SR 09-23 Dated 10/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases the implementation of a child care scholarship wait list. New applicants eligible for child care assistance will be placed on a child care scholarship "wait list." The following households are exempt from the wait list:

·   Children in families who are currently receiving Financial Assistance to Needy Families (FANF) cash benefits;

·   Children in families whose FANF cash assistance has closed within the last 90 days.

·   Children receiving preventive and protective child care through DCYF.

Families must comply with the child care eligibility requirements and be determined eligible before being placed on the wait list. All families who do not meet the exempt criteria listed above will be placed on the wait list if they are determined eligible for benefits beginning October 1st, 2009. Redetermination policy remains unchanged for families who are eligible for child care assistance but who are placed on the wait list. Families on the wait list must have their continued eligibility for child care assistance reviewed every six months even though they are not receiving child care assistance. If the family is open for other assistance programs, the joint re-certification is an accepted eligibility review. Failure or refusal to complete the redetermination process before the end of the current certification period every 6 months will result in the termination of child care eligibility for the family. Once child care eligibility is terminated, the children are removed from the wait list. If the family requests child care assistance after this termination, the family must re-apply and have eligibility redetermined. The new application date will determine the child’s new position on the wait list.

When eligibility is determined, the family will receive notification on an AE0107 letter that informs them that the children have been placed on the wait list.

The wait list is prioritized into two groups:

1. children in families with monthly gross income at or under 100% of the FPG; and

2. all other children determined eligible for child care assistance.

Children are added to the wait list according to the application date for child care. As funds become available, children will be removed from the waitlist as follows:

·   According to the date on the application; and alternating between two children from priority group 1 and one child from priority group 2. When more than one family is added to the wait list in one day the position on the wait list is as follows, application date, the time eligibility was run, age and the RID number in case of twins or other multiple births.

BACKGROUND

The DCYF Child Development Bureau is implementing a child care scholarship "wait list". This is due to insufficient Departmental funds to fully meet the costs of child care assistance for children not currently eligible for and receiving child care scholarship.

POLICY

Retroactive to October 1, 2009 new applicants eligible for child care assistance that are not FANF recipients or those for whom FANF has closed within 90 days will be placed on a child care scholarship "wait list".

The following households are exempt from the wait list:

·   Children in families who are currently receiving Financial Assistance to Needy Families (FANF) cash benefits;

·   Children in families whose FANF cash assistance has closed within the last 90 days.

·   Children receiving preventive and protective child care.

The District Office Family Service Specialist will give the family who will be placed on the wait list the following;

·   Child Care Scholarship Wait List Fact Sheet for Parents, Form # 2606,

·   Child Care Scholarship Wait List Fact Sheet for Professionals, Form # 2607

·   The Resource & Referral Agency and Family Support Centers List, Form # 2605

·   NH Child Care Scholarship Brochure Form # 2625

The fact sheet will refer families to their local Child Care Resource and Referral Agency (CCR&R) for help in searching for child care and to local Family Resource Centers to help with other issues the family may encounter. The fact sheet indicates that there is no way of knowing how long a child will remain on the wait list. Accompanying the fact sheet will be the NH Child Care Scholarship brochure Form # 2625.

The FSS will inform families of the newly created Wait List Hot line # 271-4421 and the web site URL http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/DHHS/CDB/waitlist.htm for updated wait list information.

There will be no DHHS child care scholarship reimbursement payment for child care services while the family is on the wait list. The wait list is prioritized into two groups:

1. children in families with monthly gross income at or under 100% of the FPG; and

2. all other children determined eligible for child care assistance.

Children are added to the wait list according to the date of the application for child care.

As funds become available, children will be removed from the wait list as follows:

·   According to the date on the application; and

·   Alternating between two children from priority group 1 and one child from priority group 2.

Families who are eligible for child care assistance but who are placed on the wait list must have their eligibility for child care assistance redetermined every six months. Failure or refusal to complete the redetermination process before the current certification period ends will result in the termination of child care eligibility. Once child care eligibility is terminated, the children are removed from the wait list and must re-apply for child care. The new application date will determine the child’s new position on the wait list.

