340:40-10-4 Child care electronic benefit transfer (EBT) payment process

(a) Child care payments. Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) makes payments for child care services to providers electronically using the electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system unless the provider is an in-home child care provider. In-home child care providers are paid manually via the EBT system after submitting Form 10AD121E, Child Care Claim. (b) Point-of-service (POS) machines. Contracted child care providers are issued a POS machine within 10-calendar days of the date the child care provider notifies the OKDHS contractor that the provider started caring for a child authorized for OKDHS subsidized child care and submits all necessary forms to the contractor. (c) Recording attendance. Clients and authorized representatives use the POS machine or the mobile app to record actual times their child attends child care. Child care providers may charge clients for care provided on days they fail to record attendance or when a denied error message is received. When the client pays for child care that is later approved for that date(s), the child care provider must reimburse the client for any care paid above the family share copayment amount. (1) Child care providers monitor the POS machine or mobile app to ensure correct attendance times are recorded. When incorrect times are recorded, the provider may void the incorrect transaction and ask the client to start over. (2) When clients or authorized representatives forget to record attendance for a day their child attends care, record incorrect times that the provider voids, or receive a denied error message, the system allows the client or authorized representative to record previous in and out times for the current day and the previous nine days. (3) Based on attendance recorded and the level of care authorized, electronic settlements to child care providers are made weekly. (d) EBT payment week. The EBT payment week begins every Sunday at 12:01 a.m. and ends every Saturday at midnight. Electronic settlements are made each week in the child care provider's designated financial institution account on Tuesday morning for services provided two weeks prior to the current week. When the financial institution is closed on Monday or Tuesday, or Monday is a holiday, the electronic settlement is deposited on Wednesday morning. (e) Manual claims process. When the child care provider reports a payment error, the provider may submit Form 10AD121E to the OKDHS Financial Services Electronic Payment Services (EPS) Unit for a manual adjustment. Manual claims must be submitted within 90-calendar days of the error. EPS staff evaluates whether to adjust the payment to the provider based on the reason care was not paid electronically. (1) When the client or authorized representative does not attempt to record attendance electronically, OKDHS does not pay the child care provider for those days unless extenuating circumstances beyond the client's, authorized representative's, or provider's control exist. These extenuating circumstances must be documented on Form 10AD121E. (2) EPS staff makes manual adjustments when the: (A) client records correct attendance times that are denied in error; (B) EBT system applies an incorrect family share copayment; or (C) provider is paid the wrong rate because: (i) the child care plan is incorrectly coded; (ii) an incorrect birth date is entered for a child; or (iii) an incorrect star status is paid. (f) Absent-day payments. Child care providers may receive an absent-day payment for a child who misses some scheduled attendance days. To be eligible, the child must qualify for a weekly unit type and attend the minimum number of full-time days, per OKDHS Appendix C-4-B, Child Care Provider Rate Schedule, for that month. The provider is not eligible for an absent-day payment when the child did not attend the minimum number of full-time days for that calendar month or attended the maximum days paid, per OKDHS Appendix C-4-B. The EBT system deposits an absent-day payment in the provider's account in their weekly settlement. The provider receives the settlement after the 10th day of the month following the month the child was absent from care.