DCDEE Legislative Report on a pilot project requiring that Child Care Subsidy Participants Cooperate with Child Support Services Enforcement
Pursuant to Session Law 2017-57, Section 11B.7 - CHILD CARE SUBSIDY RECIPIENTS TO COOPERATE WITH CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES/DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
SECTION 11B.7.(a) Beginning January 1, 2018, or 30 days from the date the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Care, approves the revised Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) plan, or whichever occurs later, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) and the Division of Social Services (DSS), shall implement a one-year statewide demonstration project in accordance with S.L. 2015-51 requiring a custodial parent or other relative or person with primary custody of the child who is receiving child care subsidy payments to cooperate with the county child support services program as a condition of receiving child care subsidy payments. DCDEE and DSS shall conduct the demonstration project in at least three counties, but no more than six, that represent the three regions of the State in both rural and urban settings. DCDEE and DSS may solicit counties to volunteer for the demonstration project. In selecting counties to participate in the demonstration project, DCDEE and DSS shall (i) consider the various methods counties employ in receiving and processing child care subsidy applications and (ii) compare the data from the counties participating in the demonstration project to counties that are similarly sized and situated that do not participate in the demonstration project.
SECTION 11B.7.(b) The statewide demonstration project shall include, at a minimum, the components described in Section 1(a) of S.L. 2015-51, as well as any criteria DCDEE and DSS identified in its report as submitted to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services dated February 1, 2016. Specifically, as identified in that report, DCDEE and DSS shall consider, at a minimum, each of the following factors in evaluating the demonstration project:
(1) The number and percentage of applicants for whom the requirement to participate in child support services was presented who actually submitted a child support application and applied for and received subsidized child care assistance.
(2) The number and percentage of families exempted from the requirement under subdivision (1) of this subsection through good-cause exceptions.
(3) The number and percentage of families that initially receive child support payments but become ineligible for subsidized child care assistance as a result of their increased income or family status.
(4) The number and percentage of families enrolled in the subsidized child care assistance program at the beginning of the demonstration project that exit the program due to imposed requirements for child support cooperation.
(5) The number and percentage of applicants who declined to apply or withdrew their application as a result of the requirement to cooperate with child support services.
(6) The number and percentage of child care subsidy recipients who begin receiving child support or, if receiving child support, the average increase in the recipients' child support received due to imposed requirements for child support cooperation.
SECTION 11B.7.(c) The Division of Child Development and Early Education and the Division of Social Services shall report on the results of the demonstration project to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division no later than March 1, 2019, or if the CCDF plan is approved after January 1, 2018, no later than three months from the date the one-year demonstration project is completed, whichever occurs later. The report shall include, at a minimum, each of the following:
(1) The factors evaluated under subsection (a) of this section.
(2) A detailed project plan and any costs associated with implementing the plan, specifically, any technology needs.
(3) Any recommendations for or challenges with sustaining the plan long term.