No. 39098 (Amendment): Rule R986-700. Child Care Assistance

(Amendment)

DAR File No.: 39098
Filed: 01/29/2015 06:06:43 PM

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

The purpose of this amendment is to clarify language, change terms, and change how providers report rates.

Summary of the rule or change:

The agency is changing the term "subsidy deduction" to "copayment", requiring providers to report rates to the Care About Child Care agency, and clarifying what is already Department practice regarding deductions.

State statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

• Subsection 35A-3-310(3)
• Subsection 35A-1-104(4)
• Section 35A-1-104

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

This applies to federally-funded programs so there are no costs or savings to the state budget.

local governments:

This applies to federally-funded programs so there are no costs or savings to local governments.

small businesses:

There will be no costs to small businesses to comply with these changes because this is a federally-funded program.

persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local governmental entities:

There will be no costs to persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local government entities to comply with these changes because there are no costs or fees associated with these proposed changes.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

There are no compliance costs for this change to anyone, including persons affected by this change.

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

There are no compliance costs associated with this change. There are no fees associated with this change. There will be no cost to anyone to comply with these changes. There will be no fiscal impact on any business.

Jon Pierpont, Executive Director

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Division of Administrative Rules, or at:

Workforce Services
Employment Development
140 E 300 S
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84111-2333

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

• Suzan Pixton at the above address, by phone at 801-526-9645, by FAX at 801-526-9211, or by Internet E-mail at [e-mail]

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

03/17/2015

This rule may become effective on:

03/24/2015

Authorized by:

Jon Pierpont, Executive Director

RULE TEXT

R986. Workforce Services, Employment Development.

R986-700. Child Care Assistance.

R986-700-702. General Provisions.

(1) CC is provided to support employment and job search activities.

(2) CC is available, as funding permits, to the following clients who are employed or are participating in activities that lead to employment:

(a) parents;

(b) specified relatives; or

(c) clients who have been awarded custody or appointed guardian of the child by court order and both parents are absent from the home. If there is no court order, an exception can be made on a case by case basis in unusual circumstances by the Department program specialist.

(3) Child care is provided only for children living in the home and only during hours when neither parent is available to provide care for the children.

(4) If a client is eligible to receive CC, the following children, living in the household unit, are eligible:

(a) children under the age of 13; and

(b) children up to the age of 18 years if the child;

(i) meets the requirements of rule R986-700-717, and/or

(ii) is under court supervision.

(5) Clients who qualify for child care services will be paid if and as funding is available. When the child care needs of eligible applicants exceed available funding, applicants will be placed on a waiting list. Eligible applicants on the list will be served as funding becomes available. Special needs children, homeless children and FEP or FEPTP eligible children will be prioritized at the top of the list and will be served first. "Special needs child" is defined in rule R986-700-717.

(6) The amount of CC might not cover the entire cost of care.

(7) A client is only eligible for CC if the client has no other options available for child care. The client is encouraged to obtain child care at no cost from a parent, sibling, relative, or other suitable provider. If suitable child care is available to the client at no cost from another source, CC cannot be provided.

(8) CC can only be provided by an eligible provider approved by the Department and will not be provided for illegal or unsafe child care. Illegal child care is care provided by any person or facility required to be licensed or certified but where the provider has not fulfilled the requirements necessary to obtain the license or certification.

(9) CC will not be paid to a client for the care of his or her own child(ren) when the client is working in a residential setting. CC may be approved where the client is working for an approved child care center, regularly watches children other than her own, and does not have an ownership interest in the child care center. CC will not be paid to a client for the care of his or her own child(ren) if the client is a stockholder, officer, director, partner, manager or member of a corporation, partnership, limited liability partnership or company or similar legal entity providing the CC.

(10) Neither the Department nor the state of Utah is liable for injuries that may occur when a child is placed in child care even if the parent receives a subsidy from the Department.

(11) Foster care parents receiving payment from the Department of Human Services are not eligible to receive CC for the foster children.

(12) Once eligibility for CC has been established, eligibility must be reviewed at least once every six months. The review is not complete until the client has completed, signed and returned all necessary review forms to the local office. All requested verifications must be provided at the time of the review. If the Department has reason to believe the client's circumstances have changed, affecting either eligibility or payment amount, the Department will reduce or terminate CC even if the certification period has not expired.

 

R986-700-703. Client Rights and Responsibilities.

In addition to the client rights and responsibilities found in R986-100, the following client rights and responsibilities apply:

(1) A client has the right to select the type of child care which best meets the family's needs.

(2) If a client requests help in selecting a provider, the Department will refer the client to the local Care About Child Care agency.

