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Editor’s note: A copy of the Child Care Assistance Program Rate Schedule, adopted by reference in 7 AAC 41.025, is available from the Child Care Program Office, Department of Health, 3601 C Street. Suite 140, P.O. Box 241809, Anchorage, Alaska 99524-1809. The Child Care Assistance Program Rate Schedule also may be viewed through the department’s Internet website at http://dhss.alaska.gov/dpa/pages/ccare. 7 AAC 41.030. Enhanced program rate for qualified providers. (a) To promote access by families participating in the child care assistance program to the highest quality of child care, and subject to the availability of appropriations, the department will increase the program rate paid to a facility described in 7 AAC 41.200(a)(1) - (3), if the department determines the facility is qualified under this section. Unless available appropriations require a smaller increase, the department will increase the program rate by 10 percent above the program rate established in the schedule under 7 AAC 41.025 if the facility’s current rate charged for child care is equal to or exceeds the enhanced rate. (b) A facility may apply to be eligible for the enhanced program rate under this section using a form prescribed by the department. For a facility to be eligible under this section,

(1) the facility must

(A) be currently accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Association of Family Child Care, or the National Afterschool Alliance; or

(B) provide documentation showing that at least 40 percent of the staff who work with children in the facility have been employed in the facility for at least one year; those staff members must also