A family may be eligible for child care assistance under
the New York State Child Care Block Grant Program if the resources of the
family do not exceed one million dollars and the family meets one or more of
the following criteria:
(1) Families
who are guaranteed child care services. A social services district must
guarantee child care services to a family who meets the criteria set forth in
any subparagraph of this paragraph regardless of whether the social services
district has any State or Federal funds available under this program to pay for
all or a portion of such costs. In accordance with subdivision (d) of this
section, a district may set aside funds and/or establish priorities for
families eligible for a child care guarantee.
(i) A social services district must guarantee
child care services to a family who has applied for or is receiving public
assistance when such services are needed for a child under 13 years of age in
order to enable the child's parent(s) or caretaker relative(s) to participate
in activities required by a social services official including orientation,
assessment, or work activities as defined in 18 NYCRR Part 385. The guarantee
applies to all eligible children of the parent(s) or caretaker relative(s)
regardless of the child's status as part of the public assistance filing unit.
When child care assistance is provided to a family who has a pending
application for public assistance pursuant to this subparagraph, and such
application is denied, the associated child care assistance case must be
closed, regardless of the eligibility period, unless the family is determined
otherwise eligible for child care assistance.
(ii) A social services district must
guarantee to applicants who would otherwise be eligible for, or are recipients
of, public assistance benefits and who are employed, the option to choose to
receive continuing child care assistance in lieu of public assistance benefits,
for such period of time as the recipient continues to be eligible for public
assistance. For the purposes of this section, an eligible applicant for, or
recipient of, public assistance benefits and who is employed, includes a person
whose gross earnings equal, or are greater than, the required number of work
hours times the State minimum wage. Recipients of child care assistance under
this section who are no longer eligible for public assistance benefits shall be
eligible for transitional child care described in subparagraph (iv) of this
paragraph as if they had been recipients of public assistance.
(iii)A social services district must
guarantee child care services to a family who is receiving public assistance
when such services are needed for a child under 13 years of age in order to
enable the child's parent(s) or caretaker relative(s) to engage in work as
defined by the social services district.
(iv) A social services district must
guarantee child care services for a period of up to 12 consecutive months after
the month in which a family's public assistance case closed or, for those who
chose child care in lieu of public assistance, the month after the family is no
longer financially eligible for public assistance, provided:
(a) the case closed or the family became
financially ineligible for public assistance due to:
(1) increased income from either employment
or child support; or
(2) the family
voluntarily ending assistance and their income is no longer within public
assistance standards; and
(b) the family received public assistance in
at least three of the six months immediately preceding the case closing; or,
for a family who chose child care in lieu of public assistance, the family
received child care in lieu of public assistance and was eligible for public
assistance in at least three of the six months immediately preceding their
ineligibility for public assistance; and
(c) the family includes an eligible child who
is under the age of 13 who needs child care services in order to enable the
child's parent(s) or caretaker relative(s) to be engaged in work as defined in
section 415.1(o)(1) of
this Part; and
(d) the family has
income at or below 300 percent of the applicable state income standard,
provided the family income does not exceed 85 percent of the state median
income. This child care guarantee is available to eligible families for 12
months from the month after the family's eligibility for public assistance has
terminated or ended. Families may ask for and begin to receive child care in
any month during the 12-month period of the child care guarantee. The start
date for eligibility may precede the date services were requested and cover any
period during the 12 months of the guarantee.
(2) Families that are eligible when funds are
available. A social services district must provide child care services to a
family eligible under any one of the subparagraphs of this paragraph, to the
extent that the district continues to have funds available under either the
district's allocation from the State Child Care Block Grant Program or any
local funds appropriated for such program subject to any priorities and set
asides established pursuant to subdivision (d) of this section.
(i) A family which has applied for or is
receiving public assistance when such services are needed for an eligible child
aged 13 or older, who has special needs or is under court supervision, in order
to enable the child's parent(s) or caretaker relative(s) to participate in
activities required by social services officials including orientation,
assessment, or work activities defined in 18 NYCRR Part 385.