Release from Wait List

When Child Care Scholarship becomes available, the family will receive New HEIGHTS-generated AE0106 - Release from the Child Care Wait List indicating the date that one or more child(ren) will be removed from the wait list. No DHHS childcare scholarship reimbursement payment will be made prior to the effective date indicated on the letter.

The family will have 30 days from the effective date on the AE0106 to arrange for child care with an enrolled provider and return the Form 2530, Provider Verification Form, within 10 days to the District Office. A new 2530 must be submitted even if they submitted the 2530 with the application. Eligibility will close 30 days after release from the wait list if no 2530 has been received to establish a provider-child link. If the provider is not already enrolled, the family has 5 days from the effective date on the AE0106 to mail in the child care packet to the Child Development Bureau to ensure that the provider is enrolled and linked within the 30 days. Eligibility will close 30 days after release from the wait list if no 2530 has been received to establish a provider-child link with an enrolled provider.

If the child care packet was returned in within 5 days of the AE0106 and the enrollment process is not completed within 30 days CDB will grant a link extension. No extension will be granted if the packet was not received within the 5 days.

If the family does not submit the required forms within the specified time period above, child care eligibility will be terminated except in the following circumstances:

·   The family was unable to find child care within the 30 days with the assistance of the Child Care R&R Agency as verified by a letter from the Child Care R&R Agency stating that the parent has been searching for child care with the assistance of CCR&R and child care for the specific child has not been identified. This letter will be valid for 30 additional days. There will be no extensions beyond the additional 30 days; or

·   The parent or child had an in-patient hospital stay during the 30 day period as verified by providing the fact sheet or discharge orders from the hospital; or

·   The Department made an error in determining eligibility or entered incorrect or inaccurate data into New HEIGHTS regarding the child care link as verified by the FSS detailing the error and requesting an exemption to the deadline in an email to the supervisor.

If the FSS has determined a good cause reason for the family’s failure to identify a child care provider within the timeframe, the supervisor must e-mail the Child Development Bureau with the required information listed in the Policy Clarification Section.

NEW HEIGHTS PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

To inform families of the importance of timely redeterminations the following alert was added to the Schedule Redetermination Interview Notice, CS0019, the CS0019 and the CS0001 letters for child care cases:

"There is now a wait list for child care scholarship. You must complete your redetermination on time. If you have not completed your redetermination for child care scholarship before the date on this letter, your child care scholarship will end. If you still need child care assistance, you must reapply and you will be placed on the wait list. Children will be on the wait list for at least several months. There will be no payment for child care for children on the wail list".

New wait list screens have been added to New Heights:

View Child Care Wait List Screen

A variety of information can be reviewed about individual children currently on the wait list such as the child’s Application Date, Position on the Wait List, and Priority.

View Child Care Wait List Details Tab

CDB will use this screen to manually release individual children, restore children to the

original wait list position when they have been incorrectly denied or to grant a good cause

extension. This information is for DHHS internal use only. Families can access the Wait

List Hot line # 271-4421 and the website URL is

htttp://www.dhhs.nh.gov/DHHS/CDB/waitlist.htm for information about the

wait list.

View Child Care Wait List History – View history for individual children.

Dashboard Modifications

New Wait Listed and Released fields have been added to the Worker Dashboard. These fields will be updated daily. To view the status of individual children, click the checkbox and then select the Launch button. This will take you to the View Child Care Wait List screen.

Please refer to SYSTEMS CHANGE ALERT September 28, 2009, Child Care Wait List that was released by New HEIGHTS on the topic. New HEIGHTS has been programmed to initiate the wait list according to the policy released in this SR # 09-23 retroactive to October 1, 2009.

The following New HEIGHTS-generated notices were created to notify families of the wait list:

·   AE0107: "Added to the Child Care Scholarship Wait List." This notice informs the parent that the child(ren) have been determined eligible and added to the wait list, advises the parent that they complete their recertification of eligibility in a timely manner and provides information for contacting the Child Care Resource and Referral Agency.

