SR 05-33 Dated 07/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases the following changes to the Child Care program:

§   a qualifying training or education program may include internet courses;

§   child care assistance is not available for the children of individuals employed solely as license-exempt child care providers;

§   Form 2631 and Form 2632, Child Care Provider Agreements, are now required for all non-contract child care providers; and

§   child care providers will be disqualified from provider enrollment for a period of 5 years if found to have committed fraud, made false or misleading statements to DHHS, or the provider’s child care license was denied or revoked.

POLICY

Effective with the release of this SR:

§   Acceptable training and education programs, which are preparatory to employment, will include Internet courses.

§   An individual who is employed solely as a license-exempt child care provider will not be eligible to receive child care assistance for their own children.

Additionally, all licensed and license-exempt child care providers will now be required to sign the following agreements which defines their responsibilities pertaining to billing for child care services provided:

§   Form 2631, Child Care And Development Fund Scholarship: Child Care Provider Agreement License-exempt Child Care; or

§   Form 2632, Child Care And Development Fund Scholarship: Child Care Provider Agreement Licensed Child Care.

The Child Development Bureau will manage, track and facilitate the provider agreement process by:

§   coordinating the inclusion of Form 2631 and Form 2632 in the child care packets for license-exempt providers; and

§   generating a mailing to licensed providers to alert them of this new requirement.

The provider agreements will be returned to the Child Development Bureau (CDB), not to the District Office, and will then remain in the provider’s file at State Office. There are no consequences if the provider fails or refuses to sign and return the agreement; payment will continue unchanged. Forms 2631 and 2632 have been attached to this SR for reference purposes only.

In addition, a child care provider will be disqualified from participation as an enrolled DHHS child care provider for a period of 5 years, if:

§   the provider is convicted of fraud by the court or found to have committed fraud by the Office of Special Investigations;

§   the provider has been found to have made false or misleading statements to DHHS; or

§   the provider’s child care license was denied or revoked for making false and misleading statements.

NEW HEIGHTS PROCEDURES

A new reason has been added to the Program of Assistance (POA) screen in New HEIGHTS so that FSS may close child care assistance for self-employed license-exempt child care providers requesting child care assistance for their own children. FSS must:

§   deny child care on the POA screen by choosing "License-exempt child care provider" from the drop down menu; and

§   save, run eligibility, and confirm.

The following message will be generated on the NOD at the conclusion of this process:

YOUR CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE HAS BEEN DENIED BECAUSE YOU ARE A SELF-EMPLOYED LICENSE-EXEMPT CHILD CARE PROVIDER AND ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR YOUR OWN CHILDREN. IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS YOU MAY CALL THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT BUREAU AT 1-800-852-3345 EXTENSION 4242.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

PART 915   PROGRAM CRITERIA

PART 925   TRAINING OR EDUCATION PREPARATORY TO EMPLOYMENT

PART 929   PROVIDER QUALIFICATIONS

IMPLEMENTATION

The policies described in this SR are effective July 1, 2005.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

Clients will be advised of the revised policy at the time of application and at redeterminations, on an individual, as needed, basis.

TRAINING

No training is planned.

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-line Manuals.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manual, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/DHHS/DFA/LIBRARY, effective August 1, 2005.

This SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all hard copy holders of the Family Assistance Manual. The Child Development Bureau will also distribute the SR under separate cover to all contracted child care centers.

DFA/DM:jbv