4400 - Assistance Planning for the Child Care Program

 

4410 Included Individuals - The focus of child care is the nuclear family. The nuclear family consists of the following individuals:

 

  1. An adult who resides with a child or children for whom that adult is the primary caretaker.
     

  2. Adults who are married to each other, including common-law spouses. (See 4120 (3).)
     

  3. Adults who are not married to each other but reside together as boyfriend/girlfriend, regardless of whether or not they have common children, if one of the adults is the primary caretaker of the child for whom assistance is requested.
     

  4. The minor biological and/or adopted children of the adults on the case who reside in the same household, as well as other children who reside in the household and for whom an adult on the case is the primary caretaker. Foster children are also included if child care is being requested for the foster parent's biological or adopted children. An 18-year-old child in the home who is still in high school will continue to be included in the assistance plan through the month in which he or she turns age 19. An unborn is not considered a child and is not part of the nuclear family or included in the household for family share deduction purposes.
     

  5. An adult who resides with and is the primary caretaker of a minor parent and his or her child. For the purpose of child care case structure, minors able to act in their own behalf are considered adults, not minors.

 

There may be only one Primary Applicant on a case. The Primary Applicant is normally the primary caretaker for any minors not able to act in their own behalf.

 

Legal guardianship or custody of these children is not required, but the Primary Applicant must be an adult or a minor able to act in their own behalf. In cases not involving legal guardianship or custody, if a biological or adoptive parent of a child for whom assistance is requested also resides in the home, that parent must be included in the nuclear family regardless of who claims to be the child’s caretaker, unless that parent is not physically or mentally capable of caring for the child (verified by a qualified professional), or is legally prohibited from caring for the child.

 

The composition of the nuclear family does not change when one or more of the members is temporarily absent from the household. Persons who meet the definition of temporarily absent in 2220 shall be considered when determining household composition.

 

4420 Exceptions to the Child Care Assistance Planning - "See Policy Memo # 05-07-03 re: "Clarification Between TANF & Financial Support from Provider to Out-of-home Relative Caretakers".

 

  1. When a minor teen parent needs child care to finish high school or obtain their GED, the minor's caretaker is designated the Primary Applicant for the case and the Primary Applicant, minor teen parent, other parent (biological or adoptive) of the teen parent’s child who also lives in the home and the teen's children are included on the case. If not a TANF household, the non-exempt income of the minor parent, other parent (biological or adoptive) of the teen parent’s child who also lives in the home and child is considered.
     

  2. When a child who is qualified for continuing SSI status (receiving SSI or not) is living with a parent-guardian-caretaker and only the SSI child needs child care, only the child's non-exempt income will be considered. If other children in the household need child care, all members of the nuclear family are included on the case and all family member income is considered. SSI is exempt income.

  3. For Foster Care Child Care cases, only the adults in the household and the foster children needing care are included on the case.