An eligible provider may apply for a grant alone or in combination with other eligible providers as a joint applicant, in which case the entity that applies for the grant shall be the lead agency in a partnership, as defined in § 405.2 (relating to definitions).

Guidance and Clarifications

The following entities may operate Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts classrooms.

1. School districts;
2. PDE Licensed nursery schools;
3. Head Start grantees;
4. Child care centers and group child care homes designated a Keystone STAR 3 or STAR 4; and
5. A third-party entity may apply for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts funding and administer the lead agency responsibilities for entities that are eligible to provide the classroom services under the categories listed above.

The supplied vendor number MUST align with the legal name and address provided in the application. A vendor number and account can be set up by registering at Vendor Number Registration. All agencies applying for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts (PKC) grants must be pre-registered. The Central Vendor Management Unit is a storage database. The Comptroller uses this account to store direct deposit information. If you have any questions about vendor numbers, please contact James Redd (jaredd@pa.gov, (717) 705-2910) or Brian Bell (bribell@pa.gov, (717) 346-0038) at OCDEL.

Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts applicants will need to supply a valid AUN number within the REQUIRED Letter of Intent and application. To verify your AUN number or to check to see if you have one assigned to your agency, click here. If you are an intermediate unit, select Search for Intermediate Units. If you are not an intermediate unit, select Advanced Search and search for your agency.

Applicants that are not already licensed by PDE and therefore do not have an AUN number should contact Brian Bell (bribell@pa.gov, (717) 346-0038) or James Redd (jaredd@pa.gov) at the Office of Child Development and Early Learning.

Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts applicants will need a Master Provider Index (MPI) number during the application process. MPI numbers are used across the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) to identify legal entities and service locations that participate in any of  its programs. As such, they are used in DHS’s data system as a common identifier for all of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning’s (which is a joint office between PDE and DHS) programs, including Child Care Licensing, Early Intervention, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, and Keystone STARS.

Legal entities are assigned a unique 9-digit MPI number. In addition, service locations are assigned a unique 13-digit MPI number, which is created by adding a 4-digit extension to the 9-digit MPI of the legal entity. Legal entities and service providers currently participating in any of these programs should have an MPI number.

Applicants that are not currently participating in any of these programs should contact the Early Learning Network (ELN) Help Desk at (877) 491-3818, option 2 and provide their Federal Tax ID to determine their MPI numbers. MPI numbers will not be able to be provided without a Federal Tax ID. Agencies who the ELN Help Desk determines do not have an MPI assigned, will be directed to include zeros within the application when MPI is requested. If awarded, these agencies will be provided an MPI at time of contracting.

This is the number that an agency uses on its federal W-9 form. Applicants for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts funds should consult with the person who handles tax, legal or accounting matters for the agency to determine the federal ID number when you check on your legal name and address. Use this number where requested in the application. The correct number must be provided where requested in order to process an application. Failure to do so will result in significant delays in funding approved applicants for FY 2023-24. This number is often referred to as the “FEIN number” by OCDEL staff.

OCDEL recommends the use of an electronic signature (eSignature) on all grant agreements for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and community agencies with a Board of Directors. This option is not a requirement, and a print, sign and upload option is always available regardless of agency type. The use of an eSignature allows grants to proceed through the approval process faster and helps with expediting payments. School Districts, Intermediate Units, and community agencies with a Board of Directors can use eSignature. If the agency does not fall under one of these categories they may not be eligible for this option and will have to print, sign and return contracting documents.

• View instructions for the eSignature Resolution process (PDF)
• Access the eSignature resolution form (PDF)

NOTE: To check if your agency has eSignature, the Agency User Administrator can look at their users within the eGrants system in the User Management tab to see if their signatory has eSignature.

Go to the “Administration Tab”. Click on “User Management”. If a user has eSignature, a person icon will appear in the “E Sig” Box.

or

A User can go to the “blue snowman” to look at their profile and user roles. This can be found in the “upper right hand corner” of the page.

If you have specific questions related to eSignature please contact Winnie Richards via email winrichard@pa.gov or call (717) 772-4849.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s eGrants Grants Management system provides licensed education agencies and community-based programs with online access to grant applications. To access eGrants, login to MyPDESuite to gain access to your eGrants Account.

• Download eGrants to MYPDESuite Conversion Instructions (PDF)
• Download Information on how to access MyPDESuite for various PDE data collection applications including eGrants (PDF)