Required Parent Co-payment  

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    DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

    Florida’s Office of Early Learning

    RULE NOS.:RULE TITLES:

    6M-4.400Required Parent Co-payment

    NOTICE OF CHANGE

    Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 42, No. 186, September 23, 2016 issue of the Florida Administrative Register.

    (1) No change.

    (2) Co-payment Assessment. Each family that receives school readiness services shall be assessed a co-payment based on family size, the hours of care needed, and the family’s income, according the sliding fee scale approved by the Office of Early Learning (OEL) as described in subsection (1).

    (a) No change.

    (b) When a school age child attending a non-school readiness program based on the school year schedule or child receiving school district services who is authorized school readiness part time care during the school year, attends a full time day at the school readiness program on a school holiday or school closure, the parent shall pay the part time co-payment. During the summer break, if a school age said child or child receiving school district services, attends full time, the parent shall pay the full time co-payment.

    (c) No change.

    (d) No change.

    (e) A family may submit documentation at any time during the eligibility authorization period to decrease the co-payment.

    (3) Redetermination. Graduated Phase-Out Co-payment Assessment and Co-payment Scale. If at redetermination, a family’s income is above 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), but at or below 85 percent of the State Median Income (SMI), the parent shall be assessed a graduated phase-out co-payment that is based on family size, the hours of care needed, and the family’s income., As the family’s income increases the co-payment shall gradually increase based on the approved sliding fee scale. If a family’s income exceeds 85% of the SMI, the coalition shall notify the family that the family is no longer eligible to receive school readiness services and will be terminated in ten (10) calendar days from the date of the termination notice. A coalition must submit their proposed graduated phase-out co-payment scale to the Office of Early Learning (OEL) for approval. The OEL shall review the graduated phase-out co-payment scale to determine that the scale is reflective of the annually released income limits, and has an effective date no later than July 1st of that year. The graduated phase-out co-payment shall include an increase in the co-payment at the end of the third month. The graduated phase-out co-payment shall not be equal to or greater than the providers private pay rate.

    (a) The school readiness child care funding will be authorized for 12 (six) 6-months from the redetermination date. during the graduated phase-out period. At redetermination the coalition shall provide written notice to the family and provider of the required graduated phase-out co-payment for the 12 six (6)-month period to be paid by the parent to the provider. The notice shall inform the parent that the co-payment shall increase as the family’s income increases.

    (b) After the initial twelve 12-month eligibility period, during all subsequent eligibility periods the family shall report any changes in family size or income to the coalition within ten (10) calendar days. The coalition shall adjust the family’s co-payment based on the reported information and shall notify the family and provider of any changes within ten (10) calendar days. Families may reapply for school readiness services and be placed on the wait list, if applicable, at the end of the six (6) month graduated phase out period if their family income drops below 200 percent of the federal poverty level during the graduated phase-out period.

    (c)Graduated phase-out payments may not be waived.

    (4) Parent and provider notification. Prior to a child’s enrollment at the child care provider, the coalition shall issue a payment certificate to the parent to submit to an eligible child care provider. The payment certificate includes the co-payment or graduated phase-out payment to be paid by the parent to the school readiness provider. The coalition must notify the parent that additional fees which are charged by the provider may apply. If a child is enrolled with more than one provider, a co-payment or graduated phase-out payment must be assessed for each authorized provider.

    (5) Co-payment and graduated phase-out payment collection. The co-payment and graduated phase-out payment amount for which the family is responsible shall be subtracted from the provider’s reimbursement, prior to payment by the coalition or its designee. Collection of the family’s required co-payment or graduated phase-out payment for school readiness services shall be the responsibility of the provider of school readiness services in accordance with Section 1002.84(8), F.S.

    (a) The provider shall provide written notice of the co-payment or graduated phase-out payment due date. The parent co-payment or graduated phase-out payment shall be collected within ten (10) calendar days of the provider’s payment due date. The provider must give the parent a receipt for each co-payment or graduated phase-out payment made by the parent and retain receipt records for all child care co-payments.

    (b) The provider shall document outstanding parent co-payment or graduated phase-out payment balances. The provider shall provide written notification to the parent of the current outstanding co-payment or graduated phase-out payment balance within fifteen (15) calendar days of the provider’s payment due date. This notification shall be provided at least on a monthly basis as long as there is a co-payment or graduated phase-out payment balance. Outstanding parent copayments will be subject to the provider’s payment policies.

    (c) A family shall may be ineligible terminated from receiving school readiness services for an intentional program violation. failure to make co-payments or graduated phase-out payments If a family fails to make co-payments for a period of three (3) two consecutive calendar months it shall be considered an intentional program violation and will be terminated from receiving services. The family shall not be permitted to apply for the school readiness program for three (3) months after the termination date. The coalition must provide at least fourteen (14) calendar days a two (2) week notice to the family prior to termination of services. Co-payments and graduated phase-out payments for at-risk children are not subject to this requirement.

    (6) No change.

    (7) Transfers. A parent may not transfer his or her child to another school readiness program provider until the parent has submitted documentation from the current school readiness program provider to the early learning coalition stating that the parent has satisfactorily fulfilled the co-payment or graduated phase-out payment obligation related to school readiness program.

    (a) No change.

    (b) If a parent of an at-risk child defined in s. 1002.81 (1), F.S. , is unable to satisfactorily fulfill the co-payment obligation or graduated phase-out obligation prior to transfer, the provider shall attempt to arrange a repayment plan with the at-risk child’s parent. If the provider is unable to arrange a payment plan with the at-risk child’s parent, the provider shall document the repayment attempt and submit to the with the coalition. and Tthe coalition shall report the parent’s intent to transfer child care providers to the Child Welfare Program Office of the Department of Children and Families or the community-based lead agency. 

    (c) At-risk children who experience a change in guardianship are not subject to this requirement.

    (d) If a family transfers providers during the graduated phase-out period, the graduated phase out payment described in subsection (3) shall be satisfactorily fulfilled with the current provider prior to the transfer.

    (8) Co-payment changes. A parent co-payment shall not be increased during the initial 12-month eligibility authorization period. The amount of co-payment assessed shall be in effect for the family’s authorized eligibility period, unless:

    (a) through (d) No change.

    (e) Co-payments during subsequent eligibility periods may be increased or decreased based on the family’s income and size.

    (9) Coalition co-payment and graduated phase-out payment errors. The coalition shall not take action to recover an incorrect co-payment or graduated phase-out payment caused by an incorrect co-payment or graduated phase-out assessment made due to an error of the coalition or its designee. Once the error is discovered, the coalition must correct the error and apply the corrected co-payment or graduated phase-out payment. The coalition shall notify the parent within ten (10) calendar days of changes to the co-payment or graduated phase-out payment. This notification must be documented.

    (10) Co-payment and graduated phase-out payment recovery. In cases when a reimbursement overpayment is caused by an incorrect co-payment or graduated phase-out assessment which resulted from program participant error or parent fraud, the coalition shall attempt to recover the overpayment and document attempts. If the coalition is unsuccessful in recovery of the overpayment, the coalition shall notify the Office of Early Learning and submit documentation as necessary.

Document Information

Related Rules: (1)
6M-4.400. Required Parent Co-payment