Title 45—Public Welfare--Volume 1
PART 98—CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND
§ 98.1   Purposes.
(a) The purposes of the CCDF are:
(1) To allow each State maximum flexibility in developing child care programs and policies that best suit the needs of children and parents within that State;
(2) To promote parental choice to empower working parents to make their own decisions regarding the child care services that best suits their family's needs;
(3) To encourage States to provide consumer education information to help parents make informed choices about child care services and to promote involvement by parents and family members in the development of their children in child care settings;
(4) To assist States in delivering high-quality, coordinated early childhood care and education services to maximize parents' options and support parents trying to achieve independence from public assistance;
(5) To assist States in improving the overall quality of child care services and programs by implementing the health, safety, licensing, training, and oversight standards established in this subchapter and in State law (including State regulations);
(6) To improve child care and development of participating children; and
(7) To increase the number and percentage of low-income children in high-quality child care settings.
(b) The purpose of this part is to provide the basis for administration of the Fund. These regulations provide that State, Territorial, and Tribal Lead Agencies:
(1) Maximize parental choice of safe, healthy and nurturing child care settings through the use of certificates and through grants and contracts, and by providing parents with information about child care programs;
(2) Include in their programs a broad range of child care providers, including center-based care, family child care, in home care, care provided by relatives and sectarian child care providers;
(3) Improve the quality and supply of child care and before- and after-school care services that meet applicable requirements and promote healthy child development and learning and family economic stability;
(4) Coordinate planning and delivery of services at all levels, including Federal, State, Tribal, and local;
(5) Design flexible programs that provide for the changing needs of recipient families and engage families in their children's development and learning;
(6) Administer the CCDF responsibly to ensure that statutory requirements are met and that adequate information regarding the use of public funds is provided;
(7) Design programs that provide uninterrupted service to families and providers, to the extent allowed under the statute, to support parental education, training, and employment and continuity of care that minimizes disruptions to children's learning and development;
(8) Provide a progression of training and professional development opportunities for caregivers, teachers, and directors to increase their effectiveness in supporting children's development and learning and strengthen and retain (including through financial incentives and compensation improvements) the child care workforce.
§ 98.2   Definitions.
For the purpose of this part and part 99:
The Act refers to the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, section 5082 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-508, as amended and codified at 42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.
ACF means the Administration for Children and Families;
Application is a request for funding that includes the information required at § 98.13;
Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services;
Caregiver means an individual who provides child care services directly to an eligible child on a person-to-person basis;
Categories of care means center-based child care, family child care, and in home care;
Center-based child care provider means a provider licensed or otherwise authorized to provide child care services for fewer than 24 hours per day per child in a non-residential setting, unless care in excess of 24 hours is due to the nature of the parent(s)' work;
Child care certificate means a certificate (that may be a check, or other disbursement) that is issued by a grantee directly to a parent who may use such certificate only as payment for child care services or as a deposit for child care services if such a deposit is required of other children being cared for by the provider, pursuant to § 98.30. Nothing in this part shall preclude the use of such certificate for sectarian child care services if freely chosen by the parent. For the purposes of this part, a child care certificate is assistance to the parent, not assistance to the provider;
Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) means the child care programs conducted under the provisions of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, as amended. The Fund consists of Discretionary Funds authorized under section 658B of the amended Act, and Mandatory and Matching Funds appropriated under section 418 of the Social Security Act;
Child care provider that receives assistance means a child care provider that receives Federal funds under the CCDF pursuant to grants, contracts, or loans, but does not include a child care provider to whom Federal funds under the CCDF are directed only through the operation of a certificate program;
Child care services, for the purposes of § 98.50, means the care given to an eligible child by an eligible child care provider;
Child experiencing homelessness means a child who is homeless as defined in section 725 of SubtitleVII-B of the McKinney-Vento Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a);
Child with a disability means:
(1) A child with a disability, as defined in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401);
(2) A child who is eligible for early intervention services under part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq. );
(3) A child who is less than 13 years of age and who is eligible for services under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); and
(4) A child with a disability, as defined by the State, Territory or Tribe involved;
Construction means the erection of a facility that does not currently exist;
The Department means the Department of Health and Human Services;
Director means a person who has primary responsibility for the daily operations and management for a child care provider, which may include a family child care provider, and which may serve children from birth to kindergarten entry and children in school-age child care;
Discretionary funds means the funds authorized under section 658B of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. The Discretionary funds were formerly referred to as the Child Care and Development Block Grant;
Eligible child means an individual who meets the requirements of § 98.20;
Eligible child care provider means:
(1) A center-based child care provider, a family child care provider, an in-home child care provider, or other provider of child care services for compensation that—
(i) Is licensed, regulated, or registered under applicable State or local law as described in § 98.40; and
(ii) Satisfies State and local requirements, including those referred to in § 98.41 applicable to the child care services it provides; or
(2) A child care provider who is 18 years of age or older who provides child care services only to eligible children who are, by marriage, blood relationship, or court decree, the grandchild, great grandchild, siblings (if such provider lives in separate residence), niece, or nephew of such provider, and complies with any applicable requirements that govern child care provided by the relative involved;
English learner means an individual who is an English learner, as defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or who is limited English proficient, as defined in section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9832);
Facility means real property or modular unit appropriate for use by a grantee to carry out a child care program;
Family child care provider means one or more individual(s) who provide child care services for fewer than 24 hours per day per child, in a private residence other than the child's residence, unless care in excess of 24 hours is due to the nature of the parent(s)' work;
Indian Tribe means any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq. ) that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians;
In-home child care provider means an individual who provides child care services in the child's own home;
Lead Agency means the State, territorial or tribal entity, or joint interagency office, designated or established under §§ 98.10 and 98.16(a) to which a grant is awarded and that is accountable for the use of the funds provided. The Lead Agency is the entire legal entity even if only a particular component of the entity is designated in the grant award document;
Licensing or regulatory requirements means requirements necessary for a provider to legally provide child care services in a State or locality, including registration requirements established under State, local or tribal law;
Liquidation period means the applicable time period during which a fiscal year's grant shall be liquidated pursuant to the requirements at § 98.60.;
Major renovation means any renovation that has a cost equal to or exceeding $350,000 in CCDF funds for child care centers and $50,000 in CCDF funds for family child care homes, which amount shall be adjusted annually for inflation and published on the Office of Child Care website. If renovation costs exceed these thresholds and do not include:
(1) Structural changes to the foundation, roof, floor, exterior or load-bearing walls of a facility, or the extension of a facility to increase its floor area; or
(2) Extensive alteration of a facility such as to significantly change its function and purpose for direct child care services, even if such renovation does not include any structural change; and improve the health, safety, and/or quality of child care, then it shall not be considered major renovation;
Mandatory funds means the general entitlement child care funds described at section 418(a)(1) of the Social Security Act;
Matching funds means the remainder of the general entitlement child care funds that are described at section 418(a)(2) of the Social Security Act;
Modular unit means a portable structure made at another location and moved to a site for use by a grantee to carry out a child care program;
Obligation period means the applicable time period during which a fiscal year's grant shall be obligated pursuant to § 98.60;
Parent means a parent by blood, marriage or adoption and also means a legal guardian, or other person standing in loco parentis ;
The Plan means the Plan for the implementation of programs under the CCDF;
Program period means the time period for using a fiscal year's grant and does not extend beyond the last day to liquidate funds;
Programs refers generically to all activities under the CCDF, including child care services and other activities pursuant to § 98.50 as well as quality activities pursuant to § 98.53;
Provider means the entity providing child care services;
The regulation refers to the actual regulatory text contained in parts 98 and 99 of this chapter;
Real property means land, including land improvements, structures and appurtenances thereto, excluding movable machinery and equipment;
Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services;
Sectarian organization or sectarian child care provider means religious organizations or religious providers generally. The terms embrace any organization or provider that engages in religious conduct or activity or that seeks to maintain a religious identity in some or all of its functions. There is no requirement that a sectarian organization or provider be managed by clergy or have any particular degree of religious management, control, or content;
Sectarian purposes and activities means any religious purpose or activity, including but not limited to religious worship or instruction;
Services for which assistance is provided means all child care services funded under the CCDF, either as assistance directly to child care providers through grants, contracts, or loans, or indirectly as assistance to parents through child care certificates;
Sliding fee scale means a system of cost-sharing by a family based on income and size of the family, in accordance with § 98.45(l);
State means any of the States and the District of Columbia, and includes Territories and Tribes unless otherwise specified;
Teacher means a lead teacher, teacher, teacher assistant, or teacher aide who is employed by a child care provider for compensation on a regular basis, or a family child care provider, and whose responsibilities and activities are to organize, guide, and implement activities in a group or individual basis, or to assist a teacher or lead teacher in such activities, to further the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of children from birth to kindergarten entry and children in school-age child care;
Territory means the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands;
Territory mandatory funds means the child care funds set aside at section 418(a)(3)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 618(a)(3)(C)) for payments to the Territories;
Tribal mandatory funds means the child care funds set aside at section 418(a)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 618(a)(3)(B)) for payments to Indian Tribes and tribal organizations;
Tribal organization means the recognized governing body of any Indian Tribe, or any legally established organization of Indians, including a consortium, which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities: Provided, that in any case where a contract is let or grant is made to an organization to perform services benefiting more than one Indian Tribe, the approval of each such Indian Tribe shall be a prerequisite to the letting or making of such contract or grant; and
Types of providers means the different classes of providers under each category of care. For the purposes of the CCDF, types of providers include non-profit providers, for-profit providers, sectarian providers and relatives who provide care.
§ 98.3   Effect on State law.
(a) Nothing in the Act or this part shall be construed to supersede or modify any provision of a State constitution or State law that prohibits the expenditure of public funds in or by sectarian organizations, except that no provision of a State constitution or State law shall be construed to prohibit the expenditure in or by sectarian institutions of any Federal funds provided under this part.
(b) If a State law or constitution would prevent CCDF funds from being expended for the purposes provided in the Act, without limitation, then States shall segregate State and Federal funds.
§ 98.10   Lead Agency responsibilities.
The Lead Agency (which may be an appropriate collaborative agency), or a joint interagency office, as designated or established by the Governor of the State (or by the appropriate Tribal leader or applicant), shall:
(a) Administer the CCDF program, directly or through other governmental or non-governmental agencies, in accordance with § 98.11;
(b) Apply for funding under this part, pursuant to § 98.13;
(c) Consult with appropriate representatives of local government in developing a Plan to be submitted to the Secretary pursuant to § 98.14(b);
(d) Hold at least one public hearing in accordance with § 98.14(c);
(e) Coordinate CCDF services pursuant to § 98.12; and
(f) Consult, collaborate, and coordinate in the development of the State Plan in a timely manner with Indian Tribes or tribal organizations in the State (at the option of the Tribe or tribal organization).
§ 98.11   Administration under contracts and agreements.
(a) The Lead Agency has broad authority to administer the program through other governmental or non-governmental agencies. In addition, the Lead Agency can use other public or private local agencies to implement the program; however:
(1) The Lead Agency shall retain overall responsibility for the administration of the program, as defined in paragraph (b) of this section;
(2) The Lead Agency shall serve as the single point of contact for issues involving the administration of the grantee's CCDF program; and
(3) Administrative and implementation responsibilities undertaken by agencies other than the Lead Agency shall be governed by written agreements that specify the mutual roles and responsibilities of the Lead Agency and the other agencies in meeting the requirements of this part. The contents of the written agreement may vary based on the role the agency is asked to assume or the type of project undertaken, but must include, at a minimum, tasks to be performed, a schedule for completing tasks, a budget which itemizes categorical expenditures consistent with CCDF requirements at § 98.65(h), and indicators or measures to assess performance.
(b) In retaining overall responsibility for the administration of the program, the Lead Agency shall:
(1) Determine the basic usage and priorities for the expenditure of CCDF funds;
(2) Promulgate all rules and regulations governing overall administration of the Plan;
(3) Submit all reports required by the Secretary;
(4) Ensure that the program complies with the approved Plan and all Federal requirements;
(5) Oversee the expenditure of funds by subrecipients and contractors, in accordance with 75 CFR parts 351 to 353;
(6) Monitor programs and services;
(7) Fulfill the responsibilities of any subgrantee in any: disallowance under subpart G; complaint or compliance action under subpart J; or hearing or appeal action under part 99 of this chapter; and
(8) Ensure that all State and local or non-governmental agencies through which the State administers the program, including agencies and contractors that determine individual eligibility, operate according to the rules established for the program.
§ 98.12   Coordination and consultation.
The Lead Agency shall:
(a) Coordinate the provision of services for which assistance is provided under this part with the agencies listed in § 98.14(a).
(b) Consult, in accordance with § 98.14(b), with representatives of general purpose local government during the development of the Plan; and
(c) Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, per § 98.10(f) with any Indian Tribes in the State receiving CCDF funds in accordance with subpart I of this part.
§ 98.13   Applying for Funds.
The Lead Agency of a State or Territory shall apply for Child Care and Development funds by providing the following:
(a) The amount of funds requested at such time and in such manner as prescribed by the Secretary.
(b) The following assurances or certifications:
(1) An assurance that the Lead Agency will comply with the requirements of the Act and this part;
(2) A lobbying certification that assures that the funds will not be used for the purpose of influencing pursuant to 45 CFR part 93, and, if necessary, a Standard Form LLL (SF-LLL) that discloses lobbying payments;
(3) An assurance that the Lead Agency provides a drug-free workplace pursuant to 45 CFR 76.600, or a statement that such an assurance has already been submitted for all HHS grants;
(4) A certification that no principals have been debarred pursuant to 2 CFR 180.300;
(5) Assurances that the Lead Agency will comply with the applicable provisions regarding nondiscrimination at 45 CFR part 80 (implementing title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended), 45 CFR part 84 (implementing section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended), 45 CFR part 86 (implementing title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended) and 45 CFR part 91 (implementing the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended), and;
(6) Assurances that the Lead Agency will comply with the applicable provisions of Public Law 103-277, Part C—Environmental Tobacco Smoke, also known as the Pro-Children Act of 1994, regarding prohibitions on smoking.
(c) The Child Care and Development Fund Plan, at times and in such manner as required in § 98.17; and
(d) Such other information as specified by the Secretary.
§ 98.14   Plan process.
In the development of each Plan, as required pursuant to § 98.17, the Lead Agency shall:
(a)(1) Coordinate the provision of child care services funded under this part with other Federal, State, and local child care and early childhood development programs (including such programs for the benefit of Indian children, infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care) to expand accessibility and continuity of care as well as full-day services. The Lead Agency shall also coordinate the provision of services with the State, and if applicable, tribal agencies responsible for:
(i) Public health, including the agency responsible for immunizations;
(ii) Employment services/workforce development;
(iii) Public education (including agencies responsible for prekindergarten services, if applicable, and early intervention and preschool services provided under Part B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400));
(iv) Providing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
(v) Child care licensing;
(vi) Head Start collaboration, as authorized by the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq. );
(vii) State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (designated or established pursuant to the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq. )) or similar coordinating body;
(viii) Statewide after-school network or other coordinating entity for out-of-school time care (if applicable);
(ix) Emergency management and response;
(x) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) authorized by the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766) and other relevant nutrition programs;
(xi) Services for children experiencing homelessness, including State Coordinators of Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY State Coordinators) and, to the extent practicable, local liaisons designated by Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) in the State as required by the McKinney-Vento Act (42 U.S.C. 11432) and Continuum of Care grantees;
(xii) Medicaid and the State children's health insurance programs (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq., 1397aa et seq. );
(xiii) Mental health services; and
(xiv) Child care resources and referral agencies, child care consumer education organizations, and providers of early childhood education training and professional development.
(2) Provide a description of the results of the coordination with each of these agencies in the CCDF Plan.
(3) If the Lead Agency elects to combine funding for CCDF services with any other early childhood program, provide a description in the CCDF Plan of how the Lead Agency will combine and use the funding.
(4) Demonstrate in the CCDF Plan how the State, Territory, or Tribe encourages partnerships among its agencies, other public agencies, Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, and private entities, including faith-based and community-based organizations, to leverage existing service delivery systems for child care and development services and to increase the supply and quality of child care and development services and to increase the supply and quality of child care services for children who are less than 13 years of age, such as by implementing voluntary shared service alliance models.
(b) Consult with appropriate representatives of local governments;
(c)(1) Hold at least one hearing in the State, after at least 20 days of statewide public notice, to provide to the public an opportunity to comment on the provision of child care services under the Plan.
(2) The hearing required by paragraph (c)(1) shall be held before the Plan is submitted to ACF, but no earlier than nine months before the Plan becomes effective.
(3) In advance of the hearing required by this section, the Lead Agency shall make available to the public the content of the Plan as described in § 98.16 that it proposes to submit to the Secretary, which shall include posting the Plan content on a Web site.
(d) Make the submitted and final Plan, any Plan amendments, and any approved requests for temporary relief (in accordance with § 98.19) publicly available on a Web site.
§ 98.15   Assurances and certifications.
(a) The Lead Agency shall include the following assurances in its CCDF Plan:
(1) Upon approval, it will have in effect a program that complies with the provisions of the CCDF Plan, and that is administered in accordance with the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, as amended, section 418 of the Social Security Act, and all other applicable Federal laws and regulations;
(2) The parent(s) of each eligible child within the area served by the Lead Agency who receives or is offered child care services for which financial assistance is provided is given the option either:
(i) To enroll such child with a child care provider that has a grant or contract for the provision of the service; or
(ii) To receive a child care certificate as defined in § 98.2;
(3) In cases in which the parent(s), pursuant to § 98.30, elects to enroll their child with a provider that has a grant or contract with the Lead Agency, the child will be enrolled with the eligible provider selected by the parent to the maximum extent practicable;
(4) In accordance with § 98.30, the child care certificate offered to parents shall be of a value commensurate with the subsidy value of child care services provided under a grant or contract;
(5) With respect to State and local regulatory requirements (or tribal regulatory requirements), health and safety requirements, payment rates, and registration requirements, State or local (or tribal) rules, procedures or other requirements promulgated for the purpose of the CCDF will not significantly restrict parental choice from among categories of care or types of providers, pursuant to § 98.30(f).
