Participants on MFIP work with an employment counselor to develop an employment plan and can receive child care assistance to participate in activities within the employment plan. Helping participants obtain child care assistance requires close cooperation between the employment counselor and the child care assistance worker.

The employment counselor is responsible for:

· Developing, monitoring, and adjusting the employment plan activities

· Providing enough information to the child care assistance worker to support authorizing child care, including activity type and activity begin dates

· Communicating changes to the child care assistance worker to ensure the child care authorization is current and correct

· Determining if a participant is out of compliance with their employment plan

The child care assistance worker is responsible for:

· Authorizing child care assistance according to program rules and in support of the employment plan

· Obtaining information including schedules needed to determine the hours of care needed if not provided by the employment counselor

· Acting on reported changes within 10 days, ensuring families and providers are given 15-day notice of adverse actions

· Communicating with the employment counselor when clarification is needed including sharing information about activity participation.

County and Tribal Nation human services agencies may make many of the operational decisions for administering child care assistance:

· Decide whether the child care assistance worker or the employment counselor determines how many hours of child care are needed

· Develop a plan for communication between employment counselors and CCAP workers

· Direct what duties the employment counselor and child care assistance worker have in verifying the schedule of activities covered by child care assistance.

Ways to communicate with child care assistance workers:

· The MFIP Employment Services Child Care Request (DHS-7054) (PDF).

· The MFIP Status Update Form (DHS-3165) (PDF).

· A county or Tribal Nation-created form to send information to the child care assistance worker.

· Phone.

· Encrypted email.

· In-person communication at case consultations, etc.

Roles and responsibilities

Task	Employment Counselors	Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) Workers
Initial childcare application and plan.	· Determine with the participant the activities and hours in the Employment Plan. · Provide the CCAP worker information to support authorizing child care including: · The participant’s activities. · The date the activity begins. · The participant’s schedule in those activities, including travel time and breaks. · Work with the participant to cluster or group employment plan activities to create periods of times that will work with child care providers’ schedules and practices, when possible. · May indicate how many hours of child care are needed to support the employment plan activities, including travel time.	· Obtain income verification. · Obtain information including scheduled needed to determine the hours of care needed if not provided by the employment counselor. · Determine how many hours of child care are needed if not provided by the employment counselor. · Authorize child care that the family is eligible for in full hour increments. · Obtain verification of the participant’s schedule only if the employment counselor has not provided the schedule information.
Determining start and end dates of activities for child care assistance authorizations.	· Do not indicate an end date on employment plan activities if the participant plans to continue in that activity. · Use the start date for specific activities – as long as the family was MFIP eligible. Workforce One assigns a Plan Start Date on the front page of the employment plan that cannot be adjusted. Individual activities can sometimes have earlier start dates than the “Plan Start Date.”	· Determine whether child care can be authorized for activities outside of an employment plan. · Use the start and end dates communicated by the employment counselor, unless verified different. · Do not treat a review date on an employment plan as an end date. · Do not automatically end child care assistance if the review date has passed and a new employment plan has not been signed.
Ongoing child care approval.	· Monitor participation in employment plan activities. · Adjust employment plan activities and hours as needed. · Determine if the participant is out of compliance with the employment plan. · Communicate changes in a family’s child care needs to the CCAP worker.	· Ensure that families receive 15-day notice of adverse action when a family’s child care benefits are reduced. · Communicate with the employment counselor when clarification is needed.
Changes, including sanctions.	Notify CCAP worker within 10 days about changes in: · Employment plan hours. · Employment plan activities. · Participant’s schedule. · Participant’s participation. · Sanction status.	Act on information received from the employment counselor within 10 days.
Documentation and verification.	Keep current child care assistance-related activity documentation in the case file or case notes.	· Obtain income verification. · Obtain information including scheduled needed to determine the hours of care needed if not provided by the employment counselor. · Case note authorization and schedule information provided by employment counselor.
General policy information.	State policies do not require the child care assistance worker to have a copy of the employment plan in order to authorize child care assistance.	Do not monitor participant’s participation in employment plan activities. CCAP workers are encouraged to communicate with the employment counselor if there are discrepancies in information.

Information about job counselor and child care assistance worker roles and responsibilities is also available in the Child Care Assistance Program Manual 9.1.5 (Authorizing Care-Employment Plans).