(A)"Absent day" means any day that a child is authorized and scheduled to be in the care of the provider, but is not in attendance, and child care would have been provided had the child been present with the provider.

(B)"Adult" means an individual who is age eighteen or older.

(C)"Authorization" means the hours that a county agency determines that a child may receive publicly funded child care from an eligible provider chosen by the caretaker. The authorization shall be reasonably related to the number of hours of the caretaker's qualifying activities.

(D)"Back swipe period" means the time period that includes the current week of service plus the previous two weeks.

(E)"Border state child care provider" means a child care provider who is licensed, certified, or otherwise approved by the border state to provide child care services. A border state child care provider may provide publicly funded child care only to a recipient who resides in an Ohio county.

(F)"Caretaker" means the father or mother of a child, an adult who has legal custody of a child, an adult who is the guardian of a child, or an adult who stands in loco parentis, as defined in this rule, with respect to a child and whose presence in the home is needed as the caretaker of the child. Caretaker has the same meaning as "caretaker parent" as defined in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code.

(G)"Child" means an infant, toddler, preschool child, or school child up to age eighteen.

(H)"Child care" per section 5104.01 of the Revised Code means all of the following:

(1)Administering to the needs of infants, toddlers, preschool-age children and school-age children outside of school hours;

(2)By persons other than their parents, guardians, or custodians;

(3)For any part of the twenty-four-hour day; and

(4)In a place other than a child's own home, except that an in-home aide provides child care in the child's own home.

(I)"Eligibility period" means a period of at least twelve months that a family is determined eligible for publicly funded child care benefits, or the period until the family no longer meets eligibility requirements or requests termination. The family's eligibility period shall end on the first Saturday after three hundred sixty-five days from the eligibility begin datethe last day of the twelfth month of eligibility unless the last day of the month is a Saturday.

(J)"Eligible provider" means a child care provider who is eligible to receive public funds in accordance with Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code, has completed the provider agreement with the Ohio department of job and family services (ODJFS) and has entered all required information in the provider portal. An eligible provider includes all of the following:

(1)A licensed child care center.

(2)A licensed type A child care home.

(3)A licensed type B child care home.

(4)A certified in-home aide.

(5)A licensed school child care center.

(6)A licensed preschool program.

(7)A licensed school child program.

(8)An approved child day camp as defined in rule 5101:2-18-01 of the Administrative Code.

(K)"Head Start program" means a comprehensive child development program that receives federal funds distributed under the "Head Start Act" 95 Stat. 499 (1981) which includes early head start.

(L)"Income" means gross income, as defined in rule 5101:2-16-34 of the Administrative Code.

(M)"Infant" means a child under eighteen months of age.

(N)"In loco parentis" means an adult who is the caretaker of a child, including a relative, foster parent or stepparent, who is charged with the rights, duties and responsibilities of a parent and whose presence in the home is needed to perform these rights, duties and responsibilities.

(O)"Minor parent" means a caretaker who is under age eighteen.

(P)"Point of service (POS)" means an electronic device at the child care provider's location that records a child's time and date of attendance.

(Q)"Preschool child" means a child who is three years old or older but is not a school child.

(R)"Publicly funded child care" is the care of infants, toddlers, preschool children, and school children under age thirteen by an eligible provider. Publicly funded child care is paid, wholly or in part, with federal or state funds, including funds available under the child care block grant act Title IV-A, and Title XX, distributed by ODJFS.

(S)"School child" means a child who is enrolled in and attending a grade of kindergarten or above or who is of compulsory school age as defined in section 3321.01 of the Revised Code, but is less than eighteen years old.

(T)"School hours" means the standardized hours of school as determined by ODJFS.

(U)"Special needs" means providing child care services to a child who is under eighteen years old who does not function according to age appropriate expectations in one or more of the following areas of development: social/emotional, cognitive, communication, perceptual-motor, physical, or behavioral development, or the child has chronic health issues. The child's delays/conditions affect development to the extent that the child requires special adaptations, modified facilities, program adjustments or related services on a regular basis in order to function in an adaptive manner.

(V)"Step up to quality (SUTQ)" means the tiered quality rating system for licensed child care programs in Ohio.

(W)"Temporary absence" is when a caretaker is out of the home for up to forty-five consecutive days with a definite plan to return to the household.

(W)(X)"Toddler" means a child who is at least eighteen months of age but is less than three years of age.

(X)(Y)"Week" is the seven-day period from twelve a.m. Sunday to eleven fifty-nine p.m. Saturday.