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CAPS Policy – Family Unit No.: CAPS/00-5 Effective Date: 10/01/2016 Revised: 00/00/0000 Revision Effective: 00/00/0000

CAPS Policy Manual

Page 27 of 109 LEGAL AUTHORITY: Federal Register: 45 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) 98 and 99.

Cross Reference/See Also: CAPS Eligibility Requirements Policy (CAPS/00-6)

Note: Definitions of words or phrases in bold are located in Definitions and Acronyms. Only the first occurrence of the defined words or phrases are bolded.

5 FAMILY UNIT

Purpose Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) subsidy funding is provided to families who meet eligibility criteria. The purpose of this policy is to provide procedures for determining who is or is not included in the family unit.

Scope This policy applies to all employees of the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), all parties responsible for the administration of the CAPS program, parents, and child care providers who receive subsidies administered by DECAL on behalf of parents.

Family Unit Overview 5.3.1 A family unit is a parent with legal, biological, and/or day-to-day responsibility for children in the home and all those for whom the parent is responsible.

5.3.2 If the parent and other adults reside in the home, then the parent must be the applicant for the CAPS program. Biological and legal responsibility for children supersedes day-to-day responsibility unless otherwise indicated in legal documentation.

5.3.3 More than one family unit may live in a home.

5.3.4 The parent is responsible for disclosing the names and relationships of all individuals that reside together in the household in order to determine the composition of the family unit. In order for CAPS staff to determine the family unit, discussion will need to include who lives in the home, who is married, who are the parents of which children and what the relationships are between adults and children in the home.

Included in the Family Unit The following individuals living in the household shall be included in the family unit: • Biological, adopted, or step children 17 years of age or younger • Children under legal or physical guardianship of the parent • Spouse/parent residing in the home • Unmarried adults living together with a mutual biological or legal child(ren) residing in the same household • Spouse/parent temporarily absent from the household due to employment, military deployment, training, or education.

5.4.1 For each child in Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) custody, the State shall be considered the parent and the child will be authorized as a family unit of one.

5.4.2 Siblings in Georgia’s DFCS custody will be assigned to their own case.

5.4.3 Unless otherwise specified, the chart below shall be used to determine the composition of the family unit(s):