Section 119B.13 Child Care Rates
119B.13 CHILD CARE RATES.
Subdivision 1.Subsidy restrictions.
(a) Beginning July 1, 2006, the maximum rate paid for child care assistance in any county or multicounty region under the child care fund shall be the rate for like-care arrangements in the county effective January 1, 2006, increased by six percent.
(b) Rate changes shall be implemented for services provided in September 2006 unless a participant eligibility redetermination or a new provider agreement is completed between July 1, 2006, and August 31, 2006.
As necessary, appropriate notice of adverse action must be made according to Minnesota Rules, part 3400.0185, subparts 3 and 4.
New cases approved on or after July 1, 2006, shall have the maximum rates under paragraph (a), implemented immediately.
(c) Every year, the commissioner shall survey rates charged by child care providers in Minnesota to determine the 75th percentile for like-care arrangements in counties. When the commissioner determines that, using the commissioner's established protocol, the number of providers responding to the survey is too small to determine the 75th percentile rate for like-care arrangements in a county or multicounty region, the commissioner may establish the 75th percentile maximum rate based on like-care arrangements in a county, region, or category that the commissioner deems to be similar.
(d) A rate which includes a special needs rate paid under subdivision 3 or under a school readiness service agreement paid under section 119B.231, may be in excess of the maximum rate allowed under this subdivision.
(e) The department shall monitor the effect of this paragraph on provider rates. The county shall pay the provider's full charges for every child in care up to the maximum established. The commissioner shall determine the maximum rate for each type of care on an hourly, full-day, and weekly basis, including special needs and disability care.
(f) When the provider charge is greater than the maximum provider rate allowed, the parent is responsible for payment of the difference in the rates in addition to any family co-payment fee.
(g) All maximum provider rates changes shall be implemented on the Monday following the effective date of the maximum provider rate.
Subd. 1a.Legal nonlicensed family child care provider rates.
(a) Legal nonlicensed family child care providers receiving reimbursement under this chapter must be paid on an hourly basis for care provided to families receiving assistance.
(b) The maximum rate paid to legal nonlicensed family child care providers must be 80 percent of the county maximum hourly rate for licensed family child care providers. In counties where the maximum hourly rate for licensed family child care providers is higher than the maximum weekly rate for those providers divided by 50, the maximum hourly rate that may be paid to legal nonlicensed family child care providers is the rate equal to the maximum weekly rate for licensed family child care providers divided by 50 and then multiplied by 0.80.
(c) A rate which includes a special needs rate paid under subdivision 3 may be in excess of the maximum rate allowed under this subdivision.
(d) Legal nonlicensed family child care providers receiving reimbursement under this chapter may not be paid registration fees for families receiving assistance.
Subd. 2.
[Repealed, 1Sp2003 c 14 art 9 s 38]
Subd. 3.Provider rate for care of children with disabilities or special needs.
Counties shall reimburse providers for the care of children with disabilities or special needs, at a special rate to be approved by the county for care of these children, subject to the approval of the commissioner.
Subd. 3a.Provider rate differential for accreditation.
A family child care provider or child care center shall be paid a 15 percent differential above the maximum rate established in subdivision 1, up to the actual provider rate, if the provider or center holds a current early childhood development credential or is accredited. For a family child care provider, early childhood development credential and accreditation includes an individual who has earned a child development associate degree, a child development associate credential, a diploma in child development from a Minnesota state technical college, or a bachelor's or post baccalaureate degree in early childhood education from an accredited college or university, or who is accredited by the National Association for Family Child Care or the Competency Based Training and Assessment Program. For a child care center, accreditation includes accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Council on Accreditation, the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation, the National School-Age Care Association, or the National Head Start Association Program of Excellence. For Montessori programs, accreditation includes the American Montessori Society, Association of Montessori International-USA, or the National Center for Montessori Education.
Subd. 4.Rates charged to publicly subsidized families.
Child care providers receiving reimbursement under this chapter may not charge a rate to clients receiving assistance under this chapter that is higher than the private, full-paying client rate.
Subd. 5.Provider notice.
The county shall inform both the family receiving assistance under this chapter and the child care provider of the payment amount and how and when payment will be received. If the county sends a family a notice that child care assistance will be terminated, the county shall inform the provider that unless the family requests to continue to receive assistance pending an appeal, child care payments will no longer be made. The notice to the provider must not contain any private data on the family or information on why payment will no longer be made.
Subd. 6.Provider payments.
(a) The provider shall bill for services provided within ten days of the end of the service period. If bills are submitted within ten days of the end of the service period, payments under the child care fund shall be made within 30 days of receiving a bill from the provider. Counties or the state may establish policies that make payments on a more frequent basis.
