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CAPS Policy – Purchase of Child Care Through Scholarships No.: CAPS/00-10 Effective Date: 10/01/2016 Revised: 10/06/2025 Revision Effective: 10/06/2025

CAPS Policy Manual

Page 60 of 109 10.8.6.1 DECAL has 14 calendar days to respond to the request to process any invoices that are 60 days or older. 10.8.7 All child care providers must receive child care payments from CAPS through direct deposit. Any child care provider that does not participate in direct deposit will not receive its reimbursement and may not participate in the CAPS program.

10.8.8 The child care provider will complete and submit a direct deposit form during the enrollment process. The direct deposit form will be completed in the CAPS administration and payment system along with other compliance documents.

10.8.9 When DECAL receives a tax levy and/or lien for a child care provider from the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the State Department of Revenue, or other entities as allowed by law, the CAPS program will forward all monies from the child care provider’s reimbursements directly to the appropriate entity until the levy and/or lien has been satisfied or closed.

POLICY REVISION HISTORY Date Description of Change 07/02/2018 Replaced all instances of the word certificate with scholarship in this section and throughout the Policy Manual. 02/01/2019 Revised section 10.8.3 to reference the provider’s published rate instead of the cost of care. 05/15/2020 Clarified that when multiple types of care are provided within the same service week (i.e., full time, part time, before and/or after), the maximum rate CAPS will reimburse to the provider is the state maximum rate for full time care or the provider’s published rate for full time care for children in DFCS custody and children with qualifying disabilities. 11/02/2020 Clarified that parents have the right to choose any eligible provider within the limits prescribed in CAPS Participating Providers Policy (CAPS/00-11) and CAPS Provider Rights and Responsibilities Policy (CAPS/00-12). Clarified that parents can enroll their school age child in any educational program of their choice; however, CAPS may reimburse a provider only for before and after school care for school age children attending a public or private school while school is in session. Added language to include, if provider is unknown at eligibility determination, the family can receive up to an additional 90 calendar days to select a provider as prescribed in CAPS Application Process Policy (CAPS/00-4). Revised language for types of care authorized and types of scholarships authorized to minimize duplication. Changed occasional care to part-time scholarship to align with part-time definition. Condensed content relating to provider billing and payments into one section. Clarified language noting that a provider should report non-attendance and excessive unexplained absences to the State Provider Management Agent (SPMA). 05/01/2022 Revised language to clarify ‘qualifying disability’ to state a child 17 years of age or younger with a disability or developmental delay that impacts their learning can receive CAPS services. 07/01/2023 Added virtual learning days to examples for letter B. of variable schedule scholarship (VSS) and part time scholarship description in section 10.6. 11/15/2023 Revised language to clarify the parent has the right to enroll their school age child in any educational program of their choice that is actively participating or eligible to participate in CAPS. For CAPS purposes, a child that turns 5 years old by September 1 of the current school year, enrolled in and attending Georgia's Pre-K and Head Start are considered school age. The school age child who is 5 years old by September 1 is eligible to attend public school. Therefore, CAPS will only pay on a before and after school scholarship while school is in session. Revised language to clarify a scholarship may not be issued at a provider if it is determined the provider is at their licensing or license-exempt capacity. Clarified that parents are responsible for any amount of registration fee in excess of what CAPS