(ii) A family receiving public assistance
when such services are needed for a child aged 13 or older, who has special
needs or is under court supervision, in order to enable the child's parent(s)
or caretaker relative(s) to engage in work as defined by the social services
district.
(iii) A family receiving
public assistance when child care services are necessary:
(a) to enable a teenage parent to attend high
school or an equivalency program; or
(b) for the child to be protected because the
child's parent(s) or caretaker relative(s) is physically or mentally
incapacitated or has family duties away from home necessitating his or her
absence.
(iv) A family
with income up to 300 percent of the state income standard, provided the family
income does not exceed 85 percent of the state median income when the family is
at risk of becoming dependent on public assistance and child care services are
needed:
(a) for the child's caretaker(s) to
be engaged in work as defined in section
415.1(o)(1) of
this Part; or
(b) to enable a
teenage parent to attend high school or an equivalency
program.
(v) A family
experiencing homelessness, in accordance with section 725 of Subtitle VII-B of
the McKinney-Vento Act, with income up to 300 percent of the state income
standard, provided the family income does not exceed 85 percent of the state
median income, and child care services are needed for the child's caretaker(s)
to seek housing and:
(a) for the child's
caretaker(s) to seek employment as defined in section
415.1(p) of this
Part; or
(b) for the child's
caretaker(s) to be engaged in work as defined in section
415.1(o) of this
Part; or
(c) for the child's
caretaker(s) to attend educational or vocational activities as defined in
section 415.2(a)(3)(viii)(b)
or section
415.2(a)(3)(iv).
Notwithstanding the potential for some of these educational or vocational
training programs to allow for the eventual attainment of a bachelor's degree
or like certificate of completion for a four-year college program, this
regulation does not permit the renewal of such educational or vocational
training program enrollment for any additional period in excess of 48
consecutive calendar months except those programs defined in section
415.2(a)(3)(iv),
nor does it permit enrollment in more than one such program; or
(d) for the child's caretaker(s) to access or
participate in counseling services programs.
(3) Families who are eligible if funds are
available under this program and if the social services district has listed
such families as eligible in the district's consolidated services plan or
integrated county plan. A social services district must provide child care
services for an eligible child as defined in section
415.1(b) of this
Part to a family eligible under this paragraph, to the extent that the district
continues to have funds available under either the district's allocation for
the State Child Care Block Grant Program or any local funds appropriated for
such program subject to any priorities and set asides established pursuant to
subdivision (d) of this section, provided the social services district has
listed such families as eligible families in the district's consolidated
services plan or integrated county plan:
(i)
a family receiving public assistance when child care services are necessary for
a parent or caretaker relative to participate in an approved activity in
addition to their required work activity;
(ii) a family receiving public assistance
when child care services are necessary for a sanctioned parent or caretaker
relative to participate in unsubsidized employment whereby the parent or
caretaker relative receives earned wages at a level equal to or greater than
the minimum amount required under Federal and State Labor Law;
(iii) a family receiving public assistance or
with income up 300 percent of the state income standard, provided the family
income does not exceed 85 percent of the state median income, when child care
services are needed for the child to be protected because the child's caretaker
is:
(a) participating in an approved
substance abuse treatment program, or in screening for or an assessment of the
need for substance abuse treatment;
(b) homeless or receiving services for
victims of domestic violence and needs child care in order to participate in an
approved activity, or in screening for or an assessment of the need for
services for victims of domestic violence; or
(c) in an emergency situation including, but
not limited to, cases where the caretaker's absence from the home for a
substantial part of the day is necessary because of extenuating circumstances
such as a fire, being dispossessed from the home, seeking living quarters, or
providing chore/housekeeper services for an elderly or disabled
relative.
