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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Accepting DHS
tenderhearts 07:02 PM 02-25-2020
I have been a provider a very long time going on 19 years and I have never had anyone on DHS, not that I didn't want to it just never seemed to work out. Anyways, one of my new parents sent me a text today and said that she was approved for state assistance, ok thanks for the heads up. Anyways I have never done this before, I am assuming States are pretty similar. She said they will send me a letter about it explaining everything. She said she was approved for 103 hours per month. How do you figure all this out with different months being longer and how much difference she would pay. Plus I am a flat rate and I would want her to pay the difference each week, I have no idea where to even start this. Can anyone explain this? I know the state pays once per month and she said they were back dating to January something.
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ColorfulLearning 02:14 AM 02-26-2020
So in Delaware it’s monthly payment so we bill DHS on the last day of the month and they pay us usually the 1st week of the next month. Here, in order to be a contractor to accept state payments you have to attend a POC info session (purchase of care) which is what our state assistance is called. After that you sign the direct deposit forms and w9 and all that. But you can only charge the customer their co-pay. If you want to be able to charge them the difference in your rate you have to attend a POC PLUS Info session and then send them updated contract and forms and then once approved you will be POC plus to accept the difference of your rate and what the state pays. You will receive a authorization letter from DHS for each client that lists you as their provider that says they are approved and for how many hrs and if full time, part time or whatever. It will also tell you what the state will pay and what the parent pays. So like I said, in Delaware we can’t just accept payments, we have to contract with the state beforehand....but if your regular POC you can’t charge the difference and if your POC plus you can. So if you are, you basically take your weekly rate, subtract what the state pays weekly, subtract the parents copay if any and that will be the amount you would charge weekly for the difference. If it’s just regular, then you charge weekly the copay amount. They tell us our clients monthly amount so I divide it by how many fridays there are in the month to get their weekly copay. And for hours she is only approved for 103 so anythig over that you can charge her for but again, those terms are set by your assistance program...ours here we can charge $10/hr over there hours once they’ve exhausted their POC. But the can still only come a certain amount of hours per day per my daycare policies. So if they are approved for full time and my max hrs are 10 then they can’t come longer than 10 hrs, my part time clients are only allowed 4hrs max per day per my policy so they can’t decide like oh I’m gonna gm one 12 hrs today and 8 tomorrow and 10 the next and so forth, you still go with what you and your client agree to hours wise.
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ColorfulLearning 02:21 AM 02-26-2020
So in Delaware it’s monthly payment so we bill DHS on the last day of the month and they pay us usually the 1st week of the next month. Here, in order to be a contractor to accept state payments you have to attend a POC info session (purchase of care) which is what our state assistance is called. After that you sign the direct deposit forms and w9 and all that. But you can only charge the customer their co-pay. If you want to be able to charge them the difference in your rate you have to attend a POC PLUS Info session and then send them updated contract and forms and then once approved you will be POC plus to accept the difference of your rate and what the state pays. You will receive a authorization letter from DHS that says she is approved and for how many hrs and what not. in Delaware if your regular poc you charge them only their copay and if poc plus then their copay plus the difference. Delaware tells us the parents copay for the month and we just break it down weekly. I divide it by the number of Fridays in the month (4 or 5) and that's what they pay weekly. Im a POC plus provider so I take the weekly amount DHS pays and the parent copay and subtract that from my rate to get their weekly rate. And as far as hours go, they can't just come as many hours as they want just because they are approved for it. You still go by your policy. So for me, I have contracted hours. So if someone is contracted with me for full time and they got approved by poc for FT they can still only come for 10hrs max per day and I can charge them late fees once they exhaust their state authorized hours. My part time rate is a max of 3 day max (10hrs) and before and after care is max 4hrs per day. So my policy trumps the POC hours. Her authorization is just saying that's the max hours they will pay for. So be sure to still follow your policy because im sure you know parents will try to do whatever they want lol.
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ColorfulLearning 02:30 AM 02-26-2020
sorry for the double reply lol I was originally on my phone then it blanked out after submitting, so I retyped it from my computer and see it posted both lol
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LittleExplorers 06:22 AM 02-26-2020
I had one county assisted family. I charged them upfront my whole fee and refunded them what I got paid by the county.
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Cat Herder 06:40 AM 02-26-2020
You will have to check your state's rules. Usually, you have to complete some paperwork and training to be an approved provider, first.

