Section 10. Definitions

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context indicates otherwise:

"ADH" means an administrative disqualification hearing, an impartial review by a state hearing officer of a recipient's actions involving an alleged intentional program violation for the purpose of determining if the individual did or did not commit an intentional program violation.

"Applicant" means a person who has applied for child care services and the disposition of the application has not yet been determined.

"Background checks" means a sworn statement or affirmation as may be required by the Code of Virginia, the Criminal History Record Check, the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Check, and the Central Registry Child Protective Services check.

"Child care services" means those activities that assist eligible families in the arrangement for or purchase of child care for children for care that is less than a 24-hour day. It also means activities that promote parental choice, consumer education to help parents make informed choices about child care, activities to enhance health and safety standards established by the state, and activities that increase and enhance child care and early childhood development resources in the community.

"Child protective services" means the identification, receipt and immediate response to complaints and reports of alleged child abuse or neglect for children under 18 years of age. It also includes assessment, and arranging for and providing necessary protective and rehabilitative services for a child and his family when the child has been found to have been abused or neglected or is at risk of being abused or neglected.

"Child support services" means any civil, criminal or administrative action taken by the Division of Child Support Enforcement to locate parents, establish paternity, and establish, modify, enforce, collect, and disburse child support, or child and spousal support.

"Children with special needs" means children with documented developmental disabilities, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, sensory or motor impairment, or significant chronic illness who require special health surveillance or specialized programs, interventions, technologies, or facilities.

"Cooperate with the Division of Child Support Enforcement" means that an applicant or recipient of child care subsidy services must provide the information required by the Division of Child Support Enforcement to locate an absent parent, establish paternity, or establish a support order, unless a basis for good cause for noncooperation is determined by the program.

"Copayment" means a specific fee that is a portion of a household's income that is contributed toward the cost of child care.

"DCSE" means the Division of Child Support Enforcement, the division of the Department of Social Services responsible for locating absent parents; establishing paternity; and establishing, modifying, enforcing, collecting, and disbursing child support, or child and spousal support.

"Department" means the State Department of Social Services.

"Family" means any individual, adult, or adults and/or children related by blood, marriage, adoption, or an expression of kinship who function as a family unit.

"Federal poverty guidelines" means the income levels by family size, determined by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, used as guidelines in determining at what level families in the country are living in poverty.

"Fee" means a charge for a service and may include, but is not limited to, copayments, charges above the maximum reimbursable rate, or charges for registration, activities or transportation.

"Fee program" means a category in the child care subsidy program that assists low income, non-TANF families with child care services.

"Fraud" means the knowing employment of deception or suppression of truth in order to receive benefits or services one is not entitled to receive.

"Good cause" means a valid reason why a parent in a two-parent household cannot provide the needed child care or a valid reason why a parent will not be required to register with the Division of Child Support Enforcement.

"Head Start" means the comprehensive federal child development programs that serve children from birth through age five, pregnant women, and their families (as established by the Head Start Act (42 USC § 9840)).

"Income eligible" means that eligibility for subsidy is based on income and family size.

"In-home" means child care provided in the home of the child and parent when all the children in care reside in the home and the provider does not live in the home.

"Intentional program violation" means fraudulent action by a recipient for the purpose of establishing or maintaining the family's eligibility for child care subsidy, increasing or preventing a reduction in the amount of the subsidy, or causing an improper payment to be made by intentionally giving false or misleading information.

"Level one provider" means a child care provider that is unlicensed or unregulated.

"Level two provider" means a child care provider that is licensed by the Department of Social Services, approved by the Department of Education, approved by a licensed family day system, approved under local ordinance according to § 15.2-914 of the Code of Virginia, or federally approved.

"Local department" means the local department of social services of any county or city in this Commonwealth.

"Maximum reimbursable rate" means the maximum rate paid for child care services through the subsidy program that is established by the department and set out in the Child Care and Development Fund Plan for Virginia, FFY 2014-2015, effective October 1, 2013, filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"Noncooperation with DCSE" means failure of an applicant or recipient to provide the local department or the Division of Child Support Enforcement with information required to establish paternity or an order for child support, without good cause.

"Nonfraud overpayment" means an overpayment that was caused by the local department, or by an inadvertent household or provider error.

"Parent" means the adult or emancipated minor (as defined in § 16.1-334 of the Code of Virginia who acts as the primary caretaker or guardian of a child.

"Provider" means a person, entity, or organization providing child care services.

"Resource and referral" means services that provide information to parents to assist them in choosing child care, and may include assessment of the family's child care needs, collection and maintenance of information about child care needs in the community, and efforts to improve the quality and increase the supply of child care.

"Service plan" means the written, mutually agreed upon activities and responsibilities between the local department and the parent in the provision of child care services.

"SNAP" means the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reduce hunger and increase food security.

"SNAPET" means Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training, which provides job search, job search training, education, training, and work experience to nonpublic assistance SNAP recipients.

"Subsidy program" means the department program that assists low income eligible families with the cost of child care.

"TANF assistance unit" means a household composed of an individual or individuals who meet all categorical requirements and conditions of eligibility for TANF.

"TANF capped child" means a child who the TANF worker has determined ineligible for inclusion in the TANF assistance unit because the child was born more than 10 full months after the mother's initial TANF payment was issued.

"Temporary assistance for needy families" or "TANF" means the program administered by the department through which a relative can receive monthly cash assistance for the support of his eligible children.

"Transitional child care" means the program that provides child care subsidy to eligible former TANF recipients after the TANF case closes.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 21, Issue 19, eff. August 1, 2005; amended, Virginia Register Volume 32, Issue 07, eff. February 1, 2016.

Statutory Authority

§ 63.2-217 of the Code of Virginia; 45 CFR 98.11.