Hotline Focus 02/09

Q. My TAFDC client is scheduled to start a training program in two weeks. Although she is not currently participating in the program, she wants to arrange for child care services today so that she is ready to begin training on her program’s start date. Can I make a child care referral today based on her expected start date? A. Yes. The child care referral can be issued up to two weeks prior to the start of her training course. Once you have determined your client’s anticipated date of enrollment and her scheduled participation hours, you can make the child care referral to the Child Care Resource and Referral agency (CCR&R). The CCR&R will then determine when it is appropriate to authorize the service. Their authorization may include the two-week period before the activity is scheduled to begin. This allows your client time to make any necessary arrangements and get her child settled in before the training program starts. Refer to 106 CMR 207.210 for more information on ESP support services. Q. I have a TAFDC client with verification that she is scheduled to enroll in a GED program, but this verification does not include the program’s end date. Can I make a child care referral without this information? A. Yes. To make the child care referral, you do not need an end date for the program. Some education programs, particularly GED programs, are open-ended. When this is the case, the Child Care Referral Notice - BEA/CCA (Rev. 3/2007) - should list the component activity, the start date, and the hours each day for each activity. In the box with the heading “End Date,” you may write a date that is six months from the enrollment date. Q. An ESP participant in our TAO has completed one training/education course and has a four week break before her next course begins. In the meantime, she’s afraid of losing the child care arrangement she currently has. Can she continue receiving these child care services and keep her current arrangement? A. Yes. Any TAFDC client eligible for child care services, including eligible teen parents, may continue to receive child care for a period of up to one month if the child care arrangements would otherwise be lost and a subsequent activity or the resumption of the current activity is scheduled to begin within the month. Q. An ESP participant in our TAO is a work program required ineligible noncitizen, in accordance with 106 CMR 203.400. Before the end of his 60-day work search period, he found a job and is now requesting a referral for child care services. Is he eligible for a child care referral?