Child Care Provider Eligibility Standards, Payments Rates, Payment Limits, and Payable Hours

(a) Infant: For all providers other than licensed (registered or certified) care, a child aged newborn to 1 year. For licensed care, an infant is a child aged newborn to 2 years.

(b) Toddler: For all providers other than licensed (registered or certified) care, a child aged 1 year to 3 years. For licensed care, a toddler is a child aged 2 years to 3 years.

(c) Preschool: A child aged 3 years to 6 years.

(d) School: A child aged 6 years or older.

(f) The Enhanced Center Rate applies to child care provided in an exempt center whose staff meet the training requirements of the Oregon Registry established by the Oregon Center for Career Development in Childhood Care and Education. Eligibility to receive the enhanced center rate for care provided in an exempt center is subject to the following requirements:

(A) A minimum of one staff member for every 20 children in care must meet the Oregon Registry training requirements noted in subsection (b) of this section.

(B) New staff must meet the Oregon Registry training requirements within 90 days of hire, if necessary to maintain the trained staff-to-children ratio described in paragraph (f)(i) of this subsection.

(C) There must be at least one person present where care is provided who has a current certificate in infant and child CPR and a current American Red Cross First Aid card or an equivalent.

(g) An enhanced rate will become effective not later than the second month following the month in which the Department receives verification that the provider has met the requirements of subsection (b) or (f) of this section.

(h) The Certified Center Rate applies to child care provided in a certified center, a certified Outdoor Nature Based program or an Alternative Pathway program that is certified by the Child Care Licensing Division.

(3) The following provisions apply to child care payments:

(a) Providers not eligible for the enhanced or licensed rate will be paid at an hourly rate for children in care less than 158 hours per month subject to the maximum full-time monthly rate.

(b) Providers eligible for the enhanced or licensed rate will be paid at an hourly rate for children in care less than 136 hours a month, unless the provider customarily bills all families at a part-time monthly rate subject to the maximum full-time monthly rate and is designated as the primary provider for the case.

(c) At their request, providers eligible for the enhanced or licensed rate may be paid at the part-time monthly rate if they provide 63 or more hours of care in the month, customarily bill all families at a part-time monthly rate, and are designated as the primary provider for the case.

(d) Unless required by the circumstances of the caretaker or child, the Department will not pay for care at a part-time monthly or a full-time monthly rate to more than one provider for the same child for the same month.

(e) The Department will pay at the hourly rate for less than 63 hours of care in the month subject to the maximum full-time monthly rate.

(f) The Department will pay for absent days each month the child is absent. Absent days can be billed if:

(A) It is the provider's policy to bill all families for absent days; and

(B) The child was scheduled to be in care, the provider bills for the amount of time the child was scheduled to be in care, and the child has not been absent for a calendar month.

(g) Child care providers are eligible to receive an incentive payment upon achieving and maintaining a three star or higher rating with the Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS), or SPARK program, subject to all of the following provisions.

(A) The incentive payment is in addition to the Department maximum rate.

(B) A provider may receive an incentive payment for any ERDC child that the Department paid the provider for full-time care (136 hours or more).

(C) Providers who are contracted for child care services through the ERDC program are not eligible to receive incentive payments, with the exception of Early Head Start providers.

(D) Eligibility for the incentive payment is effective the month after the QRIS rating has been achieved.

(E) The incentive payment amount is based on the provider's star QRIS rating as follows:

(i)    Star Rating……………….Amount

(ii)    3…………………………………$54

(iii)   4…………………………………$72

(iv)   5…………………………………$90

(h) Child care providers eligible for the licensed rate may receive payment from the Department for registration and other fees if they are required by the facility for a child to begin or continue care and the fees are also required of the general public. Fees related to penalties, fines, charges exceeding approved ERDC hours or rates (see section (4) of this rule), or advance payment for cost of care are not eligible for payment.

