Effective Date of Rule: July 1, 2022.
Purpose: Establish a working connections and seasonal child care program infant rate enhancement of $90 per infant per month for providers who care for infants aged birth to 11 months.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: New WAC 110-15-0215; and amending WAC 110-15-0003, 110-15-0225, and 110-15-3770.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 22-09-019 on April 11, 2022.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 1, Amended 3, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: May 27, 2022.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Able" means being physically and mentally capable of caring for a child in a responsible manner.
"Administrative error" means an error made by DCYF through no fault of the consumer or provider.
"Approved activity" means an activity that a consumer is required to participate in at application and reapplication to be eligible to collect benefits.
"Authorization" means the transaction created by DCYF which allows the provider to claim payment during a certification period. The transaction may be adjusted based on the family need.
"Available" means being free to provide care when not participating in an approved activity under WAC 110-15-0040, 110-15-0045, or 110-15-0050 during the time child care is needed.
"Benefit" means a regular payment made by a government agency on behalf of a person eligible to receive it.
"Calendar year" means those dates between and including January 1st and December 31st.
"Capacity" means the maximum number of children the licensee is authorized to have in care at any given time.
"Collective bargaining agreement" or
"CBA" means the most recent agreement that has been negotiated and entered into between the exclusive bargaining representative for all licensed and license-exempt family child care providers as defined in chapter
41.56 RCW.
"Consumer" means the person eligible to receive:
(a) WCCC benefits as described in part II of this chapter; or
(b) SCC benefits as described in part III of this chapter.
"Copayment" means the amount of money the consumer is responsible to pay the child care provider each month toward the cost of child care, whether provided under a voucher or contract.
"Days" means calendar days unless otherwise specified.
"DCYF" means the department of children, youth, and families.
"DSHS" means the department of social and health services.
"Early achievers" means a program that improves the quality of early learning programs and supports and rewards providers for their participation.
"Electronic record" means a record generated, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means for use in an information system or for transmission from one information system to another.
"Electronic signature" means a signature in electronic form attached to or logically associated with an electronic record including, but not limited to, a digital signature, symbol, or process executed by a person with the intent to sign the record.
"Eligibility" means that a consumer has met all of the requirements of:
(a) Part II of this chapter to receive WCCC program subsidies; or
(b) Part III of this chapter to receive SCC program subsidies.
"Eligibility period" means the months for which households are eligible to receive WCCC or SCC program subsidies.
"Employment" or "work" means engaging in any legal, income generating activity that is taxable under the U.S. Tax Code or that would be taxable with or without a treaty between an Indian Nation and the U.S. This includes unsubsidized employment, as verified by DCYF, and subsidized employment, such as:
(a) Working in a federal or state paid work study program; or
(b) VISTA volunteers, AmeriCorps, JobCorps, and Washington Service Corps (WSC) if the income is taxed.
"Existing child care provider" means a licensed or certified provider who received a state subsidy payment between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016.
"Fraud" means an intentional deception or misrepresentation made by a person with the knowledge that the deception could result in some unauthorized benefits to themselves or another person. See RCW
74.04.004.
"Homeless" means homeless as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 without a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.
"In-home/relative provider" or "family, friends, and neighbors (FFN) provider" means an individual who is exempt from child care licensing standards and is approved for working connections child care (WCCC) payment under WAC 110-15-0125.
"In loco parentis" means the adult caring for an eligible child in the absence of the biological, adoptive, or step-parents, and who is not a relative, court-ordered guardian, or custodian, and is responsible for exercising day-to-day care and control of the child.
"Infant" means a child from birth to 11 months.
"Living in the household" means people who reside at the same physical address.
"Lump-sum payment" means a single payment that is not anticipated to continue.
"Newly eligible consumer" means a consumer that has at least one full calendar month break in benefit eligibility.
"Night shift" means employment for a minimum of six hours between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
"Nonschool age child" means a child who is six years of age or younger and is not enrolled in public or private school.
"Overpayment" means a payment or benefits received by a provider or consumer that exceeds the amount the provider or consumer is approved for or eligible to receive.
"Parental control" means a child is living with a biological or adoptive parent, stepparent, legal guardian verifiable by a legal or court document, adult sibling or step-sibling, nephew or niece, aunt, great-aunt, uncle, great-uncle, grandparent or great-grandparent, or an approved in loco parentis custodian responsible for exercising day-to-day care and control of the child.
"Preschool age child" means a child age 30 months through six years of age who is not attending kindergarten or elementary school.
"Private school" means a private school approved by the state under chapter
28A.195 RCW.
"Program violation" means a failure to adhere to program requirements, which results in an overpayment.
"Sanction" means deterrent action imposed by the department to address a program violation finding.
"SCC" means the seasonal child care program, which is a child care subsidy program described in part III of this chapter that assists eligible families who are seasonally employed in agriculturally related work outside of the consumer's home to pay for licensed or certified child care.
"School age child" means a child who is between five years of age through 12 years of age and who is attending public or private school or is receiving home-based instruction under chapter
28A.200 RCW.
"Seasonally available agricultural related work" means work that is directly related to the cultivation, production, harvesting, or processing of fruit trees or crops.
"Second tier eligibility" means an increased income limit for eligible families who reapply before the end of their current eligibility period.
"Self-employment" means engaging in a legal, income-generating activity earned directly from an individual's trade or business that is taxable under the U.S. Tax Code or that would be taxable with or without a treaty between an Indian Nation and the U.S.
"Sign" means placing a name or legal mark on a document by physically writing or using an electronic signature.
"State median income (SMI)" means an annual income figure representing the point at which there are as many families earning more than that amount as there are earning less than that amount. The Census Bureau publishes median family income figures for each state each year, depending on family size.
"TANF" means temporary assistance for needy families, a cash assistance program administered by DSHS.
"Technical assistance" means a strategy that is focused on the resolution of a specific concern or need. This may be in writing or by phone call.
"To the extent of available funds" means one or more of the following:
(a) Limited or closed enrollment;
(b) Subject to a priority list for new enrollees pursuant to applicable state and federal law and as described in WAC 110-15-2210; or
(c) Subject to a waiting list.
"Unintentional" means not done willfully or on purpose.
"Waiting list" means a list of applicants or reapplicants eligible to receive subsidy benefits when funding becomes available.
"WCCC" means the working connections child care program, a child care subsidy program described in part II of this chapter that assists eligible families to pay for child care.