My state also has rules saying I cannot charge them over what the state pays plus their co-pay. So $67 and a co-pay of less than $10 per week for 50 hours of work, 10 meals, 10 snacks and supplies. That is why I can't do it.

Some states make it easier, though.
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tenderhearts 06:55 AM 02-26-2020
Ok thanks, in my state I just have to be state certified with the state as a daycare providers and have all the certifications. Then I have to be "listed". I am now very worried about the difference, she is only getting 103 hours which doesn't seem like a lot, she is full time. Anyways, she said she did tell them that I am a flat rate and I would assume they would have told her I can't charge her the difference but then again, she didn't even tell me she was applying. I think I will make a call and get more info today. I feel like it will be really complicated to figure it out. I receive payment on Mondays so do I go by that and figure out the pay from the state and divide it by the Mondays? then minus their copay? This is why I was always glad no one ever asked me if I accepted it, seems complicated.
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tenderhearts 10:46 AM 02-26-2020
So I found out that I can charge her the difference. But I have to say it sounds so complicated. She said once you do it it's not so bad but I guess I don't understand the copay thing and also if she pays every monday $175 but at the end of the month the new month starts in the middle of the week?? I don't understand all this.
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Cat Herder 11:20 AM 02-26-2020
I added the subsidy tags. There are many, many threads on it. Maybe they can help until more providers who take it have their kids down for nap.
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tenderhearts 12:25 PM 02-26-2020
Thanks, I don't see any tags, is that what I would search for is subsity?
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Cat Herder 12:29 PM 02-26-2020
They should be visible just under the last post of every thread on the left. But, yes, "subsidy" should do it.
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ColorfulLearning 10:46 AM 03-01-2020
Originally Posted by tenderhearts:
So I found out that I can charge her the difference. But I have to say it sounds so complicated. She said once you do it it's not so bad but I guess I don't understand the copay thing and also if she pays every monday $175 but at the end of the month the new month starts in the middle of the week?? I don't understand all this.
I go by Friday’s. So If Friday is in the next month then it counts for that month. So I break down their monthly fees into either 4 or 5 weeks depending on how many fridays there are and payment is due on Friday. Same could apply for Monday’s. That way if a new month starts mid week it isn’t confusing
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tenderhearts 02:39 PM 03-01-2020
Thank you. So I charge a flat rate, the state pays per hour up to a certain amount. So I consider her full time but going by hours the state considers her part time. Mom drops off anywhere from 10:30 - 11:15. If the state pays by hour up to a certain amount how do I figure out the difference she would have to pay each Monday? I feel like I'm making this more confusing but I am so confused.
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Jo123ABC 09:30 PM 03-01-2020
In my state there was the option of filling out the paperwork to have the parents receive the state payments directly from the assistance program rather than me. I had the parents pay me upfront and the state paid them. So much easier.
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Meeko 07:15 AM 03-04-2020
States all seem to be different.
Utah pays in advance for the month. Parents have to make up any difference between what the state pays and what we charge.
The child must be here at least 8 hours out of the month. We keep all funds even if the child is off sick etc.
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Sunshine69 02:10 PM 03-05-2020
Where I am, the county pays. They only pay once a month for the month prior so you have to provide care, food, supplies, etc., for the entire month and then bill the county before the 5th of the next month. They pay around the third week of the follow month. The county sets the rates they pay and the parents’ share, which is about 25%, that is paid to me each Monday by the parent.

They will only cover the actual actual hours parent is working with a half hour allowance for before and after work for pickup and drop off. So if a parent drops off a child and doesn’t go to work, the county doesn’t cover that day. I then have to bill the client directly for the difference.

They do cover a minimum of sick days and also days the child is absent if they are with the other custodial parent up to a predetermined number of days.

It is a hassle, but there is a huge demand for subsidized care in my area as most providers don’t accept it.

The biggest issue I have is once I agree to accept it, I must charge everyone the same rate for the same service. So if I have one subsidized child from one family, and three children from another that are not subsided, I cannot give the family with three any type of discount.

Just more ways for the government to control how I do business.
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Tags:dhs, subsidy, subsidy - hawaii, subsidy issues
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