Section 10.04 - Income Eligible Child Care Financial AssistanceSubject to appropriation, income eligible child care financial assistance is available to eligible parents for care by a contracted or voucher child care educator/provider, or an in home or relative child care provider, in accordance with regulations, guidelines, and policies established by EEC.
(1)Referral and Waitlist.(a)Family Access Administrator. Based on availability and in accordance with EEC enrollment priorities and policies, the Family Access Administrator must: 1. issue a child care financial assistance (contract slot or voucher) to the eligible parent, subject to an eligibility determination; or2. place the child on the waitlist for child care financial assistance.(b)Parent Choice. Parents may not be required to enroll their children at a particular child care program. Upon 14 days notice, parents may choose to withdraw their children from one child care program and enroll in another available program for the duration of the child care financial assistance, subject to funding availability and in accordance with EEC policy.(c)Enrollment Prior to Service Need. Eligible children may be enrolled in care 14 days prior to the start of the parent's service need.(2)Eligibility Criteria. To be eligible for income eligible child care financial assistance, parents must meet both income eligibility and service need requirements established by EEC.(a)Financial Requirements. Income eligibility is based on the income and the size of the family. Families headed by caregivers are exempt from financial eligibility guidelines, except as provided in 606 CMR 10.04(2)(a)4. 1.General Rule. Families seeking child care financial assistance meet the financial requirements for the income eligible child care program provided that the total gross monthly income for the household is at or below 50% of the State Median Income at the time of the family's initial enrollment. Families, whose gross monthly income is at or below 50% of the State Median Income at the initial authorization, will continue to meet the financial requirements provided that the total gross monthly income for the household remains at or below 85% of the State Median Income.2.Families with a Child with a Disability. Families with a child with a disability will meet the financial requirements for the income eligible child care program provided that the total gross monthly income for the household is at or below 85% of the State Median Income at the time of the family's initial enrollment. Families, whose gross monthly income is at or below 85% of the State Median Income at the initial authorization, will continue to meet the financial requirements provided that the total gross monthly income for the household remains at or below 85% of the State Median Income. The disability of the child must be verified and documented in accordance with EEC policy.3.Relevant Income. When determining financial eligibility, relevant income shall include the income of the parents living with the child and income of the child receiving financial assistance (except for any earnings of a minor). Child support shall not be considered relevant income for determining financial eligibility.4.Assets. Families seeking child care financial assistance shall not have assets that exceed $1,000,000. Documentation of assets shall be certified in accordance with EEC Policy.(b)Service Need Requirements. Both parents residing in the household must document either a part time or full time service need. 1.Approved Activities. Activities acceptable for establishing a service need are: employment; participating in an approved education or training program; or receiving or at risk of receiving protective services. Each activity is outlined as follows:a.Employment. The following activities meet the service need requirement of employment: paid employment; self-employment, including paid in cash; active deployment in the military; and retirement, if the head of household is a parent and 65 years of age or older. i.Paid Employment. Eligible paid employment is considered a position that pays no less than the minimum wage in the state wherein the employment takes place for no less than an average of 20 hours per week.ii.Self-employment, Including Paid in Cash. All self-employed parents must participate in self-employment activities for no less than an average of 20 hours per week as certified in accordance with EEC policy.b.Maternity/Paternity Leave. Parents on maternity/paternity leave at authorization/reauthorization shall be eligible for a 12-month authorization. For parents currently receiving child care financial assistance, maternity/paternity leave shall be considered a temporary change, in accordance with 606 CMR 10.03(1)(h)1.b. Parents must provide documentation as required under EEC policy. c.Education or Training. Parents will qualify for a service need of education or training if they are enrolled in and attending any of the following: a full time high school program; an approved high school equivalency program; an approved vocational training program; an approved ESOL program; or an accredited college or university, leading to an associate's or a bachelor's degree. Parents attending an advanced professional training or graduate program will qualify for a service need of education or training at reauthorization only, in order to continue a previously authorized education or training service need as listed in the first sentence of this subsection. Approved vocational training programs, high school equivalency programs, or ESOL programs will be certified in accordance with EEC policy. i. The service need of education or training shall continue through a semester break for parents registered for the following semester.ii. The service need for parents participating in a full time high school program will be considered full time, regardless of the program's schedule.iii. The service need for parents participating in college or graduate school coursework with 12 credit hours or more will be considered full time. For parents participating