DCF 201.02 History
History: Cr.
Register, February, 1997, No. 494, eff. 3-1-97; r. (1), (8), (11), (13), (14), (15) and (16), am. (3), (4), (9), (10), and (17), cr. (15m), (16m), (20m), (23), and (24),
Register, November, 1999, No. 527, eff. 12-1-99; renum. (12), (15m), (16m) and (20m) to be (11), (15), (16), and (20), cr. (12) and (25), r. (14),
Register, January, 2001, No. 541, eff. 2-1-01;
CR 02-104: r. and recr. (3) and (15), am. (4), (11) to (13) and (21), renum. (7) and (20) to (25) to be (8) and (21) to (26), cr. (7), (14) and (20)
Register March 2003 No. 567, eff. 4-1-03; correction in (10) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats.,
Register March 2003 No. 567;
CR 04-123: r. (9)
Register July 2005 No. 595, eff. 8-1-05; correction in (11) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7. Stats.,
Register July 2008 No. 631; corrections in (8), (25) and (26) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6. and 7., Stats.,
Register November 2008 No. 635;
EmR1015: emerg. cr. (2m), am. (3) and (19), eff. 5-17-10;
CR 10-056: cr. (2m), am. (3) and (19)
Register September 2010 No. 657, eff. 10-1-10;
EmR1027: emerg. cr. (7g), (7r), eff. 7-9-10;
CR 10-086: cr. (7g), (7r)
Register December 2010 No. 660, eff. 1-1-11;
CR 10-148: am. (12), r. (21)
Register August 2011 No. 668, eff. 9-1-11.
DCF 201.03
DCF 201.03
Department of children and families powers and responsibilities. DCF 201.03(1)
(1)
General. The department shall maintain oversight responsibility for administration by child care administrative agencies of the child care funding program.
DCF 201.03(2)
(2) Rate approval. The department shall review and approve the methods employed by counties and tribes for determining child care rates as required under
ss. DCF 201.05 (3) and
201.06.
DCF 201.03(3)
(3) Assistance to child care administrative agencies. The department shall provide information and technical assistance to child care administrative agencies regarding administration of the child care funding program.
DCF 201.03(5)(a)(a) The department shall annually review child care rates set by each child care administrative agency and shall approve or disapprove each agency's rates based on the following criteria:
DCF 201.03(5)(a)2.
2. Whether the rate-setting method documents that the maximum allowable rates permit all eligible parents a reasonable choice of day care providers.
DCF 201.03(5)(b)
(b) The department may grant a variance to a nonstatutory requirement under
ss. DCF 201.04 to
201.06 on written request of a child care administrative agency if the department is convinced that an alternative means meets the intent of the requirement.
DCF 201.03 History
History: Cr.
Register, February, 1997, No. 494, eff. 3-1-97; r. (4), am. (3),
Register, November, 1999, No. 527, eff. 12-1-99; correction in (5) (b) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats.,
Register, November, 1999, No. 527; corrections in (title), (2), (5) (a) 1. and (b) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6. and 7., Stats.,
Register November 2008 No. 635;
EmR1015: emerg. am. (3), (5) (a) (intro.) and (b), eff. 5-17-10;
CR 10-056: am. (3), (5) (a) (intro.) and (b)
Register September 2010 No. 657, eff. 10-1-10.
DCF 201.04
DCF 201.04
Policies for child care services through the voucher system. DCF 201.04(1)(a)(a) A child care administrative agency may authorize payment for child care services provided by any of the following child care providers:
DCF 201.04(1)(a)2.
2. Providers certified by a certification agency under standards specified in
s. DCF 202.08 or
202.09. The child care administrative agency may authorize payment to providers who become certified from the date the certification application was received by the certification agency.
DCF 201.04(1)(b)
(b) A child care administrative agency may authorize payment for services from other than a child care provider under
par. (a) only if at least one of the following conditions is met:
DCF 201.04(1)(b)1.
1. The care is an arrangement for parents in training, orientation or counseling programs and the child care is provided at the training, orientation or counseling site.
DCF 201.04(1)(b)2.
2. The care is a short-term arrangement when a child is ill and not able to receive care from a child care provider under
s. DCF 201.02 (6) or the provider has an emergency due to illness or other circumstance.
DCF 201.04(1)(b)3.
3. The care permits a Wisconsin works applicant to participate in job search, training or orientation under s.
49.147 (2) (a), Stats., prior to the development of an employability plan.
DCF 201.04(1)(b)4.
4. The care is for a food stamp employment and training program enrollee to attend a program activity prior to the development of an employability plan.
DCF 201.04(1)(c)
(c) A child care administrative agency may not authorize payment to a person legally responsible for a child under s.
49.90, Stats., for child care services.
DCF 201.04(1)(e)
(e) A certified in-home care arrangement may be authorized by a child care administrative agency for reimbursement only in one of the following circumstances:
DCF 201.04(1)(e)2.
2. Licensed or certified care is not available during the times care is needed, such as during evening hours.
DCF 201.04(1)(e)4.
