The purpose of the revised rule is to revise the school readiness program parent co-payment requirements to comply with federal and statutory mandate.

 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Florida’s Office of Early Learning

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

6M-4.400Required Parent Co-payment

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose of the revised rule is to revise the school readiness program parent co-payment requirements to comply with federal and statutory mandate.

SUMMARY: The revised rule will update and clarify the process for parent co-payment for the school readiness program.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION: The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has been prepared by the Agency.

The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: The office’s economic analysis of the adverse impact or potential regulatory costs of the proposed rule does not exceed any of the criteria established in s. 120.541(2)(a), F.S. This rule clarifies the processes for parental co-payment obligation and provider reimbursement for the school readiness program.

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 1001.213(2), 1002.82(2)(m) FS.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 1002.82(2)(m), (6), 1002.84(7), (8), (10), 1002.87(2), 1002.88, 1002.91, 1002.97(3) FS.

A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:

DATE AND TIME: Monday, October 17, 2016, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., ET or at the conclusion of business whichever is earlier

PLACE: via GoToWebinar only. To register for the webinar, please visit: http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/oel_resources/rules_guidance_technical_assistance/proposed_rules.aspx

Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 7 days before the workshop/meeting by contacting: Katerina Maroney [phone], [e-mail]. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Katerina Maroney, School Readiness Policy Supervisor, Office of Early Learning, 250 Marriott Dr., Tallahassee, Florida 32399, [phone], [e-mail]

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

Substantial rewording of Rule 6M-4.400 follows. See Florida Administrative Code for present text.

6M-4.400 Required Parent Co-payment.

(1) Sliding fee scale. Each coalition shall implement a sliding fee scale and co-payment policies for families receiving school readiness services.

(a) A coalition’s sliding fee scale must be set at a level that provides economically disadvantaged families equal access to the care available to families whose income is high enough not to qualifyfor school readiness services. A coalition must submit their proposed sliding fee scale to the Office of Early Learning (OEL) for approval. The OEL shall review the sliding fee scale to determine that the scale is reflective of the annually released income limits, has an effective date no later than July 1st of that year, and that parent co-payments do not exceed 10 percent of the family’s income, regardless of the number of children in care, during the authorized twelve (12) months of eligibility. If the coalition’s proposed sliding fee scale does exceed 10 percent of family income, the coalition must provide justification of how the sliding fee scale meets the federal requirement that the co-payment be affordable, prior to approval of the proposed sliding fee scale by the OEL.

(b) The coalition’s co-payment policy shall be submitted with the coalition’s sliding fee scale as part of the coalition’s approved plan per Rule 6M-9.115, F.A.C..

(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 to the sliding fee scale approved by the Office of Early Learning (OEL) as described in subsection (1).

(a) If a child is authorized for part time care, the parent shall be assessed a part time co-payment. If a child is authorized for full time care, the parent shall be assessed a full time co-payment. A parent with two or more children receiving school readiness services may receive a co-payment discount for the second and any subsequent child in their care based on the coalition’s approved sliding fee scale. When a discount is applied, the youngest child must be assessed a full co-payment based on the approved sliding fee scale and the hours of care needed.

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

(c) Co-payments for at-risk families  as defined in s.1002.81 (1), shall be assessed at the initial child care authorization. A coalition may waive a co-payment for an at-risk child(ren) in accordance with subsection (6).

(d) A co-payment shall not be equal to or greater than the providers private pay rate.

(3) Graduated Phase-Out Co-payment Assessment and Co-payment Scale.  If at redetermination, a family’s income is above 200 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 graducated phase-out co-payment that is based on family size, the hours of care needed, and the family’s income, 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 graducated 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 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 payment for the six (6) month period to be paid by the parent to the provider. 

(b) 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, 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 graducated 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 graducated 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 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 15 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 may be terminated from receiving school readiness services for failure to make co-payments or graduated phase-out payments for a period of two consecutive calendar months. The coalition must provide at least a 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) Co-payment waivers. The coalition may waive the parent co-payment on a case-by-case basis. Each coalition must include a list of qualifying events in its coalition plan and outline the procedure for obtaining a waiver of a co-payment.

(a) At-risk co-payment waivers. A co-payment may be waived on a case-by-case basis for families participating in an at-risk program as defined in s.1002.81(1), F.S. The request for the co-payment waiver must be documented in the case file.

(b) Temporary co-payment waivers. A co-payment may be temporarily waived on a case-by-case basis for families with income at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty level during an event that limits a parent’s ability to pay in accordance with Section 1002.84(8), F.S. The request for the co-payment waiver must be documented in the case file during the initial authorization for care and at each redetermination.

(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 gradauated phase-out payment obligation related to school readiness program.

(a) If the referenced documentation is not available, the coalition shall contact the provider to determine compliance and document compliance as reported by the provider. Satisfactory fulfillment of the co-payment obligation will be defined as immediate payment of the outstanding co-payment obligation or establishment of a repayment plan for the outstanding co-payment obligation. The coalition shall authorize the transfer once the copayment obligation has been satisfatorily fulfulled.

(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. The provider shall document the repayment attempt with the coalition and the 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 12-month eligiblity authorization period. The amount of co-payment assessed shall be in effect for the family’s authorized eligibility period, unless:

(a) The parent or referring agency requests and the coalition grants a waiver of the asessed co-payment specified in subsection (5); or

(b) An incorrect co-payment was assessed by the eligibility determiner as a result of an error of the eligibility determiner, program participant error, or program participant fraud, resulting in corrective action to reduce or increase the family’s co-payment; or (c) A employment status, income or family size results in a lower parent copayment; or

(d) The authorized hours of care changes.

(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 gradudated phase-out payment. The coalition shall notify the parent within 10 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 they overpayment and document attempts.

Rulemaking Authority 1001.213(2) FS. Law Implemented 1002.84(8) FS. History–New 2-2-05, Formerly 60BB-4.400, Amended___________.

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Katerina Maroney, School Readiness Policy Supervisor

NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Rodney J. MacKinnon, Executive Director

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: September 21, 2016

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: September 1, 2016