(6) That if expenditures for pre-Kindergarten services are used to meet the maintenance-of-effort requirement, the State has not reduced its level of effort in full-day/full-year child care services, pursuant to § 98.55(h)(1).
(7) Training and professional development requirements comply with § 98.44 and are applicable to caregivers, teaching staff, and directors working for child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF.
(8) To the extent practicable, enrollment and eligibility policies support the fixed costs of providing child care services by delinking provider payment rates from an eligible child's occasional absences in accordance with § 98.45(m);
(9) The State will maintain or implement early learning and developmental guidelines that are developmentally appropriate for all children from birth to kindergarten entry, describing what such children should know and be able to do, and covering the essential domains of early childhood development (cognition, including language arts and mathematics; social, emotional and physical development; and approaches toward learning) for use statewide by child care providers and caregivers. Such guidelines shall—
(i) Be research-based and developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate, building in a forward progression, and aligned with entry to kindergarten;
(ii) Be implemented in consultation with the State educational agency and the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (designated or established pursuant to section 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i)) or similar coordinating body, and in consultation with child development and content experts; and
(iii) Be updated as determined by the State.
(10) Funds received by the State to carry out this subchapter will not be used to develop or implement an assessment for children that—
(i) Will be the primary or sole basis for a child care provider being determined to be ineligible to participate in the program carried out under this subchapter;
(ii) Will be used as the primary or sole basis to provide a reward or sanction for an individual provider;
(iii) Will be used as the primary or sole method for assessing program effectiveness; or
(iv) Will be used to deny children eligibility to participate in the program carried out under this subchapter.
(11) To the extent practicable and appropriate, any code or software for child care information systems or information technology that a Lead Agency or other agency expends CCDF funds to develop must be made available upon request to other public agencies, including public agencies in other States, for their use in administering child care or related programs.
(b) The Lead Agency shall include the following certifications in its CCDF Plan:
(1) The State has developed the CCDF Plan in consultation with the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (designated or established pursuant to section 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i))) or similar coordinating body, pursuant to § 98.14(a)(1)(vii);
(2) In accordance with § 98.31, the Lead Agency has procedures in place to ensure that providers of child care services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF, afford parents unlimited access to their children and to the providers caring for their children, during the normal hours of operations and whenever such children are in the care of such providers;
(3) As required by § 98.32, the State maintains a record of substantiated parental complaints and makes information regarding such complaints available to the public on request;
(4) It will collect and disseminate to parents of eligible children, the general public and, where applicable, child care providers, consumer education information that will promote informed child care choices, information on access to other programs for which families may be eligible, and information on developmental screenings, as required by § 98.33;
(5) In accordance with § 98.33(a), that the State makes public, through a consumer-friendly and easily accessible Web site, the results of monitoring and inspection reports, as well as the number of deaths, serious injuries, and instances of substantiated child abuse that occurred in child care settings;
(6) There are in effect licensing requirements applicable to child care services provided within the State, pursuant to § 98.40;
(7) There are in effect within the State (or other area served by the Lead Agency), under State or local (or tribal) law, requirements designed to protect the health and safety of children that are applicable to child care providers that provide services for which assistance is made available under the CCDF, pursuant to § 98.41;
(8) In accordance with § 98.42(a), procedures are in effect to ensure that child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF comply with all applicable State or local (or tribal) health and safety requirements;
(9) Caregivers, teachers, and directors of child care providers comply with the State's, Territory's, or Tribe's procedures for reporting child abuse and neglect as required by section 106(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)(2)(B)(i)), if applicable, or other child abuse reporting procedures and laws in the service area, as required by § 98.41(e);
(10) There are in effect monitoring policies and practices pursuant to § 98.42;
(11) Payment rates for the provision of child care services, in accordance with § 98.45, are sufficient to ensure equal access for eligible children to comparable child care services in the State or sub-State area that are provided to children whose parents are not eligible to receive assistance under this program or under any other Federal or State child care assistance programs;
(12) Payment practices of child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF reflect generally accepted payment practices of child care providers that serve children who do not receive CCDF assistance, pursuant to § 98.45(m); and
(13) There are in effect policies to govern the use and disclosure of confidential and personally identifiable information about children and families receiving CCDF assistance and child care providers receiving CCDF funds.
§ 98.16   Plan provisions.
A CCDF Plan shall contain the following:
(a) Specification of the Lead Agency whose duties and responsibilities are delineated in § 98.10;
(b) A description of processes the Lead Agency will use to monitor administrative and implementation responsibilities undertaken by agencies other than the Lead Agency including descriptions of written agreements, monitoring and auditing procedures, and indicators or measures to assess performance pursuant to § 98.11(a)(3);
(c) The assurances and certifications listed under § 98.15;
(d)(1) A description of how the CCDF program will be administered and implemented, if the Lead Agency does not directly administer and implement the program;
(2) Identification of the public or private entities designated to receive private donated funds and the purposes for which such funds will be expended, pursuant to § 98.55(f);
(e) A description of the coordination and consultation processes involved in the development of the Plan and the provision of services, including a description of public-private partnership activities that promote business involvement in meeting child care needs pursuant to § 98.14;
(f) A description of the public hearing process, pursuant to § 98.14(c);
(g) Definitions of the following terms for purposes of determining eligibility, pursuant to §§ 98.20(a) and 98.46:
(1) Special needs child;
(2) Physical or mental incapacity (if applicable);
(3) Attending (a job training or educational program);
(4) Job training and educational program;
(5) Residing with;
(6) Working;
(7) Protective services (if applicable), including whether children in foster care are considered in protective services for purposes of child care eligibility; and whether respite care is provided to custodial parents of children in protective services.
(8) Very low income; and
(9) In loco parentis;
(h) A description and demonstration of eligibility determination and redetermination processes to promote continuity of care for children and stability for families receiving CCDF services, including:
(1) An eligibility redetermination period of no less than 12 months in accordance with § 98.21(a);
(2) A graduated phase-out for families whose income exceeds the Lead Agency's threshold to initially qualify for CCDF assistance, but does not exceed 85 percent of State median income, pursuant to § 98.21(b);
(3) Processes that take into account irregular fluctuation in earnings, pursuant to § 98.21(c);
(4) Processes to incorporate additional eligible children in the family size in accordance with § 98.21(d);
(5) Procedures and policies for presumptive eligibility in accordance with § 98.21(e), including procedures for tracking the number of presumptively eligible children;
(6) Procedures and policies to ensure that parents are not required to unduly disrupt their education, training, or employment to complete initial eligibility determination or re-determination, pursuant to § 98.21(f);
(7) Processes for using eligibility for other programs to verify eligibility for CCDF in accordance with § 98.21(g);
(8) Limiting any requirements to report changes in circumstances in accordance with § 98.21(h);
(9) Policies that take into account children's development and learning when authorizing child care services pursuant to § 98.21(i); and,
(10) Other policies and practices such as timely eligibility determination and processing of applications;
(i) For child care services pursuant to § 98.50:
(1) A description of such services and activities;
(2) Any limits established for the provision of in-home care and the reasons for such limits pursuant to § 98.30(e)(1)(iii);
(3) A list of political subdivisions in which such services and activities are offered, if such services and activities are not available throughout the entire service area;
(4) A description of how the Lead Agency will meet the needs of certain families specified at § 98.50(e);
(5) Any eligibility criteria, priority rules, and definitions established pursuant to §§ 98.20 and 98.46;
(j) A description of the activities to provide comprehensive consumer and provider education, including the posting of monitoring and inspection reports, pursuant to § 98.33, to increase parental choice, and to improve the quality of child care, pursuant to § 98.53;
(k) A description of the sliding fee scale(s) (including any factors other than income and family size used in establishing the fee scale(s)) that provide(s) for cost-sharing by the families that receive child care services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF and how co-payments are affordable for families, pursuant to § 98.45(l). This shall include a description of the criteria established by the Lead Agency, if any, for waiving contributions for families;
(l) A description of the health and safety requirements, applicable to all providers of child care services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF, in effect pursuant to § 98.41, and any exemptions to those requirements for relative providers made in accordance with § 98.42(c);
(m) A description of child care standards for child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF, in accordance with § 98.41(d), that includes group size limits, child-staff ratios, and required qualifications for caregivers, teachers, and directors;
(n) A description of monitoring and other enforcement procedures in effect to ensure that child care providers comply with applicable health and safety requirements pursuant to § 98.42;
(o) A description of criminal background check requirements, policies, and procedures in accordance with § 98.43, including a description of the requirements, policies, and procedures in place to respond to other States', Territories', and Tribes' requests for background check results in order to accommodate the 45 day timeframe;
(p) A description of training and professional development requirements for caregivers, teaching staff, and directors of providers of services for which assistance is provided in accordance with § 98.44;
(q) A description of the child care certificate payment system(s), including the form or forms of the child care certificate, pursuant to § 98.30(c);
(r) Payment rates and a summary of the facts, including a local market rate survey or alternative methodology relied upon to determine that the rates provided are sufficient to ensure equal access pursuant to § 98.45;
(s) A detailed description of the State's hotline for complaints, its process for substantiating and responding to complaints, whether or not the State uses monitoring as part of its process for responding to complaints for both CCDF and non-CCDF providers, how the State maintains a record of substantiated parental complaints, and how it makes information regarding those complaints available to the public on request, pursuant to § 98.32;
(t) A detailed description of the procedures in effect for affording parents unlimited access to their children whenever their children are in the care of the provider, pursuant to § 98.31;
(u) A detailed description of the licensing requirements applicable to child care services provided, any exemption to licensing requirements that is applicable to child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF and a demonstration of why such exemption does not endanger the health, safety, or development of children, and a description of how such licensing requirements are effectively enforced, pursuant to § 98.40;
(v) Pursuant to § 98.33(f), the definitions or criteria used to implement the exception, provided in section 407(e)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607(e)(2)), to individual penalties in the TANF work requirement applicable to a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six;
(w)(1) When any Matching funds under § 98.55(b) are claimed, a description of the efforts to ensure that pre-Kindergarten programs meet the needs of working parents;
(2) When State pre-Kindergarten expenditures are used to meet more than 10% of the amount required at § 98.55(c)(1), or for more than 10% of the funds available at § 98.55(b), or both, a description of how the State will coordinate its pre-Kindergarten and child care services to expand the availability of child care;
(x) A description of the supply of child care available regardless of subsidy participation relative to the population of children requiring child care, including care for infants and toddlers, children with disabilities as defined by the Lead Agency, children who receive care during nontraditional hours, and children in underserved geographic areas, including the data sources used to identify shortages in the supply of child care providers;
(y) A description of the Lead Agency's strategies and the actions it will take to address the supply shortages identified in paragraph (x) of this section and improve parent choice specifically for families eligible to participate in CCDF, including:
(1) For families needing care during nontraditional hours, which may include strategies such as higher payment rates, engaging with home-based child care networks, partnering with employers that have employees working nontraditional hours, and grants or contracts for direct services;
(2) For families needing infant and toddler care, which must include grants or contracts for direct services pursuant to § 98.30(b) and described further in paragraph (z) of this section and may include additional strategies such as enhanced payment rates, training and professional development opportunities for the child care workforce, and engaging with staffed family child care networks and/or child care provider membership organizations;
(3) For families needing care for children with disabilities, which must include grants or contracts for direct services pursuant to § 98.30(b) and described further in paragraph (z) of this section and may include additional strategies such as enhanced payment rates, training and professional development opportunities for the child care workforce, and engaging with staffed family child care networks and/or child care provider membership organizations;
(4) For families in underserved geographic areas, which must include grants or contracts for direct services pursuant to § 98.30(b) and described further in paragraph (z) of this section and may include additional strategies such as enhanced payment rates, training and professional development opportunities for the child care workforce, and engaging with staffed family child care networks and/or child care provider membership organizations; and,
(5) A method of tracking progress toward goals to increase supply and support equal access and parental choice;
(z) A description of how the Lead Agency will use grants or contracts for direct services to achieve supply building goals for children in underserved geographic areas, infants and toddlers, children with disabilities as defined by the Lead Agency, and, at Lead Agency option, children who receive care during nontraditional hours. This must include a description of the proportion of the shortages for these groups would be filled by contracted or grant funded slots. Lead Agencies must continue to provide CCDF families the option to choose a certificate for the purposes of acquiring care;
(aa) A description of how the Lead Agency will improve the quality of child care services for children in underserved geographic areas, infants and toddlers, children with disabilities as defined by the Lead Agency, and children who receive care during nontraditional hours;
(bb) A description of how the Lead Agency prioritizes increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and that do not have sufficient numbers of such programs, pursuant to § 98.46;
(cc) A description of how the Lead Agency develops and implements strategies to strengthen the business practices of child care providers to expand the supply, and improve the quality of, child care services;
(dd) A demonstration of how the State, Territory or Tribe will address the needs of children, including the need for safe child care, before, during and after a state of emergency declared by the Governor or a major disaster or emergency (as defined by section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5122) through a Statewide Disaster Plan (or Disaster Plan for a Tribe's service area) that:
(1) For a State, is developed in collaboration with the State human services agency, the State emergency management agency, the State licensing agency, the State health department or public health department, local and State child care resource and referral agencies, and the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (designated or established pursuant to section 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i))) or similar coordinating body; and
(2) Includes the following components:
(i) Guidelines for continuation of child care subsidies and child care services, which may include the provision of emergency and temporary child care services during a disaster, and temporary operating standards for child care after a disaster;
(ii) Coordination of post-disaster recovery of child care services; and
(iii) Requirements that child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF, as well as other child care providers as determined appropriate by the State, Territory or Tribe, have in place:
(A) Procedures for evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, lock-down, communication and reunification with families, continuity of operations, accommodations of infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, and children with chronic medical conditions; and
(B) Procedures for staff and volunteer emergency preparedness training and practice drills, including training requirements for child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under CCDF at § 98.41(a)(1)(vii);
(ee) A description of generally-accepted payment practices applicable to providers of child care services for which assistance is provided under this part, pursuant to § 98.45(m), including practices to ensure timely payment for services, to delink provider payments from children's occasional absences to the extent practicable, cover mandatory fees, and pay based on a full or part-time basis;
(ff) A description of internal controls to ensure integrity and accountability, processes in place to investigate and recover fraudulent payments and to impose sanctions on clients or providers in response to fraud, and procedures in place to document and verify eligibility, pursuant to § 98.68;
(gg) A description of how the Lead Agency will provide outreach and services to eligible families with limited English proficiency and persons with disabilities and facilitate participation of child care providers with limited English proficiency and disabilities in the subsidy system;
(hh) A description of policies to prevent suspension, expulsion, and denial of services due to behavior of children birth to age five in child care and other early childhood programs receiving assistance under this part, which must be disseminated as part of consumer and provider education efforts in accordance with § 98.33(b)(1)(v);
(ii) Designation of a State, territorial, or tribal entity to which child care providers must submit reports of any serious injuries or deaths of children occurring in child care, in accordance with § 98.42(b)(4);
(jj) A description of how the Lead Agency will support child care providers in the successful engagement of families in children's learning and development;
(kk) A description of how the Lead Agency will respond to complaints submitted through the national hotline and website, required in section 658L(b) of the CCDBG Act of 2014 (42 U.S.C.9858j(b)), including the designee responsible for receiving and responding to such complaints regarding both licensed and license-exempt child care providers; and
(ll) Such other information as specified by the Secretary.
§ 98.17   Period covered by Plan.
(a) For States, Territories, and Indian Tribes the Plan shall cover a period of three years.
(b) The Lead Agency shall submit a new Plan prior to the expiration of the time period specified in paragraph (a) of this section, at such time as required by the Secretary in written instructions.
§ 98.18   Approval and disapproval of Plans and Plan amendments.
(a) Plan approval. The Assistant Secretary will approve a Plan that satisfies the requirements of the Act and this part. Plans will be approved not later than the 90th day following the date on which the Plan submittal is received, unless a written agreement to extend that period has been secured.
(b) Plan amendments. (1) Approved Plans shall be amended whenever a substantial change in the program occurs. A Plan amendment shall be submitted within 60 days of the effective date of the change. Plan amendments will be approved or denied not later than the 90th day following the date on which the amendment is received, unless a written agreement to extend that period has been secured.
(2) Lead Agencies must ensure advanced written notice is provided to affected parties ( i.e., parents and child care providers) of substantial changes in the program that adversely affect eligibility, payment rates, and/or sliding fee scales.
(c) Appeal of disapproval of a Plan or Plan amendment. (1) An applicant or Lead Agency dissatisfied with a determination of the Assistant Secretary pursuant to paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section with respect to any Plan or amendment may, within 60 days after the date of receipt of notification of such determination, file a petition with the Assistant Secretary asking for reconsideration of the issue of whether such Plan or amendment conforms to the requirements for approval under the Act and pertinent Federal regulations.
(2) Within 30 days after receipt of such petition, the Assistant Secretary shall notify the applicant or Lead Agency of the time and place at which the hearing for the purpose of reconsidering such issue will be held.
(3) Such hearing shall be held not less than 30 days, nor more than 90 days, after the notification is furnished to the applicant or Lead Agency, unless the Assistant Secretary and the applicant or Lead Agency agree in writing on another time.