(3) A client is responsible for monitoring the child care provider. The Department will not monitor the provider.

(4) A client is responsible to pay all costs of care charged by the provider. If the child care assistance payment provided by the Department is less than the amount charged by the provider, the client is responsible for paying the provider the difference.

(5) The only changes a client must report to the Department within ten days of the change occurring are:

(a) that the household's gross monthly income exceeds the percentage of the state median income as determined by the Department in R986-700-710(3);

(b) that the client is no longer in an approved training or educational program;

(c) if the client's and/or child's schedule changes so that child care is no longer needed during the hours of approved employment and/or training activities;

(d) that the client does not meet the minimum work requirements of an average of 15 hours per week or 15 and 30 hours per week when two parents are in the household and it is expected to continue;

(e) the client is separated from his or her employment;

(f) a change of address;

(g) any of the following changes in household composition; a parent, stepparent, spouse, or former spouse moves into the home, a child receiving child care moves out of the home, or the client gets married; or

(h) a change in the child care provider, including when care is provided at no cost.

(6) If a material change which would result in a decrease in the amount of the CC payment is reported within 10 days, the decrease will be made effective beginning the next month and sums received in the month in which the change occurred will not be treated as an overpayment. If it is too late to make the change to the next month's CC payment, the client is responsible for repayment even if the 10 days for reporting the change has not expired. If the client fails to report the change within 10 days, the decrease will occur as soon as the Department learns of the change and the overpayment will be assessed back to the date of the change.

(7) A client is responsible for payment to the Department of any overpayment made in CC.

(8) The Department is authorized to release the following information to the designated provider:

(a) limited information regarding the status of a CC payment including that no payment was issued or services were denied;

(b) [information contained on the Form 980;

(c) ]the date the child care subsidy was issued;

([d]c) the subsidy amount for that provider;

([e]d) the [subsidy deduction ]copayment amount;

([f]e) the date a two party check was mailed to the client;

([g]f) a copy of the two party check on a need to know basis;

([h]g) the month the client is scheduled for review or reestablishment,

([i]h) the date the client's application was received; and

([j]i) general information about what additional information and/or verification is needed to approve CC such as the client's work schedule and income.

(9) Unused child care funds issued on the client's electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card will be removed from ("aged off") the EBT card 90 days after those funds were deposited onto the EBT card. Aged off funds will no longer be available to the client.

 

R986-700-706. Provider Rights and Responsibilities.

(1) Providers assume the responsibility to collect payment for child care services rendered. Neither the Department nor the state of Utah assumes responsibility for payment to providers.

(2) A provider may not charge clients receiving a CC subsidy a higher rate than their customers who do not receive a CC subsidy.

(3) Providers must keep accurate records of subsidized child care payments, time and attendance. The Department has the right to investigate child care providers and audit their records. Time and attendance records for all subsidized clients must be kept for at least one year. If a provider fails to cooperate with a Department investigation or audit, or fails to keep records for one year, the provider will no longer be an approved provider.

(4) If a provider accepts payment from funds provided by the Department for services which were not provided, the provider may be referred for criminal prosecution and will no longer be an approved provider following the procedure outlined in section R986-700-718. This is true even if the funds were authorized under R986-700-718.

(5) If an overpayment is established and it is determined that the provider was at fault in the creation of the overpayment, the provider is responsible for repayment of the overpayment.

(6) Records will be kept by the Department for individuals who are not approved providers and against whom a referral or complaint is received.

(7) All providers, except FFN providers as defined in R986-700-705(1)(b)(ii), are required to report their child care rates to the local Care About Child Care agency.

 

R986-700-707. [Subsidy Deduction]Copayment and Transitional Child Care.

(1) "[Subsidy deduction]Copayment" means a dollar amount which is deducted by the Department from the standard CC subsidy for Employment Support CC. The [deduction]copayment is determined on a sliding scale and the amount of the [deduction]copayment is based on the parent(s) countable earned and unearned income and household size.

(2) The parent is responsible for paying the amount of the [subsidy deduction]copayment directly to the child care provider.

(3) If the [subsidy deduction]copayment exceeds the actual cost of child care, the family is not eligible for child care assistance.

(4) [The full monthly subsidy deduction is taken]The Department will deduct the full monthly copayment from the subsidy even if the client receives CC for only part of the month.

(5) There is no [subsidy deduction]copayment during transitional child care. Transitional child care is available during the six months immediately following a FEP or FEPTP termination if the termination was due to increased income and the parent is otherwise eligible for ESCC. The [subsidy deduction]copayment will resume in the seventh month after the termination of FEP or FEPTP. The six month time limit is the same regardless of whether the client receives TCA or not.

