DEFINITION OF A FAMILY HOME PROVIDER

A Family Home provider is a child care provider who cares for children in the provider’s own home.  These providers may be:

• Licensed when they care for five or more children that are not related to them, or,

• License-exempt when they care for four or less unrelated children.

Providers in this category may keep any number of children who are related to them, up to and including the third degree of relationship (grandchildren, nieces/nephews).  Any child in the provider’s care who is not related within the third degree, or unrelated entirely must be counted in the provider’s total number of unrelated children. 

REQUIREMENTS FOR FAMILY HOME PROVIDERS

Licensed Providers

Providers that care for five to ten children in the provider’s home must be licensed as a Family Home provider through the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS)/Bureau of Child Care.  Once licensure is established, the provider must complete a Family Home Child Care Contract before payment from the Department of Social Services can be issued.  This will be discussed in further detail later in this memorandum.

License-exempt Providers

One type of license-exempt provider is a license-exempt family home provider that cares for no more than four children that are unrelated to the provider.  This provider may be a neighbor, grandparent, aunt, uncle or adult sibling (not living in the child’s home) of the child care family.  At no time can a license exempt provider, requesting subsidy payments, be a sibling by blood, marriage or adoption who is living in the home of the child in care or a parent to the child in care.

Exemption from child care licensure is based on statute RsMO 210.211, subsection (1,) which states that “care provided to four or less unrelated children is exempt from licensure”.  FSD policy is based, in part, on the DHSS, Bureau of Child Care, regulations, which further delineates this issue.

In order for license-exempt providers to receive payment from the Department of Social Services, the provider must meet FSD and DHSS requirements, which include:

• Reside, and provide care, in Missouri;

• Be age eighteen or older;

• Complete and submit all registration documents to FSD;

• Comply with all health and safety requirements, including FSD background screening; and,

• Comply with state laws regarding the conditions of exemption from licensure.

License-exempt family home providers may not:

• Have more than four unrelated children in care;

• Care for four unrelated children in the daytime and a different set of four unrelated children in the evening;

• Have an overlap or a variance in the number of children in care; or,

• Count a sibling group as one child in care.

Staff may not authorize additional unrelated children to license-exempt family home (FOL) providers when the provider already cares for four unrelated children. Before authorizing a child to a provider whose exemption type is FOL, ensure that the provider is compliant by checking the provider’s active authorizations in FAMIS on the View Authorization screen (FM52/VIEWAUTH).

If the provider or parent state that one or more of the children already in their care are related to the provider, request proof of the provider’s relationship to the child.  Relationship between the provider and the child in care exists for any blood relative including those of half-blood, step, adopted, and first cousins.  Verify the relationship using standard verification methods such as birth and death certificates or hospital records, which are discussed in Child Care policy, 1210.005.05, Relationship Of The Applicant To The Child.

Proof of the provider’s relationship to the child(ren) in care must be requested any time the provider or the parent states that the child is related to the provider.  Staff must use the Comment screen, attached to the Child Authorization screen (FM30/CCAUTH), to record the explanation and method of verification of the provider’s relationship to any related child authorized to them for payment.

Once relationship of a specific provider to the child is documented in the Comments section of the Child Authorization screen, that relationship does not need to be reverified.

COUNTY ACTION FOR ACTIVE ELIGIBILITY UNITS WITH CHILDREN AUTHORIZED TO AN “FOL” PROVIDER:

When a family re-applies for child care assistance, review the total number of children authorized to the “FOL” provider assigned to the family by accessing the “View  Authorizations” screen (FM52).

When an “FOL” provider’s child authorizations listed on FM52 exceed four children, staff is instructed to check for relationship using the following guidelines:

• Select each child displayed on FM52 by entering a “s” on the “sel” line next to the child’s name;
• Press “F6/ccauth” to display the selected child’s authorization;
• Look for an entry in the field titled “Rel Child”. Relationship codes are listed on the code table for that field.  The code table can be seen by placing an “=” sign in the field and pressing “F4”.  The code “NPR” stands from “Non Related Person”;
• Subsequent children’s authorizations may be accessed from the “ccauth” screen by using the “F24/Next Selection” key.  Continue this process until all children have been displayed from FM52.

Do not close any child authorizations solely based on your review of the View Authorizations (FM52) screen.