(4) Action pursuant to an initial determination by the Assistant Secretary described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section that a Plan or amendment is not approvable shall not be stayed pending the reconsideration, but in the event that the Assistant Secretary subsequently determines that the original decision was incorrect, the Assistant Secretary shall certify restitution forthwith in a lump sum of any funds incorrectly withheld or otherwise denied. The hearing procedures are described in part 99 of this chapter.
§ 98.19   Requests for temporary waivers.
(a) Requests for relief. The Secretary may temporarily waive one or more of the requirements contained in the Act or this part, with the exception of State Match and Maintenance of Effort requirements for a State, consistent with the conditions described in section 658I(c)(1) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9858g(c)(1)), provided that the waiver request:
(1) Describes circumstances that prevent the State, Territory, or Tribe from complying with any statutory or regulatory requirements of this part;
(2) By itself, contributes to or enhances the State's, Territory's, or Tribe's ability to carry out the purposes of the Act and this part;
(3) Will not contribute to inconsistency with the purposes of the Act or this part, and;
(4) Meets the requirements set forth in paragraphs (b) through (g) of this section.
(b) Types. Types of waivers include:
(1) Transitional and legislative waivers. Lead Agencies may apply for temporary waivers meeting the requirements described in paragraph (a) of this section that would provide transitional relief from conflicting or duplicative requirements preventing implementation, or an extended period of time in order for a State, territorial or tribal legislature to enact legislation to implement the provisions of this subchapter. Such waivers are:
(i) Limited to a two-year period;
(ii) May not be extended, notwithstanding paragraph (f) of this section;
(iii) Are designed to provide States, Territories and Tribes at most one full legislative session to enact legislation to implement the provisions of the Act or this part, and;
(iv) Are conditional, dependent on progress towards implementation, and may be terminated by the Secretary at any time in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section.
(2) Waivers for extraordinary circumstances. States, Territories and Tribes may apply for waivers meeting the requirements described in paragraph (a) of this section, in cases of extraordinary circumstances, which are defined as temporary circumstances or situations, such as a natural disaster or financial crisis. Such waivers are:
(i) Limited to an initial period of no more than 2 years from the date of approval;
(ii) May be extended, in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section, for at most one additional year from the date of approval of the extension, and;
(iii) May be terminated by the Secretary at any time in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section.
(c) Contents. Waiver requests must be submitted to the Secretary in writing and:
(1) Indicate which type of waiver, as detailed in paragraph (b) of this section, the State, Territory or Tribe is requesting;
(2) Detail each sanction or provision of the Act or regulations that the State, Territory or Tribe seeks relief from;
(3) Describe how a waiver from that sanction or provision will, by itself, improve delivery of child care services for children; and
(4) Certify and describe how the health, safety, and well-being of children served through assistance received under this part will not be compromised as a result of the waiver.
(d) Notification. Within 90 days after receipt of the waiver request or, if additional follow up information has been requested, the receipt of such information, the Secretary will notify the Lead Agency of the approval or disapproval of the request.
(e) Termination. The Secretary shall terminate approval of a request for a waiver authorized under the Act or this section if the Secretary determines, after notice and opportunity for a hearing based on the rules of procedure in part 99 of this chapter, that the performance of a State, Territory or Tribe granted relief under this section has been inadequate, or if such relief is no longer necessary to achieve its original purposes.
(f) Renewal. Where permitted, the Secretary may approve or disapprove a request from a State, Territory or Tribe for renewal of an existing waiver under the Act or this section for a period no longer than one year. A State, Territory or Tribe seeking to renew their waiver approval must inform the Secretary of this intent no later than 30 days prior to the expiration date of the waiver. The State, Territory or Tribe shall re-certify in its extension request the provisions in paragraph (a) of this section, and shall also explain the need for additional time of relief from such sanction(s) or provisions.
(g) Restrictions. The Secretary may not:
(1) Permit Lead Agencies to alter the federal eligibility requirements for eligible children, including work requirements, job training, or educational program participation, that apply to the parents of eligible children under this part;
(2) Waive anything related to the Secretary's authority under this part; or
(3) Require or impose any new or additional requirements in exchange for receipt of a waiver if such requirements are not specified in the Act.
§ 98.20   A child's eligibility for child care services.
(a) To be eligible for services under § 98.50, a child shall, at the time of eligibility determination or redetermination:
(1)(i) Be under 13 years of age; or,
(ii) At the option of the Lead Agency, be under age 19 and physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself or herself, or under court supervision;
(2)(i) Reside with a family whose income does not exceed 85 percent of the State's median income (SMI), which must be based on the most recent SMI data that is published by the Bureau of the Census, for a family of the same size; and
(ii) Whose family assets do not exceed $1,000,000 (as certified by such family member); and
(3)(i) Reside with a parent or parents who are working or attending a job training or educational program; or
(ii) Receive, or need to receive, protective services, which may include specific populations of vulnerable children as identified by the Lead Agency, and reside with a parent or parents other than the parent(s) described in paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this section.
(A) At grantee option, the requirements in paragraph (a)(2) of this section may be waived for families eligible for child care pursuant to this paragraph, if determined to be necessary on a case-by-case basis.
(B) At grantee option, the waiver provisions in paragraph (a)(3)(ii)(A) of this section apply to children in foster care when defined in the Plan, pursuant to § 98.16(g)(7).
(b) A grantee or other administering agency may establish eligibility conditions or priority rules in addition to those specified in this section and § 98.46, which shall be described in the Plan pursuant to § 98.16(i)(5), so long as they do not:
(1) Discriminate against children on the basis of race, national origin, ethnic background, sex, religious affiliation, or disability;
(2) Limit parental rights provided under subpart D of this part;
(3) Violate the provisions of this section, § 98.46, or the Plan. In particular, such conditions or priority rules may not be based on a parent's preference for a category of care or type of provider. In addition, such additional conditions or rules may not be based on a parent's choice of a child care certificate; or
(4) Impact eligibility other than at the time of eligibility determination or redetermination.
(c) For purposes of implementing the citizenship eligibility verification requirements mandated by title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, 8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., only the citizenship and immigration status of the child, who is the primary beneficiary of the CCDF benefit, is relevant. Therefore, a Lead Agency or other administering agency may not condition a child's eligibility for services under § 98.50 based upon the citizenship or immigration status of their parent or the provision of any information about the citizenship or immigration status of their parent.
§ 98.21   Eligibility determination processes.
(a) A Lead Agency shall re-determine a child's eligibility for child care services no sooner than 12 months following the initial determination or most recent redetermination, subject to the following:
(1) During the period of time between determinations or redeterminations, if the child met all of the requirements in § 98.20(a) on the date of the most recent eligibility determination or redetermination, the child shall be considered eligible and will receive services at least at the same level, regardless of:
(i) A change in family income, if that family income does not exceed 85 percent of SMI for a family of the same size; or
(ii) A temporary change in the ongoing status of the child's parent as working or attending a job training or educational program. A temporary change shall include, at a minimum:
(A) Any time-limited absence from work for an employed parent due to reasons such as need to care for a family member or an illness;;
(B) Any interruption in work for a seasonal worker who is not working between regular industry work seasons;
(C) Any student holiday or break for a parent participating in training or education;
(D) Any reduction in work, training or education hours, as long as the parent is still working or attending training or education;
(E) Any other cessation of work or attendance at a training or education program that does not exceed three months or a longer period of time established by the Lead Agency;
(F) Any change in age, including turning 13 years old during the eligibility period; and
(G) Any change in residency within the State, Territory, or Tribal service area.
(2)(i) Lead Agencies have the option, but are not required, to discontinue assistance due to a parent's loss of work or cessation of attendance at a job training or educational program that does not constitute a temporary change in accordance with paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section. However, if the Lead Agency exercises this option, it must continue assistance at least at the same level for a period of not less than three months after each such loss or cessation in order for the parent to engage in job search and resume work, or resume attendance at a job training or educational activity.
(ii) At the end of the minimum three-month period of continued assistance, if the parent is engaged in a qualifying work, education, or training activity with income below 85% of SMI, assistance cannot be terminated and the child must continue receiving assistance until the next scheduled re-determination, or at Lead Agency option, for an additional minimum 12—month eligibility period.
(iii) If a Lead Agency chooses to initially qualify a family for CCDF assistance based on a parent's status of seeking employment or engaging in job search, the Lead Agency has the option to end assistance after a minimum of three months if the parent has still not found employment, although assistance must continue if the parent becomes employed during the job search period.
(3) Lead Agencies cannot increase family co-payment amounts, established in accordance with § 98.45(k), within the minimum 12-month eligibility period except as described in paragraph (b)(3) of this section.
(4) Because a child meeting eligibility requirements at the most recent eligibility determination or redetermination is considered eligible between redeterminations as described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, any payment for such a child shall not be considered an error or improper payment under subpart K of this part due to a change in the family's circumstances.
(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (a)(1), the Lead Agency may discontinue assistance prior to the next re-determination in limited circumstances where there have been:
(i) Excessive unexplained absences despite multiple attempts by the Lead Agency or designated entity to contact the family and provider, including prior notification of possible discontinuation of assistance;
(A) If the Lead Agency chooses this option, it shall define the number of unexplained absences that shall be considered excessive;
(B) [Reserved]
(ii) A change in residency outside of the State, Territory, or Tribal service area; or
(iii) Substantiated fraud or intentional program violations that invalidate prior determinations of eligibility.
(b)(1) Lead Agencies that establish family income eligibility at a level less than 85 percent of SMI for a family of the same size (in order for a child to initially qualify for assistance) must provide a graduated phase-out by implementing two-tiered eligibility thresholds, with the second tier of eligibility (used at the time of eligibility re-determination) set at:
(i) 85 percent of SMI for a family of the same size; or
(ii) An amount lower than 85 percent of SMI for a family of the same size, but above the Lead Agency's initial eligibility threshold, that:
(A) Takes into account the typical household budget of a low income family; and
(B) Provides justification that the second eligibility threshold is:
( 1 ) Sufficient to accommodate increases in family income over time that are typical for low-income workers and that promote and support family economic stability; and
( 2 ) Reasonably allows a family to continue accessing child care services without unnecessary disruption.
(2) At re-determination, a child shall be considered eligible (pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section) if their parents, at the time of redetermination, are working or attending a job training or educational program even if their income exceeds the Lead Agency's income limit to initially quality for assistance, as long as their income does not exceed the second tier of the eligibility described in (b)(1);
(3) A family meeting the conditions described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section shall be eligible for services pursuant to the conditions described in § 98.20 and all other paragraphs of this section, with the exception of the co-payment restrictions at paragraph (a)(3) of this section. To help families transition off of child care assistance, Lead Agencies may gradually adjust co-pay amounts for families whose children are determined eligible under the graduated phase-out conditions described in paragraph (b)(2) and may require additional reporting on changes in family income as described in paragraph (h)(3) of this section, provided such requirements do not constitute an undue burden, pursuant to conditions described in paragraphs (h)(2)(ii) and (iii) of this section.
(c) The Lead Agency shall establish processes for initial determination and redetermination of eligibility that take into account irregular fluctuation in earnings, including policies that ensure temporary increases in income, including temporary increases that result in monthly income exceeding 85 percent of SMI (calculated on a monthly basis), do not affect eligibility or family co-payments.
(d) The Lead Agency shall establish policies and processes to incorporate additional eligible children in the family size ( e.g., siblings or foster siblings), including ensuring a minimum of 12 months of eligibility between eligibility determination and redetermination as described in paragraph (a) of this section for children previously determined eligible and for new children who are determined eligible, without placing undue reporting burden on families.
(e) At a Lead Agency's option, a child may be considered presumptively eligible for up to three months and begin to receive child care subsidy prior to full documentation and eligibility determination:
(1) The Lead Agency may issue presumptive eligibility prior to full documentation of a child's eligibility if the Lead Agency first obtains a less burdensome minimum verification requirement from the family.
(2) If, after full documentation is provided, a child is determined to be ineligible, the Lead Agency shall ensure that a child care provider is paid and shall not recover funds paid or owed to a child care provider for services provided as a result of the presumptive eligibility determination except in cases of fraud or intentional program violation by the provider.
(3) Any CCDF payment made on behalf of a presumptively eligible child prior to the final eligibility determination shall not be considered an error or improper payment under subpart K of this part and will not be subject to disallowance so long as the payment was not for a service period longer than the period of presumptive eligibility.
(4) If a child is determined to be eligible, the period of presumptive eligibility will apply to the minimum of 12 months of eligibility prior to re-determination described in paragraph (a) of this section.
(5) The Secretary may deny the use of federal funds for direct services under presumptive eligibility for Lead Agencies under a corrective action plan for error rate reporting pursuant to § 98.102(c).
(f) The Lead Agency shall establish procedures and policies to ensure parents, especially parents receiving assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program are not required to unduly disrupt their education, training, or employment in order to complete the eligibility determination or re-determination process, including the use of online applications and other measures, to the extent practicable.
(g) At the Lead Agency's option, enrollment in other benefit programs or documents or verification used for other benefit programs may be used to verify eligibility as appropriate according to § 98.68(c) for CCDF, such as:
(1) Benefit programs with income eligibility requirements aligned with the income eligibility at § 98.20(a)(2)(i) may be used to verify a family's income eligibility; and
(2) Benefit programs with other eligibility requirements aligned with § 98.20(a)(3) may verify:
(i) A family's work or attendance at a job training or educational program;
(ii) A family's status as receiving, or need to receive, protective services; or
(iii) Other information needed for eligibility.
(h) The Lead Agency shall specify in the Plan any requirements for parents to notify the Lead Agency of changes in circumstances during the minimum 12-month eligibility period, and describe efforts to ensure such requirements do not place an undue burden on eligible families that could impact continued eligibility between redeterminations.
(1) The Lead Agency must require families to report a change at any point during the minimum 12-month period, limited to:
(i) If the family's income exceeds 85% of SMI, taking into account irregular income fluctuations; or
(ii) At the option of the Lead Agency, the family has experienced a non-temporary cessation of work, training, or education.
(2) Any additional requirements the Lead Agency chooses, at its option, to impose on parents to provide notification of changes in circumstances to the Lead Agency or entities designated to perform eligibility functions shall not constitute an undue burden on families. Any such requirements shall:
(i) Limit notification requirements to items that impact a family's eligibility ( e.g., only if income exceeds 85 percent of SMI, or there is a non-temporary change in the status of the child's parent as working or attending a job training or educational program) or those that enable the Lead Agency to contact the family or pay providers;
(ii) Not require an office visit in order to fulfill notification requirements; and
(iii) Offer a range of notification options ( e.g., phone, email, online forms, extended submission hours) to accommodate the needs of parents;
(3) During a period of graduated phase-out, the Lead Agency may require additional reporting on changes in family income in order to gradually adjust family co-payments, if desired, as described in paragraph (b)(3) of this section.
(4) Lead Agencies must allow families the option to voluntarily report changes on an ongoing basis.
(i) Lead Agencies are required to act on this information provided by the family if it would reduce the family's co-payment or increase the family's subsidy.
(ii) Lead Agencies are prohibited from acting on information that would reduce the family's subsidy unless the information provided indicates the family's income exceeds 85 percent of SMI for a family of the same size, taking into account irregular income fluctuations, or, at the option of the Lead Agency, the family has experienced a non-temporary change in the work, training, or educational status.
(i) Lead Agencies must take into consideration children's development and learning and promote continuity of care when authorizing child care services.
(j) Lead Agencies are not required to limit authorized child care services strictly based on the work, training, or educational schedule of the parent(s) or the number of hours the parent(s) spend in work, training, or educational activities.
§ 98.30   Parental choice.
(a) The parent or parents of an eligible child who receives or is offered child care services shall be offered a choice:
(1) To enroll the child with an eligible child care provider that has a grant or contract for the provision of such services, if such services are available; or
(2) To receive a child care certificate as defined in § 98.2. Such choice shall be offered any time that child care services are made available to a parent.
(b)(1) Lead Agencies shall increase parent choice by providing some portion of the delivery of direct services via grants or contracts, including at a minimum for children in underserved geographic areas, infants and toddlers, and children with disabilities.
(2) When a parent elects to enroll the child with a provider that has a grant or contract for the provision of child care services, the child will be enrolled with the provider selected by the parent to the maximum extent practicable.
(c) In cases in which a parent elects to use a child care certificate, such certificate:
(1) Will be issued directly to the parent;
(2) Shall be of a value commensurate with the subsidy value of the child care services provided under paragraph (a)(1) of this section;
(3) May be used as a deposit for child care services if such a deposit is required of other children being cared for by the provider;
(4) May be used for child care services provided by a sectarian organization or agency, including those that engage in religious activities, if those services are chosen by the parent;
(5) May be expended by providers for any sectarian purpose or activity that is part of the child care services, including sectarian worship or instruction;
(6) Shall not be considered a grant or contract to a provider but shall be considered assistance to the parent.
(d) Child care certificates shall be made available to any parents offered child care services.
(e)(1) For child care services, certificates under paragraph (a)(2) of this section shall permit parents to choose from a variety of child care categories, including:
(i) Center-based child care;
(ii) Family child care; and
(iii) In-home child care, with limitations, if any, imposed by the Lead Agency and described in its Plan at § 98.16(i)(2). Under each of the above categories, care by a sectarian provider may not be limited or excluded.
(2) Lead Agencies shall provide information regarding the range of provider options under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, including care by sectarian providers and relatives, to families offered child care services.
(f) With respect to State and local regulatory requirements under § 98.40, health and safety requirements under § 98.41, and payment rates under § 98.45, CCDF funds will not be available to a Lead Agency if State or local rules, procedures or other requirements promulgated for purposes of the CCDF significantly restrict parental choice by:
(1) Expressly or effectively excluding:
(i) Any category of care or type of provider, as defined in § 98.2; or
(ii) Any type of provider within a category of care; or
(2) Having the effect of limiting parental access to or choice from among such categories of care or types of providers, as defined in § 98.2, with the exception of in-home care; or
(3) Excluding a significant number of providers in any category of care or of any type as defined in § 98.2.
