Period 2022-2024 - Service Vouchers for Reconciliation of Family and Work

Service Vouchers, including Corporate Service Vouchers, are expenditure vouchers issued to individual recipients to facilitate the reconciliation of family care time and work time (or training/retraining time aimed at active job search).

They aim to promote women's participation in the labour market and also provide specific support for families with low incomes or in particularly fragile conditions.

The Vouchers cover part of the costs of access to educational care and custody services for minor children or foster children aged from 3 months to 14 years (or not yet 18 years in the case of certified handicaps under Law no. 104/92 or learning difficulties or particularly difficult situations certified by competent personnel).

These services must be provided by subjects included in a special list.

SERVICES THAT CAN BE ACQUIRED

A) Educational care and custody services for minors aged 3 months - 3 years (early childhood services) [in-depth link];

A1) Nursery care services (babysitting) for children aged 3 months - 36 months;

A2) Services within the framework of company crèches;

B) Educational care and custodial services for children aged 3 years - 6 years;

C) Care and custody educational services for minors aged 6 years - 14 years (18 in the case of handicaps, learning difficulties or situations of particular hardship certified by competent personnel) [in-depth link]..

The quantification of the reconciliation services is linked to the number of hours worked by the applicant in the period concerned and covers part of the costs of the services requested, provided that they are regularly in the workplace or in a classroom/stage/training course aimed at active job search. In any case, the maximum weekly limit that can be recognised is 40 hours.

The Service Vouchers are financed with the resources of the 2021-2027 ESF+ Programme of the Autonomous Province of Trento, with co-financing from the European Union - European Social Fund plus (40%), the Italian State (42%) and the Autonomous Province of Trento (18%). Given their relevance, Service Vouchers have been identified in the Programme as Operations of strategic importance.

The holder of the Service Voucher must pay a financial contribution according to the age of the child, which is equal to at least 10% of the total share of the service allowed for children up to the age of 6 and at least 15% for services for children aged 6 and over.

All services must be provided in a complementary manner to the services provided by the institutional entities operating in the same capacity in the provincial territory, i.e. outside the time slots (including extended hours - in terms of early or late arrivals - if ordinarily provided for) and/or the days guaranteed by the annual calendars of the crèches, preschools and public or affiliated educational institutions present in the provincial territory, except in specific and proven situations.

It is possible to apply for a service voucher at any time of the year. In order to be included in the monthly ranking, service voucher applications must be submitted by the 26th day of the month. Unsuccessful applications will be assessed in the next first adoption ranking.

Only one application for a Voucher may be submitted against the same ranking list. PES for all services of interest, even for different children, must be confirmed online in a single Service Voucher application.

Only services rendered after the allocation of the Voucher by means of the ranking list and its activation by the Managing Authority are covered by the Service Voucher. The Service Voucher has no retroactive value. A new Voucher cannot be activated unless the previously granted Service Voucher has been used for at least 70% of its value.

Service vouchers may be requested by female workers, or in the case of single-parent households by workers

• with a subordinate employment relationship (also in the "atypical" forms provided for by law) or who carry out professional/entrepreneurial activities on a self-employed basis;
• in the process of starting or resuming an employment relationship (including in the "atypical" forms provided for by law) or a self-employed professional/entrepreneurial activity (in this case, the entitlement to the voucher may only start after the start of the employment activity);
• suspended from work due to ordinary redundancy funds (excluding those due to weather conditions), extraordinary redundancy funds (including those due to solidarity contracts) or in derogation, included in training/re-qualification courses promoted or recognised by the Autonomous Province of Trento and aimed at active job search;
• unemployed people, included in training/retraining programmes promoted or recognised by the Autonomous Province of Trento and aimed at actively looking for work.

