C.H. Advisory Committee
and other key early care and education stakeholders.
To continue operating a successful program, T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA also evaluates recipients and sponsoring
centers on an annual basis to better understand their experience with the program and to make necessary
changes for improvement.
T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA’s Mission Statement
The mission of T.E.A.C.H. is to promote and provide support needed for child care professionals to increase
their level of education, retention and compensation, while ensuring that it is economically and professionally
feasible for individuals to stay in the field.
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Administering Organization
The Minnesota Child Care Resource & Referral Network (MNCCR&R), which administers T.E.A.C.H.
MINNESOTA, is dedicated to assisting families, providers and communities with child care information and
services. For more information about the MNCCR&R Network visit www.mnchildcare.org.
Funding
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA is funded largely through federal dollars but also receives some
foundation support. T.E.A.C.H., the scholarship recipient and the sponsoring child care center (when
applicable) all pay a portion of educational costs.
Available Scholarships
 CDA Training for College Credit
o This scholarship covers some of the credits needed to meet the training requirement for the
National Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential. This scholarship is currently available
for studies at Dakota County Technical College, Mesabi Range Community and Technical College
and Leech Lake Tribal College.
 Associate Degree Scholarship
o This scholarship is for child care and school-age care professionals who are working towards a
two year degree in Early Childhood or Child Development.
 Bachelor Degree Scholarship
o This scholarship is for child care and school-age care professionals who are working towards a
four year degree in Early Childhood or Child Development.
 Student Teaching Scholarship
o This scholarship is available to child care and school-age care professionals who are enrolled in
Student Teaching and are able to work 10 hours/week while completing their student teaching
requirements.
 Judy Lindman Memorial Scholar Forgivable Loan Program
o This forgivable loan is available to high school seniors who want to pursue a two year degree in
Child Development or Early Childhood Development.
With the exception of the Judy Lindman Memorial award, all scholarship models are available to Minnesota
early childhood and school-age care professionals who work full-time or part-time in a legally regulated or
licensed child care/school-age care program or operate a licensed family child care program and meet the
eligibility requirements.
In some rare cases it is possible that a recipient may have more than one scholarship at a time. To learn more
about this possibility, please speak with a T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA program counselor.
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Eligibility Requirements*
 Be a U.S. citizen or legal resident
 Work in Minnesota
 Have a high school diploma or GED
 Work directly with children at least 15 hours per week for a minimum of 780 hours per year
 Be employed by your current program or working under your current family child care license for at
least the past six months at the time of application
 Accepted into an approved Minnesota accredited college or university early childhood/child
development program or
 Pursuing a National Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential through a higher education CDA
program (named earlier in this manual)
 Agree to continue working at least one additional year beyond your contract year at your current child
care or school-age care program (i.e. commitment year)
*Home-based programs are not eligible for this scholarship, i.e. Early Head Start
Role of the Counselor
One feature that makes the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA scholarship program unique is providing
scholarship recipients with a program counselor. Counselors answer questions regarding scholarship contracts
and policies/procedures and provide suggestions regarding scholarship options. The counselor communicates
on behalf of recipients with participating colleges and universities to ensure prompt payment for approved
classes. Counselors are an important component of the program; they help make T.E.A.C.H. a success for
everyone.
College Application & Admissions Process
I. Applying for Financial Aid
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA Scholarship recipients are required to apply for other sources of
financial aid. Working full-time and attending school is challenging and financial aid can alleviate financial
stresses. Recipients must apply for both federal and state funded financial aid by completing the FAFSA (Free
Application for Federal Student Aid) form. For more information, visit www.fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm or call 1800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). Recipients should also contact their college/university’s financial aid office
for additional information on financial aid opportunities available at their college/university.
a. FEDERAL STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
i. Federal Pell Grants: The Federal Pell Grant is the largest federal grant program for
undergraduate students. It is specifically targeted for the neediest students in the
country. The Federal Pell Grant is not a loan, so it does not have to be repaid after
you graduate. The amount of the Federal Pell Grant award varies by enrollment
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level—full-time, three-quarter-time, half-time and less than half-time. Federal Pell
Grants are “portable,” meaning that if you qualify for a Pell Grant at one school, you
are likely to qualify for a Pell Grant at other schools. Pell Grants are limited to
students who have not yet received a bachelor’s degree.
