Background:

These rules contain changes as a result of Section 263.20 (TEMP) of Amended Substitute House Bill 64 of the 131st General Assembly and the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014. Section 263.20 (TEMP) requires that the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) establish an aligned application process for publicly funded child care (PFCC) and the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program.

The CCDBG Act of 2014 requires that families with more than one million dollars in assets not be eligible for PFCC.

The following rules and forms will be effective June 26, 2016:

Rule 5101:2-16-07 "County agency responsibilities for the administration of publicly funded child care" has been amended to update the revision date of the JFS 01138 "Application for Child Care Benefits;" and to include the JFS 01121 "Early Childhood Education Eligibility Screening Tool" and the JFS 01122 "Publicly Funded Child Care Supplemental Application" as ways to apply for child care benefits.

Rule 5101:2-16-30 "Eligibility requirements for receipt of publicly funded child care benefits" has been amended to update the revision date of the JFS 01138; to include the JFS 01121 and the JFS 01122 as alternate ways to apply for child care benefits; and to add the requirement that families with more than 1 million dollars in assets are not eligible for PFCC.

Rule 5101:2-16-34 "Income eligibility requirements for publicly funded child care benefits" has been amended to update the revision date of the JFS 01138 and to include the JFS 01121 and the JFS 01122 as ways to apply for child care benefits.

Rule 5101:2-16-35 "County agency responsibilities for determining eligibility for publicly funded child care" has been amended to update the revision date of the JFS 01138; and to include the JFS 01121 and the JFS 01122 as ways to apply for child care benefits.

Rule 5101:2-16-35.1 "Caretaker eligibility requirements to qualify for publicly funded child care benefits" has been amended to update the revision date of the JFS 01138; and to include the JFS 01121 and the JFS 01122 as ways to apply for child care benefits.

Rule 5101:2-16-36 "County agency responsibility for annual redetermination of eligibility for publicly funded child care" has been amended to update the revision date of the JFS 01124 "Redetermination Application for Child Care Benefits."

Rule 5101:2-16-37 "Caretaker requirements for annual redetermination of eligibility for publicly funded child care" has been amended to update the revision date of the JFS 01124.

Rule 5101:2-16-41 "Payment rates and procedures for providers of publicly funded child care" has been amended to remove specific accreditating bodies providers may use to get an increase in payments; to add that all accrediting bodies will be approved by ODJFS; and to adjust the Step Up To Quality payment enhancements. Language has been added to prohibit payment for child care services during the hours a child is in care in another funded program. A list of approved accrediting bodies will be available at https://jfs.ohio.gov/cdc/childcare.stm

Appendix A "Payment rates for providers of publicly funded child care" has been amended to combine payment categories A, B, C and D into one category; and to remove limited agency inspected Type B homes and limited parent/provider inspected Type B homes, as those program types were eliminated on January 1, 2014.

JFS 01121 "Early Childhood Education Eligibility Screening Tool" has been developed as a joint application for ECE and PFCC benefits.

JFS 01122 "Publicly Funded Child Care Supplemental Application" has been developed to supplement the JFS 01121 for publicly funded child care applications.

JFS 01138 "Application for Child Care Benefits" has been revised to add the requirement that families with more than one million dollars in assets are not eligible for PFCC.

JFS 01124 "Re-determination Application for Child Care Benefits" has been revised to add the requirement that families with more than one million dollars in assets are not eligible for PFCC.

Implementation:

The new version of the JFS 01138 (rev.6/2016) or both the JFS 01121 and the JFS 01122 shall be completed by caretakers applying for publicly funded child care benefits on or after the date of this letter. Either version of the JFS 01138 (2/2015 or 6/2016) shall be accepted until Sept. 30, 2016.

County agencies shall deny any applicant who reports over one million dollars in assets. The new question shall be asked for all initial applications and at redetermination of eligibility for all caretakers.