Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
Providing child care is part of an overall service plan
designed to help eligible parents or caretakers to achieve their maximum
self-support potential. Quality child care services ensure that eligible
parents or caretakers have access to adequate care that affords their children
developmental and learning experiences while they are engaged in self-support
activities. The child care plan consists of many components that link to form a
goal-directed child care plan as described in (1) through (11) of this
Section.
(1)
Child
characteristics. The worker gathers information about the child who
needs child care, including his or her name, age, grade level, and if the child
has a disability.
(2)
Need
for child care. The worker determines if the parent or caretaker meets a
need factor, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC)
340:40-7-7
and
340:40-7-8.
(3)
Plan hours. To document the
need factor, the worker gathers information from the parent or caretaker about
the days and hours he or she qualifies for child care, including travel time.
(A) When there are two parents or caretakers
in the home, the worker only approves subsidized child care benefits when both
parents or caretakers meet a need factor during the same hours, per OAC
340:40-7-7
and
340:40-7-8.
(B) Based on the days and hours the child
requires care, the worker approves a full-time daily, part-time daily, a
combination of full-time and part-time daily, weekly, or a blended unit type.
(C) Refer to OAC
340:40-7-7(e)
for plan hours concerning a child attending an Early Head Start-Child Care
Partnership (EHS-CCP) grant program or an Oklahoma Early Childhood Program
(OECP).
(D) The worker does not
decrease the child care plan hours because the client no longer meets a need
factor or has a decreased need for child care between renewal periods, per
Section 98.21(a) of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations (45 C.F.R. §
98.21) and OAC
340:40-9-2(b).
(4)
Alternative to subsidized child
care benefits. The worker and client explore whether there is an
appropriate, feasible alternative to Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) subsidized
child care benefits.
(A) When the alternative
is a spouse or the child's natural or adoptive parent who lives in the home,
the client must use the alternative rather than subsidized child care benefits.
(B) When the alternative is
someone other than a spouse or the child's parent or caretaker, the client may
choose whether to use the alternative.
(5)
Plan to increase income. At
each application or renewal, the client and worker explore ways the client may
become more self-supporting by increasing household income. Increasing
household income may include pursuing a work promotion, searching for a higher
paying job, or increasing job skills. The client is also instructed to pursue
any identified potential income, per OAC
340:40-7-9.
(6)
Back up plan. The worker and
client discuss and develop a backup plan for child care when the child cannot
go to the usual provider because of illness, school holidays, or other
emergencies. The backup plan includes the name and address of a person the
client feels he or she can rely on when the normal child care plan cannot be
used.
(7)
Provider
Choice. The worker documents the provider choice on the application or
renewal form.
(A) When the client does not
choose a provider at the time of request, the worker provides the client with
information to help in making the choice.
(B) The client may choose a family child care
home regardless of star status.
(C)
The client may choose a Community Hope Center that is not subject to the Stars
quality rating system.
(D) The
client may not choose a child care:
(i)
program that does not have a valid contract with OKDHS;
(ii) program in which the client or his or
her spouse, including the child's parent or stepparent, has an ownership
interest;
(iii) home in which the
child resides;
(iv) home in which
the client also works during the hours his or her child is in care;
(v) provider who does not allow parental
access during the hours the provider is caring for children;
(vi) program receiving state or federal
funds, such as Head Start, Early Head Start, or public schools, and not
charging all parents for the hours subsidy payment is requested. EHS-CCP grant
programs and OECPs are exempt from this rule;
(vii) provider caring for a school-age child
during the regular school day when the student could be attending a public or
private school during those hours;
(viii) center, when it is a one-star
facility, unless there are no centers with a higher star status in the
community or special exception criteria are met. Special exception criteria
are:
(I) the child was approved for care
prior to the provider's star status being reduced to one star. The child may
remain at the facility unless the child stops attending there for more than
30-calendar days. The child may be approved at the same facility again when the
only reason the child did not attend for more than 30-calendar days was because
of a school break or circumstances beyond the family's control, such as the
child's illness;
(II) care is
requested for a child living in the same home as a child already approved for
care, per (7)(C)(viii)(I) of this subsection for the same one star child care
provider; or
(III) the parent or
caretaker demonstrates there is no other child care option that meets the
family's needs; or
(ix)
in-home provider who is not related to the child. Per OAC
340:40-13-2,
related means an aunt, uncle, grandparent, great grandparent, or sibling not
living in the home.
