50-33 Child Care Assistance

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CHAPTER 50-33CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE50-33-01. Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter:1.&quot;Allowable activities&quot; means paid work, job search, attending job training or an<br>education program, any activity in the job opportunity and basic skills program,<br>transportation time related to the activities, temporary illness or incapacity of a<br>current recipient, and temporary illness of the child.2.&quot;Approved relative&quot; means an individual provider related to a child in that provider's<br>care by marriage, blood, or court decree as a grandparent, step-grandparent, great<br>grandparent, step-great grandparent, aunt, step-aunt, uncle, step-uncle, sibling, or<br>step-sibling, who has been approved to care for specific children in the provider's<br>own home, but does not mean a sibling provider who resides in the home of a child<br>in that provider's care.3.&quot;Caretaker&quot; means a child's biological or adoptive parent, the spouse of the child's<br>biological or adoptive parent, or an individual acting in the stead of a child's parent at<br>the request of the parent or another with authority to make the request, but does not<br>mean a provider.4.&quot;Child care assistance unit&quot; means all members of the caretaker's immediate<br>household, including a child through the month of that child's nineteenth birthday,<br>and any parent or stepparent of a child, including an acknowledged or adjudicated<br>father of one or more children in the household, but does not mean any other person<br>who is not acting in the stead of a parent, a child who is nineteen years of age or<br>older, a child for whom the household receives foster care payments, or a minor<br>parent of a child in the household unless the minor parent also requires child care or<br>is incapable of caring for the child.5.&quot;Child care center&quot; has the meaning provided in chapter 50-11.1.6.&quot;County agency&quot; means any county social services office.7.&quot;Department&quot; means the department of human services.8.&quot;Family child care&quot; has the meaning provided in chapter 50-11.1.9.&quot;Group child care&quot; has the meaning provided in chapter 50-11.1.10.&quot;Provider&quot; means an individual who is eighteen years of age or older, licensed as a<br>provider in a family child care, group child care, or child care center, with a<br>self-declaration as a provider of early childhood services who requires no license,<br>registered as a child care provider by a tribal entity, or an approved relative, who<br>meets criteria established by the jurisdiction with authority to regulate child care<br>services.11.&quot;Recipient&quot; means an individual who is receiving child care assistance.12.&quot;Tribal entity&quot; means an organization authorized by the government of an Indian<br>tribe within North Dakota to license, register, or otherwise recognize a child care<br>provider operating within the jurisdiction of that Indian tribe.13.&quot;Work&quot;:a.Meansanypaidemploymentandanyself-employmentprovidingcommensurate income; andPage No. 1b.Does not mean any unpaid activity except:(1)With respect to a caretaker who is involved in job opportunity and basic<br>skills or tribal native employment works required by temporary assistance<br>for needy families, any approved activity for the program; and(2)When a state has been determined to have a major disaster, activity by<br>an individual who is residing in the disaster area and involved in unpaid<br>work activities, including the cleaning, repair, restoration, and rebuilding<br>of homes, businesses, and schools.50-33-02.Child care assistance - Application for benefits - Applicant's duty toestablish eligibility - Decisions - Rules.1.An individual desiring child care assistance or an individual seeking assistance on<br>behalf of another individual may apply for child care assistance. An applicant shall<br>submit a request for child care assistance in writing to a county agency on a form<br>prescribed by the department. The applicant shall complete, sign, and date the<br>application. Eligibility begins on the first day of the month in which a signed and<br>dated application is received by the county agency. Eligibility may begin on the first<br>day of the month prior to the month in which a signed and dated application is<br>received by the county agency, if the applicant requests child care assistance for<br>that month and demonstrates eligibility in that month.2.The applicant shall provide information sufficient to establish the eligibility of each<br>individual for whom assistance is requested, including the age, verification of relative<br>relationship, citizenship or resident alien status of the children, verification of<br>participation in an allowable activity, and financial eligibility.3.An eligibility decision must be made within fifteen days on child care assistance<br>applications whenever possible.The county agency shall notify the applicantfollowing a determination of eligibility or ineligibility.4.The department shall establish rules for the administration of the child care<br>assistance program, including rules on income requirements, appeals of eligibility<br>determinations for child care assistance, closure of a child care assistance case, and<br>a sliding scale fee schedule for child care assistance benefits and to establish and<br>enforce standards against program fraud and abuse.50-33-03. Available benefits.1.The department shall pay child care costs required as a result of participation in<br>allowable activities by the eligible caretaker in a temporary assistance for needy<br>families household or diversion assistance household. The department shall pay a<br>portion of child care costs required as a result of participation in allowable activities<br>by the caretaker based on family size and countable income by applying a sliding<br>fee schedule established under rules to be adopted by the department.2.Subject to the availability of funding, the department may expand child care<br>assistance to include an eligible caretaker who is attending a postsecondary<br>education program in pursuit of a one-year, two-year, or four-year degree or<br>certificate. If a child care assistance unit includes two parents, child care assistance<br>may be paid with respect to any child only during times that both parents are<br>engaged in an allowable activity.50-33-04. Caretaker temporarily out of the home. A caretaker, temporarily living apartfrom the remaining members of the child care assistance unit due to employment, education,<br>training, medical care, incarceration, or uniformed service, is not considered absent from the<br>home as long as the caretaker continues to function as caretaker, even if the level of support orPage No. 2care is reduced. The caretaker is counted as a child care assistance unit member and all gross<br>countable income of that caretaker is included as child care assistance unit income used to<br>determine the child care assistance payment.50-33-05. State of residence. Only child care assistance units physically residing withinthe boundaries of the state are eligible for child care assistance.50-33-06. Approved relative provider.1.The department may approve a relative provider to provide care for specific children<br>within a specified county.The department shall provide an approved relativeprovider with a provider identification number. An approved relative provider may<br>provide care for no more than five children under the age of twelve or three children<br>under the age of two, including the provider's children.2.Before approving an individual as an approved relative provider, the department<br>shall seek a criminal history record investigation as provided under section<br>50-11.1-06.2 and pursuant to section 12-60-24. The department shall consider any<br>criminal history record information available at the time approval decision is made.<br>A background check must be completed for each adult living in the household of the<br>prospective provider.3.No payment may be made to a relative provider who is not an approved relative<br>provider.50-33-07. Sliding fee schedule.1.The sliding fee schedule established by the department for inclusion within the child<br>care and development fund state plan to determine eligibility, benefit levels, and the<br>portion of the allowable child care cost that may be paid as a benefit under this<br>chapter, must not:a.Exceed available federal and non-federal funding; andb.Provide benefits to a family whose income exceeds eighty-five percent of the<br>state median income for a family of the same size.2.Child care costs that exceed maximums established under this section are the<br>responsibility of the family and may not be considered in determining the child care<br>assistance program payment amount.50-33-08. Limitations on in-home child care benefits. No benefits under this chaptermay be provided for in-home child care unless:1.A health professional provides written documentation demonstrating to the<br>department's satisfaction that the child's health would be at risk if taken to an outside<br>provider; or2.A developmental disabilities case manager or a special education case manager<br>provides written documentation demonstrating to the department's satisfaction that<br>the child's disability is such that taking the child to an outside provider creates an<br>undue hardship.Page No. 3Document Outlinechapter 50-33 child care assistance