(g) As long as provisions at paragraph (f) of this section are met, parental choice provisions shall not be construed as prohibiting a Lead Agency from establishing policies that require providers of child care services for which assistance is provided under this part to meet higher standards of quality, such as those identified in a quality rating and improvement system or other transparent system of quality indicators.
(h) Parental choice provisions shall not be construed as prohibiting a Lead Agency from providing parents with information and incentives that encourage the selection of high-quality child care.
§ 98.31   Parental access.
The Lead Agency shall have in effect procedures to ensure that providers of child care services for which assistance is provided afford parents unlimited access to their children, and to the providers caring for their children, during normal hours of provider operation and whenever the children are in the care of the provider. The Lead Agency shall provide a detailed description in the Plan of such procedures.
§ 98.32   Parental complaints.
The State shall:
(a) Establish or designate a hotline or similar reporting process for parents to submit complaints about child care providers;
(b) Maintain a record of substantiated parent complains;
(c) Make information regarding such parental complaints available to the public on request; and
(d) The Lead Agency shall provide a detailed description in the Plan of how:
(1) Complaints are substantiated and responded to, including whether or not the State uses monitoring as part of its process for responding to complaints for both CCDF and non-CCDF providers; and,
(2) A record of substantiated complaints is maintained and is made available.
§ 98.33   Consumer and provider education.
The Lead Agency shall:
(a) Certify that it will collect and disseminate consumer education information to parents of eligible children, the general public, and providers through a consumer-friendly and easily accessible Web site that ensures the widest possible access to services for families who speak languages other than English and persons with disabilities, including:
(1) Lead Agency processes, including:
(i) The process for licensing child care providers pursuant to § 98.40;
(ii) The process for conducting monitoring and inspections of child care providers pursuant to § 98.42;
(iii) Policies and procedures related to criminal background checks for child care providers pursuant to § 98.43; and
(iv) The offenses that prevent individuals from serving as child care providers.
(2) A localized list of all licensed child care providers, and, at the discretion of the Lead Agency, all eligible child care providers (other than an individual who is related to all children for whom child care services are provided), differentiating between licensed and license-exempt providers, searchable by zip code;
(3) The quality of a provider as determined by the Lead Agency through a quality rating and improvement system or other transparent system of quality indicators, if such information is available for the provider;
(4) Results of monitoring and inspection reports for all eligible and licensed child care providers (other than an individual who is related to all children for whom child care services are provided), including those required at § 98.42 and those due to major substantiated complaints about failure to comply with provisions at § 98.41 and Lead Agency child care policies. Lead Agencies shall post in a timely manner full monitoring and inspection reports, either in plain language or with a plain language summary, for parents and child care providers to understand, and shall establish a process for correcting inaccuracies in the reports. Such results shall include:
(i) Information on the date of such inspection;
(ii) Areas of compliance and non-compliance;
(iii) Information on corrective action taken by the State and child care provider, where applicable;
(iv) Any health and safety violations, including any fatalities and serious injuries occurring at the provider, prominently displayed on the report or summary; and
(v) A minimum of 3 years of results where available.
(5) Aggregate data for each year for eligible providers including:
(i) Number of deaths (for each provider category and licensing status);
(ii) Number of serious injuries (for each provider category and licensing status);
(iii) Instances of substantiated child abuse that occurred in child care settings; and,
(iv) Total number of children in care (for each provider category and licensing status).
(6) Referrals to local child care resource and referral organizations.
(7) Directions on how parents can contact the Lead Agency or its designee and other programs to help them understand information included on the Web site.
(8) The sliding fee scale for parent co-payments pursuant to § 98.45(l), including the co-payment amount a family may expect to pay and policies for waiving co-payments.
(b) Certify that it will collect and disseminate, through resource and referral organizations or other means as determined by the State, including, but not limited to, through the Web site described in paragraph (a) of this section, to parents of eligible children and the general public, and where applicable providers, information about:
(1) The availability of the full diversity of child care services to promote informed parental choice, including information about:
(i) The availability of child care services under this part and other programs for which families may be eligible, as well as the availability of financial assistance to obtain child care services;
(ii) Other programs for which families that receive assistance under this part may be eligible, including:
(A) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq. );
(B) Head Start and Early Head Start (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq. );
(C) Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq. );
(D) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq. );
(E) Special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (42 U.S.C. 1786);
(F) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) (42 U.S.C. 1766);
(G) Medicaid and the State children's health insurance programs (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq., 1397aa et seq. );
(iii) Programs carried out under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq. );
(iv) Research and best practices concerning children's development, meaningful parent and family engagement, and physical health and development, particularly healthy eating and physical activity; and
(v) State policies regarding social emotional behavioral health of children which may include positive behavioral health intervention and support models for birth to school-age or age-appropriate, and policies to prevent suspension and expulsion of children birth to age five in child care and other early childhood programs, as described in the Plan pursuant to § 98.16(ee), receiving assistance under this part.
(c) Provide information on developmental screenings to parents as part of the intake process for families receiving assistance under this part, and to providers through training and education, including:
(1) Information on existing resources and services the State can make available in conducting developmental screenings and providing referrals to services when appropriate for children who receive assistance under this part, including the coordinated use of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq. ) and developmental screening services available under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq. ); and
(2) A description of how a family or eligible child care provider may utilize the resources and services described in paragraph (c)(1) of this section to obtain developmental screenings for children who receive assistance under this part who may be at risk for cognitive or other developmental delays, which may include social, emotional, physical, or linguistic delays.
(d) For families that receive assistance under this part, provide specific information about the child care provider selected by the parent, including health and safety requirements met by the provider pursuant to § 98.41, any licensing or regulatory requirements met by the provider, date the provider was last inspected, any history of violations of these requirements, and any voluntary quality standards met by the provider. Information must also describe how CCDF subsidies are designed to promote equal access in accordance with § 98.45, how to submit a complaint through the hotline at § 98.32(a), and how to contact local resource and referral agencies or other community-based supports that assist parents in finding and enrolling in quality child care.
(e) Provide linkages to databases related to paragraph (a) to HHS for implementing a national Web site and other uses as determined by the Secretary.
(f) Inform parents who receive TANF benefits about the requirement at section 407(e)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607(e)(2)) that the TANF agency make an exception to the individual penalties associated with the work requirement for any single custodial parent who has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care for a child under six years of age. The information may be provided directly by the Lead Agency, or, pursuant to § 98.11, other entities, and shall include:
(1) The procedures the TANF agency uses to determine if the parent has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care;
(2) The criteria or definitions applied by the TANF agency to determine whether the parent has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care, including:
(i) “Appropriate child care”;
(ii) “Reasonable distance”;
(iii) “Unsuitability of informal child care”;
(iv) “Affordable child care arrangements”;
(3) The clarification that assistance received during the time an eligible parent receives the exception referred to in paragraph (f) of this section will count toward the time limit on Federal benefits required at section 408(a)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)).
(g) Include in the triennial Plan the definitions or criteria the TANF agency uses in implementing the exception to the work requirement specified in paragraph (f) of this section.
§ 98.34   Parental rights and responsibilities.
Nothing under this part shall be construed or applied in any manner to infringe on or usurp the moral and legal rights and responsibilities of parents or legal guardians.
§ 98.40   Compliance with applicable State and local regulatory requirements.
(a) Lead Agencies shall:
(1) Certify that they have in effect licensing requirements applicable to child care services provided within the area served by the Lead Agency;
(2) Describe in the Plan exemption(s) to licensing requirements, if any, for child care services for which assistance is provided, and a demonstration for how such exemption(s) do not endanger the health, safety, or development of children who receive services from such providers. Lead Agencies must provide the required description and demonstration for any exemptions based on:
(i) Provider category, type, or setting;
(ii) Length of day;
(iii) Providers not subject to licensing because the number of children served falls below a State-defined threshold; and
(iv) Any other exemption to licensing requirements; and
(3) Provide a detailed description in the Plan of the requirements under paragraph (a)(1) of this section and of how they are effectively enforced.
(b)(1) This section does not prohibit a Lead Agency from imposing more stringent standards and licensing or regulatory requirements on child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF than the standards or requirements imposed on other child care providers.
(2) Any such additional requirements shall be consistent with the safeguards for parental choice in § 98.30(f).
§ 98.41   Health and safety requirements.
(a) Each Lead Agency shall certify that there are in effect, within the State (or other area served by the Lead Agency), under State, local or tribal law, requirements (appropriate to provider setting and age of children served) that are designed, implemented, and enforced to protect the health and safety of children. Such requirements must be applicable to child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under this part. Such requirements, which are subject to monitoring pursuant to § 98.42, shall:
(1) Include health and safety topics consisting of, at a minimum:
(i) The prevention and control of infectious diseases (including immunizations); with respect to immunizations, the following provisions apply:
(A) As part of their health and safety provisions in this area, Lead Agencies shall assure that children receiving services under the CCDF are age-appropriately immunized. Those health and safety provisions shall incorporate (by reference or otherwise) the latest recommendation for childhood immunizations of the respective State, territorial, or tribal public health agency.
(B) Notwithstanding this paragraph (a)(1)(i), Lead Agencies may exempt:
( 1 ) Children who are cared for by relatives (defined as grandparents, great grandparents, siblings (if living in a separate residence), aunts, and uncles), provided there are no other unrelated children who are cared for in the same setting.
( 2 ) Children who receive care in their own homes, provided there are no other unrelated children who are cared for in the home.
( 3 ) Children whose parents object to immunization on religious grounds.
( 4 ) Children whose medical condition contraindicates immunization.
(C) Lead Agencies shall establish a grace period that allows children experiencing homelessness and children in foster care to receive services under this part while providing their families (including foster families) a reasonable time to take any necessary action to comply with immunization and other health and safety requirements.
( 1 ) The length of such grace period shall be established in consultation with the State, Territorial or Tribal health agency.
( 2 ) Any payment for such child during the grace period shall not be considered an error or improper payment under subpart K of this part.
( 3 ) The Lead Agency may also, at its option, establish grace periods for other children who are not experiencing homelessness or in foster care.
( 4 ) Lead Agencies must coordinate with licensing agencies and other relevant State, Territorial, Tribal, and local agencies to provide referrals and support to help families of children receiving services during a grace period comply with immunization and other health and safety requirements;
(ii) Prevention of sudden infant death syndrome and use of safe sleeping practices;
(iii) Administration of medication, consistent with standards for parental consent;
(iv) Prevention and response to emergencies due to food and allergic reactions;
(v) Building and physical premises safety, including identification of and protection from hazards, bodies of water, and vehicular traffic;
(vi) Prevention of shaken baby syndrome, abusive head trauma, and child maltreatment;
(vii) Emergency preparedness and response planning for emergencies resulting from a natural disaster, or a man-caused event (such as violence at a child care facility), within the meaning of those terms under section 602(a)(1) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195a(a)(1)) that shall include procedures for evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place and lock down, staff and volunteer emergency preparedness training and practice drills, communication and reunification with families, continuity of operations, and accommodation of infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, and children with chronic medical conditions;
(viii) Handling and storage of hazardous materials and the appropriate disposal of biocontaminants;
(ix) Appropriate precautions in transporting children, if applicable;
(x) Pediatric first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
(xi) Recognition and reporting of child abuse and neglect, in accordance with the requirement in paragraph (e) of this section; and
(xii) May include requirements relating to:
(A) Nutrition (including age-appropriate feeding);
(B) Access to physical activity;
(C) Caring for children with special needs; or
(D) Any other subject area determined by the Lead Agency to be necessary to promote child development or to protect children's health and safety.
(2) Include minimum health and safety training on the topics above, as described in § 98.44.
(b) Lead Agencies may not set health and safety standards and requirements other than those required in paragraph (a) of this section that are inconsistent with the parental choice safeguards in § 98.30(f).
(c) The requirements in paragraph (a) of this section shall apply to all providers of child care services for which assistance is provided under this part, within the area served by the Lead Agency, except the relatives specified at § 98.42(c).
(d) Lead Agencies shall describe in the Plan standards for child care services for which assistance is provided under this part, appropriate to strengthening the adult and child relationship in the type of child care setting involved, to provide for the safety and developmental needs of the children served, that address:
(1) Group size limits for specific age populations;
(2) The appropriate ratio between the number of children and the number of caregivers, in terms of age of children in child care; and
(3) Required qualifications for caregivers in child care settings as described at § 98.44(a)(4).
(e) Lead Agencies shall certify that caregivers, teachers, and directors of child care providers within the State or service area will comply with the State's, Territory's, or Tribe's child abuse reporting requirements as required by section 106(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Child Abuse and Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)(2)(B)(i)) or other child abuse reporting procedures and laws in the service area.
§ 98.42   Enforcement of licensing and health and safety requirements.
(a) Each Lead Agency shall certify in the Plan that procedures are in effect to ensure that child care providers of services for which assistance is made available in accordance with this part, within the area served by the Lead Agency, comply with all applicable State, local, or tribal health and safety requirements, including those described in § 98.41.
(b) Each Lead Agency shall certify in the Plan it has monitoring policies and practices applicable to all child care providers and facilities eligible to deliver services for which assistance is provided under this part. The Lead Agency shall:
(1) Ensure individuals who are hired as licensing inspectors are qualified to inspect those child care providers and facilities and have received training in related health and safety requirements appropriate to provider setting and age of children served. Training shall include, but is not limited to, those requirements described in § 98.41, and all aspects of the State, Territory, or Tribe's licensure requirements;
(2) Require inspections of child care providers and facilities, performed by licensing inspectors (or qualified inspectors designated by the Lead Agency), as specified below:
(i) For licensed child care providers and facilities,
(A) Not less than one pre-licensure inspection for compliance with health, safety, and fire standards, and
(B) Not less than annually, an unannounced inspection for compliance with all child care licensing standards, which shall include an inspection for compliance with health and safety, (including, but not limited to, those requirements described in § 98.41) and fire standards (inspectors may inspect for compliance with all three standards at the same time); and
(ii) For license-exempt child care providers and facilities that are eligible to provide services for which assistance is made available in accordance with this part, an annual inspection for compliance with health and safety (including, but not limited to, those requirements described in § 98.41), and fire standards;
(iii) Coordinate, to the extent practicable, monitoring efforts with other Federal, State, and local agencies that conduct similar inspections.
(iv) The Lead Agency may, at its option:
(A) Use differential monitoring or a risk-based approach to design annual inspections, provided that the contents covered during each monitoring visit is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements;
(B) Develop alternate monitoring requirements for care provided in the child's home that are appropriate to the setting; and
(3) Ensure the ratio of licensing inspectors to such child care providers and facilities is maintained at a level sufficient to enable the State, Territory, or Tribe to conduct effective inspections on a timely basis in accordance with the applicable Federal, State, Territory, Tribal, and local law;
(4) Require child care providers to report to a designated State, Territorial, or Tribal entity any serious injuries or deaths of children occurring in child care.
(c) For the purposes of this section and § 98.41, Lead Agencies may exclude grandparents, great grandparents, siblings (if such providers live in a separate residence), aunts, or uncles, from the term “child care providers.” If the Lead Agency chooses to exclude these providers, the Lead Agency shall provide a description and justification in the CCDF Plan, pursuant to § 98.16(l), of requirements, if any, that apply to these providers.
§ 98.43   Criminal background checks.
(a)(1) States, Territories, and Tribes, through coordination of the Lead agency with other State, territorial, and tribal agencies, shall have in effect:
(i) Requirements, policies, and procedures to require and conduct background checks, and make a determination of eligibility for child care staff members (including prospective child care staff members) of all licensed, regulated, or registered child care providers and all child care providers eligible to deliver services for which assistance is provided under this part as described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section;
(ii) Licensing, regulation, and registration requirements, as applicable, that prohibit the employment of child care staff members as described in paragraph (c) of this section; and
(iii) Requirements, policies, and procedures in place to respond as expeditiously as possible to other States', Territories', and Tribes' requests for background check results in order to accommodate the 45 day timeframe required in paragraph (e)(1) of this section.
(2) In this section:
(i) Child care provider means a center based child care provider, a family child care provider, or another provider of child care services for compensation and on a regular basis that:
(A) Is not an individual who is related to all children for whom child care services are provided; and
(B) Is licensed, regulated, or registered under State law or eligible to receive assistance provided under this subchapter; and
(ii) Child care staff member means an individual (other than an individual who is related to all children for whom child care services are provided):
(A) Who is employed by a child care provider for compensation, including contract employees or self-employed individuals;
(B) Whose activities involve the care or supervision of children for a child care provider or unsupervised access to children who are cared for or supervised by a child care provider; or
(C) Any individual residing in a family child care home who is age 18 and older.
(b) A criminal background check for a child care staff member under paragraph (a) of this section shall include:
(1) A Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint check using Next Generation Identification;
(2) A search of the National Crime Information Center's National Sex Offender Registry; and
(3) A search of the following registries, repositories, or databases in the State where the child care staff member resides and each State where such staff member resided during the preceding five years:
(i) State criminal registry or repository, with the use of fingerprints being:
(A) Required in the State where the staff member resides;
(B) Optional in other States;
(ii) State sex offender registry or repository; and
(iii) State-based child abuse and neglect registry and database.