ii. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant: The FSEOG is another grant
program for the very neediest students. Unlike the Pell Grant, each school awards
the FSEOG from its allocation, so awards will vary from school to school. FSEOG
funds are also limited to those who have not yet received a bachelor’s degree.
iii. Minnesota State Grant: The Minnesota State Grant program is the largest grant
program to students administered by the state. Minnesota State Grants are similar
to Pell Grants in that they do not have to be repaid after graduation, and they are
portable. However, because the Minnesota State Grant is based in part on the
tuition cost of the school, there will be some variance in award amounts from school
to school.
iv. Minnesota Post-Secondary Child Care Grant: The Child Care Grant program
provides grant funds to students who need assistance with child care expenses while
attending school. The Child Care grant program requires a separate application.
b.
Outside Scholarships are scholarships that are from sources outside the school. You need to print
off an application from the scholarship website and submit it to the scholarship agency. Your college
may know about some of these scholarships.
c. Foundation Scholarships are scholarships that the school administers. You must have completed
the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and be enrolled in six or more credits to qualify
for these funds. The funds come from outside agencies, former employees and internal donations.
You need to contact the college/university’s financial aid department to see if these scholarships are
available to you. College/universities typically have a Foundation Scholarship Application that you
can print off from their website.
d. Achieve Scholarship Program is designed to provide financial assistance to eligible students who
complete qualifying secondary school coursework.
e. GI Bill Program is designed to provide postsecondary financial assistance to eligible Minnesota
veterans and to the children and spouses of deceased or severely disabled eligible Minnesota
veterans.
f. Minnesota Indian Scholarship Program is designed to provide postsecondary financial assistance to
eligible Minnesota resident students who are of one-fourth or more American Indian ancestry and
demonstrate financial need for an award.
g. State Work Study Program is designed to provide monetary assistance to students with financial
need who are pursuing a postsecondary education, to provide students with valuable work
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experiences and to provide non-profit service agencies, handicapped persons and persons over 65
with low cost student assistance.
h. Minnesota Public Safety Officers Survivor Grant Program is designed to provide financial assistance
to students pursuing postsecondary education who are spouses or dependent children of public
safety officers killed in the line of duty. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education (the Agency)
administers the education benefit portion of the Public Safety Officers Survivor Benefits.
i. Alliss Educational Foundation Grants: The Alliss grant is an opportunity grant, designed to help
adult learners begin college or return to college. The grant is not based on family income and is
available to all new Minnesota community college students who qualify. Grants are available to
start school any term. The grant provides payment of tuition for one course—up to five semester
credits—and also covers the cost of required textbooks for that course. To qualify, the course
selected must be a transferable course that would be accepted as an integral academic part of an
A.A., A.S., or A.A.S. degree program or a preliminary or developmental-level course if it is required
for the student to start a degree program. Certificate and diploma programs are ineligible as are
on-the-job customized training courses. Grant recipients must be out of school for at least seven
years. They may be first-time community college enrollees who graduated from high school at least
seven years ago, or former college students who haven’t been in college for seven years.
j. SELF Loan Program is designed to provide educational loans to Minnesota postsecondary students
who are unable to obtain sufficient funds from other non-loan financial aid programs to meet their
financial need.
k. Subsidized loans are awarded on the basis of financial need. You won't be charged any interest
before you begin repaying the loan because the federal government subsidizes the interest during
this time. This type of financial aid does need to be paid back.
l. Unsubsidized Loans have interest that is charged from the time the money is first disbursed until it
is paid in full. The interest is capitalized, meaning that you pay interest on any interest that has
already accrued. One way to minimize how much interest accrues is to pay the interest as it
accumulates.
II. Applying for Admission
Scholarship recipients must apply to their college/university for admission by contacting your chosen
college/university’s admissions office for an application or visiting its website. Typically colleges/universities
charge a one-time application and/or admission fee and require it at the time the application is submitted.
T.E.A.C.H. does not reimburse college application and/or admission fees; scholarship recipients must pay this
fee. Colleges often require you to take an Accuplacer test prior to being accepted as well. Contact your college
of choice to find out the requirements for acceptance into the college. For a list of colleges who offer an
approved early childhood/child development program visit our website at
http://mnchildcare.org/TEACH/schools.php or call (651) 290-9704 ext. 106.
