Library: Policy

340:40-7-6. Household composition and income consideration

Revised 9-15-24

(a) Definition of household composition terms. The worker uses the definitions of household composition terms listed in (1) through (8) of this subsection when determining who is part of the household for income consideration.

(1) An adult is an emancipated minor or person 18 years of age and older. A child who is a parent is an adult.

(2) A spouse is a person married by ceremony or common-law to another person. They may live together or separately. When they live separately, they are not part of the household unless the separation is temporary or involuntary.

(3) A stepparent is a person who is or was a spouse to the child's parent.

(4) A caretaker is an adult who lives with, and acts in the role of a parent to the child applying for or receiving subsidized child care benefits. The caretaker may or may not be:

(A) related to the child by blood, adoption, or marriage; or

(B) legally and financially responsible for the child.

(5) The term legally and financially responsible adult is defined as a parent or stepparent of the child who needs child care. The term also includes other caretaker adults who are court-ordered to be legally and financially responsible for the child. This rule does not apply to permanent guardianships established through Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) Child Welfare Services.

(6) A child is any unmarried, non-emancipated, non-parental person younger than 18 years of age.

(7) A child who marries or voluntarily leaves the parental home for any reason other than to attend school or receive medical care, and establishes independent living arrangements is emancipated and treated as an adult. When a child is emancipated, the emancipation is permanent.

(8) A sibling is a minor child who has at least one parent in common with another child in the same household. A sibling may also include a step-brother or step-sister.

(b) Household composition and income consideration. To establish a child's eligibility for subsidized child care benefits, it is necessary to define who is part of household composition for income consideration. All persons whose income is counted in determining the income eligibility threshold and family share copayment amount are included in family size on the OKDHS Appendix C-4, Child Care Eligibility/Copayment Chart. • 1 Persons whose income is considered in determining eligibility are the:

(1) natural, adoptive, or stepparent living in the home with the child who needs child care; • 2

(2) caretaker(s) of the minor child needing child care when the caretaker is legally and financially responsible for the child; and • 3

(3) child needing child care and the child's siblings younger than 18 years of age living in the home. • 4

(1) When a household member is out of the home due to a temporary absence and intends to return to the home, the person is included in the household composition for income consideration. • 5 Any parent or caretaker who remains in the home must meet a need factor, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:40-7-8. Temporary absences may include, but are not limited to:

(A) hospitalization for physical or mental health reasons; • 6

(B) incarceration; • 7

(D) military service; • 8

(E) working or training away from home; • 9

(F) looking for a job away from home; • 9 and

(G) vacation time for a child. When a child goes to stay with:

(i) someone other than a natural or adoptive parent for a vacation, household composition, income, and need is based on the usual home situation. The person the child is staying with must also meet the need factor for child care; or

(ii) a non-custodial natural or adoptive parent, the non-custodial parent must apply and qualify for subsidized child care benefits based on the non-custodial parent's own household's eligibility for the visitation time frame.

(2) When a child lives with each parent for part of the month, refer to (d) of this Section.

(3) When a child lives with a parent for part of the month and a caretaker for the rest of the month, the child's eligibility is based on the parent meeting the eligibility factors, per OAC 340:40-7. The caretaker must also meet a need factor during the time the caretaker has physical custody of the child, per OAC 340:40-7-7. • 10

(d) Joint or shared custody. When parents separate or divorce and have joint or shared custody of their child and one or both need child care, each parent applies separately for subsidized child care benefits. • 11

(1) Joint or shared custody may be voluntary or court-ordered.

(2) The worker determines each parent's eligibility separately. This includes a separate income and need for child care determination.

(3) When only one parent qualifies for subsidized child care benefits, the worker only approves child care for the days the qualifying parent meets a need factor for child care and has physical custody of the child.

(4) When both parents qualify for subsidized child care benefits, the worker approves each parent only for the days and hours the parent meets a need factor for child care and has physical custody of the child.

INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:40-7-6

Revised 9-14-24

1. (a) Refer to Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:40-7-10 through 340:40-7-13 for income consideration rules.

(b) When a child lives with a parent for part of each month and with a caretaker for the remainder of the month, only one case is established for the child. Refer to OAC 340:40-7-6(c) and Instructions to Staff # 7.

(c) In the Household tab in Family Assistance/Client Services (FACS), the worker chooses "social services" in the "benefit" field F24 and "added to benefit section" in the "status" field F25 to add only the children being approved for child care. All other household members are shown as "not included in benefit. Income and resources are considered in benefit computation" in the "status" field F25.

(d) When the household consists of the client's own child and another child, such as a niece, nephew, or grandchild for whom the adult is not legally and financially responsible, the worker first determines which children require child care assistance.

(1) When child care is needed for the client's child and a non-sibling, the worker establishes two separate cases, unless combining the children in one case results in a lower family share copayment due to the increased family size.

(2) When child care is needed only for the client's child, the worker counts the income of the client and the client's child. The worker does not count the income of the other child unless including the child and the child's income reduces the family share copayment for the household.