(c)(1) The State, Territory, or Tribe in coordination with the Lead Agency shall find a child care staff member ineligible for employment for services for which assistance is made available in accordance with this part, if such individual:
(i) Refuses to consent to the criminal background check described in paragraph (b) of this section;
(ii) Knowingly makes a materially false statement in connection with such criminal background check;
(iii) Is registered, or is required to be registered, on a State sex offender registry or repository or the National Sex Offender Registry; or
(iv) Has been convicted of a felony consisting of:
(A) Murder, as described in section 1111 of title 18, United States Code;
(B) Child abuse or neglect;
(C) A crime against children, including child pornography;
(D) Spousal abuse;
(E) A crime involving rape or sexual assault;
(F) Kidnapping;
(G) Arson;
(H) Physical assault or battery; or
(I) Subject to paragraph (e)(4) of this section, a drug-related offense committed during the preceding 5 years; or
(v) Has been convicted of a violent misdemeanor committed as an adult against a child, including the following crimes: child abuse, child endangerment, and sexual assault, or of any misdemeanor involving child pornography.
(2) A child care provider described in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section shall be ineligible for assistance provided in accordance with this subchapter if the provider employs a staff member who is ineligible for employment under paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(d)(1) A child care provider covered by paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section shall submit a request, to the appropriate State, Territorial, or Tribal agency, defined clearly on the State or Territory Web site described in paragraph (g) of this section, for a criminal background check described in paragraph (b) of this section, for each child care staff member (including prospective child care staff members) of the provider.
(2) Subject to paragraph (d)(3) of this section, the provider shall submit such a request:
(i) Prior to the date an individual becomes a child care staff member of the provider; and
(ii) Not less than once during each 5-year period for any existing staff member.
(3) A child care provider shall not be required to submit a request under paragraph (d)(2) of this section for a child care staff member if:
(i) The staff member received qualifying results from a background check described in paragraph (b) of this section;
(A) Within 5 years before the latest date on which such a submission may be made; and
(B) While employed by or seeking employment by another child care provider within the State;
(ii) The State provided to the first provider a qualifying background check result, consistent with this subchapter, for the staff member; and
(iii) The staff member is employed by a child care provider within the State, or has been separated from employment from a child care provider within the State for a period of not more than 180 consecutive days.
(4) A prospective staff member may begin work for a child care provider described in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section after receiving qualifying results for either the check described at paragraph (b)(1) or (b)(3)(i) of this section in the State where the prospective staff member resides. Pending completion of all background check components in paragraph (b) of this section, the staff member must be supervised at all times by an individual who received a qualifying result on a background check described in paragraph (b) of this section within the past five years.
(e) Background check results. (1) The State, Territory, or Tribe shall carry out the request of a child care provider for a criminal background check as expeditiously as possible, but not to exceed 45 days after the date on which the provider submitted the request, and shall provide the results of the criminal background check to such provider and to the current or prospective staff member.
(2) States, Territories, and Tribes shall ensure the privacy of background check results by:
(i) Providing the results of the criminal background check to the provider in a statement that indicates whether a child care staff member (including a prospective child care staff member) is eligible or ineligible for employment described in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, without revealing any disqualifying crime or other related information regarding the individual.
(ii) If the child care staff member is ineligible for such employment due to the background check, the State, Territory, or Tribe will, when providing the results of the background check, include information related to each disqualifying crime, in a report to the staff member or prospective staff member, along with information on the opportunity to appeal, described in paragraph (e)(3) of this section.
(iii) No State, Territory, or Tribe shall publicly release or share the results of individual background checks, except States and Tribes may release aggregated data by crime as listed under paragraph (c)(1)(iv) of this section from background check results, as long as such data is not personally identifiable information.
(3) States, Territories, and Tribes shall provide for a process by which a child care staff member (including a prospective child care staff member) may appeal the results of a criminal background check conducted under this section to challenge the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in such member's criminal background report. The State, Territory, and Tribe shall ensure that:
(i) Each child care staff member is given notice of the opportunity to appeal;
(ii) A child care staff member will receive clear instructions about how to complete the appeals process if the child care staff member wishes to challenge the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in such member's criminal background report;
(iii) If the staff member files an appeal, the State, Territory, or Tribe will attempt to verify the accuracy of the information challenged by the child care staff member, including making an effort to locate any missing disposition information related to the disqualifying crime;
(iv) The appeals process is completed in a timely manner for each child care staff member; and
(v) Each child care staff member shall receive written notice of the decision. In the case of a negative determination, the decision should indicate the State's efforts to verify the accuracy of information challenged by the child care staff member, as well as any additional appeals rights available to the child care staff member.
(4) States, Territories, and Tribes may allow for a review process through which the State, Territory, or Tribe may determine that a child care staff member (including a prospective child care staff member) disqualified for a crime specified in paragraph (c)(1)(iv)(I) of this section is eligible for employment described in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, notwithstanding paragraph (c)(2) of this section. The review process shall be consistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq. );
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a private right of action if a provider has acted in accordance with this section.
(f) Fees for background checks. Fees that a State, Territory, or Tribe may charge for the costs of processing applications and administering a criminal background check as required by this section shall not exceed the actual costs for the processing and administration.
(g) Transparency. The State or Territory must ensure that its policies and procedures under this section, including the process by which a child care provider or other State or Territory may submit a background check request, are published in the Web site of the State or Territory as described in § 98.33(a) and the Web site of local lead agencies.
(h) Disqualification for other crimes. (1) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a State, Territory, or Tribe from disqualifying individuals as child care staff members based on their conviction for crimes not specifically listed in paragraph (c)(1) of this section that bear upon the fitness of an individual to provide care for and have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights and remedies provided for child care staff members or prospective staff members residing in a State that disqualifies individuals as child care staff members for crimes not specifically provided for under this section.
§ 98.44   Training and professional development.
(a) The Lead Agency must describe in the Plan the State or Territory framework for training, professional development, and postsecondary education for caregivers, teachers, and directors, including those working in school-age care, that:
(1) Is developed in consultation with the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (designated or established pursuant to section 642B(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i))) or similar coordinating body;
(2) May engage training and professional development providers, including higher education in aligning training and education opportunities with the State's framework;
(3) Addresses professional standards and competencies, career pathways, advisory structure, articulation, and workforce information and financing;
(4) Establishes qualifications in accordance with § 98.41(d)(3) designed to enable child care and school-age care providers that provide services for which assistance is provided in accordance with this part to promote the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children and improve the knowledge and skills of caregivers, teachers and directors in working with children and their families;
(5) Includes professional development conducted on an ongoing basis, providing a progression of professional development (which may include encouraging the pursuit of postsecondary education);
(6) Reflects current research and best practices relating to the skills necessary for caregivers, teachers, and directors to meet the developmental needs of participating children and engage families, including culturally and linguistically appropriate practices; and
(7) Improves the quality, diversity, stability, and retention (including financial incentives and compensation improvements) of caregivers, teachers, and directors.
(b) The Lead Agency must describe in the Plan its established requirements for pre-service or orientation (to be completed within three months) and ongoing professional development for caregivers, teachers, and directors of child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under the CCDF that, to the extent practicable, align with the State framework:
(1) Accessible pre-service or orientation training in health and safety standards appropriate to the setting and age of children served that addresses:
(i) Each of the requirements relating to matters described in § 98.41(a)(1)(i) through (xi) and specifying critical health and safety training that must be completed before caregivers, teachers, and directors are allowed to care for children unsupervised;
(ii) At the Lead Agency option, matters described in § 98.41(a)(1)(xii); and
(iii) Child development, including the major domains (cognitive, social, emotional, physical development and approaches to learning);
(2) Ongoing, accessible professional development, aligned to a progression of professional development, including the minimum annual requirement for hours of training and professional development for eligible caregivers, teachers and directors, appropriate to the setting and age of children served, that:
(i) Maintains and updates health and safety training standards described in § 98.41(a)(1)(i) through (xi), and at the Lead Agency option, in § 98.41(a)(1)(xii);
(ii) Incorporates knowledge and application of the State's early learning and developmental guidelines for children birth to kindergarten (where applicable);
(iii) Incorporates social-emotional behavior intervention models for children birth through school-age, which may include positive behavior intervention and support models including preventing and reducing expulsions and suspensions of preschool-aged and school-aged children;
(iv) To the extent practicable, are appropriate for a population of children that includes:
(A) Different age groups;
(B) English learners;
(C) Children with developmental delays and disabilities; and
(D) Native Americans, including Indians, as the term is defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b) (including Alaska Natives within the meaning of that term), and Native Hawaiians (as defined in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965);
(v) To the extent practicable, awards continuing education units or is credit-bearing; and
(vi) Shall be accessible to caregivers, teachers, and directors supported through Indian tribes or tribal organizations that receive assistance under this subchapter.
§ 98.45   Equal access.
(a) The Lead Agency shall certify that the payment rates for the provision of child care services under this part are sufficient to ensure equal access, for eligible families in the area served by the Lead Agency, to child care services comparable to those provided to families not eligible to receive CCDF assistance or child care assistance under any other Federal, State, or tribal programs.
(b) The Lead Agency shall provide in the Plan a summary of the data and facts relied on to determine that its payment rates ensure equal access. At a minimum, the summary shall include facts showing:
(1) How a choice of the full range of providers is made available, and the extent to which child care providers participate in the CCDF subsidy system and any barriers to participation including barriers related to payment rates and practices, based on information obtained in accordance with paragraph (d)(2) of this section;
(2) How payment rates are adequate and have been established based on the most recent market rate survey or alternative methodology conducted in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section;
(3) How base payment rates enable providers to meet health, safety, quality, and staffing requirements in accordance with paragraphs (f)(1)(ii)(A) and (f)(2)(ii) of this section;
(4) How the Lead Agency took the cost of higher quality into account in accordance with paragraph (f)(2)(iii) of this section, including how payment rates for higher-quality care, as defined by the Lead Agency using a quality rating and improvement system or other system of quality indicators, relate to the estimated cost of care at each level of quality;
(5) How co-payments based on a sliding fee scale are affordable and do not exceed 7 percent of income for all families, as stipulated at paragraph (l) of this section; if applicable, a rationale for the Lead Agency's policy on whether child care providers may charge additional amounts to families above the required family co-payment, including a demonstration that the policy promotes affordability and access; analysis of the interaction between any such additional amounts with the required family co-payments, and of the ability of subsidy payment rates to provide access to care without additional fees; and data on the extent to which CCDF providers charge such additional amounts (based on information obtained in accordance with paragraph (d)(2) of this section);
(6) How the Lead Agency's payment practices support equal access to a range of providers by providing stability of funding and encouraging more child care providers to serve children receiving CCDF subsidies, in accordance with paragraph (m) of this section;
(7) How and on what factors the Lead Agency differentiates payment rates; and
(8) Any additional facts the Lead Agency considered in determining that its payment rates ensure equal access.
(c) The Lead Agency shall demonstrate in the Plan that it has developed and conducted, not earlier than two years before the date of the submission of the Plan, either:
(1) A statistically valid and reliable survey of the market rates for child care services; or
(2) An alternative methodology, such as a cost estimation model, that has been:
(i) Proposed by the Lead Agency; and
(ii) Approved in advance by ACF.
(d) The Lead Agency must:
(1) Ensure that the market rate survey or alternative methodology reflects variations by geographic location, category of provider, and age of child;
(2) Track through the market rate survey or alternative methodology, or through a separate source, information on the extent to which:
(i) Child care providers are participating in the CCDF subsidy program and any barriers to participation, including barriers related to payment rates and practices; and
(ii) CCDF child care providers charge amounts to families more than the required family co-payment (under paragraph (l) of this section) in instances where the provider's price exceeds the subsidy payment, including data on the size and frequency of any such amounts.
(e) Prior to conducting the market rate survey or alternative methodology, the Lead Agency must consult with:
(1) The State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (designated or established pursuant to section 642B(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i)) or similar coordinating body, local child care program administrators, local child care resource and referral agencies, and other appropriate entities; and
(2) Organizations representing child care caregivers, teachers, and directors.
(f) After conducting the market rate survey or alternative methodology, the Lead Agency must:
(1) Prepare a detailed report containing the results, and make the report widely available, including by posting it on the Internet, not later than 30 days after the completion of the report. The report must include:
(i) The results of the market rate survey or alternative methodology;
(ii) The estimated cost of care necessary (including any relevant variation by geographic location, category of provider, or age of child) to support:
(A) Child care providers' implementation of the health, safety, quality, and staffing requirements at §§ 98.41 through 98.44; and
(B) Higher-quality care, as defined by the Lead Agency using a quality rating and improvement system or other system of quality indicators, at each level;
(iii) The Lead Agency's response to stakeholder views and comments; and,
(iv) The data and summary required at paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section.
(2) Set payment rates for CCDF assistance:
(i) In accordance with the results of the most recent market rate survey or alternative methodology conducted pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section;
(ii) With base payment rates established at least at a level sufficient for child care providers to meet health, safety quality, and staffing requirements in accordance with paragraph (f)(1)(ii)(A) of this section;
(iii) Taking into consideration the cost of providing higher-quality child care services, including consideration of the information at each level of higher quality required by paragraph (f)(1)(ii)(B) of this section;
(iv) Taking into consideration the views and comments of the public obtained in accordance with paragraph (e) and through other processes determined by the Lead Agency; and
(v) Without, to the extent practicable, reducing the number of families receiving CCDF assistance.
(g) To facilitate parent choice, increase program quality, build supply, and better reflect the cost of providing care, it is permissible for a Lead Agency to pay an eligible child care provider the Lead Agency's established payment rate at paragraph (a) of this section, which may be more than the price charged to children not receiving CCDF subsidies.
(h) A Lead Agency may not establish different payment rates based on a family's eligibility status, such as TANF status.
(i) Payment rates under paragraph (a) of this section shall be consistent with the parental requirements in § 98.30
(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a private right of action if the Lead Agency acts in accordance with the Act and this part.
(k) Nothing in this part shall be construed to prevent a Lead Agency from differentiating payment rates on the basis of such factors as:
(1) Geographic location of child care providers (such as location in an urban or rural area);
(2) Age or particular needs of children (such as the needs of children with disabilities, children served by child protective services, and children experiencing homelessness);
(3) Whether child care providers provide services during the weekend or other non-traditional hours; or
(4) The Lead Agency's determination that such differential payment rates may enable a parent to choose high-quality child care that best fits the parents' needs.
(l) Lead Agencies shall establish, and periodically revise, by rule, a sliding fee scale(s) for families that receive CCDF child care services that:
(1) Helps families afford child care and enables choice of a range of child care options;
(2) Is based on income and the size of the family and may be based on other factors as appropriate, but may not be based on the cost of care or amount of subsidy payment;
(3) Provides for affordable family co-payments that are not a barrier to families receiving assistance under this part, not to exceed 7 percent of income for all families, regardless of the number of children in care who may be receiving CCDF assistance; and
(4) At Lead Agency discretion, allows for co-payments to be waived for families whose incomes are at or below 150 percent of the poverty level for a family of the same size, that have children who are in foster or kinship care or otherwise receive or need to receive protective services, that are experiencing homelessness, that have children who have a disability as defined at § 98.2, that are enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq. ), or that meet other criteria established by the Lead Agency.
(m) The Lead Agency shall demonstrate in the Plan that it has established payment practices applicable to all CCDF child care providers that reflect generally accepted payment practices of child care providers that serve children who do not receive CCDF subsidies, which must include (unless the Lead Agency can demonstrate that such practices are not generally-accepted for a type of child care setting):
(1) Ensure timeliness of payment to child care providers by paying in advance of or at the beginning of the delivery of child care services to children receiving assistance under this part;
(2) Support the fixed costs of providing child care services by delinking provider payments from a child's occasional absences by:
(i) Basing payment on a child's authorized enrollment; or,
(ii) An alternative approach for which the Lead Agency provides a justification in its Plan that the requirements at paragraph (m)(2)(i) of this section are not practicable, including evidence that the alternative approach will not undermine the stability of child care programs.
(3) Pay providers on a part-time or full-time basis (rather than paying for hours of service or smaller increments of time); and
(4) Pay for reasonable mandatory registration fees that the provider charges to private-paying parents.
(n) The Lead Agency shall demonstrate in the Plan that it has established payment practices applicable to all CCDF providers that:
(1) Ensure child care providers receive payment for any services in accordance with a written payment agreement or authorization for services that includes, at a minimum, information regarding payment policies, including rates, schedules, any fees charged to providers, and the dispute resolution process required by paragraph (n)(3);
(2) Ensure child care providers receive prompt notice of changes to a family's eligibility status that may impact payment, and that such notice is sent to providers no later than the day the Lead Agency becomes aware that such a change will occur;
(3) Include timely appeal and resolution processes for any payment inaccuracies and disputes;
(4) May include taking precautionary measures when a provider is suspected of fiscal mismanagement; and
(5) Ensure the total payment received by CCDF child care providers is not reduced by the determination of affordable family co-payment as described in the sliding fee scale at § 98.45(l).
§ 98.46   Priority for child care services.
(a) Lead Agencies shall give priority for services provided under § 98.50(a) to:
(1) Children of families with very low family income (considering family size);
(2) Children with special needs, which may include any vulnerable populations as defined by the Lead Agency; and
(3) Children experiencing homelessness.
(b) Lead Agencies shall prioritize increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and that do not have a sufficient number of such programs.
§ 98.47   List of providers.
If a Lead Agency does not have a registration process for child care providers who are unlicensed or unregulated under State, local, or tribal law, it is required to maintain a list of the names and addresses of unlicensed or unregulated providers of child care services for which assistance is provided under this part.
§ 98.48   Nondiscrimination in admissions on the basis of religion.
(a) Child care providers (other than family child care providers, as defined in § 98.2) that receive assistance through grants and contracts under the CCDF shall not discriminate in admissions against any child on the basis of religion.