(A) Child care providers are eligible to receive an additional payment from the Department of 9% of the payment issued for a billing when all the following are met:

(i) A home-based provider’s billing was processed more than 4 business days after the completed billing was received by the Department or a center-based provider’s billing was processed more than 7 business days after the completed billing was received by the Department,

(ii) The provider initiated the request for the additional payment within 30 calendar days of the payment being processed,

(B) Providers request the additional payment using the Department’s request process, and

(C) The payment was processed outside the timeframe indicated in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (i) under circumstances other than exceptional circumstances. “Exceptional circumstances” means circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the Department including:

(i) State declared natural disaster,

(ii) System outages or failure that prevents payment issuance, or

(iii) A cause that originated outside the Department that the Department could not prevent.

(4) Effective March 1, 2026, the following are the child care rates based on the type of provider, the location of the provider (shown by zip code), the age of the child, and the type of billing used (hourly or monthly):

(a) [see attached table]

(b) [see attached table]

(c) [see attached table]

(5) OAR 414-175-0050 establishes ERDC allowable child care cost, and the copay calculation, except for child care under a contract between a Head Start agency and the Department, which is covered under OAR 414-175-0105.

(6) Subject to the provisions in section (9) of this rule, the monthly limit for each child's child care payments is the lesser of the amount charged by the provider or providers and the following amounts:

(a) The monthly rate provided in section (4) of this rule.

(b) The product of the hours of care, limited by section (8) of this rule, multiplied by the hourly rate provided in section (4) of this rule.

(7) The limit in any month for child care payments on behalf of a child whose caretaker is away from the child's home for more than 30 days because the caretaker is a member of a reserve or National Guard unit that is called up for active duty is the lesser of the following:

(a) The amount billed by the provider or providers.

(b) The monthly rate established in this rule for 215 hours of care.

(8) The number of payable billed hours of care for a child is limited as follows:

(a) The total payable hours of care in a month may not exceed the amounts in paragraphs (a)(A) or (B) of this subsection:

(A) 125 percent of the number of child care hours authorized under OAR 414-175-0050; or

(B) The monthly rate established in section (4) of this rule multiplied by a factor of not more than 1.5, determined by dividing the number of hours billed by 215, when the caretaker meets the criteria for extra hours under section (10) of this rule.

(b) For a caretaker who earns less than the Oregon minimum wage, the total may not exceed 125 percent of the anticipated earnings divided by the state minimum wage not to exceed 172 hours (which is full time).

(9) The limit in any month for child care payments on behalf of a child whose caretaker has special circumstances, defined in section (10) of this rule, is the lesser of one of the following:

(a) The amount billed by the provider or providers; or

(b) The monthly rate established in section (4) of this rule multiplied by a factor, of not more than 1.5, determined by dividing the number of hours billed by 215.

(10) The limit allowed by section (9) of this rule is authorized once the Department has determined the caretaker has special circumstances. For the purposes of this section, a caretaker has special circumstances when it is necessary for the caretaker to obtain child care in excess of 215 hours in a month to perform the requirements of their employment or training required to keep current employment, not including self-employment. This is limited to the following situations:

(a) The caretaker’s commute time to and from work or education settings and any required unpaid breaks exceeds 25 percent of the total authorized child care hours for the month.

(b) The caretaker has an overnight shift and care is necessary for both shift hours and sleep hours.

(c)  Retroactively effective January 1, 2023, multiple caretakers need care for both shift hours and sleep hours when:

(A) There is overlap in the caretakers’ reported hours, and

(B) At least one caretaker works an overnight shift.

(d) The caretaker has a split shift and it is not feasible to care for the child between shifts.

(e) The caretaker consistently works, participates in education hours, or both, more than 40 hours per week.

(11) Provider payment rates are informed by a cost estimation model and may include financial incentives as outlined in ORS 329A.500(4)(c)(A)-(G).

[ED. NOTE: To view attachments referenced in rule text, click here to view rule.]