Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 17 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Department of Human Services › Chapter 798.3 - CHILD CARE PAYMENTS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 17-798.3-2 - Definitions

Current through June, 2024
As used in this chapter:
"Accredited" means a group child care center, group child
					 care home, or family child care home, that is certified by the National
					 Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the National Early
					 Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA), or the National Association for Family
					 Child Care (NAFCC) to meet accreditation standards.
"Activity" means employment, education, or vocational or
					 employment training.
"Adequate notice" means a written notice that
					 includes:
(1) A statement of the action the agency has taken or
					 intends to take;
(2) The reason for the intended action;
(3) The specific departmental rules supporting the intended
					 action;
(4) The name and telephone number of the person in the
					 department to contact for additional information;
(5) The family unit's right to request an informal review,
					 an administrative appeal, or both; and
(6) Information on the availability of free legal
					 representation, if applicable.
"After-school care" means child care provided after the end
					 of the regular school day during the academic year for eligible children
					 kindergarten age and above who are enrolled in public or private elementary
					 schools.
"Application" means the action by which an individual
					 indicates on a form prescribed by the department a request to receive child
					 care payments.
"Attending" means enrolled and participating in a job
					 training or educational program as defined by the institution, agency, or
					 business that sponsors the program.
"Background check" means a review of a person's background
					 information pursuant to chapter
					 17-801.
"Before-school care" means a child care provided before the
					 start of the regular school day during the academic year for eligible children
					 kindergarten age and above who are enrolled in public or private elementary
					 schools.
"Benefit month" means the calendar month for which the
					 caretaker is eligible for a child care payment.
"Budget month" means the calendar month(s) from which the
					 child care expense, hours of approved activity and child care need, and income
					 of the family unit are used to compute the payment amount that the family unit
					 shall receive in the payment month.
"Caregiver" means any individual who is responsible for the
					 physical well-being, health, safety, supervision, and guidance of children in
					 child care.
"Caretaker" means an adult, or an emancipated minor, who
					 resides with and is responsible for the care of a child, and who is a birth,
					 hanai, foster, or adoptive parent, guardian, permanent custodian, stepparent,
					 or relative who is related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption, or a
					 person authorized by the caretaker through a power of attorney valid for a
					 period not to exceed twelve months. The caretaker designation may remain even
					 when the caretaker is temporarily absent from the home as long as the caretaker
					 continues to maintain responsibility for the care, education, and financial
					 support of the child. This includes a foster parent who may not be providing
					 financial support to the child but may be receiving support for the child from
					 a private or public agency. This also includes minor teen parents who are birth
					 parents to the child but cannot apply for child care payments themselves and
					 must have an adult apply on their behalf.
"Child" means any person who has not reached the age of
					 eighteen years, excluding emancipated minors.
"Child care" means those situations in which a person or
					 child care facility has agreed to assume the responsibility for the child's
					 supervision, development, safety, and protection apart from and in the absence
					 of the child's caretaker, for any part of a twenty-four hour day. Child care
					 may be provided out of the child's home by relatives or non-relatives, in the
					 child's home by relatives or non-relatives, in a family child care home, in a
					 group child care home, in a group child care center, or in an exempt
					 centerbased facility.
"Child care facility" means the same as under section
					 346-151, Hawaii
					 Revised Statutes (HRS).
"Child protective services" means social services provided
					 by the department pursuant to chapter
					 17-1610, to children who reside with
					 their family unit and are:
(1) confirmed to have been abused or neglected, or
(2) confirmed to have been threatened with abuse or
					 neglect.
"Citizen or national of the United States of America" means
					 a citizen of the United States and shall include:
(1) The fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto
					 Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands;
					 and
(2) Nationals from American Samoa and Swain's Island.
"Compliance" means conformity in fulfilling the
					 requirements of this chapter.
"Co-payment" means the family unit's share of the child
					 care expense which is the difference between the maximum payment amount allowed
					 for the type and amount of care up to the department's child care payment rate
					 maximum, and the amount the family unit is determined to be eligible for by the
					 department.
"Corrective payment" means a payment issued by the
					 department in an amount equal to the difference between what a caretaker is
					 entitled to receive by regulation and the amount they actually received.
"Department" means the department of human services or its
					 designee.
"Educational program" means a curriculum that has been
					 established by an institution, agency, or business for the purpose of the
					 development of skills or academic study necessary for an identified
					 occupation.
"Eligibility period" means a period established by the
					 department, not less than 12 months, during which the household may be eligible
					 for child care payments if it meets all of the eligibility requirements.
"Employed" means the caretaker is engaged in a legal
					 activity in exchange for wages or salary for which the appropriate tax
					 withholding and reporting are made.
"Essential person" means a needy person designated by the
					 caretaker to be included in the TANF household that receives a public-funded
					 financial assistance payment, who is ineligible in the person's own right for
					 TANF, who is designated by the caretaker as being essential to the caretaker's
					 well-being, and who performs a service that would not otherwise be performed or
					 that would otherwise have to be purchased if the person did not live in the
					 TANF household.
