Background:
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-141)
became law on March 23, 2018. This law included a $2.37 billion increase in Child
Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Discretionary funds over the 2017 federal appropriation
levels. As a result, Ohio was allocated additional funds for federal fiscal year
(FFY) 2018. Final guidance on use of the funds was issued by the Administration
for Children and Families, Office of Child Care (OCC) in August 2018. The guidelines
outlined requirements for these new funds that States cannot supplant existing funds,
as the intent is to supplement existing investments.
New Investment:
Ohio will align county payment categories to those defined in the
2016 market rate survey. Effective December 2, 2018, the following counties will
move into new payment categories as outlined below:
|
County
|
Current Category
|
Updated Category
|
|
Allen
|
D
|
E
|
|
Ashland
|
D
|
E
|
|
Athens
|
D
|
E
|
|
Auglaize
|
D
|
F
|
|
Belmont
|
D
|
F
|
|
Carroll
|
D
|
E
|
|
Clark
|
D
|
E
|
|
Columbiana
|
D
|
E
|
|
Cuyahoga
|
E
|
F
|
|
Darke
|
D
|
E
|
|
Erie
|
D
|
E
|
|
Fairfield
|
E
|
F
|
|
Greene
|
E
|
F
|
|
Hancock
|
D
|
E
|
|
Harrison
|
D
|
F
|
|
Highland
|
D
|
E
|
|
Huron
|
D
|
E
|
|
Knox
|
D
|
F
|
|
Lake
|
E
|
F
|
|
Lawrence
|
D
|
E
|
|
Licking
|
D
|
E
|
|
Logan
|
D
|
E
|
|
Lucas
|
E
|
F
|
|
Miami
|
D
|
E
|
|
Monroe
|
E
|
F
|
|
Morrow
|
D
|
E
|
|
Ottawa
|
D
|
F
|
|
Pickaway
|
D
|
E
|
|
Portage
|
E
|
F
|
|
Preble
|
D
|
E
|
|
Sandusky
|
D
|
E
|
|
Seneca
|
D
|
E
|
|
Shelby
|
D
|
E
|
|
Stark
|
D
|
E
|
|
Trumbull
|
E
|
F
|
|
Union
|
D
|
E
|
|
Wayne
|
D
|
E
|
|
Wood
|
E
|
F
|
Implementation:
As stated above, as a result of this procedure letter the newly assigned
categories will take effect December 2, 2018. Additionally, Appendix A to rule 5101:2-16-41
of the Ohio Administrative Code is currently moving through the rule making process
to implement the new Time, Attendance and Payment (TAP) system for publicly funded
child care. The rule and appendix have been refiled to reflect these changes and
are planned to be effective December 16, 2018.
Transition Payments:
Changes in categories will result in both increases and decreases
to individual child payment rates. Depending upon the age (i.e. infant, toddler,
preschool school age) and utilization (i.e. full-time, part-time, hourly) of the
children a provider is serving, a net reduction in payment may be realized. To assist
providers with transitioning their business to the newly assigned category, providers
with a current provider agreement to serve children through publicly funded child
care as of December 2, 2018 will have the opportunity to request two transition
adjustment payments (April 2019 and July 2019). A provider may request a payment
adjustment if the total net amount of payment received for the service period of
December 2 through March 30 and again March 31 through June 29, 2019 is less than
what it would have been in the prior assigned category.
Providers that believe they have received a net reduction in payment
will need to request a payment review for all services rendered and ODJFS will determine
and issue the difference. Payment enhancements will be included in this review for
programs participating in Step Up To Quality. A tracking document will be made available
no later than December 9, 2018 and must be completed and included with any request
for payment review. The first payment review request must be submitted between April
18 and May 9, 2019; the second payment review request must be submitted July 18
through August 8, 2019.
Please contact the Child Care Policy Helpdesk at 1-877-302-2347,
option 4, if you have any questions.