The federal government provides funding for child care assistance under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, 42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq. These funds are held by the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), and access to those funds by the states is controlled by federal CCDF regulations found in 45 CFR Part 98. Recent amendments to those regulations became effective in November 2016 and required a variety of changes to the state rules and procedures promulgated by the Department of Workforce Services (DWS), Office of Child Care, which administers the state child care subsidy program under the authority of Sections 35A-3-310 and 35A-3-310.5, see Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Program, 81 FR 67438 (09/30/2016). Specifically, the CCDF changes provide that a parent receiving a child care subsidy payment is subject to a periodic review of the household's eligibility once initial eligibility has been determined. An increase in household income prior to the end of the review period will no longer reduce or eliminate the household's eligibility for subsidy unless the income change pushes the household over the specified gross monthly income threshold, which is set by the federal government at 85% of the state median income. The Department will continue to act immediately on changes that increase the amount of a parent's subsidy, as well as changes based on the amounts being charged for child care by a provider (including a change in providers). In connection with these changes, certain previously reportable events, such as a parent leaving an approved training or educational program, and no longer meeting minimum work requirements, are no longer reportable except at the time of the review. Similar changes are made to the temporary change child care reporting requirements, clarifying that only persons who experience a temporary loss of employment are required to report that event to the Department in order for their child care subsidy to continue at the same level. These proposed rule changes also add a new category of temporary change, namely a child turning 13 years old during the eligibility review period. In addition, these proposed rule changes alter the job search child care requirements to bring them in line with the CCDF guidance. Specifically, these proposed rule changes delete the bar on receiving job search child care more than once in a 12-month period. The CCDF changes also put in place stringent new requirements regarding background checks for child care providers and their employees. Per the CCDF regulations, these changes are intended to apply to all providers who are or could become eligible to receive CCDF funds; therefore, these proposed rule changes clarify that it is intended to apply to all such providers, and to assess a consequence of exclusion from the approved provider list for any provider that does not comply with the background-check requirements. CCDF regulations also require background checks to be partially complete before a provider or employee may work with children while being supervised by another employee, and require the checks to be totally complete before such persons can work unsupervised. In addition, CCDF regulations require background checks to be regularly renewed and also require fingerprints for at least the initial check. In conjunction with these requirements, these proposed rule changes harmonize the Department's handling of background checks with the policies and procedures set out in the CCDF regulations, as well as those set forth by the Child Care Licensing Program within the state Department of Health, which is the entity that has statutory authority under Utah law to view, handle, and process the actual background checks. These proposed rule changes also provide that, in addition to the categorical exceptions for certain offenses that are already in rule, the Department's designee may issue a case-by-case exemption for persons who would otherwise be deemed to have failed a background check under certain circumstances, consistent with Section 35A-3-310.5. This discretion is granted as a matter of sound policy and also in connection with the equal employment opportunity guidance provided in the Federal Register in conjunction with the new CCDF regulations. These proposed rule changes also clarify the appeals process related to background checks for providers and their employees as required by the CCDF regulations and consistent with the Utah Administrative Procedures Act, Section 63G-4-101 et seq. Other aspects of these proposed rule changes are intended to streamline enforcement procedures and correct errors or ambiguities in prior versions of the rule. For example, these proposed rule amendments change the handling of provider disqualifications by making clear that a disqualification follows the facility where the incriminating conduct occurred and the principal(s) of that facility, not necessarily any other facilities that may be affiliated with the same provider. These changes are expected to alleviate the potential burden of a disqualification on parents receiving subsidy, as well as innocent facilities and their workers. These proposed rule changes also clarify that licensees are persons for whom child care subsidy will not be provided if they are caring for their own children. Similarly, these proposed rule changes clarify that a provider living in the same home as the parent is ineligible for subsidy only if the provider is providing care in the home where they live (as opposed to at a dedicated child-care facility). This standard would also apply to providers living in the same home as a non-custodial parent and providing child care for a child of that parent. These clarifications resolve ambiguities in the wording of the existing rule. These proposed rule changes also resolve an ambiguity that previously could have resulted in exceptions to the minimum work requirements being made available for two-parent households but not single-parent households. In addition, these proposed rule changes resolve ambiguities in the job search child care requirements to bring them in line with Department policy. Specifically, these proposed rule changes delete references to hours of previous employment in favor of referencing the general minimum work requirements, delete references to the three-month temporary change time frame, and clarify that the copayment for job search child care disregards only the income earned during the job search period. In addition, these proposed rule changes make a technical correction to the eight-hour reporting requirement for the absence of a child from child care to bring it in line with the intent of the rule and Department policy. Further, these proposed rule changes delete the bar on receiving job search child care if a person is separated from one of multiple jobs they hold. These proposed rule changes also remove the maximum hours requirement for child care services provided when a parent works graveyard shifts and needs time during the day to sleep. The revised standard is that the hours of care provided must not exceed the number of hours the parent worked. The remainder of the changes are technical and nonsubstantive. The Department has specific authority to make rules to implement these changes under Sections 35A-1-104, 35A-1-303, 35A-3-102, 35A-3-310, and 35A-3-310.5.