(b) If a provider has received an authorization of care and been issued a billing form for an eligible family, the bill must be submitted within 60 days of the last date of service on the bill. A bill submitted more than 60 days after the last date of service must be paid if the county determines that the provider has shown good cause why the bill was not submitted within 60 days. Good cause must be defined in the county's child care fund plan under section 119B.08, subdivision 3, and the definition of good cause must include county error. Any bill submitted more than a year after the last date of service on the bill must not be paid.
(c) If a provider provided care for a time period without receiving an authorization of care and a billing form for an eligible family, payment of child care assistance may only be made retroactively for a maximum of six months from the date the provider is issued an authorization of care and billing form.
(d) A county may stop payment issued to a provider or may refuse to pay a bill submitted by a provider if:
(1) the provider admits to intentionally giving the county materially false information on the provider's billing forms; or
(2) a county finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the provider intentionally gave the county materially false information on the provider's billing forms.
(e) A county's payment policies must be included in the county's child care plan under section 119B.08, subdivision 3. If payments are made by the state, in addition to being in compliance with this subdivision, the payments must be made in compliance with section 16A.124.
Subd. 7.Absent days.
(a) Child care providers may not be reimbursed for more than 25 full-day absent days per child, excluding holidays, in a fiscal year, or for more than ten consecutive full-day absent days, unless the child has a documented medical condition that causes more frequent absences. Absences due to a documented medical condition of a parent or sibling who lives in the same residence as the child receiving child care assistance do not count against the 25-day absent day limit in a fiscal year. Documentation of medical conditions must be on the forms and submitted according to the timelines established by the commissioner. A public health nurse or school nurse may verify the illness in lieu of a medical practitioner. If a provider sends a child home early due to a medical reason, including, but not limited to, fever or contagious illness, the child care center director or lead teacher may verify the illness in lieu of a medical practitioner. If a child attends for part of the time authorized to be in care in a day, but is absent for part of the time authorized to be in care in that same day, the absent time will be reimbursed but the time will not count toward the ten consecutive or 25 cumulative absent day limits. Children in families where at least one parent is under the age of 21, does not have a high school or general equivalency diploma, and is a student in a school district or another similar program that provides or arranges for child care, as well as parenting, social services, career and employment supports, and academic support to achieve high school graduation, may be exempt from the absent day limits upon request of the program and approval of the county. If a child attends part of an authorized day, payment to the provider must be for the full amount of care authorized for that day. Child care providers may only be reimbursed for absent days if the provider has a written policy for child absences and charges all other families in care for similar absences.
(b) Child care providers must be reimbursed for up to ten federal or state holidays or designated holidays per year when the provider charges all families for these days and the holiday or designated holiday falls on a day when the child is authorized to be in attendance. Parents may substitute other cultural or religious holidays for the ten recognized state and federal holidays. Holidays do not count toward the ten consecutive or 25 cumulative absent day limits.
(c) A family or child care provider may not be assessed an overpayment for an absent day payment unless (1) there was an error in the amount of care authorized for the family, (2) all of the allowed full-day absent payments for the child have been paid, or (3) the family or provider did not timely report a change as required under law.
(d) The provider and family must receive notification of the number of absent days used upon initial provider authorization for a family and when the family has used 15 cumulative absent days. Upon statewide implementation of the Minnesota Electronic Child Care System, the provider and family shall receive notification of the number of absent days used upon initial provider authorization for a family and ongoing notification of the number of absent days used as of the date of the notification.
(e) A county may pay for more absent days than the statewide absent day policy established under this subdivision if current market practice in the county justifies payment for those additional days. County policies for payment of absent days in excess of the statewide absent day policy and justification for these county policies must be included in the county's child care fund plan under section 119B.08, subdivision 3.
History:
1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 72; 1987 c 290 s 1; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 151; 1990 c 568 art 4 s 52,53; 1991 c 292 art 5 s 58-60; 1995 c 207 art 4 s 36; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1997 c 162 art 4 s 38-40; 1Sp1997 c 5 s 48; 1999 c 205 art 1 s 34; 1Sp2001 c 3 art 1 s 6; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 9 s 22-24; 2004 c 288 art 4 s 18,19; 2005 c 56 s 1; 1Sp2005 c 4 art 3 s 1,2; 2006 c 282 art 2 s 2-4; 2007 c 147 art 2 s 11-13,64; 2008 c 361 art 3 s 7,8; 2009 c 79 art 2 s 2; 2009 c 175 art 1 s 5