M E M O R A N D U M

TO: EES Program Administrators

FROM: Sandra Kimmons

DATE: October 8, 2021

SUBJECT: Implementation Instructions - KEESM Revision 104 Child Care- Re-Issued from KEESM Revision 10/21 Implementation Memo

In late August 2021 staff were notified of changes in the initial eligibility period and review dates for child care approvals beginning October 1, 2021. An implementation memo was issued on August 27, 2021 instructing staff on how the initial eligibility periods and review dates would be determined.

Staff had also been advised that the KEES system related changes that would determine and set the correct initial eligibility periods and review dates would occur the weekend of October 16th and staff would begin seeing that starting with child care cases approved after that date. However, due to the delay in the KEES release announced on October 7, 2021, that will not occur as originally scheduled. Based on that announcement, the system change in KEES will occur the weekend of October 30, 2021 and staff will begin to see those correct initial eligibility periods and review dates with child care approvals that occur after that date. The implementation instructions are being updated and reissued to reflect the new updated schedule in KEES. This does not change anything EES field staff will do in processing initial approvals, but they need to be aware of this delay.

This memo provides implementation instructions and information for the following October 1, 2021, policy changes in the Kansas Economic and Employment Services Manual (KEESM).

1. CHILD CARE
   
   
   1. Duration of Child Care Plans – See Summary of Changes section I, A, 1. Effective October 1, 2021, when approving initial eligibility periods for child care, the 12 full month eligibility period starts the 1st day of the month following the month that benefits are authorized or the first month for which benefits are authorized, whichever is later. This is true even if benefits are approved for the month of application, but not processed/approved until a subsequent month. The examples shown below illustrate this new policy.
      
      EES staff will continue to write plans as they do today. Staff will see that KEES will not be setting the correct plan end date and review date in accordance with this new policy during the period from October 1st through October 29th. Staff do not need to do anything to change these cases from October 1st through the 29th. The weekend of October 30th, KEES will be updated, and all plans written after that update will be set with the correct plan end date and review date. A report will be generated listing all child care plans that were written from October 1 until the KEES update, and the Foster Care Child Care unit will handle the clean up to extend those child care plans and reviews to the correct date.
      

   Examples:

   1. An application for child care is received on August 25, 2021. On September 1, 2021, the application is approved with benefits to begin as of the application date in August. The 12 month period would start October 1, 2021 and even though benefits are authorized for August and September, the plan would run through September of 2022. The review date would be set for September 2022.
      
      
   2. An application of child care is received on August 25, 2021, and is approved that same day for benefits to begin as of the date of application. The 12-month period would start September 1, 2021, and would run through August of 2022. The review would be set for August of 2022.
      
      
   3. An application for child care is received on August 25, 2021, but the family doesn’t need child care to start until October 1, 2021. The application is approved that same day with benefits to begin on October 1. The 12-month period for this case would start October 1 and run through September of 2022. The review date would be set for September 2022.