in less than 12 credit hours, the actual credit hours shall be multiplied by 2.5 to establish a child care need. For accelerated semester schools, parents who present with a classroom schedule reflecting 12 hours or more per week of classroom time will be determined to have a Full-time Service Need. Those with a class schedule of at least eight hours, but less than 12 hours per week of classroom time will be determined to have a Part-time Service Need.iv. The service need for parents participating in education or training programs other than college, or high school, (including high school equivalency programs), or graduate school is 2.5 hours of service for each hour spent in the education or training program per week.v. Work study hours and required practical and clinical experiences (including student teaching or internships) are counted as hours of employment, for the purpose of determining service need.d.Disability of Parent. Families with a documented physical or mental disability of a parent, that is certified in accordance with EEC policy, may be eligible for either full time or part-time care, subject to the following:i. All authorizations must be approved in writing by EEC in accordance with EEC policy.ii. Authorizations shall be authorized for up to three years. At the end of the authorization period, a parent may apply to EEC for a reauthorization upon certification in accordance with EEC policy that the disability persists or is a permanent condition,iii. All authorizations are reviewed under EEC's variance policy and may be appealed in the form of an Informal Hearing in accordance with the provisions of 606 CMR 10.11(7).e.Homelessness. Families meeting EEC's definition for a family experiencing homelessness will qualify for full time child care. i. The asset requirements established in 606 CMR 10.04(2)(a)4. shall be waived for all families meeting the homelessness service need.ii. Parent fees shall be waived for all families meeting the homelessness service need.f.Domestic Violence. Families with a parent experiencing a situation of domestic violence, certified in accordance with EEC policy, will qualify for full-time care.2.Seeking Approved Activity. Parents who do not have an approved activity at time of initial authorization or at reauthorization may be granted a provisional authorization of 12 weeks to seek and certify an approved activity. This may include parents enrolled in a non-approved training program, or parents unable to certify employment at time of initial eligibility authorization.a. Parents who are able to provide documentation of an approved activity and meet all other program requirements described in 606 CMR 10.04(2) before the end of the 12-week period will be issued a 12-month authorization.b. Parents who are able to provide preliminary proof of an approved activity but are unable to provide documentation in accordance with EEC policy at the end of the 12-week period may be granted an extended period of eight weeks to provide the documentation required to qualify for a 12-month authorization.3.Combining Service Need Activities. Work, education or training, and disability of parent may be combined to meet service need requirements.4.Travel Time. Travel time may be added to a parent's weekly service need, in accordance with EEC policy, provided that the travel is related to the necessary time to/from the child care program and the parent's service need activity. Before travel time may be added to a service need, the parent must establish an average of at least 20 hours in an EEC approved activity, pursuant to 606 CMR 10.04(2)(b)1.5.Amount of Care. Parents who document a full time service need will be eligible for full time child care. Parents who document a part time service need will be eligible for part time child care.a. Parents who are able to provide documentation of a part time service need at authorization and provide preliminary documentation of a full time service need may be granted a provisional authorization for full time child care for the duration of the 12-week period.b. Parents who are able to provide documentation of a full time service need in accordance with EEC policy at the end of the 12-week period will be granted a 12-month authorization for full time child care.c. Parents who are able to provide documentation of a part time service need in accordance with EEC policy at the end of the 12-week period will be granted a 12-month authorization for part time child care.(3)Eligibility Determination. A Family Access Administrator will make eligibility determinations based on the parent(s)' application and documentation and based upon relevant regulations and policies.(a)Application. A parent may apply for income eligible child care financial assistance with a Family Access Administrator. At the time of application, each subsequent reauthorization, a parent applying must execute a child care application and fee agreement.(b)Documentation. No more than 30 days after an application is received by a Family Access Administrator, parents must submit documentation that verifies the identity, residency, citizenship, or immigration status of any child seeking child care financial assistance; and documentation that verifies income, service need, family size, and relationship to all children and dependent relatives in the family, in accordance with EEC policy. At each subsequent reauthorization, parents must submit documentation that verifies their income and service need in accordance with 606 CMR 10.03(1)(g), and shall provide documentation verifying their residency only if it has changed since their last reauthorization.(c)Notice to Applicants. Upon receiving an application, a Family Access Administrator shall notify the applicant of the 30 day deadline for documentation submission. An application shall be deemed to have been received on the first date on which a Family Access Administrator reviews the application.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1385, eff. 2/22/2019.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1505, eff. 9/29/2023.