(iv) a family
is receiving public assistance or has income up to 300 percent of the state
income standard, provided the family income does not exceed 85 percent of the
state median income, and child care services are needed for the child's
caretaker to attend a four-year college or university program leading to a
bachelor's degree provided:
(a) the program
is reasonably expected to improve the earning capacity of the caretaker;
and
(b) the caretaker can
demonstrate his or her ability to successfully complete the course of
study;
(v) a family is
receiving public assistance or has income up to 300 percent of the state income
standard, provided the family income does not exceed 85 percent of the state
median income, and child care services are needed for the child's caretaker to
attend a two-year degree granting program at a community college, a two-year
college, or an undergraduate college leading to an associate degree or
certificate of completion within a determined time frame which must not exceed
48 consecutive calendar months;
(vi) a family with an open child protective
services case when it is determined on a case- by-case basis that such child
care is needed to protect the child;
(vii) a family with income up to 300 percent
of the state income standard, provided the family income does not exceed 85
percent of the state median income, when child care services are needed for the
child to be protected because the child's caretaker is physically or mentally
incapacitated or has family duties away from home necessitating his or her
absence;
(viii) a family with
income up to 300 percent of the state income standard, provided the family
income does not exceed 85 percent of the state median income, when child care
services are needed for the child's caretaker to participate in one of the
following activities provided such activity is an allowable activity set forth
in the social services district's consolidated services plan or integrated
county plan and the district determines that the activity is a necessary part
of a plan for the family's self-support:
(a)
actively seeking employment as defined in section
415.1(p) of this
Part for a period of up to six months as established by the social services
district in its consolidated services plan or integrated county plan, if the
caretaker documents that he or she is currently registered with a New York
State Department of Labor's Division of Employment Services Office, provided
that child care services will be available only for the portion of the day the
family is able to document is directly related to the parent or caretaker
engaging in such activities;
(b)
educational or vocational activities including attendance in one of the
following secondary or post-secondary programs:
(1) a public or private educational facility
providing a standard high school curriculum offered by or approved by the local
school district;
(2) an education
program that prepares an individual to obtain a New York State high school
equivalency diploma;
(3) a program
providing basic remedial education in the areas of reading, writing,
mathematics and oral communications for individuals functioning below the ninth
month of the eighth grade level in those areas;
(4) a program providing literacy training
designed to help individuals improve their ability to read and write;
(5) an English as a second language (ESL)
instructional program designed to develop skills in listening, speaking,
reading and writing the English language for individuals whose native or
primary language is other than English;
(6) a training program which has a specific
occupational goal and is conducted by an institution licensed or approved by
the State Education Department other than a college or university;
(7) a prevocational skills training program
such as a basic education and literacy training program; or
(8) a demonstration project designed for
vocational training or other projects approved by the Department of
Labor;
(c) a program to
train workers in an employment field that currently is or is likely to be in
demand in the near future, if the caretaker documents that he or she is a
dislocated worker and is currently registered in such a program, provided that
child care services are only used for the portion of the day the caretaker is
able to document is directly related to the caretaker engaging in such a
program. For the purposes of this provision, a dislocated worker is any person
who: has been terminated or laid off from employment; has received a notice of
termination or layoff from employment that will occur within six months of such
notice; or was selfemployed but is unemployed as a result of general economic
conditions in the community in which the individual resides or because of
natural disasters.
Notwithstanding the potential for some of these
educational or vocational training programs to allow for the eventual
attainment of a bachelor's degree or like certificate of completion for a
four-year college program, this regulation does not permit the renewal of such
educational or vocational training program enrollment for any additional period
in excess of 48 consecutive calendar months except as authorized under
subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph, nor does it permit enrollment in more than
one such program.
(ix) a family with income up to 300 percent
of the state income standard, provided the family income does not exceed 85
percent of the state median income, when child care services are needed for the
child to be protected because one of the child's caretakers is engaged in work
as defined in section
415.1(o)(1) of
this Part and the child's other caretaker is physically or mentally
incapacitated or has family duties away from home necessitating his or her
absence.