13-09  Managing Financial Aid - Child Care Attendance-Excessive Absences

Purpose

Update procedures for warning customers who have a child with an excessive number of absences from child care and ending financial aid for customers whose children exceed the maximum number of allowed absences.  

This Issuance replaces Issuance 12-12

Background

Customers who receive financial aid for child care must make sure their children attend child care regularly and use the attendance card to record presence and absence from day care.   

We terminate financial aid for customers whose children accumulate more than 30 absences or non-reported presence in a year.  We send customers two warning letters before sending a denial letter.   

We also terminate customers when the child care provider reports the customer has been absent more than five consecutive days. 

Implementation

Call Center Responsibility.

·         The call centers are now responsible for all customer communication concerning financial aid eligibility.  Call center staff sends all letters related to child care financial aid, including the excessive absence warning and denial letters. 

·         After two warnings, the call center sends customers with a child who exceeds the allowable absences, or non-reported presence, a denial letter giving the customer 15 days to make other arrangements before losing financial aid.  These customers do not receive paid child care during appeal and they may not reapply for child care for 30 days after the denial letter date.

TANF/Choices.

·         TANF/Choices and SNAP E&T customers receive the same warning letters as all other customers when they approach the limit for absences and/or unreported presence. 

·         These customers may lose financial aid for child care for excessive absences and will not be allowed to reapply for at least 30 days after termination for excessive absences.  However, these customers must be authorized for financial aid for child care during a sanction period to allow the customer to demonstrate cooperation. 

·         TANF/Choices customers must continue to cooperate during any time that their child care financial aid is denied due to excessive absence or unreported presence.   

·         The call centers will inform career office contractors when they send a TANF or SNAP E&T customer an excessive absence warning or denial letter.

·         The career office contractor must inform the customer’s Personal Service Representative about the warning letter. 

·         The PSR must contact the customer to talk to her about the consequences of losing her child care financial aid due to excessive absence and/or non-reported presence.

·         The PSR must document the conversation in the customer’s TWIST counselor notes.   

Child Protective Services. 

·         Customers with child care financial aid paid with Child Protective Services will not lose financial for as long as child care is authorized and funded by the Department of Family and Protective Services, regardless of the number of paid absences. 

Vendor Reporting.

·         We require child care vendors to report to FAPO when a child is absent for five consecutive days without contacting the vendor.

·         FAPO sends a FACS issue to the call center when they receive this vendor report.  If the parent has not reported the absence to us, the call center denies child care financial aid immediately.   

·         The parent does not get 15 days to make other arrangements and must wait 30 days from the date of the denial letter to reapply for child care financial aid.

Action

1. Career office contractors must make sure that all office managers, supervisors, and staff are aware of this information.
2. Supervisors must check to assure that PSRs know when their customers receive warning letters and that the PSR discusses the consequence with the customer and documents the conversation. 
3. Career office contractors must make sure staff knows that the desk aid attached to the earlier issuance is no longer valid and we removed it from www.wrksolutions.com.

Questions

Staff should first ask questions of their managers or supervisors.  Direct questions for Board staff to the staff web Q&A at Issuances in the Staff Resources.

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