Inform any new parent/s wishing to use the services of a provider whose authorizations for unrelated children exceed four, that their child/ren may not be authorized for care and refer them to the local Child Care Resource and Referral agency. Although an eligible family may not be able to access their child care benefits because of a provider’s non-compliance, do not close the family’s eligibility solely because their selected provider is not valid.

When documentation verifies that children in the provider’s care are related to the provider, the provider may have additional unrelated children authorized to them as long as the total number of unrelated children does not exceed four.

STEPS TO TAKE WHEN A REGISTERED FAMILY HOME PROVIDER CARES FOR MORE THAN FOUR UNRELATED CHILDREN:

If proof of relationship is not submitted or does not establish relationship, notify the provider and the eligible families that they must determine if they wish to continue services with this provider or select another provider.  The provider and families must determine which children may remain in the provider’s care.   Families that must seek alternative child care arrangements are to be referred to their local Child Care Resource and Referral agency. At no time shall FSD staff decide which families must make new care arrangements in order to access benefits.

When relationship does not exist or neither party (family or provider) submits proof of relationship of the children to the provider, the family and provider must have advance written notification that subsidy payments will end.

For providers that do not comply after all efforts have been made by the agency, staff is instructed to begin the process of closing the provider’s registration.  NOTE:  Staff must make every effort to obtain appropriate and thorough documentation of relationship before determining an “FOL” provider is out of compliance and closing the child care provider’s registration.

1. Send the attached provider notice to the provider informing them that their registration will be closed at the end of ten    business days due to capacity non-compliance. This notice gives the provider advance notice that their registration is closing. The provider is not eligible for a hearing on this decision or to have their registration continued pending further investigation.  You may add the names of the eligible families, whose children are in care with this provider, to the bottom of the provider’s notice for your future reference.  (The Provider Advance notice is attached.)

2. Send the attached family notice to the families with children in care with this provider informing them that they will not be able to access their child care benefits unless the provider complies in ten business days from the date on the notice.  (The Parent Advance notice is attached.)  The notice also informs the family that they are responsible for the entire cost of care once the provider’s registration is closed and refers them to the their local Child Care Resource and Referral agency for help locating another provider.

3. When the provider or family has not submitted proof of relationship prior to notice expiration, close the provider registration the day after the deadline date on the provider’s advance notice.

4. Send the attached closing letters to families and providers that informs them that DSS no longer pays for child care services because of a capacity non-compliance issue.  

REGISTERED PROVIDERS PURSUING LICENSURE

When a registered family home provider pursues licensure, either from a licensing referral due to non-compliance or independently, the provider must care for no more than four unrelated children while their license is in pending status in order to continue receiving payment from DSS.  If the provider is already caring for four unrelated children, no new unrelated children may be authorized to the provider during this process.

When licensure is approved, the local office contract designee must send a Daycare Contract, specific to the facility type assigned by DHSS, to the provider for completion.  The facility type is located on the MOHSAIC site on the DSS Intranet.  When the MOHSAIC information indicates that the license is ACTIVE, the provider is eligible to enter into a contract with DSS.  The contract begin date may be the same as the license begin date in MOHSAIC.  (See IM Memorandum-# 201 (2001) for more information about MOHSAIC).

Once the licensed provider returns the completed contract to the local FSD office, write the date received on the contract.  Prior to submitting the contract to Central Office:

• Print the listing of active child authorizations from the FAMIS View Authorization screen (FM52).  All children still in care with this provider must be reauthorized to the provider once the contract is entered.  
• Close the licensed provider’s registration in FAMIS.
• Document the date of the registration closing and the DVN on the contract, make a copy for your records and submit the Child Care contract to the Contract Management Unit (CMU) in Jefferson City.  CMU staff cannot enter the contract in the system until the provider’s registration is closed.
• Check the status of the contract in the contract system by accessing ZCVR with the provider DVN.  Access contract details from ZCVR by typing an “X” in the margin area to the left of the DC number and press F3.  If a DC number does not display on ZCVR, a DC contract for this provider has not been entered.
• Once the contract displays on ZCVR, ensure that appropriate children are reauthorized to the provider.

• Review this memorandum with all appropriate staff;
• Review all child authorizations to FOL providers at the time a family reapplies for child care assistance;
• Refer to the guidelines in this memorandum for any provider with more than four unrelated children authorized to them.

Attachments:  
Parent Advance Notice
Parent Notice of Non-Compliant Provider Notice
Provider Advance Notice
Provider Closing Notice