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T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA Scholarship Recipient
Procedures and Policies
Contract Requirements & Eligibility
To help individuals understand the paperwork required for our program, new T.E.A.C.H. scholarship recipients
receive a packet or binder including their contract, a recipient handbook and other useful information. In all
scholarship award mailings (with or without binder/packet), each T.E.A.C.H. recipient receives two copies of
the scholarship contract that outlines the agreement and each participant’s responsibilities. All copies must
be signed by T.E.A.C.H., the scholarship recipient and their sponsoring center (if applicable). You are required
to mail in one of the signed contracts to T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA; this must be mailed with the original
signature on it (not a copy). The remaining contract is for the recipient and center. Centers are encouraged to
make a copy of the contract to keep on file. The contract outlines each party’s responsibilities.
Requirements of the Scholarship Recipient
 Each semester, recipients are responsible for paying a portion of tuition and books.
 The contract runs for a full calendar year from the term that it is awarded (i.e. fall 2010 through
summer 2011). The scholarship recipient must successfully complete a minimum of nine credits
within the contract year to be eligible for the bonus/raise, but T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA will cover
up to a maximum of 15 credits. (Authorized credits covered by the Pell Grant or other outside
funds do count toward the 15 credit maximum. This allows T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA to support a
larger number of child care professionals in their educational pursuits.)
 Recipients who choose to take additional credits above the contract limit can pay for the credits
themselves or utilize student loans or self loans, if eligible.
 Upon successful completion of the commitment year (following the contract year), scholarship
recipients will receive compensation in the form of a bonus or raise from their sponsoring
center (if applicable) and/or from MNCCR&R depending upon the scholarship model. However,
in order for MNCCR&R to issue a bonus to the recipient and/or a compensation letter to the
sponsoring center, recipients must submit all required grade reports and paperwork to
MNCCR&R. Recipients must also have a balance due of less than $100.
 If a recipient fails to submit required paperwork, the T.E.A.C.H. program counselor will attempt
to collect necessary paperwork by submitting letters and phone calls to recipient. After three
letters have been submitted, the scholarship will be rescinded and the recipient will be
responsible to pay MNCCR&R back for all monies expended to them on their scholarship and
will forfeit their bonus. The recipient may also be ineligible for future scholarships.
 If recipient submits paperwork after the scholarship has been rescinded, T.E.A.C.H. will reverse
the charges, but recipient will still be ineligible for receiving additional funds under the affected
contract and will not be eligible to receive the bonus. However, the recipient will be eligible to
apply for future T.E.A.C.H. scholarships.
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It is essential that you read your contract very carefully. Once a contract is signed, an account will be set up
for you that will record what the T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA program has paid for you and what you owe the
program. You will be responsible for the things that you agreed to in your contract. If you have questions
regarding the terms listed in your contract, you should call the T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA office before you sign
and send in the contract.
Registration and Charging Tuition to T.E.A.C.H.
BEFORE registering each semester:
1. Child care or school-age care program recipients must meet with their program director(s) to
discuss their class schedule and release-time plan. This will help to ensure that centers can provide
recipients with the paid release time hours for which they are eligible and to arrange substitute
coverage, if needed.
2. In order to charge tuition to T.E.A.C.H., recipients must submit the Pre-Authorization request form
by specified semester/quarter deadlines. (Deadlines are posted on our website.) The program
counselor will confirm the courses that have been approved. You may register for the classes
before or after submitting the pre-authorization request form. However, we need your preauthorization form to let the school know what credits we are covering prior to the school’s third
party billing deadline. If you submit your form late, you may be responsible for paying the school
first and then being reimbursed by T.E.A.C.H.
3. After approving the courses the counselor will notify the college/university and give permission for
recipient’s tuition to be billed to MNCCR&R.
4. Once recipients register for classes they will be able to access their course schedule. This will show
the course codes, titles and dates of the semester. Submit a copy of this along with your completed
Form B and copy of book receipt(s). T.E.A.C.H. will not pay your tuition bill until all these required
documents are on file.
