Coffee chat with child care Analyst Hour / May 28, 2019

Coffee Chat with Child Care Today’s Agenda Recap of Changes Effective April 1, 2019 ERDC payment of registration fees Incentive payments for evening & weekend care Certified center prepayment Updated Child Care Listing Form (DHS 7494) Lead testing guidance Mailbag: Common Policy Box Questions Questions & Suggestions for Future Agenda Topics

Registration Fees Families receiving ERDC can now request help paying for registration fees charged by their child care provider. DHS can pay registration fees when all of the following criteria are met: The fee is charged to all other families (including private pay), The fee is necessary to obtain or maintain care (for example, initial registration fee, re-enrollment fees, or application fees), and The fee is $150 or less per child (payments over $150 should be staffed with Child Care Policy for possible approval).

Registration Fees, Continued Payments are issued from branch offices. Families can request assistance with registration fees by contacting DHS. Verification with the child care provider is required: this can be by phone, e-mail, website, etc. Payments are made using the DHS 437 with pay reason 89, and the payment is made to the Child Care Provider. The provider must be in ‘A’ status on DPPM (approved with DHS) and must be one of the following provider types: RFM, CFM, or CNT.

Incentives for Alternative Hour Care The ERDC program has limited funding to provide incentive payments to DHS approved child care providers who are caring for children receiving ERDC during alternative hours: Care provided before 6am Care provided after 7pm, and/or Care provided on weekends. Many parents have unpredictable work schedules and struggle to find child care. With these incentives, DHS hopes to encourage providers to open their doors during alternative hours.

Incentive Payment Continued To qualify, the child care provider must be approved with DHS and caring for at least 1 child receiving ERDC during alternative hours. Payments are as follows: $250 per month per child if they provide between 20 and 39 hours of care during alternative hours, or $500 per month per child if they provide at least 40 hours of care during alternative hours. Incentives can be requested for care beginning January 2019 with the Incentive Payment Request Form (DHS 6784) sent to the Direct Pay Unit, who makes the payment to the provider.

Certified Center Prepayment Certified centers (CNT) can now bill at the beginning of the month for care. This helps providers to stabilize business costs and provide care for families. Certified centers can bill for the hours they anticipate a child to be in care instead of actual hours they provided care. A parent signature is not required. Parents can change providers mid-month, and overpayments will not be written if the child was anticipated to be in care. This applies only to families receiving ERDC at this time.

Updated Child Care Provider Listing Form (DHS 7494) A few changes have been made to the DHS 7494. These changes were made for simpler comprehension of the lead testing required for Regulated Subsidy providers. A Lead Testing Guidance document, DHS 2457, was created to be handed out with the listing form and provides comprehensive instructions for the lead testing process. This can be ordered through Publications or printed from the Forms server. Effective June 1, 2019, the Direct Pay Unit (DPU) will no longer be able to accept prior versions of the DHS 7494 and DHS 7494d.

Mailbag: Common Policy Box Questions

Questions? E-mail Child Care Policy with questions (and suggestions for future agenda topics!) at ChildCare.Policy@dhsoha.state.or.us Call Direct Pay Unit at 1-800-699-9074 Monday through Friday 8:30am-4:30pm or e-mail at DPU.Childcare@dhsoha.state.or.us