10:15-9.1 Co-payment

(a) All families eligible to receive child care services from the DHS administered programs shall pay a fee toward the cost of child care services except as in CPS. This fee is termed a co-payment. (b) A co-payment scale established by the DHS shall provide for some level of contribution by most parent/applicants receiving child care. The co-payment scale shall consider family income, family size, hours of care needed, and number of children in care. If more than two children in a family are receiving child care services, no co-payment shall be required for the third and subsequent children in the family. The Client Income Eligibility and Co-Payment Schedule for Subsidized Child Care Assistance or Services set forth as the chapter Appendix shall be revised on an annual basis through a notice of administrative change published in the New Jersey Register. The co-payment chart calculation is based on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Poverty Guidelines, which accounts for last (calendar) year's increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The HHS Poverty Guidelines is updated and published annually in the Federal Register as a General Notice. The co-payment is a portion of family income that is paid by an eligible family toward the cost of child care that provides for cost sharing by families that receive Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) child care services. The amount of the required co-payment is based on a family's gross annual, income, family size, hours of care needed, and the number of children in care. (c) By the adoption of a Statewide co-payment scale for child care service programs provided to families, the programs seek to require that all eligible families receiving child care service program benefits be assessed and/or pay a portion of the cost of care based on household size and income. (d) Each DFD contracted child care center shall establish a written policy concerning co-payments and their collection. 1. The policy shall include time frames for any denial, suspension or termination of service, consistent with the formal policy adopted by the child care agency. 2. The policy shall be explained and a copy of the policy shall be provided to the parent/applicant at the time of assessment. 3. The policy shall be implemented in a uniform and consistent manner. 4. The policy shall specify all terms and conditions for the following practices, if applicable: i. Disposition of any co-payments that are collected in advance and held in escrow; ii. Refunds due to any error made by the agency in co-payment computation that has resulted in overcharges to the parent/applicant; and iii. Payments for any co-payment that is owed to the child care agency resulting from: (1) Errors in co-payment computation due to any misrepresentation or misinformation; or (2) Co-payments that are in arrears involving a child care agency that has elected not to terminate services to the parent who was delinquent with their payments or who was unable to pay due to extraordinary circumstances. (e) A family shall be excluded from the co-payment requirement in the CCDBG/CPS program when the child is identified as a CPS Priority 1 child in a CP&P paid out of home placement. Such cases involve children in foster care and adoption services, including children in pre-adoptive homes, children under the guardianship of the CP&P, and children voluntarily surrendered to the CP&P. The CP&P board payment shall not be considered income; therefore, the payment amount shall be $ 0.00. (f) In the event that protective child care services are deemed necessary as part of a case plan for a CPS Priority 1 child who is residing in his or her own home with his own parent(s) or who resides with a related or unrelated para care provider, the amount of the family's co-payment is determined on the basis of the family's annual gross income, family size, number of children receiving care (up to two per family), and the number of hours of service (that is, full-time and/or part-time care) provided to the children. Gross annual income and family size shall be calculated based upon the criteria in N.J.A.C. 10:15-9.2(a). The CP&P case manager shall have the authority to decrease or waive the co-pay on a case by case basis. (g) For families receiving child care services for their own children and who also provide foster care for CP&P: 1. The annual gross income of the family shall be calculated separately from any funds that can be identified for the maintenance of the foster child; and 2. The family's size shall exclude any foster children in the CP&P-paid placement. (h) No additional co-payment is required for other DHS child care programs if the family has children in care through a subsidized voucher program and the family is making a co-payment for two children. (i) No co-payment is required for children of unemployed WFNJ participants in approved activities unless the child is enrolled in a contracted center. For purposes of WFNJ, the assessed fee for a child enrolled in contracted centers is considered the total cost of care for that child and paid by the WFNJ program. (j) The co-payment assessed for the family is compiled into one fee for the entire family. In WFNJ and TCC, the co-payment is assessed to the provider on a bi-weekly basis. In the NJCK program, the co- payment is assessed to the provider on a monthly basis. For the DFD contracted centers, the co-payment may be assessed for weekly, bi-weekly or monthly co-payments. (k) Once assessed, the total co-payment is deducted from the amount to be paid by the CCR&R to the provider(s) rendering services to the family (N.J.A.C. 10:15-9.3). This assessed co-payment for child care services is then paid directly by the parent/applicant to the provider of care. In NJCK and TCC, any remaining balance of the cost of care, up to the maximum rates established by the DHS is paid by the CCR&R. The child care co-payment policy and procedures are applicable for all types of care arrangements available through the child care service programs including: 1. Licensed child care center (including school-age child care programs); 2. Registered family child care homes; 3. Approved home care, including in-home care; and 4. Summer camps which are approved by the Department of Health (see N.J.A.C. 8:25). (l) In NJCK, the amount of the required co-payment is based on the family's annual gross income level, family size, hours of care needed, and the number of children in care. There are two co-payment scales, full-time and part-time. (m) No co-payment is required for purposes of the DHS child care programs described at N.J.A.C. 10:15-6 if the family has children in care through subsidized child care programs described at N.J.A.C. 10:15-5 and is already making a co-payment for two children under either of these child care program requirements. History HISTORY: Amended by R.2005 d.77, effective February 22, 2005. See: 36 N.J.R. 4882(a), 37 N.J.R. 630(c). Rewrote (b); in (k), substituted "child" for "day" following "Registered family" in 2. Amended by R.2009 d.18, effective January 5, 2009. See: 40 N.J.R. 2637(b), 41 N.J.R. 226(b). In the introductory paragraph of (k), substituted "CCR&R" for "UCCA" twice. Notice of readoption with technical changes. See: 48 N.J.R. 2807(a). Annotations Notes Chapter Notes 2025