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F. Family’s Right to Apply for Services

Families must be advised that they have the right to apply for services rather than be screened for the waitlist. If they apply and are determined to be eligible for child care assistance but child targets are not available to serve them immediately, they are to be placed on the waitlist. The Child Care Notice of Action to deny the application must advise the applicant that they are being placed on the waitlist and why. Families must be given the opportunity to decline placement on the waitlist.

G. Serving Families from the Waitlist

When the LDSS determines that child targets and funds are available to serve a family on the waitlist, the local department shall contact the family either by phone, mail, or email to request that a new application for services be submitted. The locality should make every effort to contact families using multiple communication methods to maximize the likelihood of response and promote faster placement into available slots.

If there are sufficient targets to serve some—but not all—children on a case that is up for consideration, the locality may submit an Allocation Request in VaCMS including the case number and justification of the number of targets. VDOE/VDSS will continue to closely monitor targets and reserve the right to approve or deny a locality’s target request based on budget considerations.

If the request is denied, the locality must offer the family the opportunity to begin services for the child(ren) of their choice based on the number of targets available. • If the family declines partial service (i.e., does not wish to enroll some, but not all, eligible children), the family must remain at their current position on the waitlist until enough targets are available to serve all eligible children. • The locality may then proceed to the next family on the waitlist. However, depending on the number of targets available and the size of that family, the next family may also only be eligible for partial service. In these cases, the same process applies: the family may accept services for some children or choose to wait until all eligible children can be served.

The LDSS should allow 10 calendar days from the date of the request for the family to respond to the request confirming interest when contact is made by phone, email, or text message. In rare cases where postal mail is the only available contact method, the locality should allow 20 calendar days from the date of the request for the family to respond to allow for delivery time. In such instances, letters should instruct families to respond by calling or emailing, rather than replying by mail.

A new application may be submitted through CommonHelp or sent to the locality via email, fax, or scanned document. Upon receipt, the application must be associated with the existing pending waitlist case to ensure accurate processing and tracking. If the family does not respond to the request and no application is received, the LDSS should remove the family from the Waitlist and proceed to contact the next family on the list.

Intake Process Case managers should refer to Sections 3.2B (Application Delays) and 3.2D (Intake) to ensure proper completion of the intake process.