Ariz. Admin. Code § 6-5-4918

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section R6-5-4918 - Authorization of Child Care Assistance

A. Authorization Based on Eligible Activity or Need. The Department shall authorize Child Care Assistance for a portion of each 24-hour day based on the verified eligible activity or need of the parent and responsible person for the child needing care.

B. Authorization Based on Unavailability. The amount of Child Care Assistance authorized by the Department shall be based on the amount of time that the client and any other parent or responsible person in the household are unavailable or incapable to provide care to their own children due to an eligible activity or need as prescribed in R6-5-4911(F) and R6-5-4912. When there are two or more parents or responsible persons in the household, Child Care Assistance shall be authorized for the amount of time that neither parent or responsible person is available due to an eligible activity or need.

C. Authorization for Self-employment Activities.

1. The Department shall authorize Child Care Assistance for self-employment activities based on monthly net income divided by the current hourly minimum wage standard.

2. Authorization of Child Care Assistance for self-employment activities shall not exceed the lesser of:

a. The maximum number of Child Care Assistance units that can be authorized as prescribed in subsections (B) and (D), or

b. The number of hours calculated by dividing monthly net income from self-employment by the amount of the hourly minimum wage standard, or

c. The number of hours of Child Care Assistance needed by the client to perform self employment activities.

D. Six-child Authorization Limit.

1. The Department shall authorize no more than six children in the eligible family at any given point in time.

a. The six-child authorization limit applies to clients under this subsection.

i. Clients who are not Cash Assistance participants but who need Child Care Assistance to maintain employment;

ii. Teen parents who need Child Care Assistance for educational activities under R6-5-4912(D); and

iii. Clients who need Child Care Assistance because they are unable or unavailable to care for their own children due to physical, mental, or emotional disability, participation in a drug treatment or court-ordered community service program, or residency in a homeless or domestic violence shelter under R6-5-4912(F).

b. The six-child authorization limit shall not apply to the following clients:

i. Jobs participants who need Child Care Assistance to participate in the Jobs Program, and who are referred to CCA under R6-5-4904(B);

ii. Cash Assistance participants who need Child Care Assistance to maintain employment;

iii. CPS referred families, and CPS or DDD foster families who need Child Care Assistance as documented in a CPS or foster care case plan, and who are referred to CCA under R6-5-4904(B); and

iv. Former Cash Assistance participants who need Child Care Assistance to maintain employment under R6-5-4916(A).

c. For eligible families who are not subject to the six-child limit, there is no limit to the number of eligible children whom the Department can authorize to receive Child Care Assistance in the eligible family.

2. If the eligible family requests Child Care Assistance for more than six children, the family shall select the six children to be authorized to receive Child Care Assistance.

3. If the family fails to designate six children to receive Child Care Assistance as requested, the Department shall authorize the six youngest children.

4. If the client is already receiving Child Care Assistance for six children and requests assistance for a new child, the Department shall not authorize assistance for the new child until the client notifies the Department which child will no longer receive Child Care Assistance.

E. Units of Child Care Assistance.

1. The Department shall authorize Child Care Assistance in full- and part-day units;

2. The Department shall not authorize more than 3l units for each child, per child care provider in a calendar month;

3. A part-day unit of Child Care Assistance is less than six hours;

4. A full-day unit of Child Care Assistance is six hours or more;

5. Each child care provider determines the upper limit of what constitutes a full day of care for that provider.

F. Date of Eligibility. The Department shall approve eligibility for Child Care Assistance effective the application file date or referral receipt date as described in R6-5-4904 if the client satisfies all applicable conditions of eligibility as prescribed in this Article.

G. Date of Authorization.

1. The Department shall authorize Child Care Assistance to begin effective the start date of the eligible activity or need, but not earlier than application file date, request date, or referral receipt date as described in R6-5-4904.

2. The Department may authorize Child Care Assistance with an effective date that precedes the referral receipt date when the referral is received untimely due to administrative delay and the eligible start date of the activity or need precedes the referral receipt date for clients who are referred for Child Care Assistance as described in R6-5-4904(B).

H. Exclusion from Authorization. The Department shall not authorize Child Care for educational services for children enrolled in grades 1 through 12 when such services are provided during the regular school day.

Ariz. Admin. Code § R6-5-4918

Adopted effective July 31, 1997, under an exemption from the provisions of A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6 (Supp. 97-3). Former R6-5-4918 renumbered to R6-5-4920; new R6-5-4918 renumbered from R6-5-4917 and amended by exempt rulemaking at 13 A.A.R. 92, effective December 31, 2006 (Supp. 06-4).

The following Section was adopted under an exemption from the provisions of A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6, pursuant to Laws 1997, Ch. 300, § 74(A). Exemption from A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6 means the Department did not submit notice of proposed rulemaking to the Secretary of State for publication in the Arizona Administrative Register; the Department did not submit these rules to the Governor's Regulatory Review Council for review and approval; and the Department was not required to hold public hearings on this Section.