(3) When child care is only needed for another child for whom the client is not legally and financially responsible, the worker only counts the child's income and the income of any siblings present in the home. Family size includes these children only.

(e) When an adoptive parent requests child care for a child who meets all five of the conditions described in OAC 340:40-7-12(6) and for other children who do not meet these conditions, two separate cases are established in order for the system to calculate the family share copayment correctly. The worker documents why two case records are established and why income is considered or excluded in each case in FACS case notes.

(f) Household composition is handled differently for other programs. Refer to OAC 340:50-5-1 for food benefits, OAC 340:10-3-56 through 340:10-3-57 for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and OAC 317:35-5 through 317:35-7 for medical assistance.

2. (a) When the parent is a minor parent, the minor parent's income is considered in determining the family share copayment. When the minor parent lives with the minor parent's parent, neither the grandparent's income nor need factor is considered for the grandchild.

(b) The adoptive parent's income is not considered until the adoption is final. When the adoption is final and the natural parent, whose rights were terminated, and the adoptive parent live in the same household, consider only the income and need factor of the adoptive parent.

(1) Household income is not considered in determining the adoptive child's eligibility for subsidized child care when all five conditions described in OAC 340:40-7-12(6) are met.

(2) The worker documents why the income is being excluded in FACS case notes.

(3) When the household requests child care for a child who meets all five conditions described in OAC 340:40-7-12(6) and one who does not meet these conditions, the worker establishes separate cases.

(c) When the child's natural or adoptive parent is not in the home but the child continues to live with a stepparent, the stepparent's income is considered in determining the child's eligibility. This applies even when the stepparent is divorced from the child's natural or adoptive parent.

3. A court order must state the caretaker is legally and financially responsible for the child before the caretaker's income is considered. When the child's parent lives with the caretaker and the child, the worker counts the parent's income instead of the caretaker's income.

4. (a) A child's income is considered unless specifically excluded, per OAC 340:40-7-12.

(b) When child care is needed for a child predetermined eligible for child care with a zero copayment and the child's income eligible sibling who has a family share copayment, two separate cases are established. This may happen when one child is disabled and receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or when there is a stepparent in the home and the client's child receives TANF but the stepparent's child does not. When two separate cases are established the worker codes the:

(1) predetermined child as added to "social services" in the Household tab "benefit" field F24 and "added to benefit section" in the "status" field F25 of the FACS Interview Notebook of the predetermined eligible case. Other household members are coded as "not included in benefit. Income and resources are not considered for benefit computation in the status field F25 on this case; and

(2) income eligible child as added to "social services" in the Household tab "benefit" field F24 and "added to benefit section" in the "status" field F25 of the FACS Interview Notebook of the income eligible case. All other household members' income is shown in the Income tab, including the SSI or TANF income, and these household members are added to "social services" in the "benefit" field F24 and "income/resources are considered in benefit computation – individual not included" in the "status" field F25 of the Household tab.

5. (a) There is no set length of time established to determine when a household member's absence is temporary. The key is if the rest of the household considers the absence to be temporary.

(b) When a parent is temporarily absent, the temporarily absent parent must meet a need factor, per OAC 340:40-7-7 and 340:40-7-8.

(c) When a parent temporarily leaves the child with a caretaker, the child care benefit remains on the parent's case when the parent signs a statement giving the caretaker authorized representative rights, per OAC 340:40-3-1.

6. When a parent or caretaker provides proof of the hospitalization, a need factor for child care eligibility is met.

7. The incarcerated parent meets a need factor for child care eligibility when the custodial parent provides incarceration verification or the worker obtains the verification. Verification may be obtained through the Oklahoma Department of Corrections or from the jail or prison where the parent is serving a sentence. When the child lives with a caretaker, refer to ITS # 5.

8. When a parent is absent due to military service, the worker counts total gross income, except combat pay, per OAC 340:40-7-12(26)(V), including the dependent allowance, to calculate the family share copayment. This applies to single parents who give temporary custody of their child to a caretaker while they are away from home due to military service and to two-parent households where only one of the parents is temporarily away from home due to military service.

9. When one or both parents work away from home, the worker considers the parents' income in determining the household's eligibility. Both parents must meet a need factor, per OAC 340:40-7-7 in order for child care to be approved. When one parent or caretaker works part-time out-of-town and the other parent or caretaker works full-time, child care is approved on a part-time basis.

10. When a child lives with one or both parents for part of the month and with a caretaker for the rest of the month, the child is temporarily absent from the parent's home while the child lives with the caretaker. The worker establishes one case for the parent and codes the caretaker as the authorized representative on the parent's case. The child's child care plan hours may be adjusted during the month to reflect the work or school schedule of the person caring for the child for different parts of the month.

11. When both parents qualify for subsidized child care benefits, the worker establishes two separate cases. The maximum amount of child care approved in both cases combined is never more than 31 days per month. Neither case qualifies for weekly or blended unit types. Refer to OAC 340:40-7-7 and 340:40-7-8 for information concerning the need factor for child care.