Arizona Administrative Code › Title 6 - ECONOMIC SECURITY › Chapter 5 - DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC SECURITY - SOCIAL SERVICES › Article 49 - CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE › Section R6-5-4901 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
The following definitions apply to this Article:
1. "Adequate notice" means written notification that explains
				  the action the Department intends to take, the reason for the action, the
				  specific authority for the action, the client's appeal rights, and right to
				  benefits pending appeal, and that is mailed before the effective date of the
				  action.
2. "Appellant" means an applicant or recipient of assistance
				  who is appealing a negative action by the Department.
3. "Availability" means the portion of time that a parent or
				  caretaker can provide care to their own child, as determined by the Department,
				  because the parent or caretaker is not participating in an eligible
				  activity.
4. "Applicant" means a person who has filed an application
				  for Child Care Assistance.
5. "Authorized" means the specific amount of Child Care
				  Assistance approved by the Department for an eligible family for a specific
				  period of time.
6. "CCA" means the DES Child Care Administration.
7. "Caretaker relative" means a relative who exercises the
				  responsibility for the day-to-day physical care, guidance, and support of a
				  child who physically resides with the relative.
8. "Cash Assistance" means the program administered by the
				  Family Assistance Administration that provides temporary Cash Assistance to
				  needy families.
9. "Cash Assistance participant" means a recipient of Cash
				  Assistance.
10. "Child care" means the compensated service the Department
				  provides to a child who is unaccompanied by a parent or guardian during a
				  portion of a 24-hour day.
11. "Child Care Assistance" means money payments for child
				  care services paid by the Department for the benefit of an eligible
				  family.
12. "Child Care Provider" means a child care facility
				  licensed under A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 7.1, Article 4, child care home
				  providers, in-home providers, noncertified relative providers, and regulated
				  child care on military installations or federally recognized Indian
				  Tribes.
13. "Client" means a person who has requested, has been
				  referred for, or who is currently receiving Child Care Assistance.
14. "Countable income" means the gross income of individuals
				  included in family size that the Department considers to determine eligibility
				  and calculate an assistance amount.
15. "CPS or Child Protective Services" means the child
				  welfare services administration within the Department's Division of Children,
				  Youth, and Family Services.
16. "Day" means a calendar day unless otherwise
				  specified.
17. "DDD" means the Division of Developmental
				  Disabilities.
18. "Denial" means a formal decision of ineligibility on an
				  application, referral, or request for Child Care Assistance.
19. "Department" means the Arizona Department of Economic
				  Security.
20. "Dependent" child means a person less than age 18, who
				  resides with the applicant and whom the applicant has the legal financial
				  obligation to support.
21. "DES-certified child care provider" means a provider who
				  is certified by the Department of Economic Security under A.R.S. §
									46-807
				  and who provides care in either the child's or the provider's own home.
22. "DHS-certified group home" means a provider who is
				  certified by the Department of Health Services under A.R.S. §
									36-897.01.
23. "DHS-licensed child care center" means a provider who is
				  licensed by the Department of Health Services as prescribed in A.R.S. §
									36-881.
24. "EITC" means Earned Income Tax Credit and is a federal
				  income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families.
25. "Eligibility criteria" means the requirements an
				  individual or family must meet to receive Child Care Assistance.
26. "Eligible activity" means a specific type of activity
				  that causes an applicant or recipient and any other parent or responsible
				  person in the eligible family to be unavailable to provide care to their
				  children for a portion of a 24-hour day, and that partially determines the
				  amount of Child Care Assistance an eligible family shall receive.
27. "Eligible child" means a child less than 13 years of
				  age.
28. "Eligible family" means a group of persons whose needs,
				  income, and other circumstances are considered as a whole for the purpose of
				  determining eligibility and amount of Child Care Assistance.
29. "Eligible need" means a specific type of need that causes
				  an applicant or recipient, or any other parent or responsible person in the
				  eligible family, to be unavailable or incapable to provide child care to their
				  children for a portion of a 24-hour day, and that partially determines the
				  amount of Child Care Assistance an eligible family shall receive.
30. "E.S.O.L." means English for Speakers of Other
				  Languages.
31. "Existing client" means an individual who is currently
				  receiving Child Care Assistance or who has an open Child Care Assistance case
				  with the Department.
32. "Family size" means the number of individuals considered
				  when determining income eligibility, and includes the applicant, other parent
				  or responsible person, and their dependent children who reside in the same
				  household, subject to
				  R6-5-4914(D).
33. "Federal poverty level" (FPL) means the poverty
				  guidelines issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services
				  under Section 673(2) of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981; and reported
				  annually in the Federal Register; which are converted into monthly amounts by
				  the Department; which shall become effective for use in determining eligibility
				  for Child Care Assistance on the first day of the state fiscal year immediately
				  following the publication of the annual amount in the Federal Register.
34. "Foster care" means that the Department or an Arizona
				  Tribe placed a child in the custody of a licensed foster parent.
35. "Foster parent" means any person licensed by the
				  Department or an Arizona Tribe to provide for the out of home care, custody,
				  and control of a child.
36. "Gap in employment" means a period of 30 consecutive days
				  of Child Care Assistance that begins the first day after the last day worked
				  and ends the 30th day after the last day worked for an existing client who has
				  lost employment.
37. "G.E.D." means General Equivalency Diploma.
38. "Homebound" means a person who is confined to their home
				  because of physical or mental incapacity.
39. "Homeless shelter" means a public or private nonprofit
				  program that is targeted to assist homeless families and is designed to provide
				  temporary or transitional living accommodations and services to assist such
				  families toward self-sufficiency.
40. "Income" means earned and unearned income
				  combined.