5. Recipients may receive a bill from the college/university. This is standard procedure with third
party billing agreements like those arranged with MNCCR&R and participating colleges/universities.
If recipients continue to receive bills that indicate their classes may be dropped, they should
contact their T.E.A.C.H. counselor immediately.
*Please note: When T.E.A.C.H. establishes a third party billing arrangement with the college, we ask
the college to apply all other funding (excluding loans) before applying T.E.A.C.H. dollars. For example,
if a recipient receives Pell Grant monies those dollars will be applied to the 15 credits approved by
T.E.A.C.H. This allows us to maximize our funds and help more child care professionals pay for college.
Adding, Dropping or Withdrawing from a Class
Recipients must drop/withdraw from class before classes begin in order to avoid tuition charges. If at any time
a recipient decides to drop or withdraw from a course he/she must contact his/her program counselor first.
Students who drop or withdraw from a course after the semester begins may be held responsible to pay all
tuition charges or reimbursements made on behalf of the recipient by MNCCR&R for their T.E.A.C.H.
scholarship. This may also result in suspension of recipient’s third party billing privileges.
Grades
All recipients must submit a copy of their grades to MNCCR&R upon completion of their courses. Students
who receive an “F” for a course(s) may be held responsible to pay back all tuition charges or reimbursements
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made on behalf of the recipient by MNCCR&R for their T.E.A.C.H. scholarship. Recipients must submit grade
reports to T.E.A.C.H. no later than three weeks after each semester ends. Because not all colleges/universities
issue hard copies of grade reports, recipients may need to retrieve their grade report from the
college/university website or request an unofficial transcript and submit it to T.E.A.C.H. If recipients need help
accessing grade reports from the website, they can contact their advisor at the college/university. Recipients
who do not submit grade reports by this deadline will be removed from the charge authorization list that
T.E.A.C.H. provides to the college/university and the recipient will be held responsible for any tuition charges.
Additionally, recipients who do not submit grade reports by the end of the contract period will not be eligible
to receive the bonus and/or raise as stipulated in the T.E.A.C.H. contract until all grade reports and additional
paperwork are received. Following is the process by which counselors notify recipients of outstanding grade
reports:
1. E-mail/phone-call reminder
2. Second notice reminder e-mail/phone call
3. Final notice letter
4. Rescind letter
Bonus and/or Raise
Center Staff Compensation
Upon successful completion of the commitment year, recipients receive compensation from their sponsoring
center and/or MNCCR&R, depending upon their scholarship model. Compensation may be a bonus, raise or
combination of both; this compensation is to be in addition to any other annual raise or bonus from the
center. The center director will be notified approximately six months following the scholarship end date to
award compensation as outlined in the contract to the recipient. Compensation letters will not be sent out if
recipients are missing paperwork (i.e. grades, information update, ending wage statement) from their file. If
recipients are not sure if their file is complete, they should contact their counselor.
Bonus Payments
The sponsoring center issues a bonus approximately six months after successful completion of the
contract period. The bonus is issued in addition to any other expected bonus or raise received by the
scholarship recipient in that year.
Raise Payments
The sponsoring center will issue a raise (as stipulated in the scholarship contract) to the recipient
approximately six months upon completion of the contract. The raise should be above and beyond the
normal raise schedule.
If the scholarship recipient chooses to leave employment at the sponsoring program or is fired due to
performance before the commitment year is completed, the recipient forfeits all coming bonus/raise
payments and may be held responsible to pay all tuition charges or reimbursements by MNCCR&R.
Family Provider Bonus
Upon successful completion of the commitment year, the family provider recipient receives compensation in
the form of a bonus from T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA. Family providers will be notified that they
are due for their compensation through a letter from MNCCR&R. Compensation letters will not be sent out if
recipients are missing paperwork (i.e. grades, information update, ending wage statement) from their file or
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have a balance due of more than $100. If recipients are not sure if their file is complete, they should contact
their counselor. If the scholarship recipient chooses to not work under their current family child care program
license before the commitment year is completed, the recipient forfeits all coming bonus payments and may
be held responsible to pay all tuition charges or reimbursements made on behalf of the recipient by
MNCCR&R for their T.E.A.C.H. scholarship.
