Ky.gov
Effective: 2/17/2025

C3.4 Preventive Child Care Assistance

Legal Authority

Introduction

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Access to high-quality early care and education (ECE) supports healthy child development as well as provides other long-term benefits for both the child and family. Many children are eligible for no-cost programs such as Early Head Start, Head Start, or public preschool. The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) may assist families, based on income or other eligibility, to access care if cost is a barrier to enrollment with a licensed or certified child care provider. Staff may assist families in determining if child care is an appropriate service to meet the needs of the child. The DCC-113 Facts About the Child Care Assistance Program and DCC-120 Division of Child Care Consumer Education Statement provide general information concerning child care assistance services including types of child care, eligibility requirements, and family co-payments.
Preventive child care assistance is a resource specific to families who have had an assessment completed by a Division of Protection and Permanency (DPP) SSW. Preventive child care assistance may be approved to meet the child care needs of a family to:
  • Mitigate risk identified through the assessment to provide stability for the family and prevent future maltreatment;
  • Prevent the need for further child protective service (CPS) intervention, such as entry into out-of-home care (OOHC); or
  • Support placement of children with relative and fictive kin caregivers as the result of a CPS investigation or assessment.
This need should be documented in a family’s assessment, case plan, prevention plan, and/or aftercare plan following a CPS investigation or alternative response (AR) assessment. A substantiation of maltreatment is not necessary for preventive child care assistance to be approved. However, a referral for preventive child care assistance should only be made if other options for ECE will not meet the need because of ineligibility, inadequate hours of the program, or other barrier to services. Other options to consider before making a preventive child care assistance referral include Head Start/Early Head Start, public preschool, and eligibility for CCAP based on income, homelessness, or being a teen parent. Preventive child care assistance is limited to a twelve (12)-month eligibility period and long-term plans for child care should be discussed with the family if the need will be ongoing beyond that timeframe.



Practice Guidance

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  • An open CPS case is not a requirement for eligibility for preventive child care assistance. However, the need for preventive child care assistance must be documented through the assessment and/or in a prevention plan, case plan, or aftercare plan.  
  • Preventive child care assistance is limited to twelve (12) months. It is imperative that these time limits are explained to the family and that there is a plan to ensure a child(ren) is not placed at increased risk once those time limits are reached. The Preventive Child Care Assistance Tip Sheet provides further guidance.  
  • Financial need alone is not an appropriate reason to request authorization for preventive child care services. Families may be eligible for the CCAP based on income and should be encouraged to apply for benefits if low income is identified as a barrier to accessing or continuing high-quality child care. 
  • DPP staff are encouraged to request attendance reports for children receiving preventive child care and check in regularly with the provider to assess the child’s development and wellbeing if the family has an open case. 
  • Relative and fictive kin caregivers receiving benefits under D.O. v. Glisson may not also receive child care benefits under CCAP; however, a DCC-85 may be submitted while eligibility determination is pending. Those benefits will then be discontinued if determined eligible for child care benefits under D.O. v. Glisson.
  • Court-ordered child care that does not meet the criteria for preventive child care assistance should be appealed timely with the assistance of the regional attorney.
  • Referrals for child care assistance on resource linkages are not appropriate and will not be accepted. 


Procedure

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The SSW:

