INTENT
DEFINITIONS Advance Child Care: An advance or "up-front" payment of child care used to cover child care costs necessary to accept employment or begin participation in an employment assistance activity (any active participation agreement activity). The amount subject to mandated maximums based on the type of child care (see Directive # 25) can equal a full-months cost of child care. Ontario Works A component of the Ontario Works Participation Expenses Budget dedicated to Child Care: child care costs of participants. Monies can be issued to cover licensed or unlicensed care necessary to support participation and/or employment. Additional dollars exclusively for use by LEAP participants are also available. Fee Subsidy: Families choosing centre-based day care and licensed in-home day care may be eligible for financial assistance with fees through the fee subsidy program. To qualify for a fee subsidy, families must apply and qualify according to the needs testing standards established by the Day Nurseries Act. Licensed Care: Sometimes referred to as "formal care", licensed care relates to care provided by a licensed child care centre or licensed in-home child care. Centre-based programs are licensed (by MCSS) for groups of 5 children or more who may range in age from infancy to twelve years. Home-based child care is provided in the home of a care giver who is registered and approved by a licensed home child care agency. Unlicensed Care: Sometimes referred to as "informal care", unlicensed care relates to care provided by unlicensed providers for varying lengths of time from "babysitting" to full-time care. Informal child care may be provided in the community by independent care givers who provide home-based services "informally" and who are not required to be licensed. Arrangements for this kind of care are negotiated privately between the care giver and the parent. POLICY & PROCEDURE The DNSSAB will ensure that all Ontario Works participants receive priority for available child care spaces to promote attachment to the workforce. Child Care Policy # 4, entitled Waiting List Prioritization details the Districts' access policy when a waiting list for subsidized spaces exists. Ontario Works recipients and low income persons in the District who require child care may access a variety of sources to offset child care expenses. These sources include:
This policy will outline the circumstances under which the above sources of child care monies will be accessed and the worker responsible (Case Manager or Child Care Needs Assessment Aide). Further, some applications (STEP application versus direct payment to provider by Child Care Division) will result in a greater benefit to the client than others. In all cases, in keeping with the DNSSAB principles related to customer service, the application that results in the greatest benefit to the client will be applied. Consolidating Child Care Budgets Prior to the introduction of Ontario Works, the General Welfare Assistance Program included the advance child care payment and the ability to deduct child care expenses for working/training recipients from net income through the Supports to Employment Program. In addition, low income families could apply for fee subsidy. When the Ontario Works Program was introduced these sources of child care subsidy remained and a fourth was added, the Ontario Works Child Care Budget. The OW Child Care budget was developed in recognition that new participation requirements would increase the number of families requiring child care. Recently, additional LEAP Child Care dollars have been added to child care budgets to supplement the Ontario Works Child Care budget allotment. LEAP child care funds are to be used exclusively for LEAP eligible participants and only after the advance and Ontario Works Child Care monies have been exhausted (see OW. Policy # 12: LEAP). The development of Consolidated Municipal Services Managers allows municipalities to combine these previously separate child care monies into one budget line, set priorities based on need and distribute the funds with the flexibility necessary to promote participation activity and attachment to the workforce. Effective January 1, 2000, the DNSSAB became the Consolidated Child Care Services Manager and the separated budget lines of Ontario Works Child Care and Day Nurseries Fee Subsidy were eliminated. All child care monies are managed centrally by the Client and Community Services Manager. This policy outlines the circumstances of need for child care, the type of care (unlicensed or licensed), how care is paid for or if it is deducted as an allowable expense under STEP. This policy contains a chart which indicates the various circumstances which a client may present and which worker will manage the child care payment and how. COORDINATING WORKER ROLES (ONTARIO WORKS AND CHILD CARE STAFF) In all cases where the participant identifies a child care need, the Ontario Works Case Manager will offer to make a referral to the Child Care Division. Where the client declines the referral, the client has chosen to secure child care without assistance. Where the referral is accepted, the participant will be provided with the number for the Child Care Division and encouraged to call to arrange an appointment. For clients who contact the Child Care Division, a Child Care Needs Assessment Aide will review child care options and provide information related to care throughout the District. Where the participant has already selected informal care, this discussion may take place over the telephone and guidance may be provided regarding how to go about conducting a criminal reference check, etc. Where the participant chooses to conduct these checks, the costs of doing so will be recovered through employment related expenses issued by the Case Manager. Where the participant has not made a choice regarding care, the Needs Assessment Aide will schedule an appointment to explore options. In all cases, the Needs Assessment Aide will provide the referring Case Manager with an update as to the outcome of their discussions with the participant. Advance Child Care Payment In all cases where a participant commences an employment related activity, whether it is starting a job, starting job searching, beginning a workshop, or return to school, the advance child care payment will be issued by the Case Manager in the first month to cover child care costs. After the advance child care payment has been used, other payment options will be applied (i.e. STEP, OW Child Care) Where Earnings/Training Allowance Income is Present Unlicensed Care Where the participant chooses unlicensed care the participant will pay child care costs directly to their provider and the Case Manager will deduct the allowable costs to applicable ceilings from the reporting earnings (STEP application). The allowable ceilings for unlicensed care are:
