New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 15 - CHILD CARE SERVICES › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 10:15-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter
				  shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise.
"Accessible" means the parent is able, by public or private
				  transportation, to get to and from the child care provider, taking into
				  consideration the age and any special needs of the child(ren).
"Administrative review" means a review by members of a panel
				  appointed by the CCR & R of a disputed matter initiated at the designated
				  child care entity by a parent in receipt of non-entitlement child care
				  services.
"Affordable child care arrangements" means those child care
				  arrangements which do not exceed the DHS maximum child care reimbursement
				  rates. In addition, parent co-payment fees shall not exceed the DHS co-payment
				  schedule for subsidized child care services.
"Agency" means a designated entity in each county
				  contracting with the DFD for the delivery of services to participants of
				  subsidized employment directed activities.
"Appropriate child care" means the child care provider is
				  open for the hours and days the parent would need child care in order to comply
				  with work requirements and the provider is able and willing to provide child
				  care services including addressing any special needs of the child(ren), and
				  meets DCF requirements set forth at N.J.A.C. 3A:52 and 3A:54.
"Approved home" or "approved home provider" means a child
				  care provider not registered pursuant to the Family Day Care Provider
				  Registration Act (see N.J.S.A. 30:5B-16 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 3A:54), whose home
				  has been evaluated and authorized for payment through the DHS child care
				  services programs, using the Self-Arranged Care Inspection and Interview
				  Checklist (see
				  N.J.A.C.
				  10:15-2.4(a)10) and having
				  the prospective approved home provider and all members of the household who are
				  14 years of age and older pass a Child Abuse Record Information (CARI)
				  background check.
"ARC" means the CP & P Adoption Resource Center.
"ARCC" means the At-Risk Child Care funding stream for the
				  New Jersey Cares for Kids program.
"At-risk" means working low-income families whose income
				  upon entry into the program is at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty
				  Level (FPL), which are published annually in the Federal Register.
"BARA" means the Bureau of Administrative Review and Appeals
				  in the DFD.
"Caregiver" means an individual who is at least 18 years of
				  age who provides child care services in his or her home directly to an eligible
				  child on a person-to-person basis and whose home has been evaluated for health
				  and safety purposes.
"Caretaker family" means the person(s) providing the
				  substitute care setting for a protective services child(ren) identified by the
				  CP & P, including but not limited to foster care.
"Case manager (CM)" means the CWA staff responsible for
				  coordinating services and monitoring the participation of individuals in
				  WFNJ.
"Categories of care" means licensed health care centers,
				  school-age child care programs, registered family child care, approved home
				  care, in-home care, the CP & P in-home care, before and/or after-school
				  care, and summer camp.
"CCDBG" means the Child Care Development Block Grant funding
				  stream for the New Jersey Cares for Kids program.
"Center-based child care provider" means any person owning
				  or legally responsible for operating a licensed child care center.
"Child and Adult Care Food Program" means that program
				  administered by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture which provides
				  reimbursement to registered family child care home providers and licensed child
				  care centers and school-age child care programs. The program is intended to
				  improve nutritional intake in the diets of young children by serving healthy,
				  well-balanced meals in child care settings.
"Child care agency" means the child care resource and
				  referral agency in each county which administers subsidized child care
				  programs.
"Child care center" means any facility, by whatever name
				  known, which is maintained for the care, development or supervision of six or
				  more children under 13 years of age who attend for less than 24 hours a day,
				  and licensed by the DHS Office of Licensing.
"Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)" means the funds which
				  pay for the child care programs conducted under the provisions of the Child
				  Care and Development Block Grant, as amended. (The CCDF replaces the Child Care
				  and Development Block Grant Act of 1990.)
"Child Care Resource and Referral" means the system
				  established to provide comprehensive consumer education, child care
				  consultation and referral services to parents, child care providers, employers
				  and the general public.
"Child care resource and referral agency (CCR & R)"
				  means the agency under contract by the DHS, through the DFD, to administer
				  child care programs and services in a particular county or counties.
"Child care services" means child care services pursuant to
				  this chapter which provide day care for those recipients of State subsidized
				  employment programs.
"Child protective services (CPS)" means services on behalf
				  of any child, under age 19, considered at risk of abuse, neglect, or
				  exploitation; or found to be abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned, as
				  identified by the CP & P. The term, unless otherwise specified, includes
				  services provided to children in out-of-home placements under the supervision
				  of the CP & P. (CPS was formerly known as Protective Services.)