·   AE0106: "Release From the Child Care Scholarship Wait List". This notice informs the parent that their child(ren) have been released from the wait list; informs the parent that they must complete a new form 2530 and return the form to their FSS within 10 days and if the provider is not enrolled the packet must be sent to CDB within 5 days; and indicates the date of the release, which is also the date authorized payments may begin for child care services, after the return of the form 2530.

New HEIGHTS will be releasing these letters for inserting in the New HEIGHTS Letter and Notices Binder under separate cover at a later date.

UNRELATED OR RELATED POLICY CLARIFICATIONS OR TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS

Good Cause Reasons and Required Verification

1. The family is unable to find child care within 30 days with assistance from the Resource

and Referral Agency. Required verification: a letter from the Child Care R&R Agency stating that the parent has been searching for child care with the assistance of CCR&R and child care for the specific child has not been identified. This good cause will be valid for 30 additional days. There will be no extensions beyond the additional 30 days; or

2. The parent or child has an in-patient hospital stay during the 30-day period.

Required verification: fact sheet or discharge orders from the hospital indicating the dates of the in-patient stay; or

3. Incorrect or no data has been entered regarding the child care link. Required Verification:

the date stamped form 2530. The Department made an error in determining eligibility or

entered incorrect or inaccurate data into New HEIGHTS or did not take timely action on a

case.

To release a child from the wait list when the case closed in error, a good cause reason must be established. If one of the three good cause reasons have been identified, and the verification provided, the FSS must:

·   notify their supervisor of the request;

·   the supervisor must e-mail the request to the Child Development Bureau within 10 days for approval (Deborah Madigan, Pamela Durkee or Stacy Marsland);

·   CDB will contact the supervisor to confirm the reinstatement. CDB will release the child from the wait list and the FSS must reopen and confirm the case and. The FSS will then link the child per form 2530.

If a case was closed in error, the supervisor must e-mail CDB indicating the good cause reason, the date child care eligibility ended, the required missing verification and the date it was received. In the case of a 545 closing, the request must include the application date and the date of the receipt of the last required verification including the date stamp.

DESCRIPTION OF REVISIONS MADE TO FORMS

DCYF Form 2605, Resource & Referral and /Family Support Centers List - List of the local Resource and Referral Agencies and the Family Support Centers including address, phone numbers and e-mail. Forms released on PD 09-34.

DCYF Form 2606, Fact Sheet: Child Care Scholarship Wait list for Parents - Describes the important details regarding the child care scholarship wait list including frequently asked questions for the FSS to share with families. Forms released on PD 09-34.

DCYF Form 2607, Fact Sheet: Child Care Scholarship Wait list for Professionals - Describes the important details regarding the child care scholarship wait list including frequently asked questions for the FSS to share with families. Forms released on PD 09-34.

DCYF 2625 Parent Child Care Brochure – Brochure describing how to apply for child care scholarship, how to keep it, when to use child care scholarship, what the parent will have to pay for child care and questions and answers. Brochure released on PD-36.

All forms have been attached to this SR for reference. A supply of forms have been sent to the District Offices and NHEP sites. Additional forms must be ordered through the regular ordering process.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

New Section – Child Care Wait List

The Family Assistance Manual will be updated with new topics and policies in November 2009.

IMPLEMENTATION

All changes released in this SR were effective October 1, 2009.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

The CS0019, CS0001 and the CS0005 sent to clients notifying them of their upcoming redetermination will contain wait list information. Clients will also be advised of the wait list change to the Child Care Scholarship Program at the time of application or at redeterminations on or after October 1, 2009.

TRAINING

Remote training was provided to the District Office staff on the wait list implementation on September 18th, 2009.

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after the contents have been noted and the revised manual topics have been 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 December 7, 2009.

This SR, and printed page with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all hard copy holders of the Family Assistance Manual.

DFA/DM:s