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State of Vermont, Department for Children and Families Child Development Division Act 76 FAQs

4 Revised June 10, 2024

the state no longer uses the provider rate agreement when determining its CCFAP payments. The State automatically pays the state rate for families receiving CCFAP benefits. Providers no longer need to charge the same rate for CCFAP and private pay families in order to receive the maximum CCFAP payment. Providers have the ability to set tuition rates at their discretion. • By July 1, 2024, the state rate for Registered Family Child Care Homes will increase by 50% of the difference between current Family Child Care Home rates and licensed centers’ state rates. The state rates for licensed centers will not change. 2. My program does not accept child care financial assistance. Can my program expect to receive financial support through this new law? The financial benefits of Act 76 are primarily for families and programs that participate in the Child Care Financial Assistance Program (CCFAP). Act 76 will expand eligibility for CCFAP so that, over time, many more families will qualify and can benefit from the program. Child care programs that are willing to accept CCFAP are eligible for Act 76 Readiness Payments even if they do not currently serve families with CCFAP benefits. Act 76 also funds a $10M Child Care Quality and Capacity Incentive Program to begin after July 1, 2024 that will include expanded financial incentives for STARS, serving infants and toddlers, offering specialized child care, and other quality and capacity related achievements; funds will also support coaching and technical assistance for programs working meet quality and capacity related goals. 3. (UPDATED) What does “payment shall be based on enrollment” mean? What changes can we expect? “Payment based on enrollment” means that a program receives payment on behalf of a child with CCFAP certificate as the child is enrolled in that program and the payments are not reduced for a child’s occasional absence. (“Payment based on enrollment” does NOT mean paying for a number of slots nor paying a child care program for children who are no longer enrolled in that program.) Per Act 76, CDD was asked to “define ‘enrollment’ and the total number of allowable absences to continue participating in the program.” On February 26, 2024, CDD issued a memo that defined enrollment as being when: • A child has an active CCFAP certificate tied to a specific child care program; • The program submits its bi-weekly CCFAP Attendance with hours of attendance or applicable coded days for the child; • CCFAP attendance does not exceed allowable coded days. The enrollment definition was developed in consultation with the Office of