1. If the child is a sibling to other children that must be included in the child care household, the client must be willing to pursue child support for all children in order to be eligible for subsidized child care benefits for some of the children.
2. If the client is receiving court-ordered child support, he or she must complete required child support forms. Once the referral is sent to Oklahoma Child Support Services (OCSS), the client may call OCSS and request the child support case be closed because he or she is receiving court-ordered child support in accordance with Family Support Services (FSS) memo 05-12. OCSS staff decides whether the child support case can be closed without penalty to the client. When OCSS staff decides no penalty is required, they use the closure reason code of 01 on the CCPI screen.
3. When there is a court order stating that child support was not ordered, OCSS staff determines whether the order is being followed as written and whether it is feasible to pursue support. If OCSS staff determines it is not feasible to pursue child support, they use the closure reason code of 01 on the CCPI screen.
4. The termination of parental rights does not eliminate the obligation of either parent to provide financial support for his or her minor child. Per Section 7006-1.3 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes, termination of parental rights affects the parent's rights, not his or her responsibility to support the child except in the case of adoption.
5. If one or both of the child's parents is absent from the home, the worker informs the client that he or she must complete the required child support forms prior to adding the child to the child care benefits. If the client does not complete the required forms, the worker closes child care benefits for all siblings of this child.
6. When one parent leaves the home, Form 08AD092E, Client Contact and Information Request, is sent to schedule an appointment to complete required child support forms. If both parents leave the home, a new child care application is required that would include completion of child support forms.
7. The worker documents in Family Assistance/Client Services (FACS) Case Notes the case number where child support is being pursued and cross references that case number on the system.
8. An example is when a client's household consists of his or her own children as well as other children such as nieces, nephews, or grandchildren. If the client only wants child care for the other children, the client is not required to pursue child support for his or her own children.
9. The worker enters information from Form 08TA001E, Absent Parent (AP) Information Sheet, in the Deprivation tab of the FACS Interview Notebook. The client must give enough information so that the referral crosses over to OCSS. Required entries in the Deprivation tab include:
(1) the "name of the absent parent" field I4. This may be shown as unknown;
(2) "sex" field I13;
(3) "deprivation factor" field F48;
(4) "client assignment of child support" field I25. This is marked "refused to assign support" for child care;
(5) "cooperation" field I26. This is marked as "agreed to cooperate" or "pending determination of good cause";
(6) "person number for the child" field I61; and
(7) "absent parent legal status" field I64.
10.The worker sends the original and one copy of Form 03PA209E, Acknowlegment of Paternity, to the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), Division of Vital Records and gives a copy to the mother and the alleged father. Completion and filing of Form 03PA209E legally establishes paternity for a child. If either parent, within 60 calendar days of completing Form 03PA209E, changes his or her mind about acknowledging paternity, he or she signs Form 03PA211E, Rescission of Acknowledgment of Paternity. Copies of the form are distributed as indicated on the form.
11.When a claim for good cause is made, the worker updates the Deprivation tab in the Interview Notebook of FACS to indicate that a good cause determination is pending. OCSS forms are completed but not submitted until a good cause determination is made. The good cause determination process is completed when Form 08TA009E, Good Cause Report, and appropriate documentation supporting the good cause claim are forwarded to the appropriate OCSS district office.
(1) On an application without a previous good cause request, the worker and supervisor determine whether good cause is justified after evaluating all of the information.
(2) If the human services center (HSC) staff and OCSS district office staff concur with the client's claim for good cause, the worker updates the appropriate entries on the Deprivation tab of FACS.
(3) If the HSC staff and OCSS district office staff do not concur with the client's claim of good cause, the worker advises the client that if he or she continues to refuse to cooperate, the child care benefit must be closed. If the client agrees to cooperate at this point, he or she signs a new Form 08TA012E, Cooperation Agreement and Request for Good Cause. The worker submits the appropriate OCSS forms to the appropriate OCSS district office and updates the Deprivation tab to indicate the client is cooperating.
(4) When the HSC staff and OCSS district office staff do not concur in a determination of good cause, the worker submits all pertinent information, including Form 08TA009E to the Family Support Services Division (FSSD) where a final determination regarding good cause is made. The two offices make every effort to reconcile their decisions before referring the decision to FSSD. FSSD staff returns Form 08TA009E with Section V completed to the worker for appropriate action and sends a copy to the OCSS district office.
