1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to child care;
establishing a child care assistance program absent days
1.3 limit exemption; making
technical changes;amending Minnesota Statutes 2024,
1.4 section 142E.17, subdivision
10.
1.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.6 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes
2024, section 142E.17, subdivision 10, is amended to read:
1.7 Subd. 10.Absent
days. (a) Licensed child care providers and license-exempt centers
1.8 must not be reimbursed for
more than 25 full-day absent days per child, excluding holidays,
1.9 in a calendar year, or for
more than ten consecutive full-day absent days. "Absent day"
1.10 means any day that the child is
authorized and scheduled to be in care with a licensed
1.11 provider or license-exempt
center, and the child is absent from the care for the entire day.
1.12 Legal nonlicensed family child
care providers must not be reimbursed for absent days. If a
1.13 child attends for part of the
time authorized to be in care in a day, but is absent for part of
1.14 the time authorized to be in
care in that same day, the absent time must be reimbursed but
1.15 the time must not count toward
the absent days limit. Child care providers must only be
1.16 reimbursed for absent days if
the provider has a written policy for child absences and charges
1.17 all other families in care for
similar absences.
1.18 (b) Notwithstanding paragraph
(a), children with documented medical conditions that
1.19 cause more frequent absences
may exceed the 25 absent days limit, or ten consecutive
1.20 full-day absent days limit.
Absences due to a documented medical condition of a parent or
1.21 sibling who lives in the same
residence as the child receiving child care assistance do not
1.22 count against the absent days
limit in a calendar year. Documentation of medical conditions
1.23 must be on the forms and
submitted according to the timelines established by the
2.1 commissioner. A public health
nurse or school nurse may verify the illness in lieu of a
2.2 medical practitioner. If a
provider sends a child home early due to a medical reason,
2.3 including, but not limited
to, fever or contagious illness, the child care center director or
2.4 lead teacher may verify the
illness in lieu of a medical practitioner.
2.5 (c) Notwithstanding paragraph
(a), children in families may exceed the absent days limit
2.6 if at least one parent: (1)
is under the age of 21; (2) does not have a high school diploma or
2.7 commissioner of
education-selected high school equivalency certification; and (3) is a
2.8 student in a school district
or another similar program that provides or arranges for child
2.9 care, parenting support,
social services, career and employment supports, and academic
2.10 support to achieve high school
graduation, upon request of the program and approval of the
2.11 county. If a child attends part
of an authorized day, payment to the provider must be for the
2.12 full amount of care authorized
for that day.
2.13 (d) Notwithstanding
paragraph (a), a licensed child care provider may apply for an absent
2.14 days limit exemption
when an extraordinary event results in substantially less than normal
2.15 attendance or closure as
determined by the commissioner. The commissioner must establish
2.16 a process that includes
the application procedure for a provider and a method to determine
2.17 the end date of the
extraordinary event.
2.18 (d) (e) Child
care providers must be reimbursed for up to ten federal or state holidays
2.19 or designated holidays per year
when the provider charges all families for these days and
2.20 the holiday or designated
holiday falls on a day when the child is authorized to be in
2.21 attendance. Parents may
substitute other cultural or religious holidays for the ten recognized
2.22 state and federal holidays.
Holidays do not count toward the absent days limit.
2.23 (e) (f) A family
must not be assessed an overpayment for an absent day payment unless
2.24 (1) there was an error in the
amount of care authorized for the family, or (2) all of the allowed
2.25 full-day absent payments for
the child have been paid.
2.26 (f) (g) The
provider and family shall receive notification of the number of absent days
2.27 used upon initial provider
authorization for a family and ongoing notification of the number
2.28 of absent days used as of the
date of the notification.
2.29 (g) (h) For
purposes of this subdivision,:
2.30 (1) "absent
days limit" means 25 full-day absent days per child, excluding holidays,
in
2.31 a calendar year; and ten
consecutive full-day absent days.;
2.32 (2) "extraordinary
event" means a circumstance affecting the community that is beyond
2.33 the control of the child
care provider, including but not limited to a natural disaster,
3.1 mechanical breakdown
in the facility, extreme weather event, epidemic, or exceptional
3.2 circumstance
determined by the commissioner; and
3.3 (h) For purposes of
this subdivision, (3) "holidays limit" means ten full-day
holidays
3.4 per child, excluding absent
days, in a calendar year.
3.5 (i) If a day meets the
criteria of an absent day or a holiday under this subdivision, the
3.6 provider must bill that day
as an absent day or holiday. A provider's failure to properly bill
3.7 an absent day or a holiday
results in an overpayment, regardless of whether the child reached,
3.8 or is exempt from, the absent
days limit or holidays limit for the calendar year.