Commitment
For each contract period completed, the recipient commits to working at least one additional year at their
sponsoring center or under their current family child care program license. A commitment year immediately
follows the completed contract. All scholarship models require a commitment year.
Failing to Complete your Commitment
You will not be required to pay back funds if:
 Medical reason(s) made it impossible for you to complete the terms of the contract (a letter from your
physician will need to be submitted);
 You were laid off due to low enrollment or your center closed (a statement will need to be signed by
your director); or
 Any other circumstances that MNCCR&R and the T.E.A.C.H. Advisory Committee feels appropriate
under this clause.
You will be required to pay back funds if:
 You quit your current position;
 You were fired due to performance issues;
 You lost your ability to operate under your child care license (e.g. violated the terms of your license,
license suspended or revoked);
 You have changed your major and are no longer pursuing a degree in Early Childhood/Child
Development; or
 Any other circumstances that MNCCR&R and the T.E.A.C.H. Advisory Committee feels appropriate
under this clause.
Contract Completion
If employment is terminated or the recipient resigns from their sponsoring center anytime during the
contract/commitment period or fails to operate their family child care under their current family child care
program license, the contract becomes invalid as of the last day of employment. You are required to contact
your counselor if your employment status changes. Recipients who do not fulfill all contract obligations are no
longer eligible for the scholarship or possibly other programs offered through T.E.A.C.H. and/or MNCCR&R
(e.g. REETAIN). Recipients may be held responsible to pay back all tuition charges or reimbursements made by
MNCCR&R and release time paid by their sponsoring center (if the center chooses to bill the recipient). If you
lose your position or stop operating your family child care due to reasons out of your control, you will not be
liable for monies paid out on your behalf. Recipients should contact their counselor for more information
regarding any such policies.
Contract Renewals
If a recipient is interested in reapplying, he/she must complete an application and return it by the specified
deadline to their T.E.A.C.H. scholarship counselor. Failure to submit a new application on time will jeopardize a
recipient’s ability to receive another T.E.A.C.H. scholarship. If the recipient is not interested in reapplying,
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he/she must complete an information update and other required documents in order to close out their
contract and receive their T.E.A.C.H. bonus. Counselors track compensation through the application and/ or
the information update form and proof of income for those not reapplying. Failure to return the required
paperwork to close out their contract will delay or stop payment of the bonus.
Graduating
If you graduate or complete your national CDA credential through college courses, please send us a copy of
your certificate or diploma/transcript. This information, along with the completed information update, proof
of income and copy of child care license, is required for receiving your T.E.A.C.H. bonus.
Reimbursement Forms and Procedures
Once a contract is signed, an account will be set up for you that will record what the T.E.A.C.H. MINNESOTA
program has paid for you and what you owe the program. You will be responsible for meeting the agreed
upon terms of the contract.
Recipients should make additional copies of forms requested by T.E.A.C.H. in case you need to re-submit
them.
Tuition Payment
T.E.A.C.H. will set up third party billing arrangements with every school where you are taking approved credits.
To do this, T.E.A.C.H. needs to receive your completed pre-authorization form by the deadline posted on our
website. Failure to send the form in by our deadline may result in you having to pay for your tuition and then
get reimbursed by T.E.A.C.H. (See below.) We must let the school know about our authorization for payment
by their third party billing deadline, which is why it is crucial for you to send us the form on time.
Once they have received our authorization, the school usually bills us 1-2 weeks after their drop/add deadline.
(Some schools differ.) We will pay for tuition and process your additional paperwork (e.g. Form B, etc.) to send
you a check or an invoice, depending on the status of your account with us. The invoice/check should be
received from us around the middle of the semester/quarter.
Reimbursement of Tuition
If you pay for your tuition, send us a copy of proof of payment (e.g. copy of card statement, cancelled
check), along with your completed Form B for each college you are taking courses at, copy of college
class schedule, billing statement and any book receipts. Once all documents have been received, you
will receive reimbursement from MNCCR&R for all approved courses.
