childcare assistance

[Rainbow]

I'm just starting out and have had interest with a parent who says she qualifies for childcare assistance. I don't know what the rules are with this. Thanks to all of your advice, I know that I need to make all of my families pay in advance. I've also decided to charge flat monthly rate, regardless of attendance.

What I would like to do for any family that has childcare assistance, is require parents to pay my monthly rate. When the state kicks in with their assistance payment, I would then, at that point, credit whatever dollar amount I receive to their next month's child care payment.

Can anyone tell me if this is an acceptable policy or if there is some rule that states I can not charge parents like this? I know there is something about parents paying a co-pay, but I'm not sure how that works either. I am in MN, if that makes a difference.

[Blackcat31]

I'm just starting out and have had interest with a parent who says she qualifies for childcare assistance. I don't know what the rules are with this. Thanks to all of your advice, I know that I need to make all of my families pay in advance. I've also decided to charge flat monthly rate, regardless of attendance.

What I would like to do for any family that has childcare assistance, is require parents to pay my monthly rate. When the state kicks in with their assistance payment, I would then, at that point, credit whatever dollar amount I receive to their next month's child care payment.

Can anyone tell me if this is an acceptable policy or if there is some rule that states I can not charge parents like this? I know there is something about parents paying a co-pay, but I'm not sure how that works either. I am in MN, if that makes a difference.

I am also in MN. I would not provide care without an active and current Service Authorization form.

I require my parents to pay up front and when the state reimburses me, I pay the parent back less any co-pays they owe....I do not credit towards the next month.

Here is the entire CCAP assistance manual. It does a great job of explaining how to bill and what things are and aren't covered.

http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/county_access/documents/pub/dhs16_177796.pdf

I've been working with CCAP families since I first opened so if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help.

[Rainbow]

Here is the entire CCAP assistance manual. It does a great job of explaining how to bill and what things are and aren't covered.

http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/grou...s16_177796.pdf

Thanks Blackcat. I will look that over.

[Cradle2crayons]

All five of my daycare kids are state pay. Before they were approved, the parents had to pay out of pocket 100%. Once I was notified of a start date, parents paid me UP FRONT for their portion e state didn't pay and he state pays me on the 15th and 31st for the two weeks prior to that.