Welcome to the Oklahoma Strong Start Program!
The Oklahoma Strong Start Program provides free child care benefits to eligible employees working in licensed child care facilities, expanding income eligibility for those who qualify. It’s one more way the state of Oklahoma is investing in you—the heart of early childhood education in our state.
Tips on using Submittable:
- You will need to create a free Submittable account or sign in with Google or Facebook credentials to submit to these forms.
- You can save a draft of your work if you would like to finish filling out the form at a later date. There is an autosave feature, but you can also manually save your draft by clicking the button at the bottom of the form.
- Submittable works best on Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Internet Explorer is not supported. Please make sure you are using a supported browser.
- We will follow up with you about your submission by email. Please be sure to safelist notification emails from Submittable and check the email you used to sign up for your Submittable Account regularly.
Technical Questions?
Check out the Submitter Resource Center or contact Submittable Customer Support.
The Oklahoma Strong Start Program is supported by Grant Number 90TP0094-01-00 from the Office of Early Childhood Development within the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Neither the Administration for Children and Families nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse this program (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Administration for Children and Families and the Office of Early Childhood Development.
Submittable Technical Questions?
Check out the Submitter Resource Center or contact Submittable Customer Support.
UEI/Organization Identifier Questions?
To find your organization, please enter your UEI or your legal organization name in the "Organization Identifier" field.
Note: If you received your UEI from SAM.gov in the last month, your UEI may not be uploaded in this application template yet. While the UEI is required for your organization to participate in this program, please note that you can still proceed with the application process by selecting, "No, I was not able to locate my UEI in this application," and then clicking the "Continue to Application" button.
To find your UEI, search for it using SAM.gov.
A UEI (Unique Entity Identifier) is a 12-character alphanumeric code assigned by the U.S. federal government to uniquely identify organizations that do business with the government, including those applying for or receiving federal grants and contracts.
Providers can obtain a UEI at no cost by registering at SAM.gov. Please see this video for instructions.
The UEI is required to ensure that OPSR is not issuing payments to entities that are suspended, debarred, or otherwise ineligible to receive federal funds.
Who is Eligible?
- You must be working at least 20 hours a week (averaged on a monthly basis) in a licensed child care program within the state of Oklahoma that has an active child care subsidy contract with OKDHS.
- The applicant must be listed as an active employee of the licensed and contracted facility in the Child Care Licensing database. Use this Employee Verification Form for the application.
- Applicants of Child Care Programs must meet all personnel qualifications as outlined in
Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:110-3-284.
- Applicants of Family Child Care Homes must meet all caregiver qualifications as outlined
in Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:110-3-85.
- Applicants of Large Family Child Care Homes must meet all caregiver qualifications as
outlined in Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:110-3-97.1.
- You must have first applied for traditional child care subsidy (https://www.okdhslive.org) benefits through OKDHS's traditional Child Care Subsidy Program and been denied or approved with a copayment,
- Meet the income eligibility requirements:
- For a two-parent household: total annual gross income does not exceed $120,000,
- For a single-parent household: total annual gross income does not exceed $60,000, or
- Your child must be enrolled in a licensed child care facility that has an active subsidy contract with OKDHS.
Technical Questions?
Check out the Submitter Resource Center or contact Submittable Customer Support.