(6) A client does not need to fill out a new application for child care during the six month transitional period even if there is a gap in services during those six months.

 

R986-700-708. FEP CC.

(1) FEP CC may be provided to clients receiving financial assistance from FEP or FEPTP. FEP CC will only be provided to cover the hours a client needs child care to support the activities required by the employment plan. FEP CC is not subject to the [subsidy deduction]copayment.

(2) Additional time for travel may be included on a case by case basis when circumstances create a hardship for the client because the required activities necessitate travel of distances taking at least one hour each way.

 

R986-700-710. Income Limits for ES CC.

(1) Rule R986-200 is used to determine:

(a) who must be included in the household assistance unit for determining whose income must be counted to establish eligibility. In some circumstances, determining household composition for a ES CC household is different from determining household composition for a FEP or FEPTP household. ES CC follows the parent and the child, not just the child so, for example, if a parent in the household is ineligible, the entire ES CC household is ineligible. A specified relative may not opt out of the household assistance unit when determining eligibility for CC. The income of the specified relatives needing ES CC in the household must be counted. For ES CC, only the income of the parent/client is counted in determining eligibility regardless of who else lives in the household. If both parents are living in the household, the income of both parents is counted. Recipients of SSI benefits are included in the household assistance unit.

(b) what is counted as income except:

(i) the earned income of a minor child who is not a parent is not counted;

(ii) child support, including in kind child support payments, is counted as unearned income, even if it exceeds the court or ORS ordered amount of child support, if the payments are made directly to the client. If the child support payments are paid to a third party, only the amount up to the court or ORS ordered child support amount is counted; and

(iii) earned and unearned income of SSI recipients is counted with the exception of the SSI benefit.

(c) how to estimate income.

(2) The following income deductions are the only deductions allowed on a monthly basis:

(a) the first $50 of child support received by the family;

(b) court ordered and verified child support and alimony paid out by the household;

(c) $100 for each person with countable earned income; and

(d) a $100 medical deduction. The medical deduction is automatic and does not require proof of expenditure.

(3) The household's countable income, less applicable deductions in paragraph (2) above, must be at, or below, a percentage of the state median income as determined by the Department. The Department will make adjustments to the percentage of the state median income as funding permits. The percentage currently in use is available at the Department's administrative office.

(4) Charts establishing income limits and the [subsidy deduction]copayment amounts are available at all local Department offices.

(5) An independent living grant paid by DHS to a minor parent is not counted as income.

 

R986-700-713. Amount of CC Payment.

CC will be paid at the lower of the following levels:

(1) the maximum monthly local market rate as calculated using the Local Market Survey. The Local Market Survey is conducted by the Department and based on the provider category and age of the child. The Survey results are available for review at any Department office through the Department web site on the Internet; or

(2) the rate established by the provider for services and, if required, reported to the local Care About Child Care agency; or

(3) the unit cost multiplied by the number of hours approved by the Department. The unit cost is determined by dividing the maximum monthly local market rate by 137.6 hours.

 

R986-700-719. Job Search Child Care (JS CC).

(1) JS CC is available to a client who is otherwise eligible for child care but is separated from his or her job and meets the eligibility criteria.

(2) JS CC is available for a maximum of two additional months provided the client:

(a) was employed at least 32 hours per week and was separated from his or her job;

(b) was receiving ES CC or Transitional Child Care (TR CC) in the month of the job separation and;

(c) reports the job loss within 10 days and requests continued child care payments while searching for a job. In that case, the client will be eligible for one additional month of child care. The month of the job loss does not count.

(3) If the client verifies the job loss in a timely manner, as directed by the Department, a second month of CC will be paid while the client looks for a job.

(4) The JS CC extension is only available once in a rolling 12 month period even if the client received only one month of JS CC assistance.

(5) A client is not eligible for JS CC if the client has two or more jobs and is separated from one or more of them but still has one job[ working 15 hours per week or more].

(6) Two parent households are not eligible for JS CC.

(7) [JS CC will be paid at the same rate the client was receiving in the month of the job separation unless the client changes his or her child care provider]The JS CC copayment will be at the lowest copayment amount required by the Department disregarding all earned income.

(8) A client who is receiving TR CC when the job separation occurs, and meets the requirements of this section, can be eligible for a maximum of two months of JS CC but those two months will count against the six month maximum under TR CC as provided in R986-700-707. If the job separation occurs in the last month of TR CC, the client can be eligible for JS CC which would be in addition to the TR CC.

 

KEY: child care

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [February 1,]2015

Notice of Continuation: September 8, 2010

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: 35A-3-310

 

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