For information on what a family is for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), see the definition of family in Chapter 2 (Glossary).

Who is in the child care assistance family?

· Parentally Responsible Individuals (PRIs) which include:

· Parents

· Step-parents

· Legal guardians

· Eligible relative caregivers

· Legal spouses of Parentally Responsible Individuals who reside in the PRI’s household

· Relative custodians who accepted a transfer of permanent legal and physical custody (TPLPC)

· Successor custodians or Successor Guardians

· Foster Parents

· Children, including blood-related dependent children, adoptive siblings, and children placed in the home through foster care that are under the age of 18 years and living in the same home.

· Dependent adult students (see below).

· Temporarily absent family members (see below).

See Chapter 4.1 (Applicant Requirements) for more details about Parentally Responsible Individuals.

Temporarily absent family members

Adults living out of the household

People may remain in the CCAP family while temporarily absent under certain conditions. See Chapter 5.6 (CCAP Family - Temporary Absence).

Children living out of the household

Children who are temporarily absent from the household include children in settings such as schools, foster care, and residential treatment facilities and those who reside in multiple households or only reside in the CCAP household part-time. Children who are temporarily absent from the household are included in the child care assistance family size. See Chapter 5.6 (CCAP Family - Temporary Absence).

Dependent adult students

A dependent adult student is:

· An adult age 18 or older

AND

· meets the definition of family

AND

· a full-time high school or post-secondary student.

A dependent adult student may be considered a dependent member of the family if 50% or more of the adult student’s support is provided by Parentally Responsible Individuals in the household.

If the adult student is included in the family, the adult student’s earned and unearned income must be included in determining the household income, unless the adult student is under the age of 19 and has not earned a high school diploma or GED. See Chapter 6.6 (Earned/Unearned Income) and Chapter 6.6.1 (Individuals with Exempt Earned Income).

Verification

To include the adult student as a dependent in the family, the family must verify:

· The adult dependent’s student status

· That the family provides 50% or more of the dependent student’s support

· All other eligibility factors required for members of the CCAP family.

See Chapters 6.6.1 (Individuals with Exempt Earned Income), 7.3 (Verification – Initial Application), 7.6 (Verification – Eligibility Redetermination), 7.9 (Income Verification), and 16.27 (Exempt Earned Income Comparison Sheet).

Verification may include a Client Statement if proof is not available despite the efforts of you and the family. See Chapter 7 (Verification).

Determining percentage of support

Agencies may set up criteria for determining the level of family support for adult students. One way to determine the percentage of support is to:

· Determine household costs, for example, rent, utilities, and food

· Divide the amount by the total number of family members

· Assign a percent to each member, and then

· Compare that to the adult student’s income.

Minor parents living with other relatives

When a minor parent(s) and his/her child(ren) are living with other relatives and the minor parent(s) applies for child care assistance, “family” means only the minor parent(s) and their child(ren).

Legal guardians, eligible relative caregivers and other caregivers

Included in the child care assistance family

Legal guardians, eligible relative caregivers, relative custodians, successor custodians or successor guardians, and foster parents of a child can receive child care assistance for the child. These children and any biological or adoptive children of the legal guardian, eligible relative caregiver, relative custodians, successor custodians or successor guardians, and foster parents are included in the family size. See Chapter 4.1 (Applicant Requirements) for definitions of each type of caregiver.

Not included in the child care assistance family

Non-parental caregivers who are not Parentally Responsible Individuals of a child cannot receive child care assistance for that child. If the person applies for child care assistance for their biological or adoptive children, the other children are not included in the family size.

For example:

· A person with a notarized Delegation of Power by Parent of a child cannot receive CCAP for that child. If the person applies for CCAP for their biological or adoptive children, the other children are not included in the family size.

Case examples

See Chapter 5.9 (CCAP Family Composition Examples) for case examples.

Legal authority

Minnesota Statutes 142E.01
Minnesota Rule 3400.0020 subps. 12a, 20, 31b, 34b, and 40a.