A case can be suspended if the family remains eligible for child care assistance, but child care is not needed or cannot be authorized. A case can be suspended for up to one year.

Suspension examples include, but are not limited to:

· The family has not identified a provider.

· School age children not needing care during the school year.

· Cost of care is less than the family’s copayment.

· A family starts living with their provider. See Chapter 11 (Providers).

· A family’s legal nonlicensed provider does not meet group size or age category requirements.

· A parent becomes employed at a licensed family home or starts providing care as a legal nonlicensed (LNL) provider with no other authorized activity. See Chapter 9.15.21 (Children of Child Care Providers).

· All children in the family are temporarily absent (such as in foster care or visiting relatives for the summer). See Chapter 5.6 (CCAP Family - Temporary Absence).

· At application, redetermination or the end of job search, the family meets all eligibility requirements but has not provided employment and/or class schedules for each adult family member. See Chapter 7.27 (Schedule Verification – Employment and Education).

· At application or redetermination, the family meets all eligibility requirements but there is no information about school schedule for every child who needs child care and attends school. See Chapter 7.30 (Schedule Verification - Child's School Schedule).

· At application or redetermination, the family meets all eligibility requirements but there is no parenting time/custody schedule information for a child that resides in multiple households. See Chapter 7.32 (Parenting Time/Custody Schedule Information).

· At application or redetermination, a parent in a family is on a verified temporary break from their activity, and the activity meets the minimum activity requirements that apply at application or redetermination. See Chapters 3.7 (Processing Applications) and 10.6.3 (Redetermination Processing Standards).

· If it is discovered during the 12-month eligibility period that a family may not have met eligibility requirements at application or redetermination, but verification has not yet been provided. See Chapters 7.4 (Verification) and 7.4.3 (Inconsistent Information).

· If citizenship or immigration status for the only child authorized is not verified during the 12-month eligibility. See Chapter 8.1.21 (Other Changes).

· A parent requests that their case be suspended because child care is not currently needed. Examples may include:

· Family does not want to use child care while they are on leave or laid off from their job.

· Student does not want to use child care while they are on a school break

Authorization changes when a family moves out of suspension

When a family moves out of suspend status because the family is eligible, there are different policies for authorizing care depending on when their redetermination occurs:

· If the family moves out of suspend status during the same 12-month eligibility period, the authorized hours should be the same as what was authorized prior to when the family went into suspend status (unless the family provides verification showing that more hours are needed).

· If the family moves out of suspend status when their redetermination is processed, the authorized hours should be based on the amount of care needed at redetermination. The authorized hours can increase or decrease.

· If the family was placed into suspend status at application or redetermination and they move out of suspend status later, the authorized hours should be based on the amount of care needed at the time the family moves out of the suspend status. The authorized hours can increase or decrease.

Legal authority

Minnesota Statutes 142E.11
Minnesota Statues 142E.13
Minnesota Rules 3400.0040, subps. 18 & 18a
Minnesota Rules 3400.0180, subp. 9