Notes from Today's HEIP Call with SUFS *Reminder: The purpose of these calls is specifically to work out issues with HEIPs getting approved/set up as providers in the Provider Marketplace in EMA. (Think of it like a focus group to help Step Up better understand the needs of HEIPs so they can work on any needed changes/improvements to the back-end of EMA to ensure they have the functionality and options in their system that the HEIPs need, since many HEIPs operate quite differently than other types of providers and need a lot more flexibility of options than, say, a private school provider.) However, the head of PEP on these calls has been gracious to answer some of my more general questions re: PEP issues as there is time... and sometimes information comes up on the calls related to HEIPs that would also be useful to our general PEP community! So when that happens, I try to type those notes out here in the forum to share that information with everyone.
Now, on to the notes from today's call...
For HEIP leaders:
Your business should not have to be revetted as a provider for the 2024-2025 school year if you are already approved. However, any new services you add will have to go through the approval process.
You can go ahead and submit services for the 2024-2025 school year now, if you want, but keep in mind that there's nothing in the system that automatically distinguishes this school year's services from next year's... so you may want to specify which year it's for in the service listing/description.
You cannot edit existing, approved services... so if you're wanting to change your prices for next year, you will need to create new services in the system for those.
Once the school year switches over, all entered and approved services will remain. Nothing will be removed/hidden unless YOU do it on your end. So if you are wanting to list different services for 2024-2025, you will need to add those new services, then hide the 2023-2024 ones from your provider end once you're done with those.
The head of PEP is fighting to get the ability for parents to get reimbursed for HEIP registration fees/application fees early (for example, if they have to register for the classes NOW to reserve their spots for 2024-2025) and have those reimbursed from the current year's funds. Then the tuition and fees for the actual classes could come out of the next year's funds. From what he said, I believe the mechanics for this are still in the works but he's fighting to make that a possibility for you, possibly for future years.
He is also still looking into/advocating for the ability for HEIP tuition to be reserved for a full year up front---meaning the parent could pay directly through EMA for an entire year's tuition at an HEIP---and for those funds to be reserved on the back-end and paid quarterly to the HEIP, similar to how they do payments to private schools. That's still in discussion, so hopefully there will be updates on that later.
For those HEIPs or other providers trying to get approved for Test Proctoring in the marketplace:
There is a delay due to some policy clarifications needed from the DOE, so no providers have been approved in the marketplace this year (to his knowledge) for test proctoring, yet. If you offer proctoring services or standardized testing services, he recommends you have the families pay you up front and submit them for reimbursement. They are reimburseable expenses--the issue has just been with getting those services approved through the direct-pay Provider Marketplace.
He is also trying to get clarification on what documentation is needed for reimbursement for these kinds of services, as we've shared reports with him of families having some of their reimbursements for this approved, and some denied.
General Information for all PEP families:
Re: date for standardized test results to be submitted: There is no exact date yet, but he confirmed that the test results will NOT be required at the time of application/renewal. Instead, they will be required before the student can be funded. This is to allow families the ability to apply/renew as early as possible (since PEP has a cap), while still giving them time to get their student tested at the end of the school year. Be sure to keep your student's test scores/results in a safe place so you'll have them when the time comes to submit them! They'll provide more info on how/when to do this between now and then.
Keep an eye on emails from Step Up for more info about application/renewal dates for 2024-2025. They will be communicating more info out to parents in the coming weeks, and in the Open Houses.
They are hoping to streamline the renewal/application process for next year so it's less confusing.
Re: Q3 funding: They are funding in batches because if they fund all at once, it crashes their system. Right now, they are finishing up Q3 funding for PEP. Once that is done, they will go back to do a "clean up" of any funding issues from Quarters 1, 2, and 3.
PEP Waitlist : As they process PEP declines for this school year (from students moving to UA, etc.), they are moving students off the waitlist. If your student is moved off the waitlist and awarded PEP for this school year, you will be notified.
I hope you find this info helpful! Be sure to keep an eye on the emails from Step Up... and also on our forum and our livestreams!
We try to communicate relevant information to parents as we have it.
Hopefully they can work on a system to relay this information directly to parents as even the information pertaining to heip providers is good for parents to understand as well with how exactly these funds can be used for these programs. Until then thank you for being the middleman
thank you for all the information you provide.
Are you able to help me with an issue with getting a new provider entered into EMA? One of my tutors is in Legacy but not EMA. So for my UA student, it's easy but for my PEP student in EMA it is not. I helped her create a business account and personal account but we are stuck on the W9 form and cannot get past it. We spent over an hour on hold with Step Up then they did some troubleshooting but we cannot get past that W9 form. It is giving us an error saying the emails don't match but they do. We copied and pasted. We called a month ago and were told 7-10 days someone would get back to her. Nothing. We have logged back in hoping it was fixed, it is not. She is just stuck and cannot move forward. I have another tutor that I'm trying to help but we wanted to get the 1st one done before hitting the same road blocks. Any suggestions?