M E M O R A N D U M

TO: EES Program Administrators

FROM: Sandra Kimmons

DATE: 10/19/18

SUBJECT: Implementation Instructions - KEESM Revision #90

This memo provides implementation instructions and information for the following November 1, 2018 policy changes in the Kansas Economic and Employment Services Manual (KEESM).

1. Child Care

    

   1.  The Child Care Plan         

    

   1.  Effective November 1, 2018, changes are being made to the amount child care subsidy can pay for a child’s enrollment fee.
      
      
      1. The maximum annual amount payable for enrollment fee is increased to $50 per child per case.  The rolling 12-month period is now based on the individual child instead of the family, and if the child moves from one household to another, it will not follow a child from case to case. If benefits for an enrollment fee are paid, a new 12-month period would start on the new household’s case.
         
         
      2. There is no longer an annual family maximum that can be paid for child care enrollment fees.
         
         For implementation, effective November 1, 2018 all requests for payment of an enrollment fee will start a new rolling 12-month period, even if the family received benefits for enrollment fees within the last 12 months. The family plan will need to be overridden to issue the benefits for enrollment fees. Issuance of benefits for enrollment fees will need to be documented in the electronic file. When a request for enrollment fees is received, EES staff will have to check documentation in the electronic file to ensure that the family is eligible to receive benefits for the enrollment fees, as KEES will not track this.
         
      
      
   2. Effective November 1, 2018, DCF is adjusting child care maximum provider rates for child care recipients to an average of the 65^th percentile based on the most recent analysis of the market in Kansas.  With this adjustment, four counties (Jefferson, Geary, Ellis, and Shawnee) moved from group 3 to group 2. All other counties remain in the same group.  This rate adjustment will increase the maximum allowable rates for most of the provider rate categories in the state, including relative providers. For most of the families affected, the change will be automated and will be seen in their November 2018 benefits. However, cases that are not picked up by the batch, like cases with an overridden family plan, will not be automatically adjusted, and will be adjusted at the next case change or review.

            Examples:

The following examples illustrate these changes:

1.  Samantha applies for child care assistance for her 3 preschool age children on October 15th.  She will be starting a new job, and the child care provider she has selected charges a $50 enrollment fee for each child.  The child care application is approved for October through the next September, and $150 in enrollment fees are included in the plan.  The 12-month period for the enrollment fee is from October through the next September for all three of these children. 


2. Same example as #1, except the child care provider’s enrollment fee is $75 per child.  The maximum amount for enrollment fees is $50 per case per child.  Here again, the child care application is approved for October through the next September and $150 in enrollment fees are included in the plan, with the 12-month period running from October through the next September.


3. Continuing with Samantha’s situation above, where the enrollment fee was already issued. In December, Samantha notifies the agency that she is changing child care providers the first of January.  The new provider charges a $25 enrollment fee per child, and Samantha asks for assistance with this. In this instance, payment of the enrollment fee would be denied, as an enrollment fee of $50 per child was already paid in October, and it has not been a year since that payment.


4. Same situation as example #3, except that the provider at initial application only charged a $15 enrollment fee per child, so a total of $45 was issued for enrollment fees. When Samantha reports that she will change providers in January, and requests assistance with the $25 per child enrollment fees, EES staff are able to approve the new enrollment fees, since only $15 of the maximum $50 per child had been issued in the year.


5. Chris has an ongoing child care case for her two children, and in May of 2018 she received the $25 family maximum allowed by policy at that time to assist with enrollment fees.  She reports that she will change child care providers in December of 2018, and requests assistance with the $75 per child enrollment fee charged by the new provider.  EES will authorize a total of $100 ($50 per case per child) to help with this enrollment fee, with the 12-month period running from December through the following November for each of the two children.  This is because we are starting a new rolling 12-month period with the first payment of an enrollment fee made after November 1, 2018. 


6. Abby is employed full time and applies for child care for her 6-month-old child in December 2018.  She has requested assistance with the $50 enrollment fee that her provider charges.  Her child care application is approved with an eligibility period running from December 2018 through November 2019, and a $50 benefit is issued to cover that enrollment fee.  The 12-month period for the enrollment fee for the six-month-old is from December of 2018 through November of 2019.  In March of 2019, Abby reports that her 8-year-old son who had been living with his father is now living with her, and she needs child care for him before and after school.  She will be using the same provider for the 8-year-old, and requests assistance with the $50 enrollment fee for that child.  The 8-year-old is added to the child care case, and a $50 benefit is included for March. The 12-month period for the enrollment fee for the 8-year-old is from March of 2019 through February of 2020.
   
   
7. In example #6 above, when Abby’s 8-year-old enters the household, he had been receiving child care assistance on his father’s case earlier in the year, and benefits to cover an enrollment fee were issued on his father’s case in January of 2019.  When the child is added to Abby’s case in March of 2019, we would be able to issue benefits to Abby to cover the enrollment fee for the 8-year-old, even though it has not been a year since the enrollment fee was paid on his father’s case. The 12-month period for the 8-year-old’s enrollment fee on this case runs from March of 2019 through February of 2020.