(b) Paragraph (a) of this section does not prohibit a child care provider from selecting children for child care slots that are not funded directly (i.e., through grants or contracts to providers) with assistance provided under the CCDF because such children or their family members participate on a regular basis in other activities of the organization that owns or operates such provider.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this section, if 80 percent or more of the operating budget of a child care provider comes from Federal or State funds, including direct or indirect assistance under the CCDF, the Lead Agency shall assure that before any further CCDF assistance is given to the provider,
(1) The grant or contract relating to the assistance, or
(2) The admission policies of the provider specifically provide that no person with responsibilities in the operation of the child care program, project, or activity will discriminate, on the basis of religion, in the admission of any child.
§ 98.49   Nondiscrimination in employment on the basis of religion.
(a) In general, except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, nothing in this part modifies or affects the provision of any other applicable Federal law and regulation relating to discrimination in employment on the basis of religion.
(1) Child care providers that receive assistance through grants or contracts under the CCDF shall not discriminate, on the basis of religion, in the employment of caregivers as defined in § 98.2.
(2) If two or more prospective employees are qualified for any position with a child care provider, this section shall not prohibit the provider from employing a prospective employee who is already participating on a regular basis in other activities of the organization that owns or operates the provider.
(3) Paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section shall not apply to employees of child care providers if such employees were employed with the provider on November 5, 1990.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this section, a sectarian organization may require that employees adhere to the religious tenets and teachings of such organization and to rules forbidding the use of drugs or alcohol.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this section, if 80 percent or more of the operating budget of a child care provider comes from Federal and State funds, including direct and indirect assistance under the CCDF, the Lead Agency shall assure that, before any further CCDF assistance is given to the provider,
(1) The grant or contract relating to the assistance, or
(2) The employment policies of the provider specifically provide that no person with responsibilities in the operation of the child care program will discriminate, on the basis of religion, in the employment of any individual as a caregiver, as defined in § 98.2.
§ 98.50   Child care services.
(a) Direct child care services shall be provided:
(1) To eligible children, as described in § 98.20;
(2) Using a sliding fee scale, as described in § 98.45(l);
(3) Using funding methods provided for in § 98.30 including grants or contracts for slots for children in underserved geographic areas, for infants and toddlers, and children with disabilities. Grants solely to improve the quality of child care services like those in (b) of this section would not satisfy the requirements at § 98.30(b); and
(4) Based on the priorities in § 98.46.
(b) Of the aggregate amount of funds expended by a State or Territory ( i.e., Discretionary, Mandatory, and Federal and State share of Matching funds):
(1) No less than nine percent shall be used for activities designed to improve the quality of child care services and increase parental options for, and access to, high-quality child care as described at § 98.53; and
(2) No less than three percent shall be used to carry out activities at § 98.53(a)(4) as such activities relate to the quality of care for infants and toddlers.
(3) Nothing in this section shall preclude the State or Territory from reserving a larger percentage of funds to carry out activities described in paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section.
(4) Amounts reserved pursuant to this subsection may not be used to satisfy requirements at § 98.30(b).
(c) Funds expended from each fiscal year's allotment on quality activities pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section:
(1) Must be in alignment with an assessment of the Lead Agency's need to carry out such services and care as required at § 98.53(a);
(2) Must include measurable indicators of progress in accordance with § 98.53(g); and
(3) May be provided directly by the Lead Agency or through grants or contracts with local child care resource and referral organizations or other appropriate entities.
(d) Of the aggregate amount of funds expended ( i.e., Discretionary, Mandatory, and Federal and State share of Matching Funds), no more than five percent may be used for administrative activities as described at § 98.54.
(e) Not less than 70 percent of the State and Territory Mandatory and Federal and State share of State Matching Funds shall be used to meet the child care needs of families who:
(1) Are receiving assistance under a State program under Part A of title IV of the Social Security Act;
(2) Are attempting through work activities to transition off such assistance program; and
(3) Are at risk of becoming dependent on such assistance program.
(f) From Discretionary amounts provided for a fiscal year, the Lead Agency shall:
(1) Reserve the minimum amount required under paragraph (b) of this section for quality activities, and the funds for administrative costs described at paragraph (d) of this section; and
(2) From the remainder, use not less than 70 percent to fund direct services (provided by the Lead Agency).
(g) Of the funds remaining after applying the provisions of paragraphs (a) through (f) of this section, the Lead Agency shall spend a substantial portion of funds to provide direct child care services to low-income families who are working or attending training or education.
(h) Pursuant to § 98.16(i)(4), the Plan shall specify how the State will meet the child care needs of families described in paragraph (e) of this section.
§ 98.51   Services for children experiencing homelessness.
Lead Agencies shall expend funds on activities that improve access to quality child care services for children experiencing homelessness, including:
(a) The use of procedures to permit enrollment (after an initial eligibility determination) of children experiencing homelessness while required documentation is obtained;
(1) If, after full documentation is provided, a family experiencing homelessness is found ineligible,
(i) The Lead Agency shall pay any amount owed to a child care provider for services provided as a result of the initial eligibility determination; and
(ii) Any CCDF payment made prior to the final eligibility determination shall not be considered an error or improper payment under subpart K of this part;
(2) [Reserved]
(b) Training and technical assistance for providers and appropriate Lead Agency (or designated entity) staff on identifying and serving children experiencing homelessness and their families; and
(c) Specific outreach to families experiencing homelessness.
§ 98.52   Child care resource and referral system.
(a) A Lead Agency may expend funds to establish or support a system of local or regional child care resource and referral organizations that is coordinated, to the extent determined appropriate by the Lead Agency, by a statewide public or private nonprofit, community-based or regionally based, lead child care resource and referral organization.
(b) If a Lead Agency uses funds as described in paragraph (a) of this section, the local or regional child care resource and referral organizations supported shall, at the direction of the Lead Agency:
(1) Provide parents in the State with consumer education information referred to in § 98.33 (except as otherwise provided in that paragraph), concerning the full range of child care options (including faith-based and community-based child care providers), analyzed by provider, including child care provided during nontraditional hours and through emergency child care centers, in their political subdivisions or regions;
(2) To the extent practicable, work directly with families who receive assistance under this subchapter to offer the families support and assistance, using information described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, to make an informed decision about which child care providers they will use, in an effort to ensure that the families are enrolling their children in the most appropriate child care setting to suit their needs and one that is of high quality (as determined by the Lead Agency);
(3) Collect data and provide information on the coordination of services and supports, including services under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431, et seq. ), for children with disabilities (as defined in section 602 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1401));
(4) Collect data and provide information on the supply of and demand for child care services in political subdivisions or regions within the State and submit such information to the State;
(5) Work to establish partnerships with public agencies and private entities, including faith-based and community-based child care providers, to increase the supply and quality of child care services in the State; and
(6) As appropriate, coordinate their activities with the activities of the State Lead Agency and local agencies that administer funds made available in accordance with this part.
§ 98.53   Activities to improve the quality of child care.
(a) The Lead Agency must expend funds from each fiscal year's allotment on quality activities pursuant to §§ 98.50(b) and 98.83(g) in accordance with an assessment of need by the Lead Agency. Such funds must be used to carry out at least one of the following quality activities to improve the quality of child care services for all children, regardless of CCDF receipt, in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section:
(1) Supporting the training, professional development, and postsecondary education of the child care workforce as part of a progression of professional development through activities such as those included at § 98.44, in addition to:
(i) Offering training, professional development, and postsecondary education opportunities for child care caregivers, teachers and directors that:
(A) Relate to the use of scientifically based, developmentally-appropriate, culturally-appropriate, and age-appropriate strategies to promote the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children, including those related to nutrition and physical activity; and
(B) Offer specialized training, professional development, and postsecondary education for caregivers, teachers and directors caring for those populations prioritized at § 98.44(b)(2)(iv), and children with disabilities;
(ii) Incorporating the effective use of data to guide program improvement and improve opportunities for caregivers, teachers and directors to advance on their progression of training, professional development, and postsecondary education;
(iii) Including effective, age-appropriate behavior management strategies and training, including positive behavior interventions and support models for birth to school-age, that promote positive social and emotional development and reduce challenging behaviors, including reducing suspensions and expulsions of children under age five for such behaviors;
(iv) Providing training and outreach on engaging parents and families in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways to expand their knowledge, skills, and capacity to become meaningful partners in supporting their children's positive development;
(v) Providing training corresponding to the nutritional and physical activity needs of children to promote healthy development;
(vi) Providing training or professional development for caregivers, teachers and directors regarding the early neurological development of children; and
(vii) Connecting child care caregivers, teachers, and directors with available Federal and State financial aid that would assist these individuals in pursuing relevant postsecondary education, or delivering financial resources directly through programs that provide scholarships and compensation improvements for education attainment and retention.
(2) Improving upon the development or implementation of the early learning and development guidelines at § 98.15(a)(9) by providing technical assistance to eligible child care providers in order to enhance the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development and overall well-being of participating children.
(3) Developing, implementing, or enhancing a tiered quality rating and improvement system for child care providers and services to meet consumer education requirements at § 98.33, which may:
(i) Support and assess the quality of child care providers in the State, Territory, or Tribe;
(ii) Build on licensing standards and other regulatory standards for such providers;
(iii) Be designed to improve the quality of different types of child care providers and services;
(iv) Describe the safety of child care facilities;
(v) Build the capacity of early childhood programs and communities to promote parents' and families' understanding of the early childhood system and the rating of the program in which the child is enrolled;
(vi) Provide, to the maximum extent practicable, financial incentives and other supports designed to expand the full diversity of child care options and help child care providers improve the quality of services; and
(vii) Accommodate a variety of distinctive approaches to early childhood education and care, including but not limited to, those practiced in faith-based settings, community-based settings, child centered settings, or similar settings that offer a distinctive approach to early childhood development.
(4) Improving the supply and quality of child care programs and services for infants and toddlers through activities, which may include:
(i) Establishing or expanding high-quality community or neighborhood based family and child development centers, which may serve as resources to child care providers in order to improve the quality of early childhood services provided to infants and toddlers from low-income families and to help eligible child care providers improve their capacity to offer high-quality, age-appropriate care to infants and toddlers from low-income families;
(ii) Establishing or expanding the operation of community or neighborhood-based family child care networks;
(iii) Promoting and expanding child care providers' ability to provide developmentally appropriate services for infants and toddlers through, but not limited to:
(A) Training and professional development for caregivers, teachers and directors, including coaching and technical assistance on this age group's unique needs from statewide networks of qualified infant-toddler specialists; and
(B) Improved coordination with early intervention specialists who provide services for infants and toddlers with disabilities under part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431. et seq. );
(iv) If applicable, developing infant and toddler components within the Lead Agency's quality rating and improvement system described in paragraph (a)(3) of this section for child care providers for infants and toddlers, or the development of infant and toddler components in the child care licensing regulations or early learning and development guidelines;
(v) Improving the ability of parents to access transparent and easy to understand consumer information about high-quality infant and toddler care as described at § 98.33; and
(vi) Carrying out other activities determined by the Lead Agency to improve the quality of infant and toddler care provided, and for which there is evidence that the activities will lead to improved infant and toddler health and safety, infant and toddler cognitive and physical development, or infant and toddler well-being, including providing health and safety training (including training in safe sleep practices, first aid, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation for providers and caregivers.
(5) Establishing or expanding a statewide system of child care resource and referral services.
(6) Facilitating compliance with Lead Agency requirements for inspection, monitoring, training, and health and safety, and with licensing standards.
(7) Evaluating and assessing the quality and effectiveness of child care programs and services offered, including evaluating how such programs positively impact children.
(8) Supporting child care providers in the voluntary pursuit of accreditation by a national accrediting body with demonstrated, valid, and reliable program standards of high-quality.
(9) Supporting Lead Agency or local efforts to develop or adopt high-quality program standards relating to health, mental health, nutrition, physical activity, and physical development.
(10) Carrying out other activities, including implementing consumer education provisions at § 98.33, determined by the Lead Agency to improve the quality of child care services provided, and for which measurement of outcomes relating to improvement of provider preparedness, child safety, child well-being, or entry to kindergarten is possible.
(b) Lead Agencies are strongly encouraged to engage families and providers with direct experience in the child care subsidy system to improve the quality of child care and child care subsidy policy. Lead Agencies may expend quality funds to support such engagement including:
(1) Planning and implementing an engagement strategy to solicit and implement feedback from families, child care providers, and staff who have direct experience with the child care subsidy program and/or quality improvement activities;
(2) Compensating participating parents, child care providers, and child care staff for their time and for expenses incurred as a result of their participation ( i.e. transportation, child care); and
(3) Hiring parents, child care providers, or child care staff to serve as subject matter experts in the development or refinement of subsidy policy and quality initiatives.
(c) Pursuant to § 98.16(j), the Lead Agency shall describe in its Plan the activities it will fund under this section.
(d) Non-Federal expenditures required by § 98.55(c) ( i.e., the maintenance-of effort amount) are not subject to the requirement at paragraph (a) of this section.
(e) Activities to improve the quality of child care services are not restricted to activities affecting children meeting eligibility requirements under § 98.20 or to child care providers of services for which assistance is provided under this part.
(f) Unless expressly authorized by law, targeted funds for quality improvement and other set asides that may be included in appropriations law may not be used towards meeting the quality expenditure minimum requirement at § 98.50(b).
(g) States shall annually prepare and submit reports, including a quality progress report and expenditure report, to the Secretary, which must be made publicly available and shall include:
(1) An assurance that the State was in compliance with requirements at § 98.50(b) in the preceding fiscal year and information about the amount of funds reserved for that purpose;
(2) A description of the activities carried out under this section to comply with § 98.50(b);
(3) The measures the State will use to evaluate its progress in improving the quality of child care programs and services in the State, and data on the extent to which the State had met these measures;
(4) A report describing any changes to State regulations, enforcement mechanisms, or other State policies addressing health and safety based on an annual review and assessment of serious child injuries and any deaths occurring in child care programs serving children receiving assistance under this part, and in other regulated and unregulated child care centers and family child care homes, to the extent possible; and
(5) A description of how the Lead Agency responded to complaints submitted through the national hotline and Web site, required in section 658L(b) of the CCDBG Act (42 U.S.C. 9858j(b)).
§ 98.54   Administrative costs.
(a) Not more than five percent of the aggregate funds expended by the Lead Agency from each fiscal year's allotment, including the amounts expended in the State pursuant to § 98.55(b), shall be expended for administrative activities. These activities may include but are not limited to:
(1) Salaries and related costs of the staff of the Lead Agency or other agencies engaged in the administration and implementation of the program pursuant to § 98.11. Program administration and implementation include the following types of activities:
(i) Planning, developing, and designing the Child Care and Development Fund program;
(ii) Providing local officials and the public with information about the program, including the conduct of public hearings;
(iii) Preparing the application and Plan;
(iv) Developing agreements with administering agencies in order to carry out program activities;
(v) Monitoring program activities for compliance with program requirements;
(vi) Preparing reports and other documents related to the program for submission to the Secretary;
(vii) Maintaining substantiated complaint files in accordance with the requirements of § 98.32;
(viii) Coordinating the provision of Child Care and Development Fund services with other Federal, State, and local child care, early childhood development programs, and before-and after-school care programs;
(ix) Coordinating the resolution of audit and monitoring findings;
(x) Evaluating program results; and
(xi) Managing or supervising persons with responsibilities described in paragraphs (a)(1)(i) through (x) of this section;
(2) Travel costs incurred for official business in carrying out the program;
(3) Administrative services, including such services as accounting services, performed by grantees or subgrantees or under agreements with third parties;
(4) Audit services as required at § 98.65;
(5) Other costs for goods and services required for the administration of the program, including rental or purchase of equipment, utilities, and office supplies; and
(6) Indirect costs as determined by an indirect cost agreement or cost allocation plan pursuant to § 98.57.
(b) The following activities do not count towards the five percent limitation on administrative expenditures in paragraph (a) of this section:
(1) Establishment and maintenance of computerized child care information systems;
(2) Establishing and operating a certificate program;
(3) Eligibility determination and redetermination;
(4) Preparation/participation in judicial hearings;
(5) Child care placement;
(6) Recruitment, licensing, inspection of child care providers;
(7) Training for Lead Agency or sub recipient staff on billing and claims processes associated with the subsidy program;
(8) Reviews and supervision of child care placements;
(9) Activities associated with payment rate setting;
(10) Resource and referral services; and
(11) Training for child care staff.
(c) The five percent limitation at paragraph (a) of this section applies only to the States and Territories. The amount of the limitation at paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to Tribes or tribal organizations.
(d) Non-Federal expenditures required by § 98.55(c) ( i.e., the maintenance-of-effort amount) are not subject to the five percent limitation at paragraph (a) of this section.
(e) If a Lead Agency enters into agreements with sub-recipients for operation of the CCDF program, the amount of the contract or grant attributable to administrative activities as described in this section shall be counted towards the five percent limit.
§ 98.55   Matching fund requirements.
(a) Federal matching funds are available for expenditures in a State based upon the formula specified at § 98.63(a).
(b) Expenditures in a State under paragraph (a) of this section will be matched at the Federal medical assistance rate for the applicable fiscal year for allowable activities, as described in the approved State Plan, that meet the goals and purposes of the Act.
(c) In order to receive Federal matching funds for a fiscal year under paragraph (a) of this section:
(1) States shall also expend an amount of non-Federal funds for child care activities in the State that is at least equal to the State's share of expenditures for fiscal year 1994 or 1995 (whichever is greater) under sections 402(g) and (i) of the Social Security Act as these sections were in effect before October 1, 1995; and
(2) The expenditures shall be for allowable services or activities, as described in the approved State Plan if appropriate, that meet the goals and purposes of the Act.
(3) All Mandatory Funds are obligated in accordance with § 98.60(d)(2)(i).
(d) The same expenditure may not be used to meet the requirements under both paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section in a fiscal year.
