LAC 28:CLXV.103. Definitions

Automated Child Care Time and Attendance—an electronic system that provides accurate and timely capturing, tracking, and reporting of time and attendance data. Back Scansattendance scans by head of household or household designee utilizing the LDOE Automated Child Care Time and Attendance system that are made at a time other than the actual times of arrival and departure of the child. BESE—Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. BESE Bulletin 136—The Louisiana Standards for Early Childhood Care and Education Programs Serving Children Birth-Five Years. BESE Bulletin 137—Louisiana Early Learning Center Licensing Regulations. Biocontaminantsany biological contaminant that includes blood and any bodily fluids, excretions, or waste that may spread infectious disease. Bureau—Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information. CBC—criminal background check. CCAP—Child Care Assistance Program. CCAP Householda household certified by the department as eligible for participation in CCAP. CCAP Provider—a child care provider certified by the Department of Education as eligible to receive CCAP payments. CCCBC—child care criminal background check. Care for Children with Disabilities—for CCAP, child care for a child birth through age 17 who has a current individualized family services plan (IFSP) or individual education plan (IEP) in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or who receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Caregiver—any person legally obligated to provide or secure care for a child, including a parent, legal custodian, foster home parent, or other person providing a residence for the child. Certification—verification by the department of eligibility to participate in CCAP and receive CCAP payments. Certified—eligible to participate in CCAP. Child—a person who has not yet reached the age 13, or a person with special needs who has not yet reached age 18. The words “child” and “children” are interchangeable in this Bulletin. Child and Adult Care Food Program—federal nutrition reimbursement program as funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Department of Education. Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)—federal program whose purpose is to increase the availability, affordability and quality of child care for eligible families. Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)—program funded through the CCDF that makes payments to eligible child care providers for child care services provided to eligible families through both voucher seats and contracted seats. Child Care Center—any place or center operated by any institution, political subdivision, society, agency, corporation, person or persons, or any other group for the purpose of providing care, supervision, and guidance of seven or more children, not including those related to the caregiver, unaccompanied by parent or legal custodian, on a regular basis for at least 12 1/2 hours in a continuous seven-day week. Child Care Criminal Background Check (CCCBC)—information received by the department upon request for information pursuant to requirements set forth in R.S. 17:407.71 and 45 CFR 98.43(b). Child Care Provider—an early learning center, family child care provider, in home child care provider, military child care center or school child care center. Child Care Purposes—for home-based providers, child care purposes include being a family child care provider, an adult employed in the residence or on the property of the residence or an adult living in the residence where child care is being provided by a family child care provider; being an in-home child care provider, an adult employed in the home or on the property where care is being provided by an in-home provider, or being a non-caregiver adult living in the home where care is provided by an in-home provider; or being any person present in either type of home or property when one or more children are in care and not expressly exempt from the requirements for a CCCBC-based determination of eligibility for child care purposes. Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR and R)—a state or local organization with whom the department has contracted to provide services to families, early childhood professionals, and communities statewide. Contracted Seats—seats for full-time care for infants through three-year-old children of CCAP-eligible families, as defined in Chapter 5 of this Part, for which the LDOE pays a CCAP-certified child care provider for a specified number of child care seats. DCFS—Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services. Department—Louisiana Department of Education. Determination of Eligibility—determination by the department of a person’s eligibility for child care purposes based on the results of a child care criminal background check (CCCBC). Early Learning Center—any child day care center, early head start center, head start center, nonpublic school prekindergarten program, or stand-alone prekindergarten program that is not attached to a school. The definition does not include Montessori schools, camps, and registered family day care homes. 1. Type I Early Learning Center—an early learning center that is owned or operated by a church or religious organization that is qualified as a tax exempt organization under §501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code and that receives no state or federal funds directly or indirectly from any source. 2. Type II Early Learning Center—an early learning center that either receives no state or federal funds directly or indirectly from any source or whose only source of state or federal funds is from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food and nutrition programs. 3. Type III Early Learning Center—an early learning center that directly or indirectly receives state or federal funds from any source other than the federal food and nutrition programs. Excessive Absences—failure of a child to attend at least one day in the prior certified month. Excessive Back Scansfour or more back scans in a seven consecutive day period or ten or more back scans in one calendar month. FITAP—Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program. Family Child Care Provider—one or more individuals who provides child care services for fewer than 24 hours per day per child, unless care in excess of 24 hours is due to the nature of the parent’s work, for six or fewer children, in a private residence other than the child’s residence. Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP)—program administered by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) that provides cash assistance to families with dependent children. Full-Time Care—child care calculated to be 30 or more hours per week that is paid in units of days or half days with a maximum of 22 days per month. Group Sizethe number of children assigned to a teacher or team of teachers occupying an individual classroom or well-defined space within a large room. Head of Householdan individual who is over the age of 18 or under the age of 18 and emancipated by law with whom the child customarily resides more than half the time, and is a U.S. citizen or has satisfactory immigration status in accordance with 8 U.S.C. 1641(b). The head of household is either the child’s parent or an adult household member with primary responsibility for the child’s financial support and care, if the parent is not living in the home or is living in the home but is under age 18 and not emancipated by law, or is disabled and is unable to care for himself and his child(ren). Helping Individuals Reach Employment (HiRE)—system through which job seekers may file for unemployment and search for jobs that match their experience and interest. Homeless—lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The term “homeless” shall encompass children and youths experiencing the particular conditions and situations provided for in subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act, 42 U.S.C. 11434a(2). Household—a group of individuals living together that consists of a head of household, that person's legal spouse or non-legal spouse, disabled adult parents who are unable to care for themselves or their child(ren) who are in need of child