4. Licensed or certified care is not available within a reasonable geographic distance.
DCF 201.04(2)(a)1.1. A child care administrative agency shall provide vouchers to eligible parents, as follows:
DCF 201.04(2)(a)1.a.
a. A child care administrative agency shall offer a voucher to each eligible parent to the extent that funds are available.
DCF 201.04(2)(a)1.b.
b. A voucher shall be in writing and shall authorize a parent to obtain child care services stipulated in that voucher from a provider under
sub. (1).
DCF 201.04(2)(a)1.c.
c. The voucher shall set a maximum amount of authorized payment that is the lesser of the provider price and the county or tribal maximum rate, minus any co-payment that the parent is required to make.
DCF 201.04(2)(a)2.
2. Parents using vouchers for the payment of child care services may receive child care services from a provider whose child care price is higher than the county or tribal maximum rate and pay the difference between the provider's child care price and the county or tribal maximum rate in addition to any required parents' co-payment.
DCF 201.04(2)(c)
(c) If a child care administrative agency authorizes payment for child care services by means of a voucher issued to the parents or by contract with a provider, billing and collection of any parent co-payment requirement is the responsibility of the provider.
DCF 201.04(2)(i)
(i) The department may issue all payments by electronic funds transfer.
DCF 201.04(2g)(a)(a) A child care administrative agency shall authorize payment to child care providers as follows:
DCF 201.04(2g)(a)1.
1. For licensed group and family day care centers, the agency shall authorize payment based on authorized units of service, except in the following circumstances.
DCF 201.04(2g)(a)1.a.
a. The agency may authorize payment to licensed providers based on units of service used by each child, up to the maximum number of authorized units, with the reimbursement rate increased by 10% to account for absent days, if the schedule of child care to be used is expected to vary widely.
DCF 201.04(2g)(a)1.b.
b. The agency may authorize payment to licensed providers based on units of service used by each child, up to the maximum number of authorized units, if the agency has documented 3 separate occasions where the provider significantly overreported the attendance of a child.
DCF 201.04(2g)(a)2.
2. For certified providers, the agency shall authorize payment for units of service used by each child, up to the maximum number of authorized units, except as provided in
par. (h).
DCF 201.04(2g)(b)1.1. Except as provided in
subd. 2., the child care administrative agency shall authorize no more than 12 hours of child care per day per child.
DCF 201.04(2g)(b)2.
2. The child care administrative agency may authorize more than 12 hours, not exceeding 16 hours, of child care per day for a child whose parent provides written documentation of work or transportation requirements that exceed 12 hours in a day.
DCF 201.04(2g)(b)3.
3. If the authorized hours of child care per day for a child will be reduced from more than 12 to 12 or fewer because the child's parent does not provide the written documentation required under
subd. 2., the child care administrative agency shall provide to the child's parent who is receiving the subsidy under s.
49.155, Stats., and to the child's child care provider 4 weeks' notice of the reduction in authorized hours before actually reducing the child's authorized hours.
DCF 201.04(2g)(c)1.1. If reimbursement to a child care provider is based on weekly authorized hours of child care, the department shall do all of the following with respect to establishing and adjusting the number of authorized hours per child:
DCF 201.04(2g)(c)1.a.
a. The department shall track a child's weekly usage of child care authorizations over a 6-week period.
DCF 201.04(2g)(c)1.b.
b. If the child's weekly usage tracked under
subd. 1. a. is less than 60 percent of the authorized hours of child care, the department shall reduce the authorized hours of child care for the child to 90 percent of the maximum number of hours of child care that the child attended during any week of that 6-week period.
DCF 201.04(2g)(c)1.c.
c. The department shall provide written notice of the adjustment under
subd. 1. b. to the child's parent who is receiving the subsidy under this section, the child's child care provider, and the applicable child care administrative agency.
DCF 201.04(2g)(c)1.d.
d. The department shall provide a grace period of 2 weeks after the number of authorized hours are reduced under
subd. 1. b., during which time the child care subsidy amount paid to the child care provider for the child shall remain the same as before the reduction in authorized hours was made.
DCF 201.04(2g)(c)2.
2. The department shall exclude from a child's hourly usage calculation under
subd. 1. b., all of the following:
DCF 201.04(2g)(c)2.c.
c. Two weeks per year of vacation time for the child's parent who is receiving the subsidy under s.
49.155, Stats., with the child.
DCF 201.04(2g)(c)2.d.
d. Weeks for which the child care administrative agency approved payment to a provider to hold a slot during a parent's temporary break in employment under
par. (h).
DCF 201.04(2g)(d)
(d) A child care administrative agency may authorize payment for child care services to a 2 parent family only if both parents are participating in an approved activity as defined in s.
49.155 (1m) (a), Stats., or if one parent is participating in an approved activity and the other parent is unable to care for the child due to a disability or health condition as verified by a doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist.
DCF 201.04(2g)(e)
(e) The child care administrative agency may refuse to authorize payment for child care services to a licensed provider if the provider refuses to submit documentation of the provider's child care prices in response to an agency request.