Licensed Care (Centre Based Or Home Based) Where the participant has earnings or training allowance income present, and the participant chooses licensed care, the participant will always be encouraged by the Case Manager to use earnings/training income to pay their child care costs directly and to have the costs of care deducted as an exemption from income applying the STEP calculation. The client has the choice of paying the child care costs themselves and having them deducted or having the DNSSAB pay the funds to them or the licensed provider directly on their behalf, in which case the child care costs would not be deducted from income as a duplicate payment. Paying the costs themselves is in the best financial interest of the client. The example below demonstrates the effects on financial eligibility of the client paying the licensed child care cost themselves versus having the DNSSAB pay the provider on their behalf. Example 1: After mandatory payroll, flat rate and 25% exemption client retains enough money to pay full costs of child care. A sole-support parent, with two children (0 - 12). One dependent receiving full time licensed care at a cost of $560 per month. Gross monthly earnings are $2,500 per month.
The above example clearly demonstrates that it is in the best interest of the client to pay for their licensed care themselves and continue to receive $143 in income support and dental and drug coverage. In addition, applying STEP preserves the Ontario Works Child Care Budget to be used where earnings are not present and no STEP calculation can by applied. Preserving this budget not only will stretch the dollars to be used when needed, but also save the DNSSAB monies if the budget is unexpended as not required. If the DNSSAB were to pay the provider directly through the Child Care Division (provider bills DNSSAB), the Needs Assessment Aide would have to apply the costs to the Day Nurseries Fee Subsidy budget as the client would no longer be in receipt of assistance, therefore depleting this budget. In the example, the client has sufficient income after the application of mandatory payroll deductions, the flat rate exemption and the 25% exemption to pay the full costs of their child care. For participants with extremely low wages who are working full-time, enough income may not be retained after these three exemptions are applied to enable them to pay the full costs of care. In these situations, the client should still be encouraged to pay costs directly (although this is not our first instinct) and have the Case Manager issue the shortfall amount from Ontario Works Child Care. The following example depicts such a case. Example 2: After mandatory payroll, flat rate and 25% exemption client does not retain enough money to pay full costs of child care (without using exempted monies). A sole-support parent, with two children (0 -12). One dependent receiving full time licensed care at a cost of $560 per month. Gross monthly earnings are $1,060 per month.
In this situation, the first inclination is to have the Case Manager issue child care funds in the amount of $560 (actual licensed cost) directly to the client (or the provider) on a monthly basis from the Ontario Works Child Care budget. Although initially one would think it is in the clients best interest to have these costs taken care of, in effect encouraging the client to pay their child care costs themselves directly actually results in the client being better off. In this case the client would pay $360 in child care and receive $175 from the Case Manager for the shortfall (Ontario Works Child Care budget). When Income Precludes Eligibility When a clients income from earnings precludes eligibility, the Case Manager will advise them that they may be eligible for a fee subsidy under the Day Nurseries Act. Clients wishing to pursue a fee subsidy application will be advised to contact a Needs Assessment Officer to complete an application. Clients who are terminated and become low income earners will be provided with information pertaining to the Trillium Drug Program and the CINOT Dental Treatment Program by their Case Manager. As is the case with the Day Nurseries Fee Subsidy Program, these programs are designed specifically for low income earners. In the case of clients using unlicensed care, the Needs Assessment Officer will advise them that if they consider changing to licensed care they may be eligible for a fee subsidy. In the case of clients who were using licensed care, the Needs Assessment Officer will complete the needs test to determine eligibility for a fee subsidy. Child Care Verification Standards Child care expenses are to be reported to the Case Manager at the Statement of Income reporting date. To be eligible as a STEP deduction, verification standards require original child care receipts to be submitted. The actual child care deduction input into CWT must also reflect the fact that an Ontario Works recipient will also receive the Ontario Child Supplement which must be deducted from the actual child care costs (see OW. Policy # 25: Income, Earnings and Assignments).
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