"Exempt after-school care" means child care provided by a
					 before and after-school care facility legally-exempt in accordance with chapter
					 17-800, after the end of the regular school day during the academic year for
					 eligible children kindergarten age and above who are enrolled in public or
					 private elementary, middle, or secondary schools.
"Exempt before-school care" means child care provided by a
					 before and after-school care facility legally-exempt in accordance with chapter
					 17-800, after the end of the regular school day during the academic year for
					 eligible children kindergarten age and above who are enrolled in public or
					 private elementary, middle, or secondary schools.
"Exempt provider" means a person or facility providing
					 legally-exempt child care, in accordance with section
					 346-152,
					 HRS. It also includes all adult household members when child care is provided
					 in a private residence that is not the child's residence, all staff employed at
					 a child care facility, any volunteers or substitutes who provide care for
					 children for ten hours or more per week, and any other individuals who have
					 unsupervised access to children in care.
"Experiencing homelessness" means the following:
(1) Lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
					 residence;
(2) Are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of
					 housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason, are living in motels, hotels,
					 or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations, are
					 in emergency or transitional shelters, are abandoned in hospitals;
(3) Have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or
					 private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping
					 accommodation for human beings;
(4) Are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned
					 buildings, substandard housing, bus or train station, or similar settings;
					 or
(5) Are migratory children (as such term is defined in
					 section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965).
"Extended filing period" means the additional ten days that
					 households are allowed to submit required information or missing verification
					 to justify continued child care eligibility. See section 17-798.3-18(a) (1)
					 (C).
"Family child care home" means any private residence at
					 which care is provided at any given time to six or fewer children, as defined
					 in section
					 346-151, HRS.
"Family unit" means the caretakers and their minor children
					 who reside together in the same household and whose needs and income are
					 considered in determining eligibility for, and the amount of, child care
					 payment.
"Federal fiscal year" means a period beginning October 1
					 and ending September 30.
"Federal Poverty Guidelines" or "FPG" means the poverty
					 guidelines for Hawaii that are established in the Federal Register by the U.S.
					 Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of
					 42
					 U.S.C. §
											9902(2) and
					 cited in the Child Care and Development Fund Plan for State of Hawaii that is
					 approved by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of
					 Health and Human Services, pursuant to C.F.R. §§98.14 to
					 98.18.
"First-to-Work" or "FTW" means the work programs
					 administered by the department for recipients of TANF.
"Full-time care" means child care provided for eighty-seven
					 hours and more per month, except for before-school and after-school
					 care.
"Gross income" means all non-excluded earned and unearned
					 income as specified in this chapter.
"Group child care center" means a facility, other than a
					 private home, at which care is provided, as defined in section
					 346-151, HRS. The
					 term may include nurseries; preschools; parent cooperatives; drop-in child care
					 centers; before-school and after-school programs; holiday, intersession and
					 summer care for eligible school age children; or other similar care settings
					 that are established to provide group care to a child for any part of a
					 twenty-four hour day and is license-exempt or licensed by the department. For
					 the purposes of this chapter, group child care center shall also include
					 "infant and toddler center" in which child care is provided to children ages
					 six weeks to thirty-six months of age in a group child care center care or
					 group child care home and is licensed under chapter
					 17-895.
"Group child care home" means a facility which may be an
					 extended or modified private home, at which care is provided to seven to twelve
					 children, as defined in section
					 346-151, HRS.
"Hanai" means a child who is taken permanently to be
					 reared, educated, and loved by someone other than the natural parents at the
					 time of the child's birth or early childhood. The child is given outright and
					 the natural parents renounce all claims to the child. The natural parents
					 cannot reclaim the child except for the death or serious injury of the hanai
					 parents
"Hawaiian-medium center-based care" means any group child
					 care center, as defined in section
					 346-151, HRS, with
					 programs taught solely in the Hawaiian language that promote fluency in the
					 Hawaiian language and is licensed by the department in accordance with section
					 346-162,
					 HRS.
"Home-based child care" means department-registered family
					 child care home providers, and legally-exempt care providers, including care by
					 relatives, in any private residence.
"In-home care" means child care provided only to the
					 eligible children in the family unit by an exempt provider in the home of the
					 eligible children who require care in the absence of their caretakers due to a
					 qualifying child care reason.
"Infant" means a child six weeks old up to and including
					 twelve months old.
"Intersession care" means child care provided at breaks
					 during the academic year for eligible children kindergarten age and above who
					 are enrolled in public or private elementary, middle, or secondary schools,
					 including summer care and holidays.
"Job training" or "vocational or employment training" means
					 an organized training program (including community college and university
					 education) established by an institution, agency, or business for the purpose
					 of the development of skills or academic study necessary for an identified
					 occupation.
"Legally-exempt care" or "exempt care" means child care
					 which is exempt from licensure or registration by the department under section
					 346-152,
					 HRS.
"Limited English proficiency" or "LEP" means limited
					 ability in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language by
					 a person whose native language is a language other than English or by a person
					 who lives in a family or community environment where a language other than
					 English is the dominant language.
"Minor" means a person under eighteen years old.
