a. Authorizing Payments

The CCAP administrator shall determine payment eligibility at the time assistance is granted if the information needed to enroll the provider was submitted with the application. If the information needed to determine payment eligibility was not submitted with the application, payment eligibility shall be determined within ten days of the date the completed child care agreement form and other information needed to determine payment eligibility is received.

The CCAP administrator shall issue a certificate of payment to the parent and the provider if payment is approved. The certificate of payment is evidence of payment eligibility. Certificates of payment shall be issued for a particular child, provider and location of care, number of hours of care and for a specified period. Child care services provided outside the scope of the certificate shall not be eligible for payment by CCAP. A certificate of payment shall not be considered a grant or contract between the department and the child care provider.

Certificates of payment shall include the names of the parent, the child and the provider, the number of authorized hours of care, the certificate authorization period, the maximum approved cost, the monthly fee where applicable, the approved payment amount and the payment authorization period.

Certificates of payment shall be issued even when the authorized payment is zero due to the application of the monthly fee, provided another child is eligible to receive a payment.