§ 410-W — Eligible families

§ 410-w. Eligible families. 1. A social services district may use the\nfunds allocated to it from the block grant to provide child care\nassistance to:\n (a) families receiving public assistance when such child care\nassistance is necessary: to enable a parent or caretaker relative to\nengage in work, participate in work activities or perform a community\nservice pursuant to title nine-B of article five of this chapter; to\nenable a teenage parent to attend high school or other equivalent\ntraining program; because the parent or caretaker relative is physically\nor mentally incapacitated; or because family duties away from home\nnecessitate the parent or caretaker relative's absence; child day care\nshall be provided during breaks in activities. Such child day care shall\nbe authorized for the period designated by the regulations of the\ndepartment;\n (b) families with incomes up to eighty-five percent of the state\nmedian income who are attempting through work activities to transition\noff of public assistance when such child care is necessary in order to\nenable a parent or caretaker relative to engage in work provided such\nfamilies' public assistance has been terminated as a result of increased\nhours of or income from employment or increased income from child\nsupport payments or the family voluntarily ended assistance; provided\nthat the family received public assistance at least three of the six\nmonths preceding the month in which eligibility for such assistance\nterminated or ended or provided that such family has received child care\nassistance under subdivision four of this section;\n (c) families with incomes up to eighty-five percent of the state\nmedian income, which are determined in accordance with the regulations\nof the department to be at risk of becoming dependent on family\nassistance;\n (d) families with incomes up to eighty-five percent of the state\nmedian income, who are attending a post secondary educational program;\nand\n (e) other families with incomes up to eighty-five percent of the state\nmedian income in accordance with criteria established by the department.\n 2. For the purposes of this title, the term "state income standard"\nmeans the most recent federal income official poverty line (as defined\nand annually revised by the federal office of management and budget)\nupdated by the department for a family size of four and adjusted by the\ndepartment for family size.\n 3. A social services district shall guarantee child care assistance to\nfamilies in receipt of public assistance with children under thirteen\nyears of age when such child care assistance is necessary for a parent\nor caretaker relative to engage in work or participate in work\nactivities pursuant to the provisions of title nine-B of article five of\nthis chapter. Child care assistance shall continue to be guaranteed for\nsuch a family for a period of twelve months or, upon approval by the\noffice, may be provided by a social services district for a period up to\ntwenty-four months, after the month in which the family's eligibility\nfor public assistance has terminated or ended when such child care is\nnecessary in order to enable the parent or caretaker relative to engage\nin work, provided that the family's public assistance has been\nterminated as a result of an increase in the hours of or income from\nemployment or increased income from child support payments or because\nthe family voluntarily ended assistance; that the family received public\nassistance in at least three of the six months preceding the month in\nwhich eligibility for such assistance terminated or ended or provided\nthat such family has received child care assistance under subdivision\nfour of this section; and that the family's income does not exceed\neighty-five percent of the state median income. Such child day care\nshall recognize the need for continuity of care for the child and a\ndistrict shall not move a child from an existing provider unless the\nparticipant consents to such move.\n 3-a. A local social services district may, upon notification to the\noffice, utilize a presumptive eligibility standard to provide child care\nassistance, in accordance with this subdivision. The office of children\nand family services shall issue guidance regarding the preliminary\neligibility criteria to be used by local social services districts\nutilizing a presumptive eligibility standard.\n (a) A local social services district opting to utilize a presumptive\neligibility standard, shall, upon receipt of an application for child\ncare assistance, including all completed documentation required by the\ndistrict, complete a preliminary eligibility determination.\n (b) If the family meets the preliminary eligibility criteria, the\nfamily shall be presumed eligible for child care assistance for the\nperiod from the date of the application to the date of the final\neligibility determination.\n (c) A local social services district may utilize child care block\ngrant funds for the presumptive eligibility period to the extent\npermitted by federal law.\n (d) If, upon final determination, the application for child care\nservices is denied, the social services district shall send written\nnotice to the applicant of the determination of ineligibility and of the\napplicant's right to a fair hearing in accordance with the regulations\nof the office.\n 4. (a) Local social services districts shall guarantee applicants who\nwould otherwise be eligible for, or are recipients of, public assistance\nbenefits and who are employed, the option to choose to receive\ncontinuing child day care subsidies in lieu of public assistance\nbenefits, for such period of time as the recipient continues to be\neligible for public assistance. For the purposes of this subdivision, an\neligible applicant for, or recipient of, public assistance benefits and\nwho is employed includes a person whose gross earnings equal, or are\ngreater than, the required number of work hours times the state minimum\nwage. Recipients of child care subsidies under this subdivision who are\nno longer eligible for public assistance benefits, shall be eligible for\ntransitional child care described in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of\nthis section as if they had been recipients of public assistance.\n (b) Nothing herein shall be construed to waive the right of an\napplicant who chooses to receive continuing child day care subsidies\npursuant to this section from applying for ongoing public assistance.\n 5. (a) A family eligible for child care assistance pursuant to\nsubdivision one of this section, unless such family voluntarily ends\nsuch assistance, shall be deemed eligible for a period of no less than\ntwelve months from the date of the eligibility determination for such\nassistance, provided the family income does not exceed eighty-five\npercent of the state median income. A social services district may\nextend this period to up to twenty-four months, provided the family\nincome does not exceed eighty-five percent of the state median income.\n (b) A family eligible for child care assistance under paragraph (a) of\nsubdivision one of this section shall suffer no break in child care\nservices and shall not be required to reapply for such assistance so\nlong as eligibility under subdivision three of this section continues.\n 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to\nthe contrary, applicants for child care subsidy assistance shall be\nencouraged to obtain a child support order and shall be advised of the\nbenefits of obtaining such orders. Provided however, no applicant for,\nor recipient of, child care assistance under this title shall be\nrequired to pursue, or to obtain, a court order for child support as a\ncondition of eligibility for child care assistance.\n 7. For purposes of determining financial eligibility under this title,\nthe earned income of a dependent child under the age of eighteen, who is\nnot legally responsible for the child or children for which child care\nassistance is sought, shall be disregarded when determining the\neligibility of a household for a child care subsidy.\n 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulations to\nthe contrary, a social services district that implements a plan\namendment to the child care portion of its child and family services\nplan, either as part of an annual plan update, or through a separate\nplan amendment process, where such amendment reduces eligibility for, or\nincreases the family share percentage of, families receiving child care\nservices, or that implements the process for closing child care cases as\nset forth in the district's approved child and family services plan, due\nto the district determining that it cannot maintain its current caseload\nbecause all of the available funds are projected to be needed for open\ncases, shall provide all families whose eligibility for child care\nassistance or family share percentage will be impacted by such action\nwith at least thirty days prior written notice of the action. Provided,\nhowever, that a family receiving assistance pursuant to this title shall\nnot be required to contribute more than one percent of their income\nexceeding the federal poverty level.\n 9. Parents and caretakers who are otherwise eligible for child care\nassistance, and provided with such assistance, shall be able to utilize\nthe assistance when care is necessary to enable them to sleep because\nthey work non-traditional hours and have a child who is under the age of\nsix and not in school for a full school day. The authorization for child\ncare assistance shall be sufficient to allow the parent to obtain up to\neight hours of sleep, as needed.\n 10. For the purposes of this title, the term "state median income"\nmeans the most recent state median income data published by the bureau\nof the census, for a family of the same size, updated by the department\nfor a family size of four and adjusted by the department for family\nsize.\n