Universal Pre-K

Yes! JI/Alliance for Kids, as the Early Childhood Council in El Paso County, will be providing support to families who need help finding a UPK provider, and to providers who need guidance in any UPK area in which they have questions. Although we will not be able to manipulate applications or provider information, we can assist in finding the easiest way to get something done or just answer any UPK questions that you may have. Requests by provider  for guidance can be made to Noreen at nglt@mac.com or upk@jointinitiatives.org. Noreen can be reached by phone at 719.338.7223. Family navigation requests should go to Heather at hmayheu@jointinitiatives.org or call 719.684.4326. 

The state has set up a couple of ways that providers or families can request assistance. The primary route is to submit a help desk ticket to help.upk.colorado.gov. This is a web form that should request all the information that the help desk staff needs to address your ticket. Be sure to fill it out completely! Another route is to email the help desk at universalpreschool@state.co.us. Be sure to include your provider name and license number and be specific about the request. Finally, you can call with general questions at 303-866-5223. NOTE: It may take up to 72 hours for a help desk ticket to be processed so plan accordingly!

You can either submit a help desk ticket above (which will be routed to the Metrix IQ team) or you can send an email to coupkpayments@metrixiq.com. Be sure to provide all of the information that the team will need to address your issue.

When reviewing the Provider Handbook a provider can take several actions on their own, and several others in partnership with families. The following is a list of the actions that a provider can take on their own and the section in the Provider handbook where instructions or diagrams are included:

Determine a child’s eligibility for supplemental hours by downloading an eligibility report (Eligibility Section II B: Additional Hours Eligibility)

During direct enrollment, offer a match to a family who is in selected status and enroll a family who has accepted their match (Enrollment Section III, A Enrollment Phases and B Enrollment Processes)

Unenroll a child when they have left a provider or have decided that they don’t want to attend with the provider (Enrollment Section III, B Enrollment Processes)

During direct enrollment, decline a child in selected status if there is an approved reason or if the provider does not have seats available for the child (Enrollment Section III, C Matching)

Increase seats in programs that are already published (Section III Enrollment, E: Program Seats)

Update the provider profile (Section IV, B Provider Profile Setup)

First, unenroll the child from the full day program. Next, have the parent submit a help desk request providing the help desk staff with the child’s name as it is in the UPK application and the application number (the provider can give that to the parent), and asking that the child’s application be unlocked. Once that is done, the parent can add in the correct program, the provider can offer a match to that program and the family can accept the match.

The other option is for the parent to submit the help desk request asking the help desk staff to add in the new program and accept it on their behalf.

NOTE: In the future, the provider may be able to make this request of the help desk but for now, the parent should submit the help desk request.

The parent needs to contact the program where the child is enrolled and ask the provider to unenroll the child. Once that is done, the family will submit a help desk ticket to help.upk.colorado.gov and ask that their child’s application be unlocked. The parent can then add in the new provider. Once the new provider sees the application in selected status, they can offer the family a match, the family can accept the match, and the new provider can enroll. No action can be taken until the original provider unenrolls the child. If the provider is unresponsive to the request for more than a week, the family can submit a help desk ticket asking the help desk to unenroll the child and unlock the application at the same time.

A provider can increase their seats on their own in an already-published program (see the Provider Handbook, Section III E – Program Seats). If a provider needs to decrease their seats, they must submit a help desk ticket, being very clear as to the program and the number of seats where the change needs to be made. Include the provider’s name and license number in the help desk request.

Submit a help desk request with your provider name and license number stating that you would like to add a new program. Include the exact program that you want to add (i.e., half-day AM, full-day, etc.) and how many seats you would like in the program. The state will then complete that request and publish your new program. It can take up to two weeks to publish a new program. The help desk may also send you a form to complete so that they have a record of exactly what you requested.

First, you will have to be sure that all children who are “attached” to that program (in matched, accepted or enrolled status) are cleared out (i.e. moved to another program or unenrolled). Once that is done, submit a help desk ticket with your provider name and license number, asking that the program be archived. Be specific as to which program you would like archived. You may be requested to complete a form as a record of your request. The state will notify you when your program has been archived and it will be marked as No Longer Available.

Submit a help desk ticket with your provider name and license number and the name and email address of the person whom you would like invited to have access to BridgeCare. They will receive an invitation to create an account and once that is done, will have access. If the new staff member should only have access to a particular site, state that in the request so that the help desk can limit their access to that site. If that provider requires admin access rather than member access, please make that clear in your request.

You will only see the child’s application if they are in selected, matched, accepted or enrolled status with you. You can ask the family to send you a screen shot of the enrollment part of their application so that you can help them trouble shoot. The family can change some statuses on their application themselves (provided that it is unlocked). If they are unable to change the status, they should submit a help desk ticket with the child’s name and UPK number asking that the status at that provider (i.e., ABC preschool) in a specific program (half-day, full-day, etc., if there is more than one) be changed to selected status so that the provider can offer a match, the family can accept and the provider can enroll.

Submit a help desk ticket with your name and license number and the name and child application number of the child that needs to be withdrawn from your list. Explain that the family is unresponsive to several attempts and you would like them removed from your list.

First, contact Noreen at nglt@mac.com or 719-338-7223 to troubleshoot the issue. If the it can’t be solved, submit a ticket to the help desk (help.upk.colorado.gov or universalpreschool@state.co.us) letting them know that you can’t log into your portal. If possible, send a screenshot of what you are seeing when you are trying to log in. Be sure to include your program name and license number.