Background:
Amended Substitute House Bill 110 of the 134th General Assembly
set aside funding in Section 307.270 to assist families receiving publicly
funded child care (PFCC) with their copayments.
Implementation:
Beginning May 8, 2022, copayments for families receiving PFCC
will be temporarily waived. As a result,
child care providers who provide PFCC will not collect copayments from
caretakers who are receiving PFCC benefits. This temporary change is permitted
per rule 5101:2-16-05(D)(3), of the Ohio Administrative Code, which indicates
that the family copayment is effective unless the Ohio Department of Job and
Family Services (ODJFS) requires a change in the copayment.
ODJFS will add the assigned copayment amount to the provider’s PFCC
payment during the period that copayments are waived. Providers will be issued
full payment for child care services provided.
Copayments will continue to be calculated and displayed in the
system and on notifications. County
agencies can view copayment amounts in CCIDS and Ohio Benefits. The county agency should not override the
copayment amount in the system during this effort.
The Time, Attendance and Payment system will display copayment
amounts for providers and families. The
copayment amounts are not to be collected by providers.
Additionally, paragraph 38 of the "Provider Agreement for
Publicly Funded Child Care" states that ODJFS may communicate, and that
the provider shall comply with instructions and requests concerning the
performance of the services described in the provider agreement. Programs who
require a copayment from families during the period of the temporary waiver may
be found to be in violation of the provider agreement.
Once the funding to waive the copayment is no longer available,
child care providers will be notified that the copayment will no longer be
waived and the caretaker will be responsible to pay their copayment.
Please contact the Child Care Policy Helpdesk at childcarepolicy@jfs.ohio.gov
or 1-877-302-2347, option 4, if you have any questions.