Books
Recipients are not able to charge books to MNCCR&R. Recipients must purchase books upfront and submit
receipts to MNCCR&R for 80 percent reimbursement of the cost of the books (no reimbursement for sales tax,
shipping costs and/or school supplies such as notebooks, calculators, pens/pencils, etc). As soon as books are
purchased, recipients should complete Form B, attach a copy of the book receipt and a copy of the course
registration and forward it to your counselor. Recipients should ONLY list the books for approved courses. If
you purchase books throughout the semester (e.g. cohort courses), please submit a new Form B and copy of
book receipts for any new books received.
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Travel
Each semester “active” recipients (meaning, you are taking at least one approved course that
semester/quarter) are awarded a travel stipend as outlined in their contract.
Release Time
Center Staff Release Time
Release time is a required component of the T.E.A.C.H. contract. Staff can use paid release time to attend
class, study or handle personal needs. The date and time release time is given is at the discretion of the center
director, during the recipent’s regularly scheduled work hours; therefore recipients should meet with their
directors prior to registering for courses to develop a release time plan to ensure that release time hours can
be given. Release time is tracked on Form C, which is issued to the center director with the award letter.
Recipients should be paid their normally scheduled work hours, and the center should claim release time on
Form C. All release time reimbursements are issued to the center to provide financial support for release time
paid to the recipient and/or for substitute(s). Recipients should NOT sign Form C if they are not receiving
release time. During a normal 16 week semester, recipients receive 3 hours (full-time) or 1.5 hours (part-time)
of paid release time (at their current hourly rate) each week they are taking courses. Centers will be
reimbursement for up to 36 hours per quarter or 48 hours per semester for a maximum of 144 hours per year.
Family Provider Release Time
Family providers can use paid release time to attend class, study or handle personal needs. All release time
hours must be taken during the normal operating hours of the program. The release time reimbursement is
issued directly to the family provider and may be used to cover the cost of a substitute if necessary. Family
providers do not submit release time claims. MNCCR&R automatically grants 16 hours of release time per
semester/12 hours of release time per quarter.
Tax Information
Scholarship funds paid by the MNCCR&R Network for the cost of tuition, fees, travel and book
reimbursements are tax-free. Scholarship funds paid by MNCCR&R for release time and bonuses are taxable
income. Family child care providers who exceed the $600 threshold in a calendar year for release time and
bonuses will be issued a 1099-Misc. Form from MNCCR&R. MNCCR&R will be reporting it to the IRS. Every
recipient who receives or pays money to MNCCR&R will receive a Yearly Education Expense Memo.
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Communications
Ongoing communication between T.E.A.C.H. counselors and scholarship recipients is critical. Recipients should
have updated contact information on file at all times to ensure that they receive important scholarship
information, reminders and reimbursements. Email is one of the most frequent ways the counselors contact
recipients, so be sure that your counselor has your most current email address on file, in addition to phone
number and address.
T.E.A.C.H. Newsletter
The Minnesota Child Care Resource & Referral Network electronically publishes the T.E.A.C.H. Tribune two
times each year. The T.E.A.C.H. Tribune is an important resource for recipients as it contains deadline updates,
paperwork requests and program announcements. All T.E.A.C.H. recipients and sponsoring employers will
receive a copy of the newsletter.
T.E.A.C.H. Website
Stay connected to T.E.A.C.H. information and resources online anytime. Please find application materials,
program resources and announcements at: www.mnchildcare.org/TEACH.
Facebook
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA has a Facebook page dedicated to providing information updates and
deadline reminders for recipients. Find us at: http://www.facebook.com/teachmn.
Prezi
The T.E.A.C.H. team has created an informational video about the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship. It is available on our
website at: http://mnchildcare.org/TEACH/teach.php.
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Scholarship Staff Directory
Contact Information
Minnesota Child Care Resource & Referral Network
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA
380 Lafayette Road, Suite 103
Saint Paul, MN 55107
Phone: (651) 290-9704
Fax: (651) 209-1761
Website: http://www.mnchildcare.org/TEACH
T.E.A.C.H. Staff Directory
Shelly Hendricks, T.E.A.C.H. Program Counselor
shellyh@mnchildcare.org, x 106
Erin Young, T.E.A.C.H. Program Counselor
eriny@mnchildcare.org, x 109
Denise Kilgore, T.E.A.C.H. Bookkeeper
denisek@mnchildcare.org, x 106
Ann McCully, Executive Director
annm@mnchildcare.org, x 115
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