"Co-payment" means a portion of the family income that is
				  paid by the eligible parent toward the cost of child care. The amount of the
				  required co-payment is based on the family's annual gross income level, family
				  size, hours of care needed, and number of children in care.
"CP & P" means the Division of Child Protection and
				  Permanency in the Department of Children and Families.
"CWA" means the county welfare agency or the county board of
				  social services in the respective county.
"DCF" means the New Jersey Department of Children and
				  Families.
"DFD" or "Division" means the Division of Family Development
				  in the New Jersey Department of Human Services, which is responsible for the
				  administration of child care.
"DFD contracted centers" means those licensed child care
				  centers that maintain a contract with the DFD to provide child care services to
				  an identified population. Also referred to as "contracted centers."
"DHS" means the New Jersey Department of Human
				  Services.
"Discretionary funds" means the funds authorized under
				  section 658B of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act,
				  42 U.S.C. §§
										9858 et seq. The discretionary funds were
				  formerly referred to as the Child Care and Development Block Grant
				  Funds.
"Early Childhood Development Program" means a program of
				  services that are intended to provide an environment that enhances the
				  educational, cognitive, social, cultural, emotional, and physical development
				  of children, and which is not intended to serve as a substitute for compulsory
				  academic programs.
"Eligible child" means a child who:
1. Is under 13 years of age and resides with
				a family that meets income eligibility and participation requirements as
				stipulated in this chapter;
2. Is
				under 19 years of age and is physically or mentally incapable of caring for
				himself or herself (that is, a "special needs" child); or
3. Receives child protective services from
				the CP & P.
"Fair hearing" means a formal procedure through which a TANF
				  recipient may appeal an adverse action or decision rendered through the WFNJ
				  and TCC programs regarding eligibility for receipt of child care support
				  services, in accordance with
				  N.J.A.C.
				  10:15-2.4(a)18.
"Family child care provider" means a person who provides
				  child care services for fewer than 24 hours per day per child, as a sole
				  caregiver or a caregiver with an assistant or an alternate caregiver in a
				  private residence other than the child's residence.
"Foster home" or "foster care" means a type of out of home
				  placement in a private family residence with a family approved by the DCF to
				  care for children whose parents are unable or unwilling to provide appropriate
				  care for them and for whose care the foster family is reimbursed.
"FPL" means the Federal Poverty Level, as defined annually
				  in the Federal Register by the United States Department of Health and Human
				  Services in accordance with 42 U.S.C. §
										9902(2).
"Full-time employment" means, for child care eligibility,
				  employment that totals 30 or more hours per week.
"Full-time school or training" means for child care
				  eligibility, either 12 or more credit hours per term or the equivalent number
				  of Continuing Education Units (CEUs) at a college, university or job training
				  organization or nine or more credit hours or the equivalent number of CEUs
				  during the summer semester.
"In-home child care provider" means an individual who
				  provides child care services in the child's own home for fewer than 24 hours
				  per day.
"In loco parentis" means the status of those individuals who
				  are serving as the primary caretaker without legal confirmation for the
				  child(ren) on behalf of whom voucher(s) are requested. These individuals are
				  considered in loco parentis if the parent(s) of the child(ren) are not residing
				  within New Jersey and the child(ren) reside with these individuals on a
				  full-time basis.
"Incapacitated parent" means a parent/applicant who has a
				  permanent physical or mental defect, illness or impairment which is supported
				  by medical evidence and/or recorded testimony of a licensed medical health care
				  professional, and which shall be of such a debilitating nature as to reduce
				  substantially or eliminate his or her ability to care for the eligible
				  child(ren).
"Low income for application purposes" means families with
				  annual gross incomes for the family size at or below 150 percent of the FPL for
				  a family of the same size.
"Low income for mandatory and matching funds and
				  discretionary funds" means families with annual gross incomes for the family
				  size at or below 200 percent of the FPL as published in the Federal Register
				  for a family of the same size.
"Mandatory and matching" means the funds that are mandated
				  by the Child Care Development Fund for use for populations enrolled in WFNJ,
				  TCC and At-Risk Child Care programs.
"New Jersey Cares for Kids (NJCK) Child Care Program" means
				  the child care voucher program funded primarily by the Child Care and
				  Development Fund. Also known as NJCK Program.
"Out of home placement" means a placement designed to
				  provide a substitute family for a child who needs care outside his or her home
				  for a temporary or extended period of time, as part of a CPS case management
				  plan or services provided to CPS children residing with a para care
				  provider.
"Overpayment" is a payment that exceeds the amount of child
				  care subsidy, for which the parent/applicant or child care provider was
				  eligible.
