Policy overview

Re-determine eligibility for families who are eligible for ongoing assistance no more often than every 12 months. The time between initial eligibility and the date an agency must review the case, or the time between required reviews, is the 12-month eligibility period.

CCAP agencies may also adjust the redetermination due date to coincide with expected changes or another program's review date. The adjusted date must not be less than the minimum 12-month time requirement between redeterminations.

Extending redetermination dates beyond 12 months

Caregiver under the age of twenty-one attending certain education programs

Re-determinations may be deferred beyond 12 months for a family that has a caregiver under the age of twenty-one, who does not have a high school or general equivalency diploma (GED), and is a student in a school district or another similar program that provides or arranges child care, parenting, social services, career and employment supports and academic support to achieve high school graduation.

To qualify for this policy:

· At least one parent is under the age of 21 and does not have a high school or general equivalency diploma (GED)

AND

· This parent is a student in a school district or another similar program that provides or arranges for ALL of the following to achieve high school graduation:

· Child care

· Parenting support

· Social services support

· Career and employment supports

· Academic support.

For families who meet this criteria, workers may extend the redetermination due date beyond 12 months to the end of the parent’s school year.

Workers must either:

· Keep the family’s redetermination at 12 months.

OR

· Extend beyond 12 months to the end of the school year. CCAP defines the end of the school year as August 31. Workers should not use the last day of classes that parents are scheduled to attend, graduation day, or another date as a placeholder for the end of the school year.

Other reasons to extend redetermination dates beyond 12 months

A CCAP agency may identify other reasons to extend redetermination dates beyond 12 months as an optional policy in the agency’s County and Tribal Child Care Fund Plan. If this policy is not already identified in the agency’s County and Tribal Child Care Fund Plan, a plan amendment must be approved before extending redetermination dates beyond 12 months (except if for caregivers under the age of twenty-one attending certain education programs as identified above). Contact your CCAP policy specialist if your agency’s County and Tribal Child Care Fund Plan requires an amendment.

Examples that an agency may include in their County and Tribal Child Care Fund Plan for extending redeterminations may include:

· Balancing out workload of case workers.

· Reducing redeterminations during certain seasons, such as during the fall when copay schedules change.

· Aligning the family’s redetermination date with their renewal date for another program such as MFIP.

· Extending a family’s redetermination date when their case is expected to close due to reaching the 12-month suspension limit; this can reduce the likelihood of the family completing a redetermination packet when their case is already set to close.

· Extending any students’ redetermination date to the end of the school year (not just students who meet the criteria above).

Legal authority

Minnesota Statutes 142E.03
Minnesota Statutes 142E.03, subd. 3
Minnesota Statutes 142E.10
Minnesota Statutes 142E.10, subd. 3
Minnesota Statutes 256P.07
Minnesota Rules 3400.0180
Minnesota Rules 3400.0040
Minnesota Rules 3400.0040, subp. 4