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39 This information helps local departments determine whether they have the target/budget capacity to authorize additional families from the waitlist into child care assistance.

B. Placement on Waitlist

If the waitlist screening indicates the family may be eligible for assistance, they are placed on the waitlist unless the family declines placement. The waitlist screening process must be used for all families placed on the waitlist. Placement on the waitlist should be limited to families that are seeking assistance but for whom there are not enough child targets to serve them. Delay or failure to select an approved provider would not be an appropriate reason for placement on a waitlist.

C. Priority on the Waitlist

Families are placed on the waitlist by priority and screening/application date. There are two tiers of priority groups, which will be grouped and placed at the beginning of the waitlist. Priority is assigned at the family level. The highest priority should be applied to each child and the family will be placed on the waitlist as a whole under the priority group. Within the priority group, families will be listed in order based on their application/screening date.

1. Tier 1 includes families with at least one child ages 0-5 who is not yet in kindergarten. These families should be placed at the top of the waitlist and ordered based on their application/screening date within this group.

Note: A Task/Reminder will be generated to alert workers that a child in the household no longer meets the criteria for the Tier 1 Group "Child ages 0-5 and not yet in KG." This batch process will run nightly, and Child Care Workers must review the alert for accuracy and update the priority tier group in VaCMS under authorization management accordingly. i. Tier 2 includes families that do not fall into Tier 1 but meet specific criteria. These families are placed on the waitlist following Tier 1 families, ordered by their application/screening date. Tier 2 families include: • A family unit with a child who has special needs for whom services are requested. • A family with a child experiencing homelessness. • A family involved in CPS or Foster Care Prevention. • A family that includes a minor parent under the age of 18 and in high school, whose child will be receiving subsidy services. • An emancipated teen parent younger than 18 and in high school. • A case discontinued due to lack of funds. Note that in order to accurately capture the 12-month Cost of Care displayed on the Waitlist Management Information screen, the Special Needs information must be entered on the General