Company service vouchers may be requested by female workers, or in the case of single-parent households, by workers

• with a subordinate employment relationship (also in the "atypical" forms provided for by law) or who carry out professional/entrepreneurial activities within the Company or the group of Companies promoting the Company Day Nursery;
• in the process of being hired as employees (even in the "atypical" forms provided for by law). In any case, the use of the Voucher can only start after the beginning of employment in the Company or group of companies promoting the Company Day Care Centre;
• when returning to work in the Company or the group of Companies promoting the Company Day Nursery with a subordinate employment relationship (even in the "atypical" forms provided for by law) after maternity leave or after periods of non-work related to family care activities. In any case, the use of the Voucher may only start after the resumption of work.

All the above-mentionedrecipients must also meet the following requirements

1. residence in a Municipality of the Province of Trento or domicile for work activity;
2. presence in their household of one or more minor children over whom parental responsibility is exercised or minors in family foster careup to the age of 14 years (18 years not completed in the case of minors with disabilities certified pursuant to Law no. 104/92 or with learning difficulties or situations of particular hardship certified by competent personnel)
3. economic condition below the prescribed threshold established on the basis of the I.C.E.F. (Indicator of Family Economic Condition) indicator specific to Service Vouchers and in force;
4. compliance with the provisions of Decree-Law no. 73 of 7 June 2017, converted with amendments by Law no. 119 of 31 July 2017 on "Urgent provisions on vaccine prevention, infectious diseases and disputes relating to the administration of medicines" and the resolutions of the Provincial Council of 23 June 2017, no. 1021 and 8 September 2017, no. 1462, as amended and supplemented, for services requested for children between 3 months and 6 years of age (including conciliatory services provided at the Company Crèches acquired through Service Vouchers);
5. do not benefit from other economic subsidies or direct and/or indirect support actions provided for the same purpose by other public bodies.

For more information and other specific requirements, please refer to Part Two, Criteria and Methods for the implementation of Service Vouchers.

1. One asks a CAF or a provincial public assistance and information desk to process the ICEF Application for Service Vouchers, to verify the eligibility of one's household to apply and to know the maximum amount that can be financed with a single Service Voucher.
2. You choose the activities of interest for your children or minors in foster care from those proposed by the Providers included in thespecific list and agree with them one or more Service Delivery Plans (P.E.S.), which define the services booked, the overall costs, the share admitted to the financing of the Service Voucher and the residual share to be paid by the family to the Arranger. The P.E.S. are drawn up in digital form.
3. When you have the P.E.S. for all theservices of interest to all the minors involved, you apply for the Service Voucher as follows

• online subscription of the application generated by the computer system with OTP (one time password) signature by means of a unique code sent to the user on his/her mobile phone device;
• online submission of the application to the Province complete with all the required attachments, via confirmation in the online IT system and uploading of the attachments into the system.

OBLIGATIONS FOR USE OF THE SERVICE VOUCHER

1. WITHDRAWAL OF THE VOUCHER: the holder of the service voucher, or the Granting Body or another delegated party, must collect the "Attendance Register" for each minor at the Ad Personam facility.
2. ACTIVATION OF THE VOUCHER: the holder must apply to the Granting Body to activate the Voucher, i.e. to start using the services provided by the same, within 180 days from the date of issue. The duration of the service may not exceed twelve months from the date of activation. In the event of non-use or partial use within the period of validity, the Service Voucher becomes unusable.
3. USE OF THE VOUCHER: the holder must use the voucher at the issuing body and in accordance with the procedures specified in the "Service Delivery Plan" (P.E.S.) submitted when requesting the voucher.
   1. While the service is being provided, the Voucher holder - or the other parent or other adult delegated by the Voucher holder - is required to sign the daily "Attendance Register" attesting to the service provided by the Responsible Party (specifying the date and time of service). In the case of residential services, the holder shall sign the "Register of Attendance" on the day the service starts and on the day the service ends; for the signature on residential days, he/she shall delegate one of the accompanying carers/educators identified jointly with the Arranging Body.
   2. At the end of the service, the holder of the Service Voucher is obliged to make a declaration regarding the reconciliation services obtained to the Granting Body for the purpose of invoicing the Administration, from which it emerges that they have been obtained in compliance with these Criteria, and therefore ascribable to the Service Voucher instrument, under penalty of exclusion from any future ranking for the allocation of Service Vouchers