Ariz. Admin. Code § R6-5-4911 - General Eligibility Criteria

A. Applicant and Recipient Responsibility.

1. An applicant for or recipient of Child Care Assistance shall cooperate with the Department as a condition of initial and continuing eligibility. The client shall:

a. Give the Department complete and truthful information;

b. Within two business days from the date the change becomes known, inform the Department of all changes in:

i. Income;

ii. Eligible activities as described in R6-5-4912;

iii. Work or school schedules;

iv. Persons moving in or out of the household;

v. Tax claimants moving in or out of the household;

vi. Other circumstances affecting eligibility or the amount of assistance authorized; and

c. Comply with all the Department's procedural requirements.

2. The Department may deny an application for or reduce or terminate assistance, if the client fails or refuses to cooperate with the Department to determine eligibility.

B. Eligible Applicants.

1. In order to be considered an eligible applicant for Child Care Assistance, a client shall reside with the child needing care and shall be:

a. The parent of the child for whom assistance is being requested; or

b. The caretaker relative related by blood, adoption, or marriage to the child for whom assistance is requested, including a brother, sister, aunt, uncle, first cousin, grandmother, grandfather, and persons of preceding generations as denoted by "grand," "great," or "great-great."

c. A court-appointed legal guardian for the child for whom assistance is requested, or a person who can provide documentation from the court that the process of legal guardianship has been initiated.

2. When more than one applicant resides in the home, or the child resides with two different caretakers intermittently, the Department shall determine the eligible applicant for Child Care Assistance as follows:

a. If both the parent and a caretaker relative are in the home, the parent is the eligible applicant;

b. If both a legal guardian and the parent are in the home, the legal guardian is the eligible applicant;

c. If a caretaker relative whose legal guardianship has been terminated and the parent are both in the home, the parent is the eligible applicant;

d. When the child resides with a caretaker relative or legal guardian who is acting as caretaker at least 51 percent of the time, and the parent either maintains a separate residence and visits the child intermittently, or resides outside of the child's home for an indefinite period of time, the caretaker relative or legal guardian of the child is the eligible applicant for the child.

i. An eligible applicant cannot be the noncertified relative provider or certified provider of the child for whom he or she is applying for assistance.

ii. The Department shall not consider the tax claimant status of the caretaker relative or legal guardian under R6-5-4914(D) with respect to any member of the eligible family.

e. When the child resides with two or more caretaker relatives, the caretaker relative who will be claiming the child as a dependent for income tax purposes is the eligible applicant for Child Care Assistance.

3. Acceptable verification of guardianship shall include the following court documents:

a. Petition for Temporary Appointment of Guardian (date stamped as received by the court);

b. Petition for Permanent Appointment of Guardian (date stamped as received by the court);

c. Order of Appointment of a Temporary Guardian;

d. Order of Appointment of a Permanent Guardian;

e. Letters and Acceptance of Permanent Guardianship.

4. If the client has not been appointed as a guardian when the Department authorizes Child Care Assistance, the client shall to continue the legal process for appointment in order to retain eligibility for Child Care Assistance.

5. The client shall verify relationship or guardianship status as requested by the Department.

C. Arizona Residency. The client and the child for whom assistance is requested shall be Arizona residents and shall be physically present within Arizona.

D. Age of the Child. An eligible child is birth through 12 years of age only; a child aged 13 or older is ineligible for Child Care Assistance.

E. Citizenship and Legal Residency Requirements.

1. The client shall be a United States citizen or shall be a legal resident of the United States.

2. The client shall verify citizenship or legal residency status as requested by the Department by providing a birth certificate, naturalization documentation, or alien or immigration registration documentation from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

F. Eligible Activity or Need.

1. The client, and any other parent or responsible person in the household shall be engaged in an eligible activity, or have an eligible need for Child Care Assistance as prescribed in R6-5-4912 that causes each client, parent, or responsible person to be unavailable to provide care to the child for whom assistance is requested.

2. The Department does not require a tax claimant to be engaged in an eligible activity, unless the tax claimant is the other parent of a child receiving Child Care Assistance.

G. Availability of the Client, Parent, and Responsible Person.

1. The Department shall consider the availability of the client, and any other parent or responsible person in the household in determining eligibility and the amount of Child Care Assistance authorized for each individual child needing care.

2. The client, parent, and any other responsible person in the household shall be unavailable to provide care to the child for whom assistance is being requested for a portion of a 24-hour day due to an eligible activity or need.

3. In a family with more than one parent or responsible person, the Department shall authorize Child Care Assistance for the period of time that neither the parent nor the responsible person is available due to an eligible activity or need.

4. The Department shall not consider the availability of a tax claimant in determining eligibility or amount of Child Care Assistance authorized for the client's children, unless the tax claimant is the other parent of a child receiving Child Care Assistance.

H. Provider Selection and Arrangements.

1. The Department shall not authorize Child Care Assistance until the applicant has selected a child care provider. An allowable child care provider for DES Child Care Assistance:

a. Shall be one of the following:

i. A DHS-licensed child care center;

ii. A DHS-certified group home;

iii. A DES-certified family child care home;

iv. A DES-certified in home care provider;

v. A DES-noncertified relative provider;

vi. A regulated provider meeting requirements established by military installations or federally recognized Indian Tribes.

b. Shall have a registration agreement with the Department.

2. The Department shall not authorize Child Care Assistance with a noncertified relative provider when Child Care Assistance is requested for a CPS referred family, or a CPS or DDD foster family;

3. The Department shall not authorize Child Care Assistance with a noncertified relative or certified provider when:

a. The relative or certified provider is the natural, step, or adoptive parent of the child for whom assistance is requested;

b. Child Care Assistance is requested by a Cash Assistance participant and the relative or certified provider is included in the same Cash Assistance grant as the child care applicant; or

c. The relative or certified provider is included in family size as prescribed in R6-5-4914(D), is the applicant for Child Care Assistance, or is the applicant's spouse.

Notes

Ariz. Admin. Code § R6-5-4911

Adopted effective July 31, 1997, under an exemption from the provisions of A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6 (Supp. 97-3). Amended by exempt rulemaking at 13 A.A.R. 92, effective December 31, 2006 (Supp. 06-4).

The following Section was adopted under an exemption from the provisions of A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6, pursuant to Laws 1997, Ch. 300, § 74(A). Exemption from A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6 means the Department did not submit notice of proposed rulemaking to the Secretary of State for publication in the Arizona Administrative Register; the Department did not submit these rules to the Governor's Regulatory Review Council for review and approval; and the Department was not required to hold public hearings on this Section.