0B10010E Child Care Payments
1BTable of The Child Care Payments section includes the following information Contents
Topic
HUGeneral BackgroundUB
HUMaximum Payment RateUB
HURate CategoriesUB
HUReimbursement of Rate CategoriesUB
HUPayment LimitsUB
HUPayment RequirementsUB
HUCoPaymentUB
HUFamily FeesUB
HUExemption from Family FeesUB
HURegistration FeeUB
HUHours of CareUB
HUExceptions to Hours of CareUB
HURates for KindergartenUB
HUMultiple ProvidersUB
HUHours of Care CategoriesUB
HUStandard HoursUB
HUEvening Weekend HoursUB
HUAdjustment For Evening AndOr WeekendsUB
HUExceptional Needs HoursUB
HUAdjustment FactorUB
HUAttendance Sheet RequirementsUB
HUPayment for Incomplete Attendance SheetsUB
HUParental SignatureUB
HU10Day Payment DeadlineUB
HUParentCaretaker ResponsibilitiesUB
HURetroactive PaymentsUB
HURetroactive Payment LimitsUB
HUProviders Who Do Not Clear in TimeUB
HUPaid to ProvidersUB
HUPayment Limit ApplicationUB
HUPayment Limit ExemptionUB
HUOther Reimbursable FeesUB
HUCalLearn Monthly Attendance ValidationUB
HUEmployed CalLearnUB
HUCalLearn Program Transition to WTW ProgramU
2BGeneral The State of California develops the Regional Market Rate RMR The Background
RMR is a result of a survey completed by child care providers
The RMRs are used by the California Department of Social Services and the Department of Education to determine the maximum payment rates RMRs are determined by the type of provider age groups of the children how a provider charges hourly weekly or monthly fulltime or parttime rates and categories of care
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The RMR represents the maximum that each child care program can pay for child care If a provider charges less than the RMR ceiling rate payment is for the rate that is being charged However should the actual cost of child care exceed the RMR ceiling rates the parent is responsible for paying the difference in the cost referred to as copayment
See Special Notice 1509 for San Diego County RMR ceilings
3Maximum Payment Rate
The maximum payment rate for child care is set by the State at the rate where 85 of providers charge less and 15 charge more for the same type of care for the same age child in a given region Reimbursement ceilings for types of care are found on the HUDepartment of Education website
U
4Rate The following payment guidelines will be used when determining the Categories
provider reimbursement
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Rate Description
Type
Hourly Hourly rates shall be used when hours of care are less than 30 hours per week and less than six hours on any day or An unscheduled but documented need of less than six hours per occurrence such as the parents need to work overtime that exceeds the certified need for child care or The portion of the certified need for child care exceeds 525 hours per week and the hours are not during the providers normal operating hours
Daily Daily rates shall be used when hours of care are six hour or more per day or An unscheduled but documented need of six or more hours per occurrence such as the parents need to work overtime that exceeds the certified need for child care
PartTime Weekly Parttime weekly rates shall be used when hours of care are less than 30 hours per week
FullTime Weekly Fulltime weekly rates shall be used when hours of care are 30 hours or more per week
Part Parttime monthly rates shall be used when hours of
Time care are less than 30 hours per week and that need
Monthly occurs in every week of the month or Child care averages less than 30 hours per week when averaged over the month and care occurs every week of the month
Full Fulltime monthly rates shall be used when hours of
Time care are 30 hours of more per week and that need
Monthly occurs every week of the month or Child care averages 30 hours or more per week when averaged over the month and care occurs every week of the month
5Reimburse6ment of Rate Categories
Child Care Staff shall establish a rate category by using the age of the child the certified need for child care and the facility type When establishing a rate category for a child select the appropriate rate category based on the need for child care how the provider labels their rates and whether the provider can document what a privatepay family pays for the same services
Example Child needs child care from 300 pm to 400pm week days The parent has selected an afterschool program Based on the rate categories listed above the provider could be approved an hourly rate or a parttime weekly rate The provider has submitted documentation that privatepay families pay a flat rate of 4800 per week regardless of the number of hours attended Child Care Staff would approve the 4800 rate as the parttime weekly rate
Using the same situation above if the provider is unable to verify that a privatepay family pays the 4800 rate regardless of hours Child Care Staff shall approve an hourly rate Child Care Staff shall use the RMR hourly rate not to exceed the providers PT or FT weekly rate
7Payment Payment for child care services shall not exceed the fee charged to
Limits other members of the public receiving the same service
HUTopUB The County is not bound by the RMR ceiling when there are no more
than two child care providers of the type needed by the client in the county
8PaymentChild Care Payments are Requirements
Made by the contractor directly to the child care provider on behalf of the client on a monthly basis after the child care service has been rendered
Not made by the contractor directly to the client
Not made in advance by the contractor for services not yet provided
Made according to the providers actual charges as requested on the Attendance Sheet submitted and as indicated on the ParentProvider Fee Agreement up to the maximum payment allowable by the State for fulltime or parttime rates
Made for child care needed to participate in employment or a contractorapproved activity
Limited to the same rates the provider charges nonsubsidized families