  1. Determines if the family may qualify for high-quality ECE services such as Early Head Start, Head Start, public preschool, or child care through CCAP based on income, homelessness, being a teen parent, or other eligibility criteria;
  2. If other publicly funded options for high-quality child care will not meet the family’s needs because of ineligibility, inaccessibility, inadequate hours of services, or assessed risk, requests FSOS approval for preventive child care assistance when access to high-quality child care is necessary to: 
    1. Mitigate a risk identified through the assessment to provide stability for the family or prevent future maltreatment;   
    2. Prevent the need for further CPS intervention, such as entry into care; or
    3. Support placement of a child(ren) with relative or fictive kin caregivers as the result of an assessment on a short-term basis. (Please refer to Preventive Child Care Assistance Tip Sheet.) 
  3. Does not make a referral for preventive child care assistance if the child has entered OOHC;  
  4. May request preventive child care assistance for other children in the home of appropriate age, not just the alleged victim of abuse or neglect; 
  5. Documents the need for high-quality child care in the assessment, prevention plan, case plan, or aftercare plan; 
  6. Requests FSOS approval for preventive child care assistance by providing the FSOS information in the justification section of the DCC-85 Approval for Child Care Assistance that child care is needed based on an assessed need and that other types of publicly funded high-quality ECE (i.e., Head Start) are not accessible or will not meet the child’s need; 
  7. Ensures that the justification describes in detail how child care assistance mitigates risk identified in the assessment (i.e. how child care will assist in addressing any safety issues or risk of future maltreatment, and if a child is placed with a relative or fictive kin caregiver, the specific reasons the caregiver needs child care assistance to maintain placement). Please refer to the Preventive Child Care Assistance Tip Sheet; 
  8. Upon approval by the FSOS, fills out a DCC-85 utilizing the Procedural Instructions form and submits it for FSOS signature. Incomplete or partially completed forms cannot be processed by the Division of Child Care (DCC); 
  9. Provides the family with the DCC-113 Facts About the Child Care Assistance Program and DCC-120 Division of Child Care Consumer Education Statement forms as well as providing the link to Kentucky Benefits/kynect to utilize the child care provider search function, which includes quality rating information; 
  10. Utilizing the provided resources, works with the parent, relative, or fictive kin caregiver to determine the best option for child care based on the needs of the child(ren), quality ratings, and availability in the community. The child care provider type must be specified on the DCC-85; 
  11. Uses the justification section to record any additional extenuating circumstances such as:
    1. Required notification of absences (if requested by the SSW for open cases only);
    2. Required use of child care if specified on a case plan; 
    3. Restrictions on choice of child care provider; 
    4. Schedules that may require the use of multiple child care providers; or
    5. Special needs of the child; 
  12. Sends a copy of the DCC-85 to the DCC at DCC85@ky.gov for processing within ten (10) calendar days of identifying the need for child care; 
  13. Provides the family with page three (3) of the DCC-85 confirming eligibility for child care services;
  14. Files a copy of the DCC-85 in the family’s case record; 
  15. Documents in TWIST all children in the family receiving child care assistance; 
  16. Reports child care changes to the DCC by sending an email to DCC85@ky.gov;
  17. Ensures that the family understands that preventive child care assistance is limited to a twelve (12)-month period and that they have a plan if continued child care is needed beyond that timeframe. Preventive child care assistance may be requested by DPP staff for an additional twelve (12)-month period in very limited circumstances if the identified risk still exists. Please refer to the Preventive Child Care Assistance Tip Sheet.);
  18. Explains to the family that copays are waived for preventive child care assistance, but may not be waived if the family qualifies for a different type of child care assistance following the twelve (12)-month eligibility period;  
  19. Documents discussion of time limits and how future needs for child care may be met in service recordings;    
  20. Informs the family of their right to make a service appeal following procedures outlined in SOP 30.1 Service Appeals if child care assistance is denied initially or during redetermination;
  21. Assists the family in selecting another child care provider in the event of a closure of a licensed or certified child care provider caring for children receiving preventive child care assistance;1
  22. Assists the family in identifying high-quality child care at the end of the twelve (12)-month eligibility period as needed if their original plan for long-term care cannot be followed and the case remains open with the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS). This may include Early Head Start, Head Start, public preschool, or applying for income-based CCAP to remain with the same provider. Submitting a DCC-85 for an additional twelve (12) months of preventive child care assistance should only be considered as a last resort if that is the only option to prevent more intense CPS intervention;
  23. Refers relative or fictive kin caregivers to DPP relative supports at Relative.Supports@ky.gov or (877) 565-5608 for child care services if there is no longer an open case;2 and 
  24. Refers birth parents to the Division of Prevention and Community Wellbeing (DPCW) at Preventive.CCA@ky.gov for requests for renewal of preventive child care assistance if there is no longer an open case.2



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Footnotes

  1. In the event of the closure of a licensed or certified child care provider caring for children receiving preventive or protective child care assistance, the DCC will provide the names of children currently enrolled with the provider under those eligibility types to DPP. DPP will subsequently provide relevant information to staff in the service regions
  2. DPP relative supports and DPCW staff will assist families in exploring other high-quality childcare options such as Early Head Start, Head Start, public preschool, or applying for income-based CCAP before submitting another DCC-85 for an additional twelve (12) months of preventive child care assistance. If an additional referral for preventive child care assistance is submitted following case closure, a copy of the DCC-85 with the justification should be uploaded into TWIST.

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Documents

Revisions