"Para care" is a service involving the placement of a child
				  in a private family home by anyone other than CP & P, and which CP & P
				  approves for payment after an approval process is completed.
"Parent" means a parent by blood, marriage or adoption and
				  also means a legal guardian, or any other person having responsibility for, or
				  custody of, a child or standing in "loco parentis" (45 CFR 98.2 through
				  3.7).
"Parent/applicant" means an individual who has applied for
				  or receives assistance with child care services from any program described in
				  these rules on behalf of an eligible child.
"Parent/applicant/provider agreement (PAPA)" means the
				  authorization issued by a child care resource and referral agency to the parent
				  and the provider for child care services.
"Participant" means anyone involved in one of the subsidized
				  programs described in this manual.
"Part-time employment" means, for child care eligibility,
				  employment that totals less than 30 hours per week.
"Pre-K Partners Planning Grants" means those grants designed
				  to facilitate cooperative efforts among the Unified Child Care agencies,
				  licensed centers, Head Start programs and eligible family child care providers
				  in the 125 Early Childhood Program Aid (ECPA) districts as identified by the
				  New Jersey Department of Education.
"Provider" means the entity providing child care
				  services.
"Reasonable distance" means, in the case of a child care
				  provider, that a provider is located within a distance that is en route from
				  the parent's home and work activity and that the parent can get the child to
				  care and then to the parent's work activity within 90 minutes.
"Registered family child care provider" means a family child
				  care provider registered pursuant to the Family Day Care Provider Registration
				  Act rules (N.J.A.C. 3A:54).
"Relative care" means a child care provider who is 18 years
				  of age or older who provides child care services to children who are by blood
				  relationship, marriage or court decree, the grandchild, great grandchild,
				  sibling (if such provider lives in a separate residence), niece or nephew of
				  such provider and complies with any applicable requirements that govern child
				  care provided by the relative involved.
"Sectarian organization or sectarian child care provider"
				  means a religious organization or provider generally, not merely those of a
				  specific religious character or that are affiliated with a church or synagogue
				  who can provide proof that the organization is sectarian, such as incorporation
				  as a nonprofit religious organization or tax exempt status as a religious
				  organization.
"Service eligibility period" means the period of child care
				  services based on satisfying ongoing child care program eligibility criteria
				  from the date child care services commence to the date that child care services
				  end.
"Special circumstances" means a situation has occurred in
				  which care cannot be provided by a family member or responsible adult and
				  payment for such care is not available through other sources and the agency
				  determines that such care is essential because of any one or more of the
				  following:
1. Serious physical,
				emotional, mental or cognitive conditions requiring child care as part of the
				treatment plan; or
2. When illness,
				death and/or other disruption in family living has created problems and, on the
				basis of social and/or medical diagnosis, child care is necessary.
"Special needs child" means a child who is under the age of
				  19 who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care; or a child who has
				  been identified through a written referral from a county welfare agency, legal,
				  medical, social service agency, emergency shelter, or public school which
				  indicates that the child has a serious physical, emotional or mental, or
				  cognitive condition and child care services are required as part of a treatment
				  plan designed to stabilize or ameliorate the situation. A child of teen parents
				  is also considered a special needs child.
"Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)" means the
				  Federal welfare reform program (N.J.A.C. 10:90) that replaced Aid to Families
				  with Dependent Children.
"Transitional child care benefits" means extended subsidized
				  child care for those WFNJ participants whose case has been closed due to
				  earnings from employment.
"Underpayment" means a payment that is less than the amount
				  of child care subsidy which the parent/applicant or child care provider was
				  eligible to receive.
"Unsuitability of informal child care" means a provider who
				  cannot meet the minimum requirements at
				  N.J.A.C.
				  10:15-10.2(b).
"Very low income" means income at or below 150 percent of
				  the Federal Poverty Level as modified by family size. (See Chapter
				  Appendices.)
"Voucher" means the child care form developed and produced
				  by the DFD that the CCR & R issues to participating providers to record
				  attendance and generate payments.
"WFNJ work activity" means any activity approved by the CWA
				  that leads to employment.
"Work First New Jersey/TANF Program" means the single New
				  Jersey welfare reform program established pursuant to
				  P.L.
				  1997, c. 13
				  (N.J.S.A.
				  44:10-34 et seq.), c. 14 (N.J.S.A.
				  44:10-44 et seq.), c. 37 (N.J.S.A.
				  44:10-71 et seq.), and c. 38 (N.J.S.A.
				  44:10-55 et seq.), which provides assistance
				  to families with dependent children through the TANF Program.