Determining the Level of Care 400-28-85-10

(Revised 5/1/15 ML #3439)

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Level of Care must be determined for each provider based on the number of hours the child needs to be in care while the caretaker(s) is participating in an allowable activity. The Level of Care must be determined at:

• application
• 6 month review
• increase in monthly hours
• adding a child to the certificate
• addition of a household member who is participating in an allowable activity
• change or addition of a provider

To determine the Level of Care:

• For a household with one caretaker and a non-school age child(ren), the caretaker must provide verification of their allowable activity hours (pay stubs, employer statement, class schedule, time sheets, etc.).
• For a household with one caretaker with school aged child(ren), the caretaker must provide verification of their allowable activity hours and the school age child's schedule (timesheets, work schedule(s), employers statement, class schedule, verification of job search, known information to the agency).
• In household's with two caretakers, both caretakers must provide verification of schedules of all allowable activities.
  

  
  Example #1: Two caretaker household with non-school age child. Both caretakers must provide verification of their allowable activity schedules.
  
  

  Example #2: Two caretaker household with a school age child where both caretakers work. One caretaker is also attending an allowable education activity. Both caretakers must provide verification of their work schedules and the schedule of the school age child. Verification of the caretaker’s allowable education activity must also be verified. In order to determine the correct level of care, schedules of all allowable activities and the child’s school schedule must be verified.

If the schedule of the caretaker(s) is known information, the agency must document the schedule and the caretaker does not need to provide verification of the schedule as long as the schedule is not questionable.

 

Once this information is determined:

• If the weekly hours calculated for a child average 25 or more per week, the child falls into the full time Level of Care.
• If the weekly hours calculated for a child average from 14 to less than 25 hours per week, the child falls into part-time Level of Care.
• If the weekly hours calculated for a child average less than 14 hours per week, the child falls into hourly Level of Care.

Once a level of care is established for a child:

• The level of care is not decreased for the remaining certificate period regardless if the caretaker has a decrease in hours which would result in the child needing a lower Level of Care from what they were initially approved for on the certificate.
• If the child has an increase in needed hours during the certificate due to increased hours of activity for a caretaker(s), the increase is made if the Level of Care needed increases for a child, or the child’s needs increase from hourly to part-time, hourly to full time, or part-time to full time.