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individual fails or refuses to provide the information necessary to make an eligibility determination, their application must be denied, or their current benefits terminated.

5.5 Effective Eligibility Dates Child care eligibility is issued for at least a 13-month certification period based on the child care need at the time of application.

The Certification Period for CCA is effective on the 1st of the application month. Entitlement for CCA benefits is effective when the need for care begins, the applicant meets minimum eligibility requirements, and the provider is eligible to receive payments.

5.5.1 Certification Period The Certification Period in BEES for CCA will span at least 13 months, starting with the 1st of the month of application and ending the last day of the 13th month after eligibility begins. Eligibility throughout the entire Certification Period will be assessed at initial application and at any change reported within the period.

Certification Periods will be aligned for all children in the home who are eligible for CCA to ensure only one CCA renewal is completed per household. This means, a child who is added to a household will impact other children’s Certification Period, pushing them out to match the 13-month period of the newly added child(ren).

Children in CPS custody may receive a certification period that is backdated to the 1st of the month 3 months prior to the month of application, resulting a 16-month certification period. This is to help better accommodate the placement process and support foster parents by providing additional time to apply.

5.5.2 Entitlement Period Entitlement Periods are segments of time within the certification period that define the benefit amount being paid for that timeframe to a particular provider. Entitlement periods rely on the eligible child reporting a need for CCA benefits to be paid, the amount of assistance requested, and that the child is attending an eligible child care provider.

5.6 Duplicate Child Care Assistance An individual may not be eligible to receive CCA benefits in more than one household in the same time period.

5.6.1 Shared Custody Agreements If a household reports they have joint custody of their children, determine if it is truly a joint custody situation in which both households have the children for the same amount of time. • If it is not a true joint custody situation, the household where the child spends most of his/her time is the household allowed to receive benefits for the child and is determined to be the primary household for that child. • If true joint custody exists, parents must determine which parent will serve as the primary and apply for CCA, as a child may only receive a CCA benefit on one case. Subsequent applications from another household will be determined ineligible due to care already receiving benefits for the child(ren). If the primary applicant needs to change the initial case must be closed. This may be due to parental request or verifying that there has been a change in circumstances that requires the primary to be updated. • If it is a true joint custody situation but only one household is applying for the children, that household is allowed benefits for the children.