9CoPayment A copayment is the amount the client is responsible to pay if shehe chooses a child care provider who charges a fee higher that the maximum payment rate allowed or a rate that we are unable to pay as the provider is unable to provide documentation that a privatepay family pays this rate The copayment is different from the Family Fee
The copayment is an agreement between the parent and the provider No copayments will be required or enforced by the contractor
Family Fees
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Some families are required to pay a portion of their child care costs This portion is called the family fee Family fees if any are based on the fee schedule established by the State and shall be paid by the parent directly to the child care provider
The following additional policy applies to Family Fees
Notice of Action must be sent to the parent with the amount of Family Fee to be assessed
The provider must certify the receipt of Family Fee on the Attendance Sheet
Exemption from FamilyFees
The child care payment cannot be made until fee is paid to and documented on Attendance Sheet by provider
The case may discontinue if Family Fee is not paid
Parent must provide a reasonable plan for delinquent fees payments to provider Services will continue if fees are paid when due
If fees are not paid family is ineligible until all delinquent fees are paid
The Family Fee is determined by the income limits set by the California Department of Education
The amount of the fee is determined by the familys income and size and may change based on family circumstances
The fee schedule is found in the HUCalifornia Administrative CodeUH Title 5 18108
As of March 1 2009
The State Median Income and the Family Fee requirement no longer applies to families receiving CalWORKs cash aid
Cases in where the children continue to receive a CalWORKs grant such as Safety Net and Sanctioned families a Family Fee will not be assessed
The following groups are exempt from family fees
Children receiving Child Welfare Services The Family Fee at the request of Child Welfare Services CWS may be waived Any parent whose child or children are receiving CWS may be exempt from the family fee for a maximum of 12 months The CWS Social Worker must authorize the exemption
Children at Risk The Family Fee may also be waived for children at risk of abuse neglect or exploitation as determined by a legally qualified professional from a legal medical or social service agency or emergency shelter for a period of up to three months
Cumulative Exemption Period The cumulative time period for the two fee exemptions listed above for families shall not exceed 12 months
Registration The County will pay registration fees charged by licensed child care Fee
providers as long as these fees are the same as those charged privatepay families The registration fee must be established in the
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providers fee agreement or contract at the time of enrollment A registration fee shall be paid a maximum of once per year per licensed provider The registration fee can only be paid when a providers rate does not exceed the Regional Market Rate RMR A registration fee may be allocated between the months of authorized care if it cannot be paid in full
The registration fee must be requested on the Attendance Sheet for the month the registration fee is due If the provider rates are above the RMR the parent shall be responsible for the registration fee
Hours of Care Payment can be approved for child care services on behalf of the parent during the following times
Participation hours when a parent is participating in a county approved activity
Work hours when the parent is working
Commute hours when the parent is commuting to and from the provider to the approved activity
Ill child when a child is ill and requires child care from a different provider
Services provided during excused absences of the child or the client These include but are not limited to illness or quarantine of the child or client court ordered visitations family emergencies or court appearances This may also include payments to provider who has a policy that child care is on a fixed schedule whether the child attends or not
CWS activities when approved by a CWS social worker or a legally qualified professional that the child is at risk of abuse or neglect or
Other required activities when care is necessary for other required activities approved by the Employment Case Manager ECM
Exceptions to The County will not pay for child care during Hours of Care
The time the child is attending school or could be attending a
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public school Schoolage children must be enrolled in a public or private school A child who is not enrolled is considered truant
o Independent Study is a recognized mode of education The child is enrolled in a publicprivate school and has instructional minutes
o Home Schooling is not a recognized mode of education unless the parent has a teaching credential
o Documentation of school enrollment is required when a parent requests child care during normal school hours
The time the child is receiving care in other subsidized child care programs except for when the child is ill and requires care from a different provider
Rates for Child care is not authorized for time a child is enrolled in kindergarten Kindergarten
regardless if the kindergarten is a public or private school
A center will be authorized at the 25 yearold rate category if the 5 yearold child is attending a centers preschool program beforeandor after kindergarten A center will be authorized at the 6 yearold rate category if the 5 yearold is attending the centers school age program before andor after kindergarten
Family Day Care providers and licenseexempt providers will be authorized at the 25 yearold rate for a kindergarten age child up until the child turns 6 Once the child turns 6 the 6 rate will be used
MultipleOnly one provider per child can be reimbursed unless Providers
More than one provider is necessary to meet the certified need for child care and
Neither providers hours of operation cover the hours of need Licenseexempt providers must have documentation when unable to provide all hours of care or
