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Child Care Assistance Program Policy Manual Issued 07/2023 Care during child absences 9.15.9 An absent day is any day that the child is authorized and scheduled to be in care with a licensed provider or license exempt center, and the child is absent from care. Child absences may occur for a variety of reasons. The reason for the child’s absence does not affect payment. Unless a provider bills incorrectly, pay for child absences that do not exceed 10 consecutive days, up to a total of 25 absent days in a calendar year, per child, excluding holidays. If a child attends more than one licensed or certified provider, the combined total number of absent days paid must not exceed 25. If the child is absent from care with both providers on the same day and both providers charge and are paid for an absent day, count that day as one absent day. If child care absences exceed 25 days, the charges are the financial responsibility of the CCAP family. Legal nonlicensed (LNL) providers are not eligible for absent day payments. Exemption for documented medical conditions For children with medical conditions (medical condition, medical reason, or illness) that cause more frequent absences, payment may be made for more than 25 absent days per calendar year and for more than 10 consecutive absent days. The medical condition (medical condition, medical reason, or illness) may be a condition of the child, the child’s parent, or the child’s sibling living in the same home. The condition may be chronic or time-limited: • Chronic medical conditions: Exemptions for chronic or ongoing medical conditions can be approved for up to 12 months. • Time-limited medical conditions: Exemptions for time-limited medical conditions can be approved for the time-period of the medical condition, not to exceed 12 months. The CCAP Medical Condition Documentation Form DHS-4602-ENG (PDF) must be completed and returned to the CCAP agency to exempt a child from the absent day limits. The form must be completed by: • A physician, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, psychiatrist, psychologist, chiropractor, public health nurse, or school nurse. • A child care center director or assistant director, license exempt center administrator, or a lead teacher at the child care center if the child was sent home due to the medical condition or told not to return to care for a time period due to exposure to a contagious disease. Sent home includes situations where the center tells the parent not to bring the child back to care for a period of time due to exposure to a contagious disease (including telling them at the end of the day or via phone, text or email prior to the next day of care starting). The exemption is limited to 2 weeks when the form is completed by a child care center director, assistant director, certified center administrator or lead teacher. • A person with multiple roles can also sign the form as long as they hold one of the roles in the second bullet (such as someone who is both a center manager and lead teacher). • Licensed family child care providers cannot complete the form.