(e) An expenditure in the State for purposes of this subpart may be:
(1) Public funds when the funds are:
(i) Appropriated directly to the Lead Agency specified at § 98.10, or transferred from another public agency to that Lead Agency and under its administrative control, or certified by the contributing public agency as representing expenditures eligible for Federal match;
(ii) Not used to match other Federal funds; and
(iii) Not Federal funds, or are Federal funds authorized by Federal law to be used to match other Federal funds; or
(2) Donated from private sources when the donated funds:
(i) Are donated without any restriction that would require their use for a specific individual, organization, facility or institution;
(ii) Do not revert to the donor's facility or use;
(iii) Are not used to match other Federal funds;
(iv) Shall be certified both by the Lead Agency and by the donor (if funds are donated directly to the Lead Agency) or the Lead Agency and the entity designated by the State to receive donated funds pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section (if funds are donated directly to the designated entity) as available and representing funds eligible for Federal match; and
(v) Shall be subject to the audit requirements in § 98.65 of these regulations.
(f) Donated funds need not be transferred to or under the administrative control of the Lead Agency in order to qualify as an expenditure eligible to receive Federal match under this section. They may be given to the public or private entities designated by the State to implement the child care program in accordance with § 98.11 provided that such entities are identified and designated in the State Plan to receive donated funds in accordance with § 98.16(d)(2).
(g) The following are not counted as an eligible State expenditure under this part:
(1) In-kind contributions; and
(2) Family contributions to the cost of care as required by § 98.45(l).
(h) Public pre-kindergarten (pre-K) expenditures:
(1) May be used to meet the maintenance-of-effort requirement only if the State has not reduced its expenditures for full-day/full-year child care services; and
(2) May be eligible for Federal match if the State includes in its Plan, as provided in § 98.16(w), a description of the efforts it will undertake to ensure that pre-K programs meet the needs of working parents.
(3) In any fiscal year, a State may use public pre-K funds for up to 20% of the funds serving as maintenance-of-effort under this subsection. In addition, in any fiscal year, a State may use other public pre-K funds as expenditures serving as State matching funds under this subsection; such public pre-K funds used as State expenditures may not exceed 30% of the amount of a State's expenditures required to draw down the State's full allotment of Federal matching funds available under this subsection.
(4) If applicable, the CCDF Plan shall reflect the State's intent to use public pre-K funds in excess of 10%, but not for more than 20% of its maintenance-of-effort or 30% of its State matching funds in a fiscal year. Also, the Plan shall describe how the State will coordinate its pre-K and child care services to expand the availability of child care.
(i) Matching funds are subject to the obligation and liquidation requirements at § 98.60(d)(4).
§ 98.56   Restrictions on the use of funds.
(a) General. (1) Funds authorized under section 418 of the Social Security Act and section 658B of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, and all funds transferred to the Lead Agency pursuant to section 404(d) of the Social Security Act, shall be expended consistent with these regulations. Funds transferred pursuant to section 404(d) of the Social Security Act shall be treated as Discretionary Funds;
(2) Funds shall be expended in accordance with applicable State and local laws, except as superseded by § 98.3.
(b) Construction. (1) For State and local agencies and nonsectarian agencies or organizations, no funds shall be expended for the purchase or improvement of land, or for the purchase, construction, or permanent improvement of any building or facility. However, funds may be expended for minor remodeling, and for upgrading child care facilities to assure that providers meet State and local child care standards, including applicable health and safety requirements. Improvements or upgrades to a facility which are not specified under the definitions of construction or major renovation at § 98.2 may be considered minor remodeling and are, therefore, not prohibited.
(2) For sectarian agencies or organizations, the prohibitions in paragraph (b)(1) of this section apply; however, funds may be expended for minor remodeling only if necessary to bring the facility into compliance with the health and safety requirements established pursuant to § 8.41.
(3) Tribes and tribal organizations are subject to the requirements at § 98.84 regarding construction and renovation.
(c) Tuition. Funds may not be expended for students enrolled in grades 1 through 12 for:
(1) Any service provided to such students during the regular school day;
(2) Any service for which such students receive academic credit toward graduation; or
(3) Any instructional services that supplant or duplicate the academic program of any public or private school.
(d) Sectarian purposes and activities. Funds provided under grants or contracts to providers may not be expended for any sectarian purpose or activity, including sectarian worship or instruction. Assistance provided to parents through certificates is not a grant or contract. Funds provided through child care certificates may be expended for sectarian purposes or activities, including sectarian worship or instruction when provided as part of the child care services.
(e) Non-Federal share for other Federal programs. The CCDF may not be used as the non-Federal share for other Federal grant programs, unless explicitly authorized by statute.
§ 98.57   Cost allocation.
(a) The Lead Agency and subgrantees shall keep on file cost allocation plans or indirect cost agreements, as appropriate, that have been amended to include costs allocated to the CCDF.
(b) Subgrantees that do not already have a negotiated indirect rate with the Federal government should prepare and keep on file cost allocation plans or indirect cost agreements, as appropriate.
(c) Approval of the cost allocation plans or indirect cost agreements is not specifically required by these regulations, but these plans and agreements are subject to review.
§ 98.60   Availability of funds.
(a) The CCDF is available, subject to the availability of appropriations, in accordance with the apportionment of funds from the Office of Management and Budget as follows:
(1) Discretionary Funds are available to States, Territories, and Tribes;
(2) State Mandatory and Matching Funds are available to States;
(3) Territory Mandatory Funds are available to Territories; and
(4) Tribal Mandatory Funds are available to Tribes.
(b) Subject to the availability of appropriations, in accordance with relevant statutory provisions and the apportionment of funds from the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary:
(1) May withhold a portion of the CCDF funds made available for a fiscal year for the provision of technical assistance, for research, evaluation, and demonstration, and for a national toll free hotline and Web site;
(2) Will award the remaining CCDF funds to grantees that have an approved application and Plan.
(c) The Secretary may make payments in installments, and in advance or by way of reimbursement, with necessary adjustments due to overpayments or underpayments.
(d) The following obligation and liquidation provisions apply to States and Territories:
(1) Discretionary Fund allotments shall be obligated in the fiscal year in which funds are awarded or in the succeeding fiscal year. Unliquidated obligations as of the end of the succeeding fiscal year shall be liquidated within one year.
(2)(i) Mandatory Funds for States requesting Matching Funds per § 98.55 shall be obligated in the fiscal year in which the funds are granted and are available until expended.
(ii) Mandatory Funds for States that do not request Matching Funds are available until expended.
(3) Mandatory Funds for Territories shall be obligated in the fiscal year in which funds are granted and liquidated no later than the end of the succeeding fiscal year.
(4) Both the Federal and non-Federal share of the Matching Fund shall be obligated in the fiscal year in which the funds are granted and liquidated no later than the end of the succeeding fiscal year.
(5) Except for paragraph (d)(6) of this section, determination of whether funds have been obligated and liquidated will be based on:
(i) State or local law; or,
(ii) If there is no applicable State or local law, the regulation at 45 CFR 75.2, Expenditures and Obligations.
(6) Obligations may include subgrants or contracts that require the payment of funds to a third party (e.g., subgrantee or contractor). However, the following are not considered third party subgrantees or contractors:
(i) A local office of the Lead Agency;
(ii) Another entity at the same level of government as the Lead Agency; or
(iii) A local office of another entity at the same level of government as the Lead Agency.
(7) In instances where the Lead Agency issues child care certificates, funds for child care services provided through a child care certificate will be considered obligated when a child care certificate is issued to a family in writing that indicates:
(i) The amount of funds that will be paid to a child care provider or family, and
(ii) The specific length of time covered by the certificate, which is limited to the date established for redetermination of the family's eligibility, but shall be no later than the end of the liquidation period.
(8) In instances where third party agencies issue child care certificates, the obligation of funds occurs upon entering into agreement through a subgrant or contract with such agency, rather than when the third party issues certificates to a family.
(9) Any funds not obligated during the obligation period specified in paragraph (d) of this section will revert to the Federal government. Any funds not liquidated by the end of the applicable liquidation period specified in paragraph (d) of this section will also revert to the Federal government.
(e) The following obligation and liquidation provisions apply to Tribal Discretionary and Tribal Mandatory Funds:
(1) Tribal grantees shall obligate all funds by the end of the fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the grant is awarded. Any funds not obligated during this period will revert to the Federal government.
(2) Obligations that remain unliquidated at the end of the succeeding fiscal year shall be liquidated within the next fiscal year. Any tribal funds that remain unliquidated by the end of this period will also revert to the Federal government.
(f) Cash advances shall be limited to the minimum amounts needed and shall be timed to be in accord with the actual, immediate cash requirements of the State Lead Agency, its subgrantee or contractor in carrying out the purpose of the program in accordance with 31 CFR part 205.
(g) Funds that are returned (e.g., loan repayments, funds deobligated by cancellation of a child care certificate, unused subgrantee funds) as well as program income (e.g., contributions made by families directly to the Lead Agency or subgrantee for the cost of care where the Lead Agency or subgrantee has made a full payment to the child care provider) shall,
(1) if received by the Lead Agency during the applicable obligation period, described in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section, be used for activities specified in the Lead Agency's approved plan and must be obligated by the end of the obligation period; or
(2) if received after the end of the applicable obligation period described at paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section, be returned to the Federal government.
(h) Repayment of loans made to child care providers as part of a quality improvement activity pursuant to § 98.53, may be made in cash or in services provided in-kind. Payment provided in-kind shall be based on fair market value. All loans shall be fully repaid.
(i) Lead Agencies shall recover child care payments that are the result of fraud. These payments shall be recovered from the party responsible for committing the fraud.
§ 98.61   Allotments from the Discretionary Fund.
(a) To the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico an amount equal to the funds appropriated for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, less amounts reserved for technical assistance, research, and the national hotline and Web site, pursuant to § 98.60(b), and amounts reserved for the Territories and Tribes, pursuant to § 98.60(b) and paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, shall be allotted based upon the formula specified in section 658O(b) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9858m(b)).
(b) For the U.S. Territories of Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands an amount up to one-half of one percent of the amount appropriated for the Child Care and Development Block Grant shall be reserved.
(1) Funds shall be allotted to these Territories based upon the following factors:
(i) A Young Child factor—the ratio of the number of children in the Territory under five years of age to the number of such children in all Territories; and
(ii) An Allotment Proportion factor—determined by dividing the per capita income of all individuals in all the Territories by the per capita income of all individuals in the Territory.
(A) Per capita income shall be:
( 1 ) Equal to the average of the annual per capita incomes for the most recent period of three consecutive years for which satisfactory data are available at the time such determination is made; and
( 2 ) Determined every two years.
(B) Per capita income determined, pursuant to paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(A) of this section, will be applied in establishing the allotment for the fiscal year for which it is determined and for the following fiscal year.
(C) If the Allotment Proportion factor determined at paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section:
( 1 ) Exceeds 1.2, then the Allotment Proportion factor of the Territory shall be considered to be 1.2; or
( 2 ) Is less than 0.8, then the Allotment Proportion factor of the Territory shall be considered to be 0.8.
(2)(i) The formula used in calculating a Territory's allotment is as follows:
(ii) For purposes of the formula specified at paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, the term “YCF t ” means the Territory's Young Child factor as defined at paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section.
(iii) For purposes of the formula specified at paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, the term “APF t ” means the Territory's Allotment Proportion factor as defined at paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section.
(c) For Indian Tribes and tribal organizations, including any Alaskan Native Village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. ) not less than two percent of the amount appropriated for the Child Care and Development Block Grant shall be reserved.
(1) Except as specified in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, grants to individual tribal grantees will be equal to the sum of:
(i) A base amount as set by the Secretary; and
(ii) An additional amount per Indian child under age 13 (or such similar age as determined by the Secretary from the best available data), which is determined by dividing the amount of funds available, less amounts set aside for eligible Tribes, pursuant to paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section, by the number of all Indian children living on or near tribal reservations or other appropriate area served by the tribal grantee, pursuant to § 98.80(e).
(2) Grants to Tribes with fewer than 50 Indian children that apply as part of a consortium, pursuant to § 98.80(b)(1), are equal to the sum of:
(i) A portion of the base amount, pursuant to paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section, that bears the same ratio as the number of Indian children in the Tribe living on or near the reservation, or other appropriate area served by the tribal grantee, pursuant to § 98.80(e), does to 50; and
(ii) An additional amount per Indian child, pursuant to paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section.
(3) Tribal consortia will receive grants that are equal to the sum of the individual grants of their members.
(d) All funds reserved for Territories at paragraph (b) of this section will be allotted to Territories, and all funds reserved for Tribes at paragraph (c) of this section will be allotted to tribal grantees. Any funds that are returned by the Territories after they have been allotted will revert to the Federal government.
(e) For other organizations, up to $2,000,000 may be reserved from the tribal funds reserved at paragraph (c) of this section. From this amount the Secretary may award a grant to a Native Hawaiian Organization, as defined in section 4009(4) of the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988 (20 U.S.C. 4909(4)) and to a private non-profit organization established for the purpose of serving youth who are Indians or Native Hawaiians. The Secretary will establish selection criteria and procedures for the award of grants under this subsection by notice in the Federal Register.
(f) Lead Agencies shall expend any funds that may be set-aside for targeted activities pursuant to annual appropriations law as directed by the Secretary.
§ 98.62   Allotments from the Mandatory Fund.
(a) Each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia will be allocated from the funds appropriated under section 418(a)(3)(A) of the Social Security Act, less the amounts reserved for technical assistance pursuant to § 98.60(b)(1) an amount of funds equal to the greater of:
(1) the Federal share of its child care expenditures under subsections (g) and (i) of section 402 of the Social Security Act (as in effect before October 1, 1995) for fiscal year 1994 or 1995 (whichever is greater); or
(2) the average of the Federal share of its child care expenditures under the subsections referred to in subparagraph (a)(1) of this section for fiscal years 1992 through 1994.
(b) For Indian Tribes and tribal organizations will be allocated from the funds appropriated under section 418(a)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act shall be allocated according to the formula at paragraph (c) of this section. In Alaska, only the following 13 entities shall receive allocations under this subpart, in accordance with the formula at paragraph (c) of this section:
(1) The Metlakatla Indian Community of the Annette Islands Reserve:
(2) Arctic Slope Native Association;
(3) Kawerak, Inc.;
(4) Maniilaq Association;
(5) Association of Village Council Presidents;
(6) Tanana Chiefs Conference;
(7) Cook Inlet Tribal Council;
(8) Bristol Bay Native Association;
(9) Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Association;
(10) Chugachmuit;
(11) Tlingit and Haida Central Council;
(12) Kodiak Area Native Association; and
(13) Copper River Native Association.
(c)(1) Grants to individual Tribes with 50 or more Indian children, and to Tribes with fewer than 50 Indian children that apply as part of a consortium pursuant to § 98.80(b)(1), will be equal to an amount per Indian child under age 13 (or such similar age as determined by the Secretary from the best available data), which is determined by dividing the amount of funds available, by the number of Indian children in each Tribe's service area pursuant to § 98.80(e).
(2) Tribal consortia will receive grants that are equal to the sum of the individual grants of their members.
(d) The Territories will be allocated from the funds appropriated under section 418(a)(3)(C) of the Social Security Act based upon the following factors:
(1) A Young Child factor—the ratio of the number of children in the Territory under five years of age to the number of such children in all Territories; and
(2) An Allotment Proportion factor—determined by dividing the per capita income of all individuals in all the Territories by the per capita income of all individuals in the Territory.
(i) Per capita income shall be:
(A) Equal to the average of the annual per capita incomes for the most recent period of three consecutive years for which satisfactory data are available at the time such determination is made; and
(B) Determined every two years.
(ii) [Reserved]
§ 98.63   Allotments from the Matching Fund.
(a) To each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia there is allocated an amount equal to its share of the total available under section 418(a)(3) of the Social Security Act. That amount is based on the same ratio as the number of children under age 13 residing in the State bears to the national total of children under age 13. The number of children under 13 is derived from the best data available to the Secretary for the second preceding fiscal year.
(b) For purposes of this section, the amounts available under section 418(a)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 618(a)(3)) excludes the amounts reserved and allocated under § 98.60(b)(1) for technical assistance, research and evaluation, and the national toll-free hotline and Web site and under § 98.62(a) and (b) for the Mandatory Fund.
(c) Amounts under this section are available pursuant to the requirements at § 98.55(c).
§ 98.64   Reallotment and redistribution of funds.
(a) According to the provisions of this section State and Tribal Discretionary Funds are subject to reallotment, and State Matching Funds and Territory Mandatory Funds are subject to redistribution. State funds are reallotted or redistributed only to States as defined for the original allocation. Tribal funds are reallotted only to Tribes. Mandatory Funds granted to Territories are redistributed only to Territories. Discretionary Funds granted to the Territories are not subject to reallotment. Any Discretionary funds granted to the Territories that are returned after they have been allotted will revert to the Federal Government.
(b) Any portion of a State's Discretionary Fund allotment that is not required to carry out its Plan, in the period for which the allotment is made available, shall be reallotted to other States in proportion to the original allotments. For purposes of this paragraph the term “State” means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The other Territories and the Tribes may not receive reallotted State Discretionary Funds.
(1) Each year, the State shall report to the Secretary either the dollar amount from the previous year's grant that it will be unable to obligate by the end of the obligation period or that all funds will be obligated during such time. Such report shall be postmarked by April 1st.
(2) Based upon the reallotment reports submitted by States, the Secretary will reallot funds.
(i) If the total amount available for reallotment is $25,000 or more, funds will be reallotted to States in proportion to each State's allotment for the applicable fiscal year's funds, pursuant to § 98.61(a).
(ii) If the amount available for reallotment is less than $25,000, the Secretary will not reallot any funds, and such funds will revert to the Federal government.
