Ky.gov
Effective: 10/15/2024

G1.32 Preventive and Protective Child Care Assistance

Legal Authority

Introduction

​​​​​​​​​​Access to high-quality early care and education supports healthy child development as well as providing other long-term benefits for both the child and the 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 provide assistance to families, based on income or other eligibility, to access care if cost is a barrier to enrollment with a licensed or certified childcare 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 and protective child care assistance are resources specific to families who have had an assessment completed by a Division of Protection and Permanency (DPP) worker. Preventive or protective 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 care; or
  • Support placement of children with relative and fictive kin caregivers as the result of a child protection 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 assessment. Protective child care assistance is most often selected following substantiation of maltreatment when the child(ren) will not be entering out-of-home care (OOHC). A substantiation of maltreatment is not necessary for preventive child care assistance to be approved. However, a referral for either protective or preventive child care assistance should only be made if other options for early care and education will not meet the need because of ineligibility, inadequate hours of the program, or another barrier to services. Other options to consider before making a preventive or protective 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 and protective child care assistance are 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

  • ​The need for protective or preventive child care assistance must be documented through the assessment and/or in a prevention plan, case plan, or aftercare plan.  
  • Beginning October 2024, copays are waived for both preventive and protective child care assistance.  
  • Preventive and protective 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 children are not placed at increased risk once those time limits are reached.    
  • Financial need alone is not an appropriate reason to request an authorization for preventive or protective child care assistance.  Families may be eligible for CCAP based on income and should be encouraged to apply for benefits if low income is identified as a barrier to access or to continue high quality child care.  
  • DPP staff are encouraged to request attendance reports for children receiving preventive or protective child care and check in regularly with the provider to assess the child’s development and wellbeing if the family has an open case. 
  • Relatives 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 or protective 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

The SSW: ​

  1. ​​Determines whether the family may qualify for high-quality early care and education 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 or protective 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 OOHC; or
    3. Support placement of a child(ren) with a relative or fictive kin caregiver as the result of an assessment on a short-term basis.  
  3. Does not make a referral for preventive or protective child care assistance if the child has entered OOHC;  
  4. May request preventive or protective 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. 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; 
  7. Requests FSOS approval for preventive or protective 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 early care and education (i.e., Head Start) are not accessible or will not meet the need; 
  8. 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 threats or risk of future maltreatment, and if a child is placed with a relative, the specific reasons the relative needs child care assistance to maintain placement); 
  9. Upon approval by the FSOS, fully completes a DCC-85-Approval for Child Care Assistance 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;
  10. 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 provide the link to Kentucky Benefits/KYNECT to utilize the child care provider search function, which includes quality rating information; 
  11. Utilizing the provided resources, works with the parent or relative 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; 
  12. Uses the “Justification” section to record any additional extenuating circumstances such as:
    1. ​​Required notification of absences (if requested by the worker 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; and 
    5. Special needs of the child; 
  13. Sends a copy of the DCC-85 to the Division of Child Care at DCC85@ky.gov for processing within ten (10) calendar days of identifying the need for child care; 
  14. Provides the family with page three (3) of the DCC-85 confirming eligibility for child care services;
  15. Files a copy of the DCC-85 in the family’s case record; 
  16. Documents in TWIST all children in the family receiving child care assistance; 
  17. Reports child care changes to the Division of Child Care by sending an email to DCC85@ky.gov;
  18. Ensures that the family understands that preventive or protective 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 or protective 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; 
  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 G2.1 Service Appeals if child care assistance is denied initially or during redetermination; and 
  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




​​​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 Division of Child Care 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.   


Documents

Revisions