(8)
Income determination. Per
OAC 340:40-7, the worker determines who is considered part of the household for
income determination and what income is countable or excluded. The household's
countable income must not exceed the income eligibility threshold, per OKDHS
Appendix C-4, Child Care Eligibility/Copayment Chart.
(9)
Family share copayment. The
worker refers to OKDHS Appendix C-4 to determine the family share copayment for
each family. The family share copayment is applied before OKDHS pays a child
care subsidy. 17 The family's copayment cost varies based on family size and
income.
(A) The family share copayment is
determined at approval and may not be increased until renewal, per
45 C.F.R. §
98.21(a)(3). When the worker
anticipates changes in household income at approval, such as when the client
starts a new job and does not receive a full month's pay for the application
month, the worker increases household income and the family share copayment for
the next month in the certification action. All family share copayment changes
made at certification are included in the approval notice(s).
(B) When household income decreases during
the eligibility period, the worker decreases the family share copayment, when
applicable, per OAC
340:40-9-2(c).
Following a decrease, the copayment is not increased until renewal unless the
household income exceeds the income eligibility threshold, per OKDHS Appendix
C-4.
(C) At renewal, when the
family's income exceeds the income eligibility threshold, per OKDHS Appendix
C-4, the worker closes the child care benefits.
(10)
Social services requests.
When a client requests help in meeting the social services needs listed on the
application or renewal, the worker provides all available information to aid a
client in meeting these needs.
(11)
Client rights and responsibilities. The worker informs the client
of his or her rights and responsibilities per (A) through (G) of this
paragraph.
(A) A child care request is only
approved back to the request date when the interview is conducted and
verification is provided on the request date.
(B) The client has the right to ask for a
fair hearing when the client disagrees with an action taken on his or her case,
per OAC 340:2-5.
(C) The provider
may charge the client for special fees, such as enrollment or transportation
fees, provided these fees are posted and also charged to families attending the
facility who do not receive subsidized child care.
(D) The provider may charge the client for
care provided in excess of the OKDHS -approved child care plan when the client
chooses to leave the child in care longer. When the provider requires all
children in the facility to begin care by a certain time of day and the
client's child care plan hours start later, the provider must not charge the
client for the additional hours. The client records attendance based on the
child care plan hours.
(E) The
provider may charge the client for any days OKDHS refuses to pay for care
because the:
(i) client did not record
attendance for the correct days and times his or her child attended child
care;
(ii) payment for attendance
was denied and the client did not resolve the problem within 10-calendar days;
or
(iii) provider lost the
absent-day payment for a child approved for a weekly unit type because the
client did not record correct attendance for every day the child attended that
month.
(F) The provider
may not charge the client for days:
(i) and
hours covered in the child care plan when all attendance was correctly
recorded, even when the hours are more than customary for a full-time day;
and
(ii) the child is not in
attendance.
(G) The
client is required to cooperate with the OKDHS Office of Inspector General in
any audit or investigation of possible overpayments by the client or the
client's chosen provider.
Added at 17 Ok Reg 25,
eff 10-1-99 (emergency); Added at 17 Ok Reg 1244, eff 6-1-00; Amended at 17 Ok
Reg 3583, eff 10-1-00 (emergency); Amended at 18 Ok Reg 1236, eff 5-11-01;
Amended at 19 Ok Reg 195, eff 1-01-02 (emergency); Amended at 19 Ok Reg 2205,
eff 6-27-02; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 530, eff 1-1-03 (emergency); Amended at 20 Ok
Reg 872, eff 6-1-03; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 2800, eff 8-1-03 (emergency); Amended
at 20 Ok Reg 2916, eff 8-1-03 (emergency); Amended at 21 Ok Reg 1377, eff
7-1-04; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 1364, eff 9-1-04; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 1872, eff
7-1-06; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1027, eff 6-1-07; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 920, eff
6-1-08; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 820, eff 6-1-09; Amended at 28 Ok Reg 831, eff
6-1-11
