CCMPL 139 (Redetermination and Case Updates for Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC))
Child Care Manual Procedure Letter No. 139
March 30, 2020
TO: All Child Care Manual Holders
FROM: Kimberly Hall, Director
SUBJECT: Redetermination and Case Updates for Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC)

Background

Rule 5101:2-16-02 of the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) outlines the qualification requirements and annual redetermination process for caretakers currently receiving publicly funded child care (PFCC) benefits.

Rule 5101:2-16-08 of the OAC outlines the county agency procedures for processing redeterminations and for terminating a caretaker’s current eligibility if the caretaker no longer qualifies for PFCC.

Currently, county agencies must process redetermination applications before the end of a caretaker’s current eligibility period.  A redetermination application must be denied if a caretaker is ineligible for benefits for a new eligibility period. Additionally, county agencies must terminate current eligibility if a caretaker no longer qualifies for benefits.

New Policy

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, eligibility extensions will be implemented for caretakers currently receiving PFCC benefits. County agencies shall immediately stop processing redetermination packets for March and April. Additionally, county agencies shall not take negative actions against current PFCC cases until May 31, 2020.

All caretakers with eligibility periods set to expire in March 2020, who have not already been approved for a new eligibility period, will have their eligibility extended through September 2020. No further redetermination actions will be required by the caretaker or county agency until September 2020.

If a caretaker has completed the redetermination process in March 2020 and a new twelve-month eligibility period has been approved, the new twelve-month eligibility period will continue as already determined.  The new twelve-month eligibility period is the greater benefit; therefore, the extension will not be applied.

All caretakers with eligibility periods scheduled to expire in April 2020 will have their eligibility extended through October 2020.

All caretakers with eligibility periods scheduled to expire in May 2020 will have their eligibility extended through November 2020.

Additionally, all PFCC cases that are currently scheduled for termination under the thirteen-week activity gap will have the termination date removed and eligibility extended to the end of the current twelve-month eligibility period.  If any of these cases have redeterminations due in March, April, or May of 2020, then eligibility will be extended as noted above.

Implementation

ODJFS is working on the following system changes and will notify the county agencies when the changes go live:

ODJFS will remove all thirteen-week activity gap termination dates and extend eligibility for all cases scheduled to be terminated through June 30, 2020.  ODJFS will send notices to caretakers and providers advising them of their new eligibility end dates.

ODJFS will systematically extend all applicable eligibility periods and the child care information data system (CCIDS) will automatically send notices to caretakers and providers advising them of their new eligibility end dates.  No action by the county agency is necessary regarding changing eligibility end dates, removing termination dates, or sending notices regarding eligibility extensions.

County Agency Requirements

County agency staff should immediately stop processing redetermination packets for March and April. New redetermination packets will be mailed from the CCIDS system 45 days prior to the new, extended eligibility date as outlined above.

When county agencies are notified by ODJFS that the system changes have gone live, any cases with authorizations that end in March should be extended to match the new eligibility period.

Questions

Please contact the Child Care Policy Helpdesk at 1-877-302-2347, option 4, or at childcarepolicy@jfs.ohio.gov if you have any questions about the new policy.