Latch Key/School Age Child Care Program

IDOE Latch Key Overview (Indiana Code 20-26-5-1,2,3)

Latch Key is an elementary school-age child care program that provides care and education for children of working parents. This program is designed to be a link between the home and the school. Certified, qualified and experienced child care providers supervise, teach and interact with children to ensure that they are cared for, supervised, exposed to many learning activities, allowed to complete homework and share enjoyment in a relaxed and carefully designed developmentally appropriate environment.

Resources

• Indiana Afterschool Network. For additional resources for best practices in afterschool programming
• Indiana Afterschool Program Mapping Database to find existing afterschool programs in Indiana
• Indiana Afterschool Standards
• National Afterschool Alliance start-up guides
• Beyond the Bell Toolkit for creating effective afterschool and expanded learning programs.
• Y4Y: Y4Y provides training and resources to afterschool programs through the US Department of Education.
• IAN My Afterschool Locker. The Indiana Afterschool Network provides resources to strengthen program quality through the IAN My Afterschool Locker.

Best Practices

The goals of the Latch Key Program are as follows:

1. Provide quality before and after school care and education.
2. Promote the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development of each child.
3. Provide a program that is developmentally appropriate.
4. Foster a positive self-image in each child.
5. Establish good rapport with parents, children and building administrators.

Current Latch Key Child Care Provider

Assurances
Please voluntarily submit a signed Latch Key Assurances form.

• Latch Key Assurances Form

Provider Information
Please voluntarily complete or update the Latch Key registration survey. This information is included in Indiana’s online mapping database for parents and community members to search for child care services.

Note 1: Unless otherwise requested in writing, provider form information will be included in Indiana’s online mapping database. Send database exclusion requests to the Latch Key Program contact.

Latch Key Waiver (Indiana Code 20-26-5-2)

School corporations may seek a waiver from the child care program requirement if compliance would result in “undue financial hardship.” To be eligible for such a waiver, the school corporation must demonstrate that it has made a good-faith effort to implement a program and that, after sufficient notification, there was too little interest in such a program for implementation to be economically feasible.

Latch Key Waiver Form

Please send completed Latch Key Waiver Forms to legal@doe.in.gov.

As part of a waiver request, school corporations must present:

• A written description of the steps taken to conduct a latch key program and/or to actively solicit other non-profits or for-profits organizations to implement a program – Example: A copy of child care solicitation letter and proposal from outside child care vendor with written description.
• Evidence that a request in writing was made to all parents to contact the school corporation to indicate their willingness to utilize the latch key program and documentation of any parent survey results – Example: A copy of the parent survey and results.
• The nature of the hardship that the school corporation would experience due to a low number of eligible children intending to utilize the latch key program services.
• Detailed financial analysis including the projected costs, attendance, and income expected from the implementation of such a program – Example: An estimated cost of staff wages and benefits, educational materials, transportation costs, and program income.

Note 2: School corporations must submit a new waiver request each school year.

Note 3: DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 1st ANNUALLY.

Areas to Explore

• Latch Key Legislation - Indiana Code 20-26-5-2
• Indiana’s online Child Care, Afterschool and Summer Programs Database
• Indiana Association of Child Care Resource and Referral
• Sample Latch Key Information and Parent Survey
• Sample Latch Key Registration Form - English
• Sample Latch Key Registration Form - Spanish