One provider can meet all hours of need but the parent has also chosen a licensed center to provide the child with school readiness experiences This is limited to preschool age children only 25 year olds
Hours of Care Stage 1 Child Care program administers three categories of hours of Categories
care The Standard Care hours the EveningWeekend care hours and the Special Need care hours These hours determine the maximum
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rate of pay based on the RMR The RMR allows different rates of pay based on the hours of care
Standard The Standard hours of care are defined as Monday through Friday Hours 600am to 600pm
EveningThe Evening and Weekend hours of care are defined as care provided Weekend
Monday through Friday before 600 am and after 600 pm or any
Hours
hours on Saturday and Sunday
Adjustment For Evening AndOrWeekends
An adjustment to the providers rate can be made if care is provided during Evening andor Weekend hours if the provider is authorized a weekly or monthly rate and can verify that a privatepay family is charged additional fees for evening andor weekend hours
The adjustment rate is the lesser of
The rate the privatepay family is charged or
The providers maximum payment rate is increased by 125
1125 when at least 10 but less than 50 of child care hours occur during evenings and weekends outside of the providers normal hours of operation or
The providers maximum payment rate is increased by 25
125 when 50 or more of the child care hours occur during evenings and weekends outside of the providers normal hours of operation
Example Parent works a varied schedule Sunday through Saturday For the month of February the parent worked 700 am to 400 pm Tuesday through Saturday children attended providers program from
630 am to 430 pm Total hours of care are 50 per week A total of 10 hours were provided on the weekend This is 20 of the total hours of care The provider is requesting 10000 for Saturday care in additional to her fulltime weekly rate of 15000 The providers rate would be increased by 125 for a payment of 16875 per week if the provider verified a privatepay family also pays a higher fee for eveningsweekends
Exceptional
Needs Hours
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The Exceptional Needs Hours of care are defined as care provided to a child who is mentally or physically incapable of selfcare as verified by a physician or a licensed or certified psychologist and requires separate accommodations in order to have basic child care services
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act child care facilities cannot charge special rates for children for whom reasonable accommodations would permit full integration of the child into their program
An adjustment may be made when a provider requests a higher rate for an exceptional needs child and the provider can verify an ongoing additional expense The provider must verify that the child needs ongoing accommodations and the accommodations have an ongoing financial impact to the
AdjustmentFactor
Top
providers program
The following documentation is required for children with Exceptional Needs
Individualized Education Program IEP for children age 3 or older
Individualized Family Service Plan IFSP for children from birth to 36 months
Documentation that child needs ongoing accommodations
Documentation of an ongoing financial impact to the provider or
Forms 24707 HHSA Exceptional Needs 24701 HHSA Justification of Exceptional Needs and 24707A HHSA Statement of Exceptional Needs
Example of ongoing accommodations and ongoing financial impact
The provider claims that enrolling the exceptional needs child into their program requires the provider to decrease enrollment This could be verified by contacting Resource Referral to see if the provider removed their name and the provider submitting a list of families turned away
The provider claims that an additional helper was hired to assist with caring for the exceptional needs child This could be verified by asking the provider to verify the hire date of the helper which should be the same time the child was accepted Documentation could include a copy of a W9 that the helper completed for the provider and verification from Community Care Licensing on when the helper was reported and the date the backgroundTrustline was completed
A provider who verifies an ongoing financial impact can be approved an exceptional needs adjustment factor The adjustment factor is
12 when the child has exceptional needs or
15 when the child is severely disabled
The calculation for children with exceptional needs is described in HUCCR Title 5 Chapter 19 Subchapter 25 Article 1 Section 180752
UH
Verification requirements for special needs can be found in HUProcessing Guide 10010B1 Child Care Eligibility Verifications
Attendance The Attendance Sheet is the form used to report the hours of care Sheet
provided and to request payment The Attendance Sheet is a legal
Requirements
document and must
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Payment for IncompleteAttendance Sheets
Have the time in and time out of the child completed on a daily basis form should not be prefilled
Have a parentparent designee signature for each time in and time out completed on a daily basis Providers initials are acceptable when child enters or leaves the provider for school
Be submitted promptly on a monthly basis within 30 days after last day of child care was provided
Be an agencysupplied Attendance Sheet However substitutes of the Attendance Sheet will be accepted in the following situations
o If the family starts care prior to provider receiving agency sheets as parents are to be signing in and out on a daily basis or
o If the LicenseExempt provider is waiting for Trustline approval so they can document daily the exact time and signatures until they are approved and receive agency sheets
Include the month and year of service
Include a specific reason for any absence
Include the number of hours of attendance either for each day or for the whole month
