Library: Policy
340:40-7-10. General provisions regarding income
Revised 3-1-19
(a) Income considered.Available and anticipated income, except that required to be disregarded by law or Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) policy, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:40-7-12, is considered when determining a client's eligibility for child care subsidy benefits per this Section and OAC 340:40-7-11. • 1
(b) Reporting requirement.The client must report all sources of income at application and as changes occur, per (e) of this Section and OAC 340:40-9-2.
(c) Income from a new source.Income from a new source is only considered for the approval month when a full check is received on or prior to the certification date.Income is anticipated and considered for the next month when a full check from the new source is expected to be received by the first of the month.When a full check is not received by the first of the next month, it is anticipated and considered for the third month before income is set for the remainder of the eligibility period. • 2
(d) Past income.Past income is not used to anticipate future income for any month in which an income change occurred or employment ended.
(e) Increased income between eligibility determinations.Between eligibility determinations, per Section 98.21(e)(1) of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the client is only required to report income changes within 10-calendar days of the date the change occurs, when the household's gross income exceeds the income eligibility threshold for the family size, per DHS Appendix C-4, Child Care Eligibility/Copayment Chart.
(1) A computer-generated notice issues at certification and renewal informing the client of the current income eligibility threshold for his or her family size and instructs the client to report when the household income exceeds this amount.
(2) When income exceeds the income eligibility threshold, the worker closes the child care benefit for the next advance-notice effective date per OAC 340:40-9-2(f).
(f) Decreased income after approval.When income decreases after approval, the worker makes the change for the current month, when appropriate, or by the next non-advance notice effective date per Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) Appendix B-2, Deadlines for Case Actions.Once income decreases, it is not increased until the renewal month per (e) of this Section. • 3
(g) Garnished income.When a person's income is reduced due to garnishment, the gross amount before the garnishment is counted as income.
(h) Withheld or returned payments not considered as income.Payments not considered as income are:
(1) monies withheld from any income source to repay a prior overpayment received from that same source;
(2) monies voluntarily or involuntarily returned to repay a prior overpayment received from that same income source; or
(3) child support payments received by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients that must be sent to DHS Child Support Services to maintain TANF eligibility.
(i) Withheld or returned payments considered as income.Monies withheld or returned to repay overpayments in federal, state, or local means tested assistance programs are not excluded when they are withheld or returned to repay overpayments resulting from intentional program violation as established by the agency administering the program. • 4
Revised 3-1-19
1.Refer to Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:40-7-8(f) for information regarding when income may be disregarded for protective or preventive child care.
2.(a) For an initial application, only consider a new source of income for the application month when the applicant received at least one full-pay period of income from that source on or prior to the certification date.Terminated income from another source is considered only for the month it is received.
(b) When the client begins new employment earning less than the minimum wage but receives tips, such as $2.13 per hour plus tips, the income must be calculated using the minimum wage multiplied by the hours worked unless the employer refuses to supplement wages to at least minimum wage.In this circumstance, the worker denies the application and refers the client to the Oklahoma Department of Labor to file a complaint.
(c) Refer to OAC 340:40-3-1(b) for expedited eligibility processing and OAC 340:40-7-13 for computation of income.Refer to OAC 340:50-7-46for differences in computing anticipated income for food benefits and OAC 340:10-3-58 for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
(d) When the applicant is eligible for child care for the month of application because income from a new source is not considered, but is not eligible, per DHS Appendix C-4, Child Care Eligibility/Copayment Chart for the next month when income is considered, the worker uses the unfinished issuance process to approve child care benefits for the application month and closes child care benefits for the next month.For unfinished issuance coding instructions, refer to the Unfinished Issuance Examples & Coding article in Quest.
3.When new income decreases the family share copayment, the worker makes the change effective for the current month when appropriate.The worker counts actual income received, including any terminated income, before lowering the family share co-payment for the current month.
4.In the Child Care Subsidy Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and TANF fraud is considered an intentional program violation.In State Supplemental Payment willful misrepresentation changes to fraud, following a judicial court decision, per OAC 340:65-9-2.An intentional program violation for Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and Veterans' Assistance is fraud.