care, and all children under the age of 18 who are dependent on the head of household or spouse, including the minor unmarried parents (MUPs) who are not legally emancipated, and children of MUPs Household Designee (HD)―an adult who is designated in writing by the CCAP head of household, other responsible household member, or authorized representative to drop-off and pick-up the child or children from a CCAP provider. In the case of an in-home provider, a household designee is the person to whom the provider may release the child or children when the provider leaves the home. Improper Payments—any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount (including underpayments or overpayments) under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements; and includes any payment to an ineligible recipient, any payment for an ineligible service, any duplicate payment and any payment for a service not received. Ineligibility Period for Providers—period of time following the termination or closure of a CCAP provider’s certification during which the provider is ineligible for certification. In-Home Child Care Provideran individual who provides child care services in the child or children’s own home. Intentional Program Violation (IPV)any act by a CCAP household member that consists of intentionally making a false or misleading statement, or misrepresenting, concealing, or withholding relevant facts. IPV—intentional program violation. Key Orientation Training Module 1a self-paced, online training provided by the LDE for new providers and staff that addresses early childhood professionalism, health and safety, licensing and hazards. Key Orientation Training Module 2a self-paced, online training provided by the LDE for new providers and staff that addresses child development, early learning and development standards (ELDS), and learning activities. Key Orientation Training Module 3—a self-paced, online training provided by the LDE for new providers and staff that addresses teacher-child interaction, child guidance, and classroom management. Licensing Division—Department of Education, Licensing Division. Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information (Bureau)—bureau within the Office of State Police that maintains a central repository of criminal history record information in Louisiana. Louisiana Pathways Early Learning Center Career Development System (LA Pathways)—the state practitioner registry maintained by the department or its contractor. LA pathways registers child care facility directors and staff according to requirements based on training and education, experience, and professional activities, as approved by the department. Categories are established for early learning center staff, early learning center assistant teacher, early learning center teacher, early learning center assistant director and early learning center director. MUP—minor unmarried parent. Mandated Reporter—professionals who may work with children in the course of their professional duties and who consequently are required to report all suspected cases of child abuse and neglect. This includes any person who provides training or supervision of a child, such as a public or private school teacher, teacher’s aide, instructional aide, school principal, school staff member, social worker, probation officer, any other child care institution staff member, licensed or unlicensed day care provider, any individual who provides such services to a child, or any other person made a mandatory reporter under Children’s Code Article 603 or other applicable law. Military Child Care Center—child care centers licensed by the U.S. Department of Defense. Non-Vehicular Excursionsany activity that takes place away from the home that is within a safe, reasonable, walking distance from the home, and that does not require transportation in a motor vehicle and does not include walking with children to and from schools. Notice—written notice is considered given: 1. when it is sent by email or fax to the last email address or fax number furnished to the department; 2. when it is hand-delivered; or 3. on the fifth calendar day after it was mailed to the last mailing address furnished to the department. Parent—includes parent, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis. Part-Time Care―authorized child care calculated to be less than 30 hours per week, paid in units of hours (total per day may not exceed daily rate) up to a maximum of 129 hours per month. PathwaysLouisiana early learning center career development system (LA pathways). Protective Services—children in foster care, children who are in families under court supervision, children who are in families receiving supports or otherwise engaged with a child welfare agency, children whose family members are deemed essential workers under a governor-declared state of emergency, or children whose family has been affected by a natural disaster. Quality Start Child Care Rating System—system designed to assess the level of quality of early care and education programs serving birth through age five, communicate the level of quality, and support improvements of child care facilities. Relative or Relatedthe child, grandchild, niece, or nephew of the family child care provider. SNAP—see Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. STEP—Strategies to Empower People Program. School Child Care Centerany prekindergarten, or before and after school programs, or summer programs operated by a public school or a BESE-approved nonpublic school. Seeking Employment―register for work with Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) by creating a helping individuals reach employment (HiRE) account and by maintaining an active work registration within their HiRE account. Strategies to Empower People Program (STEP)—program administered by DCFS to provide opportunities for work eligible families of FITAP to receive job training, employment, and supportive services. Supervisionthe function of observing, overseeing, and guiding a child or group of children, that includes awareness of and responsibility for the ongoing activity of each child and being near enough to intervene if needed. Supplementherbal or other dietary, nutritional, or other food or medical supplement administered to be ingested by children orally, in aerosol form, or in any other manner. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—federal program administered by DCFS that provides monthly benefits to that help eligible low income households buy food needed for good health. TEMPtraining or employment mandatory participant. Training or Employment Mandatory Participant (TEMP) a household member who is required to meet criteria described in §505.B.4 which includes the head of household, the head of household's legal spouse or non-legal spouse, the MUP age 16 or older whose child(ren) need CCAP, and the MUP under age 16 whose child(ren) live with the MUP and the MUP's disabled parent/guardian who is unable to care for the MUP's child(ren) while the MUP goes to school or work. Transitional Living Program―any residential program or facility providing housing to homeless people, including but not limited to: emergency shelters; runaway and homeless youth residential programs or facilities; programs for parenting youth; programs for individuals who are fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; transitional housing programs; and prisoner reentry programs. Unexplained Absencean absence for which the head of household has not provided verbal or written notification to the provider or the department about the absence. Voucher Seatsa placement made to a CCAP-eligible family, as defined in Chapter 5 of this Part, that provides funding to a child care provider; this voucher is retained by the family when the child and family transfers to another CCAP-certified provider. Water Activitya water-related activity in which children are in, on, near and accessible to, or immersed in, a body of water, including but not limited to a swimming pool, wading pool, water park, river, lake, or beach. Water Play Activitywater-related activity in which there is no standing water, including but not limited to fountains, sprinklers, water slip-and-slides and water tables. Writtenincludes hard-copy and electronic form.