Be complete and signed in the bottom portion by both the provider and the parent on a monthly basis under penalty of perjury
Cannot be signed in the bottom portion until all child care services for the month have been provided
Not include white out
If an Attendance Sheet contains three or fewer errors it can be paid immediately
If there are more than 3 errors
o Pay the days that are correct
o Do not yet pay the days that are in error
o Request a selfdeclaration of what occurred that caused the error on the other weeks
If a providers signature is missing from the bottom of the Attendance Sheet payment cannot be paid for any portion of the Attendance Sheet
All actions must be documented in CalWIN
Parental Each child must have hisher own Attendance Sheets for the month
Signature The provider is responsible for ensuring that each parentparent designee signs the children in and out on each childs Attendance Sheet
If a child attends child care for more hours than the previously approved hours the parent must write the reason in the explanation column The parent must notify the ECM immediately about the increase in hours to update their WTW plan
The payment of a Family Fee is paid directly to the provider The provider must report the payment of the Family Fee on the Attendance Sheet
10Day PaymentDeadline
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ParentCaretaker Responsibilities
Payments for authorized care are to be made within 10 calendar days of the receipt of the completed correct and authorized Attendance Sheet
Attendance Sheet must be date stamped the date that the attendance sheet is received
If an attendance sheet is partially correct the payable portions of the Attendance Sheet will be processed and paid within the 10day deadline based on what is approved
Contractor will conduct a monthly random review of attendance sheets to ensure 10day payment deadline is met according to the Countys written procedures
The parentcaretaker is responsible for providing the following
The childrens identifying information This includes the name age date of birth ethnic origin and gender of each child requiring child care services
The school name school address and school hours of each child if applicable
The hours of care needed for each child
Information on the provider chosen to care for the child This includes the name address telephone number and relationship to the child if applicable
Information needed to determine eligibility This includes the names of all adults living in the home that are related to the children
Retroactive All CalWORKs and former CalWORKs clients are to be aware of their Payments
potential liability for child care payments and child care providers are to be paid promptly for services to eligible families
Retroactive License Exempt child care providers who are required to be TrustLine Payment
registered shall be entitled to receive retroactive payment for up to 120
Limits
calendar days from the date child care services were requested and services provided if the provider subsequently becomes TrustLine registered
Providers To ensure this requirement does not disrupt recipients ability to
Who Do Not participate in the welfaretowork program the contractor may need to Clear in Time
assist participants in finding alternative child care ifwhen their chosen provider does not clear within the retroactive timeframe
Paid to Retroactive payments are paid directly to the provider if eligible Providers
Payment LimitApplication
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Each time client chooses a new child care provider the retroactive payment limit shall be applied based on the date the client notified the county or contracted agency that they changed providers An informing notice is not required each time client changes providers Licensed TrustlineExempt Provider or Existing TrustlineRegistered Providers payments for child care services shall not be made for services provided more than 30 calendar days prior to the clients request for child care if the clients case file contains a copy of an informing notice signed by the client within the last year or a notation that the client refused to sign andor return the informing notice within the last year
Payment LimitThe limit on retroactive payment shall not apply to retroactive payment Exemption
claims submitted by the client prior to the date they first signed or refused to signreturn an informing notice
Other Reimbursable Fees
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Time that child care services are provided by an eligible alternate provider when the child is ill and the parent has to obtain care from an eligible alternate provider Payment to an alternate provider when the child is ill shall be limited to a maximum of ten days per fiscal year Contractors may reimburse providers as an alternate provider in excess of ten days per year based on the illness of the child if the parent provides physician verification HUCCR Title 5 Chapter 19 Subchapter 25 Article 1 Section 180761UB
CalLearn MonthlyAttendance Validation
Separate School Attendance documentation is not required for the processing of Child Care Attendance Sheets AS for the CalLearn program beginning with the effective month of April 2013
CL Child Care AS will be processed following the same procedure as regular WTW AS CalLearn Case Manager CLCM will monitor CL teen participation as appropriate and will notify CL Child Care worker via 27128 if there are any changes following the same process as regular WTW notification of Child Care related changes Refer to Processing Guide 10010A3 Form 27128
Employed CalLearn participants who are working shall receive child care CalLearn supportive services Participant
CalLearn Program Transition to WTW Program
When a CalLearn CL participant is deregisteredclosed due to graduation or aging out from the CL Program the CL Child Care worker will follow the instructions in CalWIN Child Care How To 842 Child Care Transition from CalLearn to the WTW Program
This will allow a seamless transition for child care supportive service payments for individuals transitioning into WTW who are participating in approved activities