7000 Budgeting

7224 Dependent Care - Expenses incurred for the care of a child or other dependent in the home and in the food assistance household which is necessary for a household member to accept or continue employment, seek employment, or attend training or pursue education which is preparatory to employment, shall be considered a deduction. The family share determined for the child care subsidy program is considered a dependent care expense. With client statement, expenses may also include activity fees and the cost of transportation to and from dependent care facilities and shall be allowed as an ongoing expense. Mileage reimbursement shall be the federal mileage reimbursement rate. If this expense information is questionable, verification is required. Non-refundable enrollment fees are considered a cost related to dependent care and are allowable as a one-time expense. If the one-time expense is reported as incurred in a month in which food assistance benefits have already been issued, the one-time expense shall be allowed for the month following the month it was reported. Expenses are also allowed even if the income used to pay the expense is excluded. (Example: 17-year-old full-time high school student with earned income is paying child care for her child.)

There is no limit on the amount of dependent care allowable.

NOTE: If a household incurs attendant care costs that could qualify under both the medical deduction and dependent care deduction, the local worker shall treat the cost as a medical expense.

NOTE: With EBT Child Care, providers can now require parents to pay additional out-of-pocket costs to use that provider. These additional, recurring costs are an allowable food assistance dependent care deduction if the costs are paid out-of-pocket, not from the clients EBT Child Care account. Allowable costs that fluctuate shall be averaged per 7110 . NOTE: For Dependent Care Paid by an excluded household member: Please refer to 6520(2)(a) if the person paying the dependent care is an excluded household member. Also refer to 7227.6 , 1322.3 (6).