WSR 97-22-048

EMERGENCY RULES

DEPARTMENT OF

SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

(Children's Administration)

(Public Assistance)

[Filed October 31, 1997, 3:55 p.m., effective November 1, 1997]

Date of Adoption: October 30, 1997.

Purpose: To amend rules regarding eligibility and copayments for child care under WAC 388-15-170 so they are consistent with chapter 388-290 WAC, Subsidized child care, which will be in effect on November 1, 1997.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-15-170.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.12.340.

Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.

Reasons for this Finding: The WorkFirst program created an integrated child care subsidy program which included the employment child care program. The new program, working connections child care, will begin on November 1, 1997. Rules regarding eligibility and copayments for the employment child care program will be covered in chapter 388-290 WAC starting November 1, 1997. WAC 388-15-170 needs immediate revision to be consistent with chapter 388-290 WAC.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, amended 1, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Effective Date of Rule: November 1, 1997.

October 30, 1997

Merry A. Kogut, Manager

Rules and Policies Assistance Unit

AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 93-10-021, filed 4/28/93, effective 5/29/93)

WAC 388-15-170 General and seasonal child day care services. (1) The department may approve child day care funding to facilitate care, protection, and related services for a child twelve years of age or younger. The department may approve special needs child care for a child nineteen years of age or younger who is physically ((or)) , mentally, or emotionally incapable of ((caring for himself or herself,)) self care as verified by ((the state, supported by medical documentation)) a licensed medical practitioner, or masters level or above mental health professional.

(2) The department shall only fund child ((day)) care during the portion of the twenty-four-hour day when neither of the child's parents or guardians are able to provide necessary care and supervision. The department may authorize child day care services ((for the following reasons)) for child welfare purposes as follows:

(a) ((Parents, or parent in a single-parent household, are employed and are not aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) grant recipients;

(b) Parents, or parent in a single-parent household, are employed and receiving AFDC;

(c) Parents, or parent in a single-parent household, are receiving AFDC and are enrolled in job opportunity and basic skills (JOBS);

(d))) School-aged parent is enrolled in an approved secondary education or GED program;

(((e))) or

(b) Parent and/or child are in need of treatment or support as part of a child protective or child welfare services case plan. Such services may include, but are not limited to, those provided by a professional child welfare or educational agency((; or

(f) The child is receiving an AFDC grant and lives with a nonresponsible relative who is not receiving an AFDC grant and is employed.

(3) The department shall limit goals for general child day care services as specified under WAC 388-15-010 (1)(a), (d), (e), and (2).

(4))).

(3) If funding is available the department may purchase child ((day)) care, except for seasonal farmworker child care, ((within available funds)) for ((families)):

(a) Families with ((gross)) monthly income equal to or below ((thirty-eight) seventy-four percent of the ((state median income adjusted for family size (SMIAFS. These families))) Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The family shall pay the provider a ((minimum)) ten dollar monthly co-payment toward the cost of child ((day)) care;

(b) Families with ((gross)) monthly income above ((thirty-eight)) seventy-four percent and at or below ((fifty-two)) one hundred percent of the ((SMIAFS)) FPL. The family shall pay to the child ((day)) care provider ((part of the family's gross monthly income above the thirty-eight percent SMIAFS)) twenty dollars toward the cost of child ((day)) care; ((and))

(c) Families with income above one hundred percent of FPL. The family shall pay to the child care provider either twenty dollars or forty-seven percent of their income exceeding one hundred percent of FPL, whichever is greater; or

(d) A family in need of child ((day)) care as an integral part of a child protective or child welfare service plan. The department shall provide such service without regard to family income up to ((seventy-five)) eighty-five percent of the state median income (SMIAFS).

(((5))) (4) If funding is available the department may purchase seasonal child ((day)) care ((within available funds)) for children who are members of family units residing in Washington state where:

(a) Both parents, or the single parent (in the case of the one-parent family), are currently employed or seeking work in agriculturally related work;

(b) Fifty percent or more of the family's annual income is derived from agriculturally related work;

(c) In a two-parent household, the primary wage earner has more than one agricultural employer per year;

(d) In a one-parent household, the single parent has more than one agricultural employer per year;

(((d))) (e) Family ((gross)) income for the past twelve months:

(i) Does not exceed ((thirty-eight)) seventy-four percent of ((the state median income adjusted for family size (SMIAFS))) FPL. The family shall pay the provider a minimum monthly co-payment of ten dollars per month toward the cost of child day care((. The family with gross income)); or

(ii) Is above ((thirty-eight)) seventy-four percent and at or below ((fifty-two)) one hundred percent of the ((SMIAFS)) FPL. The family shall pay the child ((day)) care provider ((fifty percent of the family's average gross monthly income above the thirty-eight percent SMIAFS)) twenty dollars per month toward the cost of child ((day)) care; ((and

(e))) or

(iii) Is above one hundred percent of FPL. The family shall pay the child care provider the greater of twenty dollars or forty-seven percent of their income exceeding one hundred percent of FPL.

