SPARK Learning Lab is here to support you on your Paths to QUALITY journey. Whether it is requesting a PTQ rating, getting started with PTQ, or resources to help you along the way.
Questions? Reach out to our team at PTQ@indianaspark.com or call the SPARK Help Desk at 1-800-299-1627.
How to Request a PTQ Rating
- Log in to I-LEAD and click on “My SPARK Learning Lab”.
- Search for “Readiness Checklist + care type + level you would like to maintain or advance to”. Ex. “Readiness Checklist Homes Level 3”
- You, as the program leader, use those standards to assess your own readiness for the PTQ rating. Need assistance with this step? Call our Help Desk at 1-800-299-1627, or email us at PTQ@indianaspark.com.
- Log in to I-LEAD, click on “My SPARK Learning Lab” and search for “Confirmation Checklist”. Download a copy and complete. Be sure to include all the information requested on the Confirmation Checklist.
- Once complete, your program returns the Confirmation Checklist to SPARK by emailing it to PTQ@indianaspark.com.
- SPARK reviews the Confirmation Checklist to ensure all the necessary information is filled out.
- SPARK requests the rating. Your rater will contact you within two business days of SPARK requesting the rating in order to schedule your rating visit.
Additional Information to Know:
- Reminder emails and texts are sent to programs 6 months before expiration, 3 months prior to expiration, and 60 days prior to expiration.
- Rating requests MUST be submitted 45-31 days prior to expiration.
- You can always receive assistance with the rating process by emailing PTQ@indianaspark.com or calling the SPARK Help Desk at 1-800-299-1627.
FAQs
Not necessarily. This may depend on the availability of your rater. Raters will work with each program and their individual schedules and availability to attempt to complete a rating within 30 days of the request date, but this could potentially extend past 30 days.
Please contact your rater to reschedule when you anticipate having a minimum of two children
in attendance.
There will be some flexibility temporarily. Training will need to be completed by the date of the
visit and not the date of the request.
There will be some flexibility temporarily with the PTQ Confirmation Checklist. Staff hired after
the rating request date may be included if the program is receiving a PTQ Maintenance Visit.
If a program is ready for their upcoming PTQ rating visit (maintenance, advancement, or coming off of Inactive Voluntary Status) , please Contact SPARK Learning Lab at ptq@indianaspark.com or the SPARK Help Desk at 1-800-299-1627.
Your rater may contact you and request that some documents be submitted prior to your rating visit (if you have the capacity and technology to do so).
Please note that this is a temporary practice to allow raters to reduce time spent in programs, and complete visits as safely, effectively and efficiently as possible.
Yes, you should receive a letter from your rater prior to the rating visit outlining additional precautions raters will be taking. Some precautions your rater will be taking during this time include (but are not limited to):
• Practicing social distancing during rating visits
• Wearing face masks and other PPE
• Additional hand washing and sanitizing
• Asking for documentation electronically
What additional precautions should programs take during rating visits?
• Wearing face masks and other PPE
• Practicing social distancing during rating visits
Note: If a PTQ rater arrives at a program where face masks are not being worn (in accordance with state and local requirements) or there is not an opportunity to practice social distancing, this may result in the visit being stopped. Violation of face mask requirements will result in a notification to OECOSL Child Care Licensing Staff.
There may be some flexibility for programs that must temporarily close due to a positive case of COVID -19 and who have been directed to close. Each program situation will be accessed on a case by case basis and extensions will be limited to the length of time the program was closed due to the positive case.
As mentioned in Governor Holcomb’s address to the State of Indiana, Indiana has launched a five-stage approach to reopen Indiana’s Economy. You can learn more about that plan at backontrack.in.gov. In this plan, Governor Holcomb announced one of the strategies to be deployed will be comprehensive contact tracing for all individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. Contact tracing involves identifying individuals who have tested positive for an illness and asking questions about who they were in contact with during their infectious period, then notifying those close contacts of their exposure.
What this means for Child Care Providers is that if a person tests positive, they will be required to report back to the Department of Health who that person came in contact with, and those individuals will be required to self-quarantine.
If a rater came in contact with your program, please be sure to share that with the Health Department representative who will be in contact with you to perform the contact tracing. All inquiries regarding contact tracing should be directed to TCC HR Director, Inga Harrington.
Phone: 317-986-8023 or email: inga.harrington@e-tcc.com
This process will be applicable if any visitor (rater, parents, licensing consultants, First Steps staff, etc.,) tests positive and has been in contact with your program.
OECOSL recommends programs in “red” counties identified according to the color coding system seek Inactive Voluntary Status. Programs will be asked to submit a copy of their Visitor Policy including when the policy will be reevaluated. If you anticipate this being more than 90 days past your rating date, we would ask that you move into Inactive Voluntary Status (IVS). If you were previously approved for IVS, you may request an extension for COVID-19 related reasons.
For programs in orange or yellow counties, programs may seek IVS, but this will be reviewed and approved on a case by case basis.
Contact SPARK Learning Lab at ptq@indianaspark.com or the SPARK Help Desk at 1-800-299-1627.
Yes, if your program is ready for your rating visit prior to the expiration of IVS, you can request to come off IVS. Contact SPARK Learning Lab at ptq@indianaspark.com or the SPARK Help Desk at 1-800-299-1627.
If the rating request has already been made, please contact your rater directly. If the rating request hasn’t been made, please contact SPARK Learning Lab at ptq@indianaspark.com or the SPARK Help Desk at 1-800-299-1627.
