New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 15 - CHILD CARE SERVICES › Subchapter 6 - CONTRACTED CHILD CARE CENTERS › Section 10:15-6.5 - Siblings and children with special needs and special circumstances

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a)
				Within Tiers A, B and C, higher priority placement consideration shall also be
				given to a Priority 2 or 3 child defined in
				N.J.A.C.
				10:15-6.4. Child care arrangements may be
				required to help stabilize or ameliorate the situation and/or prevent the
				placement of the child or other family member(s) outside the home. The
				conditions specified below shall be rated equally.
1. A child on the waiting list who is the
				sibling of another child currently enrolled in a contracted space and for whom
				subsidized child care services or service had been requested and indicated on
				the child care eligibility application form.
2. A child considered for subsidized child
				care services or service is identified and determined as having special needs
				due to a serious physical, medical, emotional, mental, cognitive, or
				developmental condition that may include, but is not limited to, a child who
				has been classified by a child study team as having a handicapping condition
				and the child's individual educational plan indicates that the child care
				placement is an appropriate educational setting.
3. A child with special circumstances is
				determined and identified through a written referral from the CP & P, DFD,
				CWA/BSS; legal, medical or social service agency; emergency shelter; or public
				school. The referral shall delineate the medical or social problem or adverse
				living condition of the family and specify that child care services are needed
				to help ameliorate the situation and/or prevent the placement of the child or
				other family member(s) outside of the family. Priority consideration for a
				child with special circumstances is limited to:
i. One parent/applicant is employed or
				attends class full-time and the other parent/co-applicant (or the applicant in
				a single parent family) shall provide full-time care for a child or dependent
				that is physically incapacitated or mentally challenged;
ii. A parent/applicant is a victim of
				domestic violence;
iii. One or both
				parents/applicants are adolescent parents not receiving TANF benefits, enrolled
				in school, employed, or participating in a job training program leading to
				employment on a full-time basis, and at risk of going on welfare; or
iv. Circumstances involving individuals who
				are not the birth parents, but who have voluntarily assumed responsibility for
				the care of a child or who have legal custody of a child and for whom child
				care services are needed. In these situations, one or more of the following
				conditions shall be met:
(1) The applicant(s)
				requesting subsidized child care on behalf of the child has voluntarily assumed
				responsibility for the care of a child or has legal custody and control of a
				child and has elected not to receive the CP & P foster care benefits for
				that dependent child or deemed not eligible for the same;
(2) Failure to obtain subsidized child care
				services will cause undue hardship to the family and the CP & P
				intervention and provision of a CP & P out-of-home maintenance payments may
				be required/requested for that dependent child;
(3) The dependent child and family of the
				caregiver meet the eligibility criteria for the TANF Program, excluding income,
				and because of income, TANF child care subsidy assistance has been denied
				because of the non-needy status of the caregiver;
(4) The income of the dependent child and
				family of the caregiver meet the income eligibility criteria for child care
				services. (See Appendix B, Client Income Eligibility and Co-Payment Schedule
				for Subsidized Child Care Assistance or Services.); or
(5) Child care subsidy assistance is needed
				because:
(A) The applicant/caregiver (or
				applicant and co-applicant in a two-parent family) works full-time, attends
				school full-time or participates in a job training program leading to
				employment on a full-time basis;
(B) One applicant/caregiver is employed
				full-time, attending school full-time, or participating in a job training
				program leading to employment on a full-time basis and the co-applicant is
				physically incapacitated or mentally challenged (or the applicant in a single
				parent family is physically incapacitated or mentally challenged) and because
				of the disability or handicap, is unable to care for the child or assistance is
				required;
(C) One
				applicant/caregiver is employed full-time, attending school full-time, or
				participating in a job training program leading to employment on a full-time
				basis and the co-applicant is responsible for the care of a dependent in the
				home who is physically incapacitated or mentally challenged and because of the
				disability or handicap of the dependent, is unable to care for the child or
				assistance is required;
(D) The
				applicant/caregiver (or applicant and co-applicant in a two-parent family) is
				over the age of 50 and is the relative caregiver for a drug exposed infant;
				or
(E) The applicant/caregiver (or
				applicant and co-applicant in a two-parent family) is over the age of 60 and
				the relative caregiver is unable or significantly limited in his or her ability
				to provide normal care or meet the developmental needs of the child.
4. For
				foster parents requesting subsidized child care services or service for their
				birth children, the foster children shall not be counted in the family size nor
				shall the maintenance payments made by the CP & P be considered part of the
				foster parents' income.