M E M O R A N D U M

TO:                 EES Program Administrators

FROM:           Carla Whiteside-Hicks

DATE:           July 1, 2023

SUBJECT:    Implementation Instructions - KEESM Revision 111

This memo provides implementation instructions and information for the following July 1, 2023, policy changes in the Kansas Economic and Employment Services Manual (KEESM).

I.    Child Care

Failure to Cooperate - See Summary of Changes section I, a, 2.
Effective July 1, 2023, child care cases will no longer be closed due to non-cooperation with Child Support Service (CSS) prior to the end of the current eligibility period.  This change is necessary to bring Kansas into compliance with CCDF rules regarding 12-month eligibility. In addition, the rules around penalties for CSS for TANF and Child Care are being separated, and penalties will be handled separately according to each program’s rules.  For TANF, the KEES batch will continue to close those cases and apply the appropriate penalties.  For Child Care, any penalties will need to be applied manually, requiring staff to check for cooperation at the time of the review. With this change, penalties will only be applied to each program if that program was open at the time the non-cooperation incident occurred. Penalties apply to the mandatory filing unit if the non-cooperation was regarding the absent parent of a child who was receiving Child Care benefits at the time the non-cooperation occurred.

At the time of the child care eligibility review, EES staff will check for cooperation with CSS.  If the parent/caretaker is cooperating at that time, no penalty will be applied, even if there were instances of non-cooperation that occurred during the current eligibility period.  If the parent/caretaker is in non-cooperation status with CSS at the time of the eligibility review, the review application will be denied and a penalty will be applied.

For Child Care, the penalties for noncooperation with CSS will be as follows:

• The first time a penalty is applied to a Child Care case, the penalty will be a minimum 3 months of ineligibility and unless good cause is allowed, cooperation must be reestablished prior to the approval of further Child Care benefits.
• The second time a penalty is applied, the penalty will be for a minimum of 6 months of ineligibility and unless good cause is allowed, cooperation must be reestablished prior to the approval of further Child Care benefits.
• The third time a penalty is applied, the penalty will be for a minimum of 12 months of ineligibility and unless good cause is allowed, cooperation must be reestablished prior to the approval of further Child Care benefits.
• A 4th penalty will result in a 10 year period of ineligibility. 

If cooperation has been reestablished and Child Care is needed for an adult on the case to participate in either a TANF or Food Assistance work program, good cause will be allowed and Child Care may be approved during an existing period of ineligibility that has been established on a Child Care case. 

If an application for Child Care is received during an existing penalty period and the parent/caretaker has reestablished cooperation with CSS, the Child Care application may be approved if all other eligibility criteria are met and the household would be eligible to receive benefits in any month that begins within 12 months of the date of application.  However, benefits will not be issued for the months of the established penalty period.

Examples:

1. Mom is receiving TANF and Child Care for her 2 children.  The current eligibility period for the Child Care program is from January of 2023 through December of 2023.  Mom fails to cooperate with CSS without good cause for the first time, and the batch closes the TANF program effective July 31, 2023. They are ineligible for TANF for the period August 2023 through October 2023, and cooperation must be reestablished before they can again be determined eligible for TANF. The Child Care case remains open, and when it is reviewed in December of 2023 for eligibility beginning in January of 2024, the worker processing the review application checks and finds that Mom is currently cooperating with CSS. The review application is approved for the next 12 month eligibility period of January 2024 through December 2024. No penalty is applied since Mom is currently cooperating with CSS. This penalty would not be considered a tiered penalty. The “Child Support” non-compliance for CC should be removed.
   