(iii) If an individual reallotment amount to a State is less than $500, the Secretary will not issue the award, and such funds will revert to the Federal government.
(3) If a State does not submit a reallotment report by the deadline for report submittal, either:
(i) The Secretary will determine that the State does not have any funds available for reallotment; or
(ii) In the case of a report postmarked after April 1st, any funds reported to be available for reallotment shall revert to the Federal government.
(4) States receiving reallotted funds shall obligate and expend these funds in accordance with § 98.60. The reallotment of funds does not extend the obligation period or the program period for expenditure of such funds.
(c)(1) Any portion of the Matching Fund granted to a State that is not obligated in the period for which the grant is made shall be redistributed. Funds, if any, will be redistributed on the request of, and only to, those other States that have met the requirements of § 98.55(c) in the period for which the grant was first made. For purposes of this paragraph (c)(1), the term “State” means the 50 States and the District of Columbia. Territorial and tribal grantees may not receive redistributed Matching Funds.
(2) Matching Funds allotted to a State under § 98.63(a), but not granted, shall also be redistributed in the manner described in paragraph (1) of this section.
(3) The amount of Matching Funds granted to a State that will be made available for redistribution will be based on the State's financial report to ACF for the Child Care and Development Fund (ACF-696) and is subject to the monetary limits at paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
(4) A State eligible to receive redistributed Matching Funds shall also use the ACF-696 to request its share of the redistributed funds, if any.
(5) A State's share of redistributed Matching Funds is based on the same ratio as the number of children under 13 residing in the State to the number of children residing in all States eligible to receive and that request the redistributed Matching Funds.
(6) Redistributed funds are considered part of the grant for the fiscal year in which the redistribution occurs.
(d) Any portion of a Tribe's allotment of Discretionary Funds that is not required to carry out its Plan, in the period for which the allotment is made available, shall be reallotted to other tribal grantees in proportion to their original allotments. States and Territories may not receive reallotted tribal funds.
(1) Each year, the Tribe shall report to the Secretary either the dollar amount from the previous year's grant that it will be unable to obligate by the end of the obligation period or that all funds will be obligated during such time. Such report shall be postmarked by a deadline established by the Secretary.
(2) Based upon the reallotment reports submitted by Tribes, the Secretary will reallot Tribal Discretionary Funds among the other Tribes.
(i) If the total amount available for reallotment is $25,000 or more, funds will be reallotted to other tribal grantees in proportion to each Tribe's original allotment for the applicable fiscal year pursuant to § 98.62(c).
(ii) If the total amount available for reallotment is less than $25,000, the Secretary will not reallot any funds, and such funds will revert to the Federal government.
(iii) If an individual reallotment amount to an applicant Tribe is less than $500, the Secretary will not issue the award, and such funds will revert to the Federal government.
(3) If a Tribe does not submit a reallotment report by the deadline for report submittal, either:
(i) The Secretary will determine that Tribe does not have any funds available for reallotment; or
(ii) In the case of a report received after the deadline established by the Secretary, any funds reported to be available for reallotment shall revert to the Federal government.
(4) Tribes receiving reallotted funds shall obligate and expend these funds in accordance with § 98.60. The reallotment of funds does not extend the obligation period or the program period for expenditure of such funds.
(e)(1) Any portion of the Mandatory Funds that are not obligated in the period for which the grant is made shall be redistributed. Territory Mandatory Funds, if any, will be redistributed on the request of, and only to, those other Territories that have obligated their entire Territory Mandatory Fund allocation in full for the period for which the grant was first made.
(2) The amount of Mandatory Funds granted to a Territory that will be made available for redistribution will be based on the Territory's financial report to ACF for the Child Care and Development Fund (ACF-696) and is subject to the monetary limits at paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
(3) A Territory eligible to receive redistributed Mandatory Funds shall also use the ACF-696 to request its share of the redistributed funds, if any.
(4) A Territory's share of redistributed Mandatory Funds is based on the same ratio as § 98.62(d).
(5) Redistributed funds are considered part of the grant for the fiscal year in which the redistribution occurs.
§ 98.65   Audits and financial reporting.
(a) Each Lead Agency shall have an audit conducted after the close of each program period in accordance with 45 CFR part 75, subpart F, and the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996.
(b) Lead Agencies are responsible for ensuring that subgrantees are audited in accordance with appropriate audit requirements.
(c) Not later than 30 days after the completion of the audit, Lead Agencies shall submit a copy of their audit report to the legislature of the State or, if applicable, to the Tribal Council(s). Lead Agencies shall also submit a copy of their audit report to the HHS Inspector General for Audit Services, as well as to their cognizant agency, if applicable.
(d) Any amounts determined through an audit not to have been expended in accordance with these statutory or regulatory provisions, or with the Plan, and that are subsequently disallowed by the Department shall be repaid to the Federal government, or the Secretary will offset such amounts against any other CCDF funds to which the Lead Agency is or may be entitled.
(e) Lead Agencies shall provide access to appropriate books, documents, papers and records to allow the Secretary to verify that CCDF funds have been expended in accordance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the program, and with the Plan.
(f) The audit required in paragraph (a) of this section shall be conducted by an agency that is independent of the State, Territory or Tribe as defined by generally accepted government auditing standards issued by the Comptroller General, or a public accountant who meets such independent standards.
(g) Lead Agencies shall submit financial reports, in a manner specified by ACF, quarterly for each fiscal year until funds are expended.
(h) At a minimum, a State or territorial Lead Agency's quarterly report shall include the following information on expenditures under CCDF grant funds, including Discretionary (which includes realloted funding and any funds transferred from the TANF block grant), Mandatory, and Matching Funds (which includes redistributed funding); and State Matching and Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) Funds:
(1) Child care administration;
(2) Quality activities, including any sub-categories of quality activities as required by ACF;
(3) Direct services for both grant or contracted slots and certificates;
(4) Non-direct services, including:
(i) Establishment and maintenance of computerized child care information systems;
(ii) Certificate program cost/eligibility determination;
(iii) All other non-direct services; and
(5) Such other information as specified by the Secretary.
(i) Tribal Lead Agencies shall submit financial reports annually in a manner specified by ACF.
§ 98.66   Disallowance procedures.
(a) Any expenditures not made in accordance with the Act, the implementing regulations, or the approved Plan, will be subject to disallowance.
(b) If the Department, as the result of an audit or a review, finds that expenditures should be disallowed, the Department will notify the Lead Agency of this decision in writing.
(c)(1) If the Lead Agency agrees with the finding that amounts were not expended in accordance with the Act, these regulations, or the Plan, the Lead Agency shall fulfill the provisions of the disallowance notice and repay any amounts improperly expended; or
(2) The Lead Agency may appeal the finding:
(i) By requesting reconsideration from the Assistant Secretary, pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section; or
(ii) By following the procedure in paragraph (d) of this section.
(d) A Lead Agency may appeal the disallowance decision to the Departmental Appeals Board in accordance with 45 CFR part 16.
(e) The Lead Agency may appeal a disallowance of costs that the Department has determined to be unallowable under an award. A grantee may not appeal the determination of award amounts or disposition of unobligated balances.
(f) The Lead Agency's request for reconsideration in (c)(2)(i) of this section shall be postmarked no later than 30 days after the receipt of the disallowance notice. A Lead Agency may request an extension within the 30-day time frame. The request for reconsideration, pursuant to (c)(2)(i) of this section, need not follow any prescribed form, but it shall contain:
(1) The amount of the disallowance;
(2) The Lead Agency's reasons for believing that the disallowance was improper; and
(3) A copy of the disallowance decision issued pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section.
(g)(1) Upon receipt of a request for reconsideration, pursuant to (c)(2)(i) of this section, the Assistant Secretary or the Assistant Secretary's designee will inform the Lead Agency that the request is under review.
(2) The Assistant Secretary or the designee will review any material submitted by the Lead Agency and any other necessary materials.
(3) If the reconsideration decision is adverse to the Lead Agency's position, the response will include a notification of the Lead Agency's right to appeal to the Departmental Appeals Board, pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section.
(h) If a Lead Agency refuses to repay amounts after a final decision has been made, the amounts will be offset against future payments to the Lead Agency.
(i) The appeals process in this section is not applicable if the disallowance is part of a compliance review, pursuant to § 98.90, the findings of which have been appealed by the Lead Agency.
(j) Disallowances under the CCDF program are subject to interest regulations at 45 CFR part 30. Interest will begin to accrue from the date of notification.
§ 98.67   Fiscal requirements.
(a) Lead Agencies shall expend and account for CCDF funds in accordance with their own laws and procedures for expending and accounting for their own funds.
(b) Unless otherwise specified in this part, contracts that entail the expenditure of CCDF funds shall comply with the laws and procedures generally applicable to expenditures by the contracting agency of its own funds.
(c) Fiscal control and accounting procedures shall be sufficient to permit:
(1) Preparation of reports required by the Secretary under this subpart and under subpart H; and
(2) The tracing of funds to a level of expenditure adequate to establish that such funds have not been used in violation of the provisions of this part.
§ 98.68   Program integrity.
(a) Lead Agencies are required to describe in their Plan effective internal controls that are in place to ensure integrity and accountability, while maintaining continuity of services, in the CCDF program. These shall include:
(1) Processes to ensure sound fiscal management;
(2) Processes to identify areas of risk;
(3) Processes to train child care providers and staff of the Lead Agency and other agencies engaged in the administration of CCDF about program requirements and integrity; and
(4) Regular evaluation of internal control activities.
(b) Lead Agencies are required to describe in their Plan the processes that are in place to:
(1) Identify fraud or other program violations, which may include, but are not limited to the following:
(i) Record matching and database linkages;
(ii) Review of attendance and billing records;
(iii) Quality control or quality assurance reviews; and
(iv) Staff training on monitoring and audit processes.
(2) Investigate and recover fraudulent payments and to impose sanctions on clients or providers in response to fraud.
(c) Lead Agencies must describe in their Plan the procedures that are in place for documenting and verifying that children receiving assistance under this part meet eligibility criteria at the time of eligibility determination and redetermination. Because a child meeting eligibility requirements at the most recent eligibility determination or redetermination is considered eligible during the period between redeterminations as described in § 98.21(a)(1):
(1) The Lead Agency shall pay any amount owed to a child care provider for services provided for such a child during this period under a payment agreement or authorization for services; and
(2) Any CCDF payment made for such a child during this period shall not be considered an error or improper payment under subpart K of this part due to a change in the family's circumstances, as set forth at § 98.21(a).
§ 98.70   Reporting requirements.
(a) Quarterly Case-level Report—
(1) State and territorial Lead Agencies that receive assistance under the CCDF shall prepare and submit to the Department, in a manner specified by the Secretary, a quarterly case-level report of monthly family case-level data. Data shall be collected monthly and submitted quarterly. States may submit the data monthly if they choose to do so.
(2) The information shall be reported for the three-month federal fiscal period preceding the required report. The first report shall be submitted no later than August 31, 1998, and quarterly thereafter. The first report shall include data from the third quarter of FFY 1998 (April 1998 through June 1998). States and Territorial Lead Agencies which choose to submit case-level data monthly must submit their report for April 1998 no later than July 30, 1998. Following reports must be submitted every thirty days thereafter.
(3) State and territorial Lead Agencies choosing to submit data based on a sample shall submit a sampling plan to ACF for approval 60 days prior to the submission of the first quarterly report. States are not prohibited from submitting case-level data for the entire population receiving CCDF services.
(4) Quarterly family case-level reports to the Secretary shall include the information listed in § 98.71(a).
(b) Annual Report—
(1) State and territorial Lead Agencies that receive assistance under CCDF shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual report. The report shall be submitted, in a manner specified by the Secretary, by December 31 of each year and shall cover the most recent federal fiscal year (October through September).
(2) The first annual aggregate report shall be submitted no later than December 31, 1997, and every twelve months thereafter.
(3) Biennial reports to Congress by the Secretary shall include the information listed in § 98.71(b).
(c) Tribal Annual Report—
(1) Tribal Lead Agencies that receive assistance under CCDF shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual aggregate report.
(2) The report shall be submitted in the manner specified by the Secretary by December 31 of each year and shall cover services for children and families served with CCDF funds during the preceding Federal Fiscal Year.
(3) Biennial reports to Congress by the Secretary shall include the information listed in § 98.71(c).
(d) State and territorial Lead Agencies shall make the following reports publicly available on a Web site in a timely manner:
(1) Annual administrative data reports under paragraph (b) of this section;
(2) Quarterly financial reports under § 98.65(g); and
(3) Annual quality progress reports under § 98.53(g).
§ 98.71   Content of report.
(a) At a minimum, a State or territorial Lead Agency's quarterly case-level report to the Secretary, as required in § 98.70, shall include the following information on services provided under CCDF grant funds, including Federal Discretionary (which includes any funds transferred from the TANF Block Grant), Mandatory, and Matching Funds; and State Matching and Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) Funds:
(1) The total monthly family income and family size used for determining eligibility;
(2) Zip code of residence of the family and zip code of the location of the child care provider;
(3) Gender and month/year of birth of children;
(4) Ethnicity and race of children;
(5) Whether the head of the family is a single parent
(6) The sources of family income and assistance from employment (including self-employment), cash or other assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program under Part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)(7)), cash or other assistance under a State program for which State spending is counted toward the maintenance of effort requirement under section 409(a)(7) of the Social Security Act, housing assistance, assistance under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and other assistance programs;
(7) The month/year child care assistance to the family started;
(8) The type(s) of child care in which the child was enrolled (such as family child care, in-home care, or center-based child care;
(9) Whether the child care provider was a relative;
(10) The total monthly child care copayment by the family;
(11) [Reserved]
(12) The total expected dollar amount per month to be received by the provider for each child;
(13) The total hours per month of such care;
(14) Unique identifier of the head of the family unit receiving child care assistance, and of the child care provider;
(15) Reasons for receiving care;
(16) Whether the family is experiencing homelessness;
(17) Whether the parent(s) are in the military service;
(18) Whether the child has a disability;
(19) Primary language spoken at home;
(20) Date of the child care provider's most recent health, safety and fire inspection meeting the requirements of § 98.42(b)(2);
(21) Indicator of the quality of the child care provider; and
(22) Any additional information that the Secretary shall require.
(b) At a minimum, a State or territorial Lead Agency's annual aggregate report to the Secretary, as required in § 98.70(b), shall include the following information on services provided through all CCDF grant funds, including Federal Discretionary (which includes any funds transferred from the TANF Block Grant), Mandatory, and Matching Funds; and State Matching and MOE Funds:
(1) The number of child care providers that received funding under CCDF as separately identified based on the types of providers listed in section 658P(5) of the amended Child Care and Development Block Grant Act;
(2) The number of children served by payments through certificates or vouchers, contracts or grants, and cash under public benefit programs, listed by the primary type of child care services provided during the last month of the report period (or the last month of service for those children leaving the program before the end of the report period);
(3) The manner in which consumer education information was provided to parents and the number of parents to whom such information was provided;
(4) The total number (without duplication) of children and families served under CCDF;
(5) For Lead Agencies implementing presumptive eligibility in accordance with § 98.21(e):
(i) The number of presumptively eligible children ultimately determined fully eligible;
(ii) The number of presumptively eligible children for whom the family does not complete the documentation for full eligibility verification; and,
(iii) The number of presumptively eligible children who are determined not to be eligible after full verification;
(6) The number of child fatalities by type of care; and
(7) Any additional information that the Secretary shall require.
(c) A Tribal Lead Agency's annual report as required in § 98.70(c), shall include such information as the Secretary shall require.
§ 98.80   General procedures and requirements.
An Indian Tribe or tribal organization (as described in subpart G of these regulations) may be awarded grants to plan and carry out programs for the purpose of increasing the availability, affordability, and quality of child care and childhood development programs subject to the following conditions:
(a) An Indian Tribe applying for or receiving CCDF funds shall be subject to the requirements under this part as specified in this section based on the size of the awarded funds. The Secretary shall establish thresholds for Tribes' total CCDF allotments pursuant to §§ 98.61(c) and 98.62(b) to be divided into three categories:
(1) Large allocations;
(2) Medium allocations; and
(3) Small allocations.
(b) An Indian Tribe applying for or receiving CCDF funds shall:
(1) Have at least 50 children under 13 years of age (or such similar age, as determined by the Secretary from the best available data) in order to be eligible to operate a CCDF program. This limitation does not preclude an Indian Tribe with fewer than 50 children under 13 years of age from participating in a consortium that receives CCDF funds; and
(2) Demonstrate its current service delivery capability, including skills, personnel, resources, community support, and other necessary components to satisfactorily carry out the proposed program.
(c) A consortium representing more than one Indian Tribe may be eligible to receive CCDF funds on behalf of a particular Tribe if:
(1) The consortium adequately demonstrates that each participating Tribe authorizes the consortium to receive CCDF funds on behalf of each Tribe or tribal organization in the consortium;
(2) The consortium consists of Tribes that each meet the eligibility requirements for the CCDF program as defined in this part, or that would otherwise meet the eligibility requirements if the Tribe or tribal organization had at least 50 children under 13 years of age;
(3) All the participating consortium members are in geographic proximity to one another (including operation in a multi-State area) or have an existing consortium arrangement; and
(4) The consortium demonstrates that it has the managerial, technical and administrative staff with the ability to administer government funds, manage a CCDF program and comply with the provisions of the Act and of this part.
(d) The awarding of a grant under this section shall not affect the eligibility of any Indian child to receive CCDF services provided by the State or States in which the Indian Tribe is located.
(e) For purposes of the CCDF, the determination of the number of children in the Tribe, pursuant to paragraph (b)(1) of this section, shall include Indian children living on or near reservations, with the exception of Tribes in Alaska, California and Oklahoma.