(f) Failure of parents to meet the requirements of (b) and (e) of this subsection (((5)(b) and (d) of this section)) due to status within the past year as an AFDC recipient shall not result in ineligibility for seasonal child care.

(((6) The department shall establish waiting lists, if necessary, to ensure child day care services, under WAC 388-15-170, are provided within legislatively appropriated funds.

(7))) (5) The department shall consider exempt in-home care ((or relative, relative's home care as the care and supervision)) of a child:

(a) By a relative in the child's own home or a relative's home; or

(b) In the child's own home with an unrelated person.

(((8))) (6) When the parent or guardian chooses exempt in-home care ((or relative, relative's home care,)) the parent or guardian shall make the following assurances:

(a) The exempt in-home caretaker shall meet the following minimum qualifications:

(i) Be eighteen years of age or older;

(ii) ((Be free of communicable disease;

(iii))) Be of sufficient physical, emotional, and mental health to meet the needs of the child in care. Subject to the discretion of the social worker, the parent or guardian shall provide written evidence to the department that the caretaker of the parent's or guardian's choice is in sufficient physical, emotional, and mental health to be a safe caretaker;

(((iv))) (iii) Be able to work with the child without using corporal punishment or psychological abuse;

(((v))) (iv) Be able to accept and follow instructions;

(((vi))) (v) Be able to maintain personal cleanliness;

(((vii))) (vi) Be prompt and regular in job attendance; and

(((viii))) (vii) Meet the department's exempt in-home caretaker registration requirement. Parents or guardians are required to provide the caretaker's name and address to the department. This registration is done at the time child care is authorized.

(b) The exempt in-home caretaker's primary function while on duty is that of child caretaker. The exempt in-home caretaker shall have the following responsibilities:

(i) Provide constant care and supervision of the child for whom the caretaker is responsible throughout the time the caretaker is on duty in accordance with the needs of the child; and

(ii) Provide developmentally appropriate activities for the child under the caretaker's care.

(c) The child is current on the immunization schedule as described in the National Immunization Guidelines, developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices;

(d) The parent's or guardian's home or the relative's home is safe for the care of the child; and

(e) The exempt in-home or relative caretaker is informed about basic health practices, prevention, and control of infectious disease, immunizations, and building and physical premises safety relevant to the care of the child.

The parent or guardian shall make assurances described under subsection (((8))) (6) of this section at the time child care is authorized. The child care authorizing worker shall provide the parent or guardian with information about basic health practices, prevention, and control of infectious disease, immunizations, and building and physical premises safety relevant to the care of the child.

(((9))) (7) Payment standards for exempt in-home child ((day)) care. The department shall establish maximum child care rates taking into consideration prevailing community rates.

(a) When the parent or guardian chooses exempt in-home care or relative((, relative's home)) care, the parent or guardian shall receive payment ((for)) towards the cost of child ((day)) care and shall pay the caretaker according to the amount specified in the approved child care plan.

(b) The exempt in-home, or relative((, relative's home)) caretaker shall sign a receipt at the time payment is received. The parent must retain the payment receipt for review by the authorizing worker at the time of the next eligibility determination.

(c) ((If total payments to an in-home provider are fifty dollars or more in any one quarter, the department shall add the employer's share of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax to the amount authorized for in-home care)) The department shall pay the employer's share of Social Security taxes and withhold the employee's share from all payments up to the wage base limit. The department will also pay the employer's share of Medicare taxes and withhold the employee's share of all payments. The department will refund all Social Security and Medicare taxes to the exempt in-home provider paid less than one thousand dollars per family in a calendar year.

(d) The department shall pay the employer's Federal Unemployment Taxes (FUTA) and, when applicable, State Unemployment Taxes (SUTS).

(e) Payment for child ((day)) care by relative. The department shall not allow payment for child care services by the following relatives: Father, mother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, or stepsister, except for adult siblings residing outside the child's home.