Service vouchers for reconciling family and work - period 2025-2027

Service Vouchers, including Company Service Vouchers, are expenditure vouchers issued to individual recipients to facilitate the reconciliation of family care time and work time (or training/retraining 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 between 3 months and 14 years (or not yet 18 years in the case of minors with disabilities - certified pursuant to 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) [link to further details];

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) Educational care and custody services for minors aged 6 years - 14 years (not yet 18 years in the case of minors with disabilities, learning difficulties or situations of particular hardship certified by competent personnel) [link for further information].

The quantification of the reconciliation services is linked to the total number of hours worked by the applicant in the period concerned, increased by up to 10% of the same at the applicant's request, and covers part of the costs of the services requested, provided that they are regularly in the workplace or in the classroom/training courses aimed at active job search. In any case, the maximum weekly limit that can be recognised is 44 hours including any 10% surcharge.

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 the relevance of this measure, Service Vouchers have been identified in the Programme as an Operation of strategic importance.

Each Service Voucher may have a nominal value of between a maximum of EUR 1,500 and a minimum of EUR 900. Applicants may acquire a maximum number of 12 Vouchers per calendar year. For the purposes of calculating the maximum amount that can be allocated to each Service Voucher applicant, the number of weeks of service that can be provided in a calendar year shall be taken into consideration in relation to the period of presentation of the Service Voucher application and the relative "Service Delivery Plans" (P.E.S.) attached to it.

All the 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.

Only one application for a Voucher may be submitted for the same month of allocation. P.E.S. 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 a ranking list and its activation by the Issuing Authority are covered by the Service Voucher. The Service Voucher has no retroactive value from the date of issue. It is not possible to activate a new Voucher if the previously granted one has not 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 in a self-employed form;
• 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 for meteorological events), extraordinary redundancy funds (including those for 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/re-skilling courses 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 recipients must also meet the following requirements

1. residence in a Municipality of the Province of Trento or domicile for work activity;
2. the presence in their household of one or more minor children over whom they have parental responsibility or minors in foster care up to the age of 14 (18 years not completed in the case of minors with disabilities - certified pursuant to Law n. 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 the Family Economic Condition) indicator specific for 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 granted for the same reason by other public bodies;
6. if the applicant woman's household is bi-parental, i.e. if the household includes not only the applicant but also the parent of at least one of the minors for whom the Service Voucher is requested, the latter must be employed or unemployed and included in a training/retraining programme aimed at actively seeking employment.

For more information and other specific requirements, please consult the Criteria and Implementation Modalities for Service Vouchers - Version 2.

1. One asks a CAAF or a provincial counter for assistance and information to the public to process the ICEF Application for Service Vouchers, in order 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. One chooses the activities of interest for one's own children or minors in foster care from among those proposed by the Providers included in thespecial list and agrees with them one or more Service Delivery Projects (P.E.S.), which define the services booked, the overall costs, the share eligible for Service Voucher funding and the residual share to be paid by the family to the Providers. The P.E.S. are drawn up in digital form.
3. When you have the P.E.S. for all the services of interest to all the minors involved, you apply for the Service Voucher as follows

• online compilation of the Service Voucher application prepared using the computer system made available online by the Province and accessible through authentication with the SPID digital identity system
• online subscription of the application generated by the computer system with an OTP (one time password) signature using 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.

Guide to the computerised procedure for drawing up the application for a Service Voucher

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 from the dedicatedreserved area by the 26th day of the month. Applications that remain unresolved will be assessed in the next first adoption ranking.

OBLIGATIONS FOR USE OF THE SERVICE VOUCHER

1. WITHDRAWALOF THE ATTENDANCE REGISTER: the holder of the Service Voucher, or the Issuing Authority or another delegated party, must arrange for the withdrawal of the Attendance Register from the Ad Personam Structure in the event that the management IT system goes offline and prevents the use of the electronic Register
2. ACTIVATION OF THE VOUCHER: the holder must request the Issuing Party 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.
4. During the provision of the service, the "Register of Attendance" must be filled in as indicated below:

• (a) for band A) and B) daily signature on the electronic register by means of graphometric signature or, in the case of any off-line, handwritten signature on the paper register by the holder of the Voucher or the other parent/custodian of the minor(s) using the service or the adult brother/sister of the minor(s) using the service or other adult delegated by the holder of the Voucher. The register must be signed each day the service is provided at the time of the child 's pick-up after the end of the service, by entering and/or verifying the correct date and time of the child's arrival and pick-up, so as to certify that the service has been provided by the Child Care Provider. The Paying Agent's operator shall in turn affix a signature in the appropriate field. Should the holder, or the persons indicated above, fail to fulfil this obligation, the entire cost of the service provided but not signed for shall be borne by the Voucher holder.
• b) for band C) confirmation within seven days from the end of each week of service (intended as Monday to Sunday), by the Voucher holder alone, of the attendance reported in the electronic register by the Issuing Party through access to its personal area in the computer system, verifying the correctness of the data entered. Should the holder fail to fulfil this duty, the entire cost of the service provided but not confirmed shall be borne by the holder.
• In the case of residential services (i.e. with overnight stays for the minor users), for band A) and B) the Voucher holder (or one of the subjects indicated above) is required to sign the electronic register with a graphometric signature on the day the service starts and the day the service ends within thirty minutes from the end of the service; for band C) the services provided must instead be confirmed by the Voucher holder alone.

5. At the end of the service, the holder of the Service Voucher must compulsorily fill in online through the computer system a declaration on the conciliation services obtained from the Granting Body, under penalty of exclusion from any future ranking for the allocation of Vouchers in the 2021-2027 programming period. This declaration must show that the reconciliation services to be reported to the Provincial Administration are ascribable to the instrument of Service Vouchers. Any hours of service used during the days/hours in which coverage of the Service Voucher was envisaged but in which there was ineligible coverage must be reported in the register so that they are excluded from reporting to the Provincial Administration. Services on non-accountable dates or hours will remain the full responsibility of the Voucher holder.

A financial contribution depending on the age of the childis compulsorily payable by the holder of the Service Voucher, amounting to at least

• 2% of the total quota of the service admitted in favour of minors up to 6 years of age (band A, A1, A2, and B)
• 5% of the total share of the service admitted in favour of children aged 6 and over (band C).