Library: Policy

340:40-7-5. Resources, residence, and citizenship

Revised 02-07-23

(a) Household resources must not exceed $1,000,000 for subsidized child care, per Section 658P(4) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, Public Law 113-186 (P.L. 113-186). Resources include, but are not limited to:

(1) liquid resources, such as cash;

(2) financial institution account balances;

(3) certificates of deposit;

(4) stocks;

(5) bonds; and

(6) real property other than home property.

(b) A parent or caretaker's statement that he or she lives in Oklahoma meets the residence requirement for child care.

(1) A child eligible to be included in a child care benefit must be a:

(A) citizen or a national of the United States (U.S.), including the 50 states, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands. The child may be a citizen of the U.S. by being born in the U.S. or by being born in some other country but moving to the U.S. and being granted U.S. citizenship through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a bureau of the Department of Homeland Security; or

(B) qualified alien:

(i) who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA);

(ii) who is paroled into the U.S., per Section 212(d)(5) of INA, 8 United States Code (U.S.C.) 1182, for a period of at least one year;

(iii) who is granted conditional entry, per Section 203(a)(7) of INA, 8 U.S.C. 1153, as in effect prior to April 1, 1980;

(iv) who is granted asylum, per Section 208 of INA;

(v) who is admitted to the U.S. as a refugee, per Section 207 of INA, 8 U.S.C. 1157;

(vi) whose deportation is withheld, per Section 241(b)(3) of INA;

(vii) who is a Cuban or Haitian entrant, per Section 501(e) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980;

(viii) who was battered or whose parent or caretaker was battered, per Section 431(c) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act as amended, per 8 U.S.C.1641(c);

(ix) who was a victim or whose parent or caretaker was a victim of a severe form of trafficking, per Section 107(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 that was reauthorized and amended, per Trafficking Victim's Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003;

(x) who is an Afghan non-special immigrant parolee, known as a humanitarian parolee, per the Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act 2022 enacted on September 30, 2021, Section 2502 of P.L. 117-43, as modified by Section 106(3) and 149(a) of the Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023, P. L. 117-180, paroled into the U.S. between July 31, 2021 and December 16, 2022, and meets all other factors of eligibility from October 1, 2021 until March 31, 2023, or the term of parole, whichever is longer; or

(xi) who is a Ukrainian citizen or national or person who last habitually resided in Ukraine and received parole per Section 401 of the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, P.L. 117-128. The parole must occur between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2023; if after September 30, 2023, the parolee must be the child of a Ukrainian parolee who was paroled between February 24, 2022 and September 30, 2023.

(2) A declaration of citizenship and alien status is required for all children included in the child care benefit. This requirement is met when an adult member of the household completes and signs the application or renewal attesting to the citizenship and alien status for all children included in the benefit. Refer to Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:65-3-1(g) for additional citizenship requirements for persons 14 years of age and older, per Section 71 of Title 56 and Section 20j of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

(3) The worker must verify the alien status of an alien child through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE). When SAVE indicates that the child's alien status documents must be submitted to the USCIS, the worker must not delay, deny, close, or reduce benefits to an alien pending USCIS verification of submitted documentation.

INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:40-7-5

Revised 02-07-23

1. (a) The worker must ask the applicant if the household resources exceed $1,000,000 and document the answer in FACS case notes.

(b) When the client is an adoptive parent who meets criteria per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:40-7-12(6) or a caretaker not legally and financially responsible for the child, resources are not considered.

2. When a non-custodial parent needs child care for the non-custodial parent's child visiting from another state, the parent's Oklahoma residence meets the residency requirement for the child. Persons who maintain a residence out‑of‑state and commute to Oklahoma for work, school, or any other reason do not meet the residence requirement.

3. The parent or caretaker's citizenship status is not a condition of eligibility. Refer to OAC 340:50-5-67 and 340:50-5-8.1 for food benefit citizenship requirements and OAC317:35-5-25 for SoonerCare (Medicaid) citizenship requirements.

4. Persons born in the United States (U.S.) are, with rare exceptions, U.S. citizens.

(1) When persons from certain U.S. territories or possessions do not have citizenship or national status documents in their possession, the worker may be able to determine their status by birth certificate, passport, or other official document.

(2) Refer any questions regarding the acceptability of other official document status provided by the applicant to Adult and Family Services Child Care Subsidy staff.

5. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provides a certification letter to a person 18 years of age or older and an eligibility letter to a person who has not attained 18 years of age. These persons are also provided T Visas that indicate eligibility for federally funded or administered benefits to the same extent as a refugee. The T Visas are T-2, T-3, T-4, and T-5 referred to collectively as derivative T Visas. To determine the validity of ORR issued letters and to inform ORR of the benefits applied for, the worker must call the toll-free trafficking verification number 1-866-401-5510.

6. Documents verifying the Afghan humanitarian parolee's eligibility for Child Care Subsidy benefits include:

(1) I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, noting humanitarian parolee, per Section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration Nationality Act (INA); or

(2) foreign passport with Department of Homeland Security/Customs and Border Protection admission stamp noting:

(i) "Operation Allies Refugee" or "OAR";

(ii) "Operations Allies Welcome" or "OAW"; or

(iii) "DT."

7. Acceptable verification includes:

(1) I-94, noting humanitarian parole per Section 212(d)(5) of INA or Section 8(d)(5) of Title 8 of the United States Code;

(2) A foreign passport noting "Uniting for Ukraine" or "U4U," "Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolee" or "UHP," or "DT;" or

(3) I-766, Employment Authorization Document, with code "C11."

8. Refer to OAC 340:40-9-2 for additional requirements when adding a child to the benefit after certification.

9. Refer to OAC OAC 340:65-3-4(5) and Instructions to Staff # 19 for information regarding the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements.