05.01.01 - Legal Care Arrangements

Effective Date: 04/23/04
Revised:  01/18/13, 04/1/13; 07/01/15, 04/01/17, 07/01/17, 07/01/19
Reference: 89 Ill. Adm. Code, Chapter IV, §50.410; §50.440; Chapter III, §406.9; 45 CFR § 98.20
Cross Reference: 05.03.01-Provider Background Checks; 05.04.01-Criminal Convictions

Policy Statement:

  1. Payment will be made for child care that otherwise meets the requirements of this Section; meets applicable standards of State and local law and regulation, including but not limited to licensure requirements promulgated by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) at 89 Ill Adm. Code: Chapter I, Subchapter e: Requirements for Licensure, and Fire Prevention and Safety requirements promulgated by the Office of the State Fire Marshal at 41 Ill. Adm. Code 100; and is provided in any of the following:
    1. Licensed Day Care Center (760);
    2. Day Care Center Exempt from Licensing (761);
    3. Licensed Day Care Home (762);
    4. Licensed Group Day Care Home (763);
    5. Day Care Home Exempt from Licensing (764) - No more than three children may be cared for, including the provider's own children, unless all additional children are from the same household, allowing the provider to care for more than 3 children;
    6. Relative Exempt from Licensing (765)- Care provided in the home of a relative. No more than three children may be cared for, including the provider's own children, or may care for all children from a single household, allowing the provider to care for more than 3 children;
    7. Non-relative Exempt from Licensing (766) - Care provided in the home of the child. No more than three children may be cared for, including the provider's own children, or may care for all children from a single household, allowing the provider to care for more than 3 children; and
    8. Relative Exempt from Licensing (767) - Care provided in the home of the child. No more than three children may be cared for, including the provider's own children, or may care for all children from a single household, allowing the provider to care for more than 3 children.
  2. Payments will not be made to the child's mother or father, or to a stepparent who is currently married to the child's parent and is living in the same household as the child, to anyone who is included in the same public assistance grant as the child (for those families receiving such assistance), to a person living in the home who is a parent of the child's sibling or has a child in common with the applicant, or If such a person is available and qualified to care for the child in the home, child care will not be approved.
  3. Payment will not be made for a provider's sibling (brother or sister) living in the same household. Specifically, providers that are adult siblings must live in a separate residence from the eligible child(ren) for which care is being requested.
  4. Payments will not be made to a provider (even if operating within a setting exempt from licensing) who has been convicted of crimes enumerated in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 385, Background Checks, nor will such a person be considered available to provide care.
  5. Qualified providers must be at least 18 years of age.
  6. Outside employment must not interfere with the child care that is approved by the Department:
    1. Licensed child care providers may not work or be employed outside the home during the hours the day care home is licensed.
    2. License exempt child care providers may not work or be employed outside the home during the hours that care is being provided. 

Procedure:

In accordance with the policies listed above, determine if the provider is a legal care provider.

If the parent is eligible and the provider is a legal care provider, send the parent and provider a Notice of Approval.

All license-exempt providers must complete the Provider Certification Section of the Child Care Application (Form IL444-3455).

  1. If the parent is eligible and the provider is a legal care provider, send the parent and provider a Notice of Approval.
  2. All license-exempt providers must complete the Provider Certification Section of the Child Care Application (Form IL444-3455).
  3. Persons convicted of crimes listed in 05.04.01-Criminal Convictions or found to be listed in the DCFS CANTS system, are not legal care providers and cannot be approved to receive child care payments. If this occurs and:
    1. the parent is eligible, send the parent
      1. a Request for Additional Information form, stating that the provider is not a legal care provider.
      2. a Request for Child Care Provider Change form (IL444-3455G), and
      3. a referral to the CCR&R's parent counselors.
    2. the parent is not eligible, send the parent and provider a denial form.
  4. If the client is receiving TANF Cash Assistance, confirm that the provider is not part of the assistance unit on ACID Screen 3 (PEOPLE).  If they are, issue a denial and a Change of Provider form to the client.
  5. If the child's relationship to the provider is listed as a sibling (brother or sister, whether blood or legal) and both reside in the same household, issue a Denial and a Change of Provider form to the client.
  6. For all applications and redeterminations, determine if the child care provider has any other employment by completing the following steps:
    1. Review the Child Care Application (IL444-3455) to see if the provider checked 'Yes' on the question "Are you an employee of the Illinois Department of Human Services or any other State agency?"
    2. Check the Automated Wage Verification System (AWVS) screen to see if the provider(s) listed on the Child Care Application has income from any other source. Complete the AWVS screen check on all active providers to determine if they have income from any other source listed in the most recent quarter.
    3. If the provider checked 'Yes' to the IDHS employment question on the Child Care Application or if another income is found in AWVS in the most recently reported quarter, send the provider a Request for Additional Information form (IL444-4480) to request employment verification. Compare the child care schedule to the other employment schedule to ensure that the other employment does not interfere with the child care schedule.
    4. If the other employment is determined to conflict with the child care schedule, deny the case and send the client and provider a Denial of Request for Child Care Payments form (IL444-4179).
    5. If the outside employment is determined not to conflict with the child care schedule, continue with eligibility determination and notification.
  7. Day care home providers are NOT eligible for a subsidy from the IDHS Child Care program for their own children if they are providing care for someone else's child(ren) in their own home. This situation does not establish a need for care.
  8. For all applications and redeterminations, determine if the License-exempt child care provider meets Child Care Assistance Program limit on the number of children that may be cared for.
    1. When care is provided by a license exempt home provider (types 764-767), you must consider the provider's own children who are under the age of 12 in the capacity.  A provider who has 3 or more children under the age of 12 of their own is considered full and is not allowed to provide care for any other family - even though one or more of the provider's children may be in school.
      Examples:
      1. Provider A has three (3) children under age 12.  Provider A is full and cannot be approved to be a license-exempt provider.
      2. Provider B has one (1) child under age 12.  Provider B can care for two (2) children from different families, for a total of three (3) children, OR all children from a single household. 
      3. Provider C has two (2) children under age 12.  Provider C can care for one (1) child from another family, for a total of three (3) children OR all children from a single household. 
      4. Provider D has no children under age 12.  Provider D can care for up to three (3) children from different families, OR s/he may care for more than three (3) children from a single household.
    2. A household shall be comprised of the adults who have child(ren) in common, the child(ren) those adults have in common and the other child(ren) of each such adult who reside together.  When adults, other than spouses reside together and do not have a child in common, each adult along with his or her child is considered a separate household.
    3. All new applications shall be processed using the limit on the number of children that may be cared for.  For existing cases CCR&R agency staff shall notify parents that their provider(s) must be in compliance with the sibling restrictions and/or the limit on the number of children that can be cared for.  Any provider exceeding the limit will not be approved beyond the end of the current eligibility period.