DCF 201.04(2g)(f)
(f) The child care administrative agency may refuse to authorize payment on a provider's attendance report that is submitted more than 3 months after the attendance report was issued.
DCF 201.04(2g)(g)
(g) The child care administrative agency may limit the number of children that may be authorized to a certified or licensed family day care provider, who is not an in-home provider, for a particular time period, unless the provider can show that he or she will not exceed the applicable group size limitation.
DCF 201.04(2g)(h)
(h) The child care administrative agency may authorize payment to a licensed or certified provider to hold a slot for a child if the parent has a temporary break in employment and intends to return to work and continue to use the child care provider upon return to work. The agency may authorize payment for no more than 6 weeks if the absence is due to a medical reason and is documented by a physician or for no more than 4 weeks if the absence is for other reasons. The department and child care administrative agency may not consider payment for a temporary absence to be an overpayment if the parent intended to return to work but does not actually return.
DCF 201.04(2m)
(2m) Reporting change in eligibility. A parent shall report any change in circumstances that may affect his or her eligibility to the child care administrative agency within 10 days after the change.
DCF 201.04(3)
(3) Eligibility redetermination. A child care administrative agency shall redetermine parent need for service and eligibility at all of the following times:
DCF 201.04(3)(a)
(a) In a timely manner following receipt of a parent's report of a change in circumstances affecting his or her eligibility.
DCF 201.04(4)
(4) Parental choice. Parents may choose the particular child care provider for their child, except that parents may use in-home day care only if one of the criteria under
sub. (1) (e) is met.
DCF 201.04(5)(a)1.1. A child care administrative agency or the department shall take all reasonable steps necessary to recover from a parent funds paid to a child care provider or to that parent when the parent was not eligible for that level of child care benefit and the overpayment benefited the parent by causing the parent to pay less for child care expenses than the parent otherwise would have been required to pay under child care assistance program requirements, regardless of whether the overpayment was the result of administrative error, client error, or intentional program violation.
Section DCF 101.23 shall apply to overpayment collection from a parent under this section.
DCF 201.04(5)(a)2.
2. An overpayment shall include excess child care funds paid when there was a change in family eligibility circumstances that was significant enough that it would have resulted in a smaller child care benefit or ineligibility for a child care benefit due to any reason, including the following:
DCF 201.04(5)(a)2.a.
a. The parent failed to report a change in circumstances that may affect his or her eligibility within 10 days after the change.
DCF 201.04(5)(a)3.
3. The child care worker shall determine good cause under
subd. 2. b. if the approved activity is unsubsidized employment. A parent's absence from unsubsidized employment shall be considered good cause if the parent is using employer-approved sick time, personal time, or vacation time and the child is in care for no more than the hours authorized.
DCF 201.04(5)(b)
(b) Provider overpayments. A child care administrative agency or the department shall take all reasonable steps necessary to recoup or recover from a provider any overpayments made for child care services for which the provider was responsible or overpayments caused by administrative error that benefited the provider. A provider shall be responsible for an overpayment if any of the following conditions are met:
DCF 201.04(5)(b)1.
1. A provider received reimbursement based on attendance records that indicate more hours than a child actually attended. If attended hours were misrepresented by the provider, the provider is responsible for an overpayment of the difference between the reimbursed hours and the actual hours of attendance regardless of the type of authorization under
s. DCF 201.04 (2g) (a).
DCF 201.04(5)(b)2.
2. A provider received reimbursement for care provided at a location other than the location for which the authorization for care was issued, except for field trips.
DCF 201.04(5)(b)3.
3. A provider received reimbursement made for care during time when the provider was in violation of the applicable provision regarding limits on the maximum number of children in care or the required provider-to-child ratios for children of various ages in
s. DCF 202.08 (6),
250.05 (4),
251.05 (4), or
252.42 (3).
DCF 201.04(5)(b)4.
4. A provider received reimbursement for care during time when the provider was in violation of the terms of the provider's license under
s. DCF 250.04 (1),
251.04 (1), or
252.05 (3), including age of the children served by the center and hours, days, and months of operation of the center.
DCF 201.04(5)(b)5.
5. A provider benefited by receiving more child care reimbursement than otherwise would have been paid on the family's behalf under child care assistance program requirements, the parent is not responsible for the overpayment under
par. (a), and the reimbursement did not benefit the parent by causing the parent to pay less for child care expenses than the family otherwise would have been required to pay under child care assistance program requirements.
DCF 201.04(5)(bm)
(bm) Joint liability. A provider and parent shall be jointly and severally liable for an overpayment if the provider and parent collude to violate a requirement under this chapter or s.
49.155, Stats.
DCF 201.04(5)(c)
(c)
Penalties for subsidy violations. If a child care provider submits false, misleading, or irregular information to a child care administrative agency or the department or if a child care provider fails to comply with the terms of the program in s.
49.155, Stats., or this chapter and the provider fails to provide to the satisfaction of the department an explanation for the noncompliance, the child care administrative agency or department may take one or more of the following steps:
DCF 201.04(5)(c)1.
1. Refuse to issue new child care authorizations to a provider for a period of time not to exceed 6 months.
