3.3 Waiving Family Co-payment

3.3.1 Waiving family co-payment The Lead Agency may waive family contributions/co-payments for many families to lower their costs and maximize affordability for families. Lead Agencies have broad flexibility in determining for which families they will waive co-payments. Does the Lead Agency waive family contributions/co-payments? [ ] No, the Lead Agency does not waive any family contributions/co-payments. (Skip to question 4.1.1.) [x] Yes. If yes, identify and describe which family contributions/co-payments waived. i. [ ]Families with an income at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level for families of the same size. ii. [x]Families with an income above 100% but at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level for families of the same size. iii. [ ]Families experiencing homelessness. iv. [ ]Families with children with disabilities. v. [x]Families enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start. vi. [x]Children in foster care or kinship care, or otherwise receiving or needing to receive protective services. Describe the policy: The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (TDCS), the state child welfare agency, determines eligibility for children in protective custody and the Lead Agency functions as the point of entry for children in protective services to receive child care services. The Lead Agency funds child care payment assistance for children in state custody. vii. [ ]Families meeting other criteria established by the Lead Agency. Describe the policy: 4 Parental Choice, Equal Access, Payment Rates, and Payment Practices Core purposes of CCDF are to provide participating parents choice in their child care arrangements and provide their children with equal access to child care compared to those children not participating in CCDF. CCDF requirements approach equal access and parental choice comprehensively to meet these foundational program goals. Providing access to a full range of child care providers helps ensure that families can choose a child care provider that meets their family’s needs. CCDF payment rates and practices must be sufficient to support equal access by allowing child care providers to recruit and retain skilled staff, provide high-quality care, and operate in a sustainable way. Supply-building strategies are also essential. This section addresses many of the CCDF provisions related to equal access, including access to the full range of providers, payment rates for providers, co-payments for families, payment practices, differential payment rates, and other strategies that support parental choice and access by helping to ensure that child care providers are available to serve children participating in CCDF. In responding to questions in this section, OCC recognizes that each Lead Agency identifies and defines its own categories and types of care. OCC does not expect Lead Agencies to change their definitions to fit the CCDF-defined categories and types of care. For these questions, provide responses that closely match the CCDF categories of care.