Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 208 - Department of Workforce Services › Rule 208.00.11-002 - Amendment to Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) State Plan; TEA forms 1412, 1413 and Policy Sections 3660-3660.4

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
3. A child under the age of 18 who is under
		  court-ordered supervision.
4. A
		  child under age 18 who would be required to be included in the TEA grant, if
		  not for the receipt of SSI or foster care payments.
A child described above who is living in the home of the TEA
			 participant and for whom he or she exercises care and responsibility will be
			 covered by the child care guarantee regardless of whether the child is included
			 in the TEA cash assistance unit. This includes "family cap" children.
The age limits listed above apply to all eligible children where
			 child care is paid by DWS.
Items 3 and 4 must be verified by the participant by providing
			 necessary proof to the DWS Workforce Specialist.
3655.1
Guidelines For Payment
		  Of Child Care Services
Child care (including relative care) for TEA participants will be
			 purchased from eligible providers through the DHS Child Care Certificate
			 Program.
The county cap rate is the local market rate determined and
			 established by the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education. The
			 county cap rate is based on:
* an 8-10 hour day of care, and
* established rates per child.
The maximum absentee days that may be paid by TEA each trimester
			 are as follows:
* For the months of July through October: 12 absentee days, not
			 to exceed 6 days in any month
* For the months of November through February: 16 absentee days,
			 not to exceed 8 days in any month
* For the months of March through June: 12 bsentee days, not to
			 exceed 6 in any month. In situations where care exceeding 10 hours per day is
			 required, extended care will be provided.
Note:
Providers will not charge TEA participants for
			 registration or activity fees.
Child care payments authorized to individuals providing care will
			 be accomplished utilizing the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood
			 Education (DCCECC) Automated Child Day Care System.
Any month in which a child care provider bills DHS for five (5)
			 or more days will count as a month toward a participant's 24 cumulative months
			 of ESS child care. If more than one child receives child care services, at
			 least one of the children must receive child care services for five days for
			 the month to count toward the limit. (See example below). A day in which any
			 part of the day is billed counts towards the limit.
For purposes of the lifetime count, this policy is retroactive to
			 September 2001. Any month, beginning with September 2001, in which five (5) or
			 more days were billed for a child will count toward the lifetime limit.
Example:
The participant has two children who
			 received child care services at a local daycare center. Both children were at
			 the daycare center for three days during the month for which the services were
			 billed. This will not count as a month towards the participant's 24 month
			 lifetime limit as neither child received at least five days of child care
			 services.
If a participant has not needed child care prior to obtaining
			 employment, but later requests child care to accept or maintain employment, the
			 participant may receive ESS child care assistance.
3660.2
Minimum Hours of Work
		  Requirement
To receive ESS child care assistance at no cost during the first
			 twelve months at least one of the following conditions must be met:
* earnings alone caused the family to be income ineligible for
			 TEA, or
* the participant is employed an average minimum of 20 hours per
			 week.
To receive ESS child care assistance during the second year, a
			 participant must be employed an average of 25 hours per week .
Note:
Income is not considered the first year, just
			 required hours. When the participant makes an initial request for ESS child
			 care, their declaration of the number of hours worked is accepted. The Division
			 of Child Care and Early Childhood Education, (DCCECE) worker will only verify
			 hours the second six months of the first year. During the second year, the
			 DCCECE worker will verify both hours and income because hours of employment and
			 income are both considered when determining where the participant falls on the
			 fee scale. If the verified hours are less than 20, or the earnings are not
			 sufficient to cause TEA ineligibility, the ESS child care assistance case will
			 be closed.
The participant will be advised of the minimum hours of work
			 requirement prior to authorization of the ESS child care via form DCO-1413,
			 Notice of ESS Child Care Lifetime Limit and Minimum Hours of Work
			 Requirement.
At each authorization the participant will be notified via
			 DCO-1412, TEA Notice of Child Care Action, of the number of months remaining in
			 his or her lifetime limit.
3660.3
Verification of Hours
		  of Employment
Local offices responsible for keying child care will follow the
			 procedures outlined in this section.
At the initial request for ESS child care assistance, the
			 participant's declaration regarding the number of hours worked per week or the
			 amount of earnings received will be accepted. However, prior to renewal of the
			 authorization for the second six months of the first twelve months, the hours
			 of employment or earnings must be verified. Form TEA-1414, ESS Child Care
			 Request for Verification of Earnings and Hours of Employment, will be sent to
			 the participant to request the verification. If the verified hours of
			 employment are less than 20 hours per week and the earnings are not sufficient
			 to cause TEA ineligibility, the ESS child care case will be closed after
			 appropriate notice.
The participant must return the completed form TEA-1414, ESS
			 Child Care Request for Verification of Earnings and Hours of Employment, and
			 provide verification of income and number of hours of employment per week for
			 the second year of ESS child care assistance (See TEA policy 3660.4). If the
			 verified hours of employment are less than the required minimum hours the ESS
			 child care case will be closed after appropriate notice.
Failure to verify income and the hours of employment will result
			 in the ESS child care case being closed after appropriate notice.
The participant will be advised of the closure via TEA-1412,
			 Child Care Notice of Action. The child care provider must also be notified that
			 the child care case is being closed via TEA-1404, Termination or Change of
			 Service.
3660.4
Division of Child Care Fees
The fee scale is used by the worker in the second year of ESS/CC
			 to determine the percentage of the child care payment for which the family will
			 be responsible (See Appendix C).
This will be determined using earnings information reported by
			 the participant for each employed TEA adult participant and verified by the
			 worker. The fee scale is used as follows:
1. Take the total gross wages for each adult
		  participant and multiply by
* 4.334
if paid weekly
* 2.167
if paid bi-weekly
* 2
if paid semi-monthly
* 1
if paid monthly
2. Total
		  the monthly earned income for all employed TEA adult participants;
3. The parent or caretaker relative who is
		  employed at least 30 hours per week will receive a $100.00 work-related
		  deduction from his or her gross income. If the adult participant is employed
		  less than 30 hours per week, no deduction is allowed.
4. Add the unearned income to the earned
		  income total (after appropriate deductions).
5. Use the total income amount in #4 to
		  determine which income group the family belongs, according to family size
		  (parents or caretaker relative and siblings).
6. The fee percentage the participant will be
		  required to pay can be found on the bottom row of the scale. A different fee
		  rate is found beneath each income level and ranges from 0% to full rate. (Refer
		  to Appendix C .)
3660.5
Participant's Responsibility to Pay ESS Fees to
		  Provider
The following will be explained to the participant:
1. The participant's responsibility for
		  paying registration and activity fees (as determined by the
		  provider).
2. The amount the
		  participant is expected to pay to the provider (fee scale);
3. The participant's responsibility for
		  making timely payments to the child care provider;
4. When and how often payments will be made
		  will be based on arrangements made between the participant and provider;
		  and
5. Failure to pay required fees
		  may result in termination of ESS/CC benefits.
3660.6
When the Participant
		  Fails to Pay Required Fees
When the child care provider notifies the local office that the
			 participant has failed to pay the required fee, the worker will obtain the
			 following information from the provider:
* total amount of delinquent fee;
* time period for which fees are owed; and
* date last payment was made by the participant.
Using the above information, the worker will notify the
			 participant that the ESS/CC case will be closed within ten (10) calendar days
			 of the date of the notice. The notice will include the reason(s) why the action
			 is being taken and steps the participant can take to avoid the action. To avoid
			 closure the participant must:
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