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CHILD CARE SUBSIDY ELIGIBILITY POLICY MANUAL 15 7.8 AUTHORIZING A CHILD WITH A SPECIAL NEED FOR CHILD CARE The child with a special need for child care shall be authorized based on the medical professional statement that includes the reason care is needed, the number of hours of care needed per day, the number of days per week child care is needed, and the anticipated duration of the need for care. 7.9 AUTHORIZING SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN During the school year, the amount of care authorized for children enrolled in school shall be based on the applicant’s need for before and after school care and shall include five full‐time days of care September through April to allow for payment of days when school is not in session. Authorizations for children over seven requiring more than five full‐time days shall require documentation to verify need for care. 7.10 AUTHORIZATION DURING A PARTICIPANT’S SLEEP TIME Child care may be authorized for sleep time if the participant is employed any part of a shift that is between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. The following should be taken into consideration when authorizing the amount of care for sleep time: (1) Care shall be authorized on days that follow an over‐night work schedule; (2) Care shall be authorized during the hours the child is not in school or is not home schooled; and (3) Travel time. 7.11 CONTINUITY OF CARE Child Care authorizations will continue if the participant is enrolled in a qualifying activity (valid need) and a temporary change occurs. Temporary changes that could occur include, but are not limited to: (1) Winter, Summer, or Spring break from school; (2) Temporary factory shut‐down; (3) Scheduled employer closings; (4) Vacation; (5) Medical leave; or (6) Maternity/paternity leave. 7.12 EXCESSIVE ABSENCE Children are expected to attend child care on a full-time, half-time, or part-time basis according to their child care authorization. A child is considered absent when they are enrolled and scheduled to attend, but not in attendance. Absences may be excused or unexcused. Excused Absences An excused absence occurs when a family notifies the child care facility about the absence. Families should notify the provider in advance for any planned absences whenever possible. For unplanned absences, communication from the family must occur within five calendar days of the missed day for the absence to be considered excused. Unexcused Absences An unexcused absence occurs when a child is enrolled but does not attend on a day the facility is open, the child was expected to attend, and the family does not notify the provider within the five-calendar day notification window. Once the notification window has passed, an unexcused absence may not be changed to an excused absence.