"Monthly gross income limit" means eighty-five per cent of
					 the State Median Income for a family of the same size.
"Net value" means the value of the assets after subtracting
					 all liabilities.
"Non-recurring lump sum" means income that is not normally
					 repeated or a cumulative amount received or available to be received by an
					 individual.
Educational loans, grants or scholarships shall not be
					 considered as non-recurring lump sums.
"Overpayment" means the amount of payments issued to a
					 caretaker for a benefit month that is in excess of the amount which the
					 caretaker is eligible to receive. It also includes payments that are not used
					 for their intended purpose.
"Part-time care" means child care provided for less than
					 eighty-seven hours per month, except for before-school and after-school care
					 when it is provided for less than 45 hours per month.
"Payment month" means the calendar month in which the child
					 care payment is issued.
"Physical or mental incapacity" means a physical or mental
					 condition that prevents a child from doing self-care, as determined by a
					 State-licensed physician or psychologist.
"Physician" means an individual licensed by the State for
					 the practice of medicine.
"Power of attorney" means a legal instrument authorizing
					 another to act as one's agent or attorney-in-fact.
"Preschool" means a department-licensed group child care
					 center or group child care home that provides services for children ages two
					 years to six years old.
"Primary residence" means the single residence designated
					 as the child's home.
"Prospective budgeting" means computation of the child care
					 payment based on the worker's best estimate of the child care expense, child
					 care need, and caretakers' activity hours and gross income that will exist in a
					 calendar month. The best estimate shall be based on the worker's reasonable
					 projection of future circumstances based on the family unit's past and current
					 month's circumstances.
"Provider" means any individual eighteen years and older,
					 caregiver, facility, agency, or organization, including exempt center-based
					 providers, and their adult employees, including volunteers and substitutes, who
					 provide direct care, supervision, and guidance to children apart from and in
					 the absence of the child's caretaker for part of a twenty-four hour day.
					 Providers are regulated by the department to provide child care or are legally
					 exempt from child care licensure or registration by the department under §
										346-152,
					 HRS.
"Relative" means related by blood, marriage, adoption, or
					 hanai.
"Report month" means the calendar month that the simplified
					 report form is due.
"Reside with" means an eligible child living in a home or
					 family setting with the child's eligible caretaker.
"Responsible household member" means a reliable adult,
					 included in the household, who can provide accurate information about the
					 household's circumstances.
"Restored benefits" means the child care benefit issued to
					 a caretaker whenever benefits for a prior period are not issued because of an
					 error by the department.
"school age" means the chronological age of a child who is
					 eligible to enroll in elementary, middle, or secondary schools,
"self-employed" means an individual:
(1) Is not subject to discharge from his or her job by
					 another person;
(2) Reports income to the Internal Revenue Service and the
					 State as a self-employed person;
(3) Meets social security requirements as a self-employed
					 person and pays employer's and employee's share of social security taxes;
					 and
(4) Is not considered an employee of an agency or
					 organization.
The individual must also generate income equivalent to
					 twenty hours per week multiplied by 4.3333 weeks multiplied by State minimum
					 wage at the time of eligibility and redetermination as having an eligible
					 employment activity as self-employed.
"simplified reporting" means the reporting requirement for
					 caretakers who receive child care payments to provide information in the report
					 month to determine continued eligibility as specified in section 17-798.3-18,
					 and report changes as specified in section 17-798.3-17 that occur during the
					 eligibility period.
"simplified report form" means the report that a caretaker
					 is required to complete for eligibility redetermination.
"state fiscal year" means a period beginning July 1 and
					 ending June 3 0.
"state Median Income" means the official guidelines issued
					 yearly in the Federal Register by the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
					 Administration for Children and Families under the authority of
					 42 U.S.C. §
											8621, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
					 of 1981. States are given discretion by the United States Department of Health
					 and Human Services (DHHS) to utilize a median income from any particular year,
					 if not from the current year, as long as the states indicate in their Child
					 Care Development Fund (CCDF) State Plan the year used and the dates on which
					 eligibility limits became or will become effective.
"Temporarily absent" means a period of up to ninety days
					 when the caretaker is not residing in the home with the child as a result of
					 employment or job training commitments.
"Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" or "TANF" means
					 the federal and state financial assistance and non-assistance programs
					 administered by the department under 42 U.S.C. §§ 601-619 and section
					 346-14, HRS.
"Temporary change in activity" means a period of less than
					 three months when the caretaker ceases to participate in any of the allowable
					 activities specified under section 17-798.3-9(b)(3).
"Timely notice" means when the department mails a notice of
					 adverse action at least ten calendar days prior to the effective date of the
					 action.
"Toddler" means a child over twelve months old up to and
					 including twenty-four months old.
"Transitional child care" means a program designed to
					 provide child care payments for eligible families that terminated TANF
					 financial assistance or non-assistance payments sponsored by the department to
					 enable them to maintain self-sufficiency.
"Underpayment" means the amount of payments issued to a
					 caretaker for a benefit month that is less than the amount which the caretaker
					 was eligible to receive.
"Very low income" means gross income less than one hundred
					 Descent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.