b. Authorized Hours of Care

The CCAP administrator shall calculate the number of hours of care that are needed for each eligible child. The number of hours of care authorized shall be based on all of the following factors and shall be limited to not more than twelve hours in a twenty-four hour period: hours of the work or employment services activity; the availability of a parent who is living with the child to provide care; the hours the child is in school; travel time to and from the approved activity; and the hours of care specified on the child care agreement form.

Care shall not be authorized during the hours the child is in school, an academic or home schooling program, when a parent living in the home is available and capable of providing care or outside the activity schedule, including travel and lunch time.

The time needed to commute to and from the activity shall be taken into consideration when determining the actual number of hours of care that is needed. Travel time shall be limited to a maximum of one hour per day, unless the parent verifies that additional time is needed.

Households where both parents participate in approved activities at different times shall be required to arrange their home schedules, including sleep time, in a manner that maximizes each parent’s availability to provide care. If after making reasonable efforts to adjust their schedules child care is needed, care shall be authorized for the part of the day the parents are not able to supervise the child.

A maximum of four hours per day may be approved to allow a parent who works third shift or an equivalent schedule to sleep if the child does not attend school or if the other parent is not available to provide care.

Care shall not be authorized between the hours of eleven p.m. and seven a.m. if the child care provider is a person who resides in the same home as the child, unless the child is less than three years of age or has special needs.

Weekly schedules shall be converted to monthly figures by multiplying by a factor of four and three tenths weeks per month. The result may be rounded to the nearest half-hour.

If the hours of the activity fluctuate in an unpredictable manner, the CCAP administrator shall calculate the authorized hours by using a representative average of number of hours the individual is expected to participate in the activity over the period of the certificate.

For parents beginning a new employment services activity, employment or changing schedules, the number of hours authorized shall be based on documentation provided by the parent, the employer or entity responsible for coordinating the employment services activity.

The number of hours authorized shall not exceed the number of hours specified on the child care agreement form.

The number of hours of care authorized shall be used as the basis for determining the level of care needed and the applicable payment rate. The maximum number of hours approved for any one child shall not exceed sixty-five hours per week or two hundred eighty hours per calendar month, except to the extent the child is eligible for a supplemental payment for an alternate child care provider pursuant to section 17b-749-16 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.