   
2. Mom is receiving TANF for her 2 children. Mom fails to cooperate without good cause, and the batch closes the TANF program effective July 31, 2023. They are ineligible for TANF for the period August 2023 through October 2023, and cooperation must be reestablished before they can again be determined eligible for TANF.  Mom applies for child care on August 1, 2023.  Since Child Care was not open at the time the non-cooperation with CSS occurred, the penalty period that was applied to the TANF case does not apply to Child Care. However, Mom will need to reestablish cooperation with CSS before the child care application can be approved.  If she cooperates and meets all other eligibility criteria, her child care application will be approved with benefits beginning August 1, 2023. The Non-Compliance page in KEES will display a “Child Support” penalty for both the TANF and Child Care programs. The worker will need to review this page when processing the application and determine what programs were open when the “Child Support” penalty was received. If TANF or Child Care was not open, the Child Support Penalty for that program will need to be removed. If mom remains in non-cooperation, a “CSS Non-cooperation” non-compliance record should be added for the program that was not open when the non-compliance was received.
   
   
3. Mom is receiving Child Care for her 2 children. The current eligibility period for the Child Care program is from January of 2023 through December of 2023. Mom fails to cooperate without good cause in August of 2023. The Child Care case remains open, and when it is reviewed in December of 2023 for eligibility beginning in January of 2024, the worker processing the review application sees that Mom has not yet re-established cooperation.  A non-cooperation penalty is applied to this case, and the review application would be denied.  The first time penalty period is established for the period January 2024 through March 2024, and Mom will have to reestablish cooperation with CSS before she can be approved for any further child care assistance. Because the non-compliance record was automatically applied when it was first received from CSE in August of 2023, the worker will need to edit the existing non-compliance record and update the dates to represent the correct penalty period. A TANF “Child Support” non-compliance record would have been created at the same time. Since TANF was not open when the penalty was received, it should be removed and a “CSS Non-Cooperation” noncompliance record should be added.
   
   
4. Mom is receiving Child Care for her 2 children with a current eligibility period of January 2023 through December 2023.  In July, she fails to cooperate with CSS, and when her Child Care is reviewed in December, it is discovered that Mom has not reestablished cooperation with CSS. There were two previously applied penalties for non-cooperation with CSS, so this will be is the third time a penalty is being applied to her Child Care case.  The review is denied, and a third time penalty is set up for the period January 2024 through December 2024.  The penalty will be established automatically by a KEES batch process. The worker will need to update the penalty dates, at review, to correctly represent the penalty period. The TANF Child Support penalty should be removed, as mom was not receiving TANF at the time the penalty was received, and a “CSS Non-Cooperation” noncompliance record should be added.
   
   In February 2024, Mom loses her job and applies for TANF. She does reestablish cooperation with CSS before TANF is approved, and she is now assigned to participate in work programs.  In order to participate in work programs, she needs child care for her 2 children.  Even though there is a penalty in place at the time, since she has reestablished cooperation with CSS and needs the child care to be able to participate in work programs, good cause will be allowed and Child Care can be approved for this case. In order to process the child care program, the worker will need to change the Override End Date to the last day of the month prior to the benefit month being processed.
   
   
5. Mom is receiving Child Care for her two children while she works, with a current eligibility period of January 2023 through December 2023.  In July, she fails to cooperate with CSS, and has not reestablished cooperation by the time of her review in December.  According to Mom’s review application, her job is ending December 8th. She will be getting married at the end of the month and does not intend to look for work.  There have been no previous penalties applied to the Child Care case and she doesn’t need child care after December, so the review application is denied, a first time penalty is applied and the period of ineligibility for Child Care is January 2024 through March 2024. Mom will need to reestablish cooperation with CSS if she reapplies for Child Care Assistance later. The penalty will be established automatically by a KEES batch process. The worker will need to update the penalty dates to correctly represent the penalty period. The TANF Child Support penalty should be removed, as mom was not receiving TANF at the time the penalty was received, and a “CSS Non-Cooperation” noncompliance record should be added.
   
   
6. Same situation as example 5, but in February 2024 Mom reapplies for Child Care.  The marriage did not work out, she has gone back to work and needs child care while she works.  She still has not reestablished cooperation with CSS. This application will be denied due to the existing penalty period and continued non-cooperation with CSS. 
   
   
7. Same situation as example 6, except when Mom reapplies for Child Care in February 2024, she has reestablished cooperation with CSS. The existing penalty will not be over until the end of March 2024. If all other eligibility criteria are met, this application may be approved, but child care may not begin until April 1, 2024.