1.A state child care assistance program is established in the department to assist
children in families who meet eligibility guidelines and are described by any of the following
circumstances:
a.The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian is participating in approved academic,
vocational, or technical training.
b.The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian is seeking employment. Eligibility for
assistance while seeking employment shall be limited to thirty days during a twelve-month
period.
c.The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian is employed a minimum of thirty-two hours
per week or an average of thirty-two hours per week during the month if the child requires
basic care, or twenty-eight hours per week or an average of twenty-eight hours per week
during the month if the child is a s
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1. A state child care assistance program is established in the department to assist
children in families who meet eligibility guidelines and are described by any of the following
circumstances:
a. The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian is participating in approved academic,
vocational, or technical training.
b. The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian is seeking employment. Eligibility for
assistance while seeking employment shall be limited to thirty days during a twelve-month
period.
c. The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian is employed a minimum of thirty-two hours
per week or an average of thirty-two hours per week during the month if the child requires
basic care, or twenty-eight hours per week or an average of twenty-eight hours per week
during the month if the child is a special needs child.
d. The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian is absent due to hospitalization, physical
illness, or mental illness, or is present but is unable to care for the child as verified by a
physician or physician assistant.
e. The child needs protective services to prevent or alleviate child abuse or neglect.
f. The person’s family circumstances are described in paragraph “a”, “b”, “c”, or “d”, the
person is thirteen years of age or older but younger than sixteen years of age, and state child
care assistance is approved for the person by the director or the director’s designee based
on a request for an exception to policy made by the person’s parent, guardian, or custodian
13 CHILD CARE FACILITIES, §237A.13
because special family circumstances exist that would place the safety and well-being of the
person at risk if the person is left home alone. The definition of child in section 237A.1 does
not apply to child care supported by state child care assistance approved pursuant to this
lettered paragraph.
2. Afamilyshallonlybeinitiallyeligibleforstatechildcareassistanceifthefamily’sgross
monthly income does not exceed the lesser of:
a. (1) One hundred sixty percent of the federal poverty level applicable to the family size
for children needing basic care.
(2) Two hundred percent of the federal poverty level applicable to the family size for
children needing special needs care.
b. Eighty-five percent of the state median gross monthly income.
3. Services under the program may be provided in a licensed child care center, a child
development home, the home of a relative, the child’s own home, a child care home, or in a
facility exempt from licensing or registration.
4. a. The department shall set reimbursement rates as authorized by appropriations
enacted for payment of the reimbursements. The department shall conduct a statewide
reimbursement rate survey to compile information on each county and the survey shall be
conducted at least every two years. The department shall set rates in a manner so as to
provide incentives for an unregistered provider to become registered.
b. The department shall not modify reimbursement rates to the state child care assistance
program or financial eligibility requirements for a family participating in the state child care
assistance program without prior enabling legislation in this state passed on or after January
1, 2023.
5. The department’s billing and payment provisions for the program shall allow providers
to elect either biweekly or monthly billing and payment for child care provided under the
program. The department shall remit payment to a provider within ten business days of
receiving a bill or claim for services provided. However, if the department determines that
a bill has an error or omission, the department shall notify the provider of the error or
omission and identify any correction needed before issuance of payment to the provider. The
department shall provide the notice within five business days of receiving the billing from
the provider and shall remit payment to the provider within ten business days of receiving
the corrected billing.
6. A child care provider shall be allowed to collect from a family participating in the
state child care assistance program the difference between the state child care assistance
reimbursement rate and the rate the provider would typically charge a private-pay family for
child care, provided the child care provider and family agree in writing to such additional
payments prior to the provision of the child care.
7. OnorbeforeJuly1,2007,thedepartmentshallimplementasystemformakingprogram
payments by electronic funds transfer or other electronic means.
8. The department shall not apply waiting list requirements to any of the following
persons:
a. Personsdeemedtobeeligibleforbenefitsunderthestatechildcareassistanceprogram
in accordance with section 239B.24.
b. A family that is receiving state child care assistance at the time a child is born into the
family. The newborn child shall be approved for services when the family reports the birth
of the child.
c. Children who need protective services to prevent or alleviate child abuse or neglect.
d. A child in a family that is eligible for state child care assistance and that receives a state
adoption subsidy for the child.
9. Based upon the availability of the funding appropriated for state child care assistance
for a fiscal year, the department shall establish waiting lists for state child care assistance in
descending order of prioritization as follows:
a. Families with an income at or below one hundred percent of the federal poverty level
whose members, for at least thirty-two hours per week in the aggregate, are employed or are
participating at a satisfactory level in an approved training program or educational program,
andparentswithafamilyincomeatorbelowonehundredpercentofthefederalpovertylevel
§237A.13, CHILD CARE FACILITIES 14
who are under the age of twenty-one years and are participating in an educational program
leading to a high school diploma or the equivalent.
b. Parents with a family income at or below one hundred percent of the federal poverty
level who are under the age of twenty-one years and are participating, at a satisfactory level,
in an approved training program or in an educational program.
c. Families with an income of more than one hundred percent but not more than one
hundred sixty percent of the federal poverty level whose members, for at least thirty-two
hours per week in the aggregate, are employed or are participating at a satisfactory level in
an approved training program or educational program.
d. Families with an income at or below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level
whose members are employed at least twenty-eight hours per week with a special needs child
as a member of the family.
10. Nothing in this section shall be construed as or is intended as, or shall imply, a grant
of entitlement for services to persons who are eligible for assistance due to an income level
or other eligibility circumstance addressed in this section. Any state obligation to provide
services pursuant to this section is limited to the extent of the funds appropriated for the
purposes of state child care assistance.