Payments and overpayments

Payments and overpayments. (1) General. The child care subsidy in a parent’s account may only be used to compensate a provider that is in compliance with s. DCF 201.038 (1) for child care authorized under s. DCF 201.039 for the child of a parent eligible under s. 49.155 (1m) , Stats., and provided within the terms of the provider’s regulation and the parent’s authorization. (2) Monthly subsidy payments for child care services. (a) Amount. The amount of a monthly subsidy payment shall be based on the number of hours of child care that an agency authorizes and any of the following that are applicable: 1. For care by a provider licensed under s. 48.65 , Stats., the lower of the provider’s child care price or the applicable maximum rate under s. DCF 201.06 (4) , minus any copayment required under s. DCF 201.08 . 2. For care by a provider certified under s. 48.651 , Stats., the applicable rate under s. DCF 201.06 (5) , minus any copayment required under s. DCF 201.08 . 3. For care at a child care program established or contracted for by a school board under s. 120.13 (14) , Stats., the applicable rate under s. DCF 201.06 (6) , minus any copayment required under s. DCF 201.08 . (ag) Decreases in the monthly subsidy amount during the 12-month eligibility period. During a parent’s 12-month eligibility period, the amount of a monthly subsidy payment may not be decreased, unless any of the following conditions are met: 1. The parent voluntarily requests fewer hours of subsidized child care. 2. An assessment of the assistance group’s child care needs is required under s. DCF 201.039 (1) (c) and the child care administrative agency issues an authorization for fewer hours. 3. The parent agrees to fewer hours of subsidized child care under s. DCF 201.039 (2g) (b) . 4. The parent’s copayment increases due to an increase in the income of the assistance group under s. DCF 201.08 (4) (b) or (c) . (ar) Reduction in provider quality rating. The reduction of a parent’s child care subsidy payment following a reduction in the quality rating of the parent’s provider from a 3-star rating under s. 49.155 (6) (e) 3. c. , Stats., to a 2-star rating under s. 49.155 (6) (e) 3. b. , Stats., may not become effective until the parent’s next eligibility redetermination. (2h) Payment of registration fees. (a) The department shall pay the lower of a provider’s registration fee for a child or the department’s maximum registration fee amount. (b) The department shall set a schedule for maximum registration fee amounts in Table DCF 201.04. Maximum fee amounts shall fully cover mandatory registration fees charged by at least 75 percent of providers who respond to the survey conducted under s. DCF 201.06 (2) . (c) The department may adjust Table DCF 201.04 to reflect any of the following factors: 1. Provider fee amounts in the most recent survey under s. DCF 201.06 (2) . 2. Increased alignment with provider fee practices indicated in the survey under s. DCF 201.06 (2) , including variation in fee amounts based on region of the state, children’s ages, or provider regulation type. 3. A change in the funding available for the child care subsidy program. 4. A change in costs due to a change in the consumer price index. 5. A change in economic factors affecting the cost of child care to the state, such as an increase in demand for the child care subsidy program. 6. Insufficient funding to meet the needs of all eligible families applying for or receiving a child care subsidy. 7. The purposes of the child care subsidy program. (d) The department shall publish adjustments to the maximum registration fee schedule in the Wisconsin administrative register. (e) The department shall pay no more than 2 registration fees per child in any 12-month period. (2r) Payment procedures. (a) Electronic. The department may issue all payments under subs. (2) and (2h) by electronic funds transfer. (b) Expiration. A subsidy payment issued to a parent under sub. (2) or (2h) shall expire 90 days after the date that the department issues the payment. (c) Billing and collecting. A parent’s child care provider is responsible for billing and collecting payment for child care services from the parent. (3) Inactive account. The department may terminate a parent’s authorization and retract all child care subsidy funds in the parent’s account if the parent has not paid any of the child care subsidy to the provider within the previous 90 days. (4) Intentional program violation. A child care administrative agency shall consider a parent’s attempt to sell access to the parent’s child care subsidy account to an unauthorized person to be an intentional program violation under s. 49.151 (2) , Stats. (5) Overpayment recovery and penalties. (a) Parent overpayments. 1. A child care administrative agency or the department shall take all reasonable steps necessary to recover from a parent funds paid to a child care provider or to that parent when the parent was not eligible for that level of payment under the child care subsidy program and the overpayment benefited the parent by causing the parent to pay less for child care expenses than the parent otherwise would have been required to pay under the requirements of the child care subsidy program. Section DCF 101.23 shall apply to overpayment collection from a parent under this section. 2. An overpayment shall include excess child care funds paid when there was a change in family eligibility circumstances that was significant enough that it would have resulted in a smaller child care subsidy payment or ineligibility for the child care subsidy program due to any reason, including the following: a. The parent failed to report a change in circumstances that may affect his or her eligibility within 10 days after the change. b. The parent was absent from an approved activity under s. 49.155 (1m) (a) , Stats., without good cause, while the child was in the care of the provider. 3. The child care administrative agency shall determine good cause under subd. 2. b. if the approved activity is employment. A parent’s absence from employment shall be considered good cause if the parent is using employer-approved sick time, personal time, or vacation time and the child is in care for no more than the hours authorized. (b) Provider overpayments. A child care administrative agency or the department shall take all reasonable steps necessary to recoup or recover from a provider any overpayments made for child care services for which the provider was responsible or overpayments caused by administrative error that benefited the provider. A provider shall be responsible for an overpayment if any of the following conditions are met: 2. A provider was paid with child care funds for care provided at a location other than the location for which the authorization for care was issued, except for field trips. 3. A provider was paid with child care funds for care during time when the provider was in violation of the applicable provision regarding limits on the maximum number of children in care or the required provider-to-child ratios for children of various ages in s. DCF 202.08 (6) , 250.05 (4) , 251.05 (4) , or 252.42 (3) . 4. A provider was paid with child care funds for care during time when the provider was in violation of the terms of the provider’s license under s. DCF 250.04 (1) , 251.04 (1) , or 252.05 (3) , including age of the children served by the center and hours, days, and months of operation of the center. 5. A provider misrepresented information that resulted in the provider receiving a higher star rating and a higher maximum rate than the provider was eligible to receive under the child care quality rating system in ss. 48.659 and 49.155 (6) (e) , Stats. (bm) Joint liability. A provider and parent shall be jointly and severally liable for an overpayment if the provider and parent collude to violate a requirement under this chapter or s. 49.155 , Stats. (c) Penalties for subsidy violations. If a child care provider submits false, misleading, or irregular information to a child care administrative agency or the department or if a child care provider fails to comply with the terms of the program in s. 49.155 , Stats., or this chapter and the provider fails to provide to the satisfaction of the department an explanation for the noncompliance, the child care administrative agency or department may take one or more of the following steps: 1. Refuse to issue new child care authorizations to a provider for a period of time not to exceed 6 months. 2. Revoke existing child care authorizations to the provider. 3. Refuse to issue payments to the provider, in addition to the authority granted to the department under s. 49.155 (7) (b) 4. , Stats. 4. Recoup overpayments under par. (e) or (ed) . 5. Impose a forfeiture on the provider under par. (cg) . (cg) Forfeitures. A child care administrative agency or the department may impose a forfeiture of $100 to $10,000 on a child care provider if the provider intentionally or egregiously violates a provision in this chapter or s. 49.155 , Stats. In determining the amount of the forfeiture, the child care administrative agency or department shall identify specific dates relating to a specific child for any violations and shall consider the following factors: 1. Seriousness of the violations. 2. Extent of the violations. 3. History of prior violations. 4. Prior imposition of penalties. 5. Provider willingness to obey program rules. 6. The size and type of child care provider.