41. "Jobs" means the Department program that assists Cash
				  Assistance participants to prepare for, obtain, and retain employment. "Jobs"
				  Program also includes the Tribal Jobs Program and any other entities that
				  contract with the state to perform this function.
42. "Jobs participant" means a Cash Assistance participant
				  who is participating in the Jobs program as a condition of receiving Cash
				  Assistance.
43. "Local office" means a CCA location that is designated as
				  the location in which Child Care Assistance applications and other documents
				  are filed with the Department and in which eligibility and assistance amounts
				  are determined for a particular geographic area of the state.
44. "Lump sum income" means a single payment of earned or
				  unearned income, such as a retroactive monthly benefit, non-recurring pay
				  adjustment or bonus, inheritance, or personal injury and workers' compensation
				  award.
45. "Mailing date" when used in reference to a document sent
				  first-class, postage prepaid, through the United States mail, means the
				  date:
a. Shown on the postmark;
b. Shown on the postage meter mark of the envelope, if there
				  is no postmark; or
c. Entered on the document as the date of its completion, if
				  there is no legible postmark or postage meter mark.
46. "Minor parent" means a parent less than the age of 18
				  years.
47. "Negative action" means one of the Department actions
				  described in
				  R6-5-4918,
				  including action to terminate assistance or increase the fee level and
				  copayment for Child Care Assistance.
48. "Noncertified relative provider" means a person who is at
				  least 18 years of age, who is by blood, marriage, or adoption the grandparent,
				  great grandparent, sibling not residing in the same household, aunt, great
				  aunt, uncle or great uncle of the eligible child, who provides child care
				  services to an eligible child, and meets the Department's requirements to be a
				  noncertified relative provider.
49. "Notice date" means the date that appears as the official
				  date of issuance on a document or official written notice the Department sends
				  or gives to an applicant or recipient.
50. "OSI" or "Office of Special Investigations" means the
				  Department office to which CCA refers cases for investigation of certain
				  eligibility information, investigation and preparation of fraud charges,
				  coordination and cooperation with law enforcement agencies and other similar
				  functions.
51. "Other related child" means a child who is related to the
				  applicant or recipient by blood, marriage, or adoption, and who is not the
				  applicant's or recipient's natural, step, or adoptive child.
52. "Overpayment" means a Child Care Assistance payment
				  received by a child care provider or for an eligible family that exceeds the
				  amount to which the provider or family was lawfully entitled.
53. "Parent" means the biological mother or father whose name
				  appears on the birth certificate, the person legally acknowledged as a mother
				  or father, a father who has had an adjudication of paternity, or the adoptive
				  mother or father of the child.
54. "Positive action" means the approval, increase, or
				  resumption of service such as increasing the amount of assistance or decreasing
				  the fee level and copayment.
55. "Recipient" means a person who is a member of an eligible
				  family receiving Child Care Assistance.
56. "Relative" means a person who is by blood, adoption, or
				  marriage a parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling of the whole or half
				  blood, stepbrother, stepsister, aunt, uncle, great-aunt, great-uncle, or first
				  cousin.
57. "Request for Hearing" means a clear written expression by
				  an applicant or recipient, or such person's representative, indicating a desire
				  to appeal a Department decision to a higher authority.
58. "Responsible person" means one or more persons, residing
				  in the same household, who have the legal responsibility to financially
				  support:
a. One or more of the children for whom Child Care Assistance
				  is being requested, or
b. The applicant or recipient of Child Care
				  Assistance.
59. "Review" means the Department's review of all factors
				  affecting an eligible family's eligibility and assistance amount.
60. "Self-Sufficiency Declaration" means a written statement
				  signed and dated by the child care recipient that lists the specific actions
				  the recipient has taken during the most recent six or 12-month period to
				  maintain or increase self-sufficiency.
61. "Tax Claimant" means a relative more than age 17 who
				  resides with a parent who has applied for or is receiving Child Care
				  Assistance, and who states their intention to claim any member of the eligible
				  family as a tax dependent on a federal or state income tax return for the
				  current calendar year, to be filed in the following calendar year.
62. "Tax Dependent" means a member of an eligible family
				  applying for or receiving Child Care Assistance who is included in family size,
				  and who the tax claimant states an intention to claim as a dependent on a
				  federal or state income tax return for the current calendar year, to be filed
				  in the following calendar year.
63. "Time Limit" means that each child in the eligible family
				  may receive no more than 60 cumulative months of Child Care Assistance in a
				  lifetime, unless the parent, caretaker relative, or legal guardian of the child
				  needing care can prove they are making efforts to improve skills and move
				  toward self-sufficiency, under A.R.S. §
									46-803(K)(1).
64. "Unit" means a part or full day measurement of Child Care
				  Assistance authorized by the Department to meet the needs of an eligible family
				  based on the participation of parents, caretaker relatives, or legal guardians
				  of the children needing care in an eligible activity.
65. "Waiting List" means the prioritization of applicants by
				  the Department to manage resources within available funding by placing
				  applicants determined eligible for Child Care Assistance on a list, until the
				  Department determines that sufficient funds are available to fund Child Care
				  Assistance for families on the list.
66. "Work" means the performance of duties on a regular basis
				  for wages or salary.
The following
				  Section was adopted and repealed under an exemption from the provisions of
				  A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6, pursuant to Laws 1997, Ch. 300, § 74(A). Exemption
				  from A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6 means the Department did not submit notice of
				  proposed rulemaking to the Secretary of State for publication in the Arizona
				  Administrative Register; the Department did not submit these rules to the
				  Governor's Regulatory Review Council for review and approval; and the
				  Department was not required to hold public hearings on this
				  Section.