Computing the Bill 400-28-135-10
(Revised 5/1/15 ML #3439)
When a child care billing report form is received, the billing report form must be reviewed to make sure it is complete (signed, dated and completely filled out). If the billing report form is not complete, the billing report form should be returned to the caretaker for completion.
Child Care costs must be submitted on the SFN 616, Child Care Billing Report Form for the actual calendar month the child care costs were incurred. From the total monthly hours listed on the Child Care Billing Form, the average weekly hours must be determined.
Allowable hours must be determined. Allowable hours are actual hours the child(ren) needs child care while the caretaker(s) is participating in their allowable activity. When a child is school age, allowable hours must be determined based on the school age child’s schedule and the caretaker(s) allowable activity schedule. Allowable hours are the period of time the child is at the child care provider’s to allow the caretaker(s) the time it takes for the caretaker(s) to travel from the child care provider’s to their place of activity, participate in their activity (which includes any unpaid for lunch or break time which is part of their activity) and when completed with their activity, travel back to the provider’s.
Note: In households with two caretakers; child care cannot be paid when one caretaker is available to care for the child(ren) while the other caretaker is participating in their allowable activity.
When a caretaker uses multiple providers, the time that it takes the caretaker to get from the first provider’s to the second provider’s is allowable time for the first child and the time it takes the caretaker to get from the second provider’s back to the first provider’s is allowable time for the first child.
When a caretaker who is available to provide care returns to the home during the month, child care during the month of return can only be paid to the date the caretaker entered the home.
When a caretaker who is available to provide care leaves the home during the month, child care during the month the caretaker left can be only be paid from the date the caretaker left the home.
A child whom enters the home during a month who needs and is eligible for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) will have their child care costs paid from the date they entered the home.
A child whom left the home during a month who needs and is eligible for CCAP, will have their child care costs paid to the date they left the home.
If a provider charges for the period of time that a college student (caretaker) is on break of less than a full calendar month between college terms, the caretaker may have their child care paid at the same level of care during the semester break regardless if the child is in attendance or is not in attendance at child care.
If the provider lists hours and the family does not list hours for a specific day, no hours are used as the family is indicating they were not in their allowable activity.
If the provider lists no hours and the parent lists hours for a specific day, no hours are used as the provider is indicating they did not provide care.
The lower of the provider or parent hours is used after the form has been reviewed for accuracy.
Once the allowable hours have been established, the average weekly hours must be determined. To determine the average weekly hours, the number of weeks child care is needed must be determined. A week is defined as Sunday through Saturday, and the maximum number of weeks that can be used to determine the average weekly hours is 4. If a child needs care for 1 day in a week, the week counts as 1 towards the 4 week maximum provided the day of care is in the calendar month that is being billed. If the child does not need care for at least 1 day in a week, the week is not counted.
Example #1:
A child incurred child care costs while mom is employed as indicated in the calendar below. Since the child incurred costs at least 1 day of each week in August, the child is considered in care for 5 weeks. However, the maximum weeks within a calendar month that can be allowed is 4.
| August |
1
|
2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 |
8
|
9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 |
15
|
16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 |
22
|
23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
29
|
30 | 31 |
Total child care hours incurred in the calendar month of August is 30 hours. To determine the average weekly hours, divide 30 hours (6 hours per day times 5 days) by 4 weeks, which equals 7.5 average weekly hours.
Example #2:
A child incurred child care costs while mom is job searching, as indicated in the calendar below. Since the child incurred costs at least 1 day in 2 of the weeks in August, the child is considered in care for 2 weeks.
| August |
1 |
2
|
3 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 |
8 |
9
|
10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 |
15 |
16
|
17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 |
22
|
23
|
24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
29 |
30
|
31 |
Total child care hours incurred in the calendar month of August is 20 hours. To determine the average weekly hours, divide 20 hours (8 hours from the 2nd and 12 hours from the 23rd) by 2 weeks, which equals 10 average weekly hours.
Example #3:
A child incurred child care costs with 2 different provides in a calendar month, while mom was employed, as indicated in the calendars below. The average weekly hours must be determined for each Provider.
Provider #1
Since the child incurred costs at Provider #1 at least 1 day of each week in August, the child is considered in care for 5 weeks. However, the maximum weeks within a calendar month that can be allowed is 4.
| August |
1 |
2
|
3 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 6 |
7
|
8
|
9
|
10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 |
14
|
15
|
16
|
17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 |
21
|
22
|
23
|
24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 |
28
|
29
|
30
|
31 |
Total child care hours incurred in the calendar month of August for Provider #1 is 104 hours. To determine the average weekly hours, divide 104 hours (8 hours times 13 days) by 4 weeks, which equals 26 average weekly hours.
Provider #2
Since the child incurred costs at Provider #2 at least 1 day in 3 weeks in August, the child is considered in care for 3 weeks.
| August |
1 |
2 |
3
|
4 | ||
| 5 |
6
|
7 |
8 |
9 |
10
|
11 |
| 12 |
13
|
14 |
15 |
16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 |
22
|
23 |
24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
29 |
30 |
31
|
Total child care hours incurred in the calendar month of August for Provider #2 is 32 hours. To determine the average weekly hours, divide 32 hours (8 hours times 4 days) by 3 weeks, which equals 10.66 average weekly hours.
If the average weekly hours of child care provided on the billing form are not within a reasonable amount of the caretaker's average weekly activity hours that were determined at the time the certificate was issued, the eligibility worker must contact the caretaker to resolve the difference. This applies even if the State Rate is the same regardless of the difference in hours.
The family is responsible for the costs of child care to the provider that the Level of Care determination on the certificate for the payment month.
