Background
The Child Care
and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) requires that each child receive at a
minimum a full 12-months (365 days) of eligibility for publicly funded child
care. Currently twelve months of eligibility, calculated in the Ohio Benefits (OB)
system, begins on the date of application, and ends the last day of the last
month of eligibility. This calculation often results in less than 365 days of
eligibility. Additionally, when a new child in need of care is added to an
existing case, the new child's eligibility ends on the existing case's end
date, resulting in less than 12 months of eligibility for that child.
Implementation
This
communication is to inform that an update to the Ohio
Benefits (OB) system is being made to align publicly funded child care
eligibility to the Child Care and Development Block Grant requirements. The
update to the OB system will authorize a minimum of 12-months of eligibility
for each approved child within a household. Additionally, OB will ensure
the eligibility period is set to at least 365 days per child at initial intake
and recertification.
Beginning June
8, 2024, all child care eligibility determinations will contain a minimum of 12-
months of eligibility per child, per household.
If a new child
in need of care is added to the family, (this includes a new baby, a
foster/kinship/adopted child, or when an ineligible child already on the case
becomes eligible) the new child will receive 12-months (365 days) of
eligibility. The case will receive a new eligibility end date from the
date changes are reported for the new child to receive child care.
Rule
5101:2-16-01 will be revised in the future to update the definition of
“Eligibility period” in section (K).
Please contact
the Family and Consumer Support Center at childcarepolicy@childrenandyouth.ohio.gov or 1-877-302-2347, option 4.