(5) When the client reapplies for child care and good cause has previously been approved, the worker interviews the client to determine if any changes have occurred from the circumstances that resulted in the previous good cause determination.
(A) If there are no changes, the worker completes Sections I, II, and III of Form 08TA009E and forwards it to the OCSS district office for concurrence.
(B) If changes occurred that may affect the good cause determination, the worker asks the client to furnish sufficient documentary evidence to substantiate the reported changes. Upon receipt of the documentation, the worker completes Sections I, II, and III of Form 08TA009E, attaches a copy of the documentation, and forwards it to the OCSS district office for concurrence.
(6) At each child care review, the worker asks the client whether any circumstances have changed regarding good cause.
(A) If circumstances have not changed, the worker takes no further action regarding good cause.
(B) If it appears circumstances have changed and good cause may no longer exist, the worker completes Section VI of the original Form 08TA009E, attaches documentation of the change(s), and sends it to the OCSS district office for concurrence of the good cause consideration.
(C) If there is no Form 08TA009E in the case record, the worker completes Sections I and VI of a new Form 08TA009E. The OCSS district office completes Section VI and returns the form to the worker.
(7) If the HSC staff and OCSS staff jointly agree that good cause no longer exists, the client is advised he or she must pursue child support through OCSS or the child care benefit must be closed. If the client agrees to cooperate, he or she signs a new Form 08TA012E. The worker mails appropriate OCSS forms to the OCSS district office and updates the Deprivation tab in FACS.
(8) If an additional child is added to the case and good cause was approved for the same parent, the worker codes the "cooperation" field I26 of the Deprivation tab to show "good cause for not cooperating has been determined" unless good cause circumstances have changed.
12.(a) OCSS staff can inform the worker of non-cooperation by calling or e-mailing the worker. The FSSD Business Knowledge and User Support Section sends an OCSS Non-Cooperation Report to HSC staff monthly.
(b) When the client is also receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits and does not cooperate with OCSS, the system automatically closes the child care benefits.
(c) The worker checks the client's current cooperation status before closing the subsidized child care benefits. The worker first finds the client's family group number (FGN) by entering PY space and the clients Social Security number. The worker then accesses the CCPI transaction by entering CCPI space the client's FGN. If the "cooperation" field is marked Y, the client is cooperating. If the "cooperation" field is marked O, the client is not cooperating and the subsidized child care benefits are closed only if the "IV-D status" field is marked:
(1) 02;
(2) 04 and the reason is 17; or
(3) 10 and the reason is 31 or 32.
(d) The worker enters a FACS Case Note stating why the subsidized child care benefits were closed.
13.The worker checks the CCPI transaction to confirm cooperation before reopening the subsidized child care benefits. The "cooperation" field must show a Y before the penalty is lifted. If OCSS staff contacts the worker to confirm cooperation but CCPI has not been updated, the worker asks OCSS staff to update the CCPI transaction before subsidized child care benefits may be approved.
14. If the worker reopens the subsidized child care benefits more than ten calendar days from the date of the closure action, refer to OAC 340:40-10-4(e) regarding the manual claim process.
15.(a) The worker and the client jointly determine which sources of income may be available to the client and develop a plan to pursue identified potential income. The worker records this plan on the application or review form or in the FACS Interview Notebook under the Child Care tab.
(b) Refer to OAC 340:40-7-8(a) and Instruction to Staff # 3 for information about counseling with the client to increase income.
16.The worker sets a 90-day reminder to determine whether potential income is being pursued and sends Form 08AD092E at the time of certification advising the client what income must be pursued within 90 days.
17.If the worker has not received information verifying that the client is now pursuing potential income, he or she sends Form 08AD092E giving the client ten additional calendar days to provide proof that potential income is being pursued. If verification is not provided, the worker closes the child care benefit for the next negative action deadline date. The only exception is when a person outside of the household is receiving Social Security benefits as the payee for a minor in the household. If action is not taken within 90 calendar days, the worker counts the total Social Security benefit as income rather than closing the child care benefit.
18.If the client tells the worker he or she decreased pay to reduce the family share co-payment or to remain eligible for child care, the child care benefit is closed. If the client tells the worker that pay was decreased for other reasons, the worker contacts the employer to gather information about why the client's pay was decreased. The worker consults with his or her supervisor prior to closing the client's subsidized child care benefits for this reason. FACS Case Notes must clearly document why subsidized child care benefits were closed.