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Handbook
1-888-469-JOBS (5627)
PURPOSE .....................................................................................................................................................
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR
SERVICE AUTHORIZATION/REFERRAL
Days of Care
Childs age
Full-time vs. Part-time Care
Location
Refusing Care ..
REPORTING ATTENDANCE
COMPLAINTS/GRIEVANCES
FOREWORD
Workforce Solutions has developed this Handbook to inform you about child care financial aid services
and to explain your role as a child care vendor.
PURPOSE
This Handbook is for regulated and listed vendors providing child care services to customers receiving
financial aid through Workforce Solutions. It will:
provide you with an overview of Workforce Solutions,
provide information on Workforce Solutions policies,
help you understand your role in providing child care services,
explain the conditions that child care financial aid are based on,
help you understand how to receive reimbursement for providing services to Workforce
Solutions customers, and
help you understand that a person may be prosecuted for obtaining or attempting to obtain,
by fraudulent means, services and/or payments to which he/she is not entitled.
VENDOR REQUIREMENTS
Required Documentation
All child care vendors are required to submit the following documentation before being reimbursed for
child care services:
an original signed Workforce Solutions Vendor Rate Schedule or Workforce Solutions
Vendor Agreement,
IRS Form W-9,
a copy of the vendors drivers license or other picture ID (for home-based vendors),
a copy of the vendors social security card or proof of their Employer Identification Number
(EIN),
Security Agreements for using automated information systems, and
bank depository information.
These items must be kept up-to-date in order to remain a vendor with Workforce Solutions.
Regulated Vendors
Regulated vendors must meet the following criteria to be eligible to be paid for providing child care:
be licensed or registered with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
(DFPS), or in the case of summer camps, have a Department of Health permit for their
location, and
have a copy of child care license or permit and current published rates for services available
to the public.
Listed (Relative)Vendors
Listed vendors must meet the following criteria to be eligible to be paid for providing child care:
be a grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle or a sibling of the child and over 18 years of
age,
have a certification of relationship form signed by the parent,
maintain a separate residence from the family receiving child care financial aid, and
be listed with DFPS, and maintain their listing status.
Vendor Responsibilities
The child care vendors major responsibilities are listed here and additional details are provided
throughout this Handbook.
1) Maintain your license or listing status in good standing with the DFPS. Inform Workforce
Solutions immediately of any changes in your status.
2) Submit and maintain accurate information about your business with Workforce Solutions.
Changes in ownership, location, phone number, e-mail address(es), licensing status, tax
identification number, and bank accounts must be reported immediately.
3) Submit and maintain accurate and up-to-date information on staff members who are authorized
to access Workforce Solutions automated systems including Vendor Connection and the Child
Care Attendance Automation (CCAA) system.
4) Review the information in the CCAA system at least every five days.
5) Reconcile billing with Workforce Solutions by the due dates listed in this Handbook.
6) Notify Workforce Solutions on the fifth day if child(ren) receiving child care financial aid stops
attending without notifying you for five consecutive days.
7) Notify Workforce Solutions within five days of receiving the authorization regarding any
discrepancies between the authorization and the referral in the CCAA system.
8) Collect the assessed parent share of cost (parent fee) from the parent before rendering the
service. If the parent does not pay the assessed fee, report them to Workforce Solutions using the
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR
Child care vendors are not employees of Workforce Solutions but are independent contractors.
Workforce Solutions will reimburse vendors up to the maximum rate per day per child. The hours of
care and the child care vendors rate and policies for providing child care are between the parent and the
vendor and are not dictated by Workforce Solutions.
Reimbursements from Workforce Solutions to child care vendors are considered earnings and must be
reported to the appropriate agencies. Child care vendors receiving government assistance such as TANF,
Food Stamps, or SSI must report their child care earnings to the Texas Department of Human Services.
Workforce Solutions will not withhold any taxes from the reimbursement child care vendors receive for
providing child care services unless directed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It is the sole
responsibility of the child care vendor to report earnings in the child care vendors annual tax return.
SERVICE AUTHORIZATION/REFERRAL
Children must be authorized for child care financial aid at a specific vendor location before Workforce
Solutions will pay for the services. Workforce Solutions staff are responsible for referring (authorizing)
children for services at specific vendor locations in Workforce Solutions computer system. This
information is available directly to vendors on the Vendor Connection website. In addition, Workforce
Solutions will call vendors with the referral information to authorize services and the vendor will receive
an authorization code. Without this code, the call is not a valid authorization.
If a vendor has received a telephonic authorization and does not see the referral information in the
Vendor Connection website within a day or two of the child starting in care, use the Vendor Connection
website to submit a Billing Inquiry Action. Provide the authorization code you were given over phone.
This will prompt Workforce Solutions Accounts Payable staff to investigate and resolve the situation
before it affects your payment.
Workforce Solutions will not pay for services without a valid authorization. Vendors that accept
children for care without a valid authorization from Workforce Solutions staff do so at their own risk,
and any request for payment for such care should be directed to the parent, not Workforce Solutions.
Days of Care
Care is authorized for specific days of the week. For example, if the parent works Monday through
Thursday, care will be authorized and paid for only on those days of the week, and care will not be
authorized on Friday.
Childs age
Children are authorized and paid at different rates based on their age. Children under the age of 13 are
eligible to receive Workforce Solutions services, and in rare cases, some children 13 and over may be
authorized. The following age definitions are used by Workforce Solutions for determining at which
rate reimbursement is paid for each child:
Age Group Age Range
Infant 0 17 Months
Toddler 18 35 Months
Preschooler 3 5 Years
School-ager 6 12 Years
Location
Services are authorized at a specific physical location. If the parent or vendor desires to change the
location that care is provided, the PARENT must contact Workforce Solutions to request that change.
Any new location must be established with Workforce Solutions as an authorized vendor before services
may be paid for at that location.
Refusing Care
As with all other businesses, vendors must comply with all applicable laws when serving customers,
including anti-discrimination statutes. However, Workforce Solutions does not prohibit vendors from
excluding children from their services where there is a good cause or reason. Reasonable efforts should
be made to accommodate a child; however, if a vendor needs to stop providing services to a child, the
vendor must submit notification to Workforce Solutions. The parents eligibility for financial aid is not
terminated, only services at that vendor.
Vendors should report to Workforce Solutions immediately if the parent refuses to report attendance or
absences using the Child Care Attendance Automation system (see Attendance section).
REPORTING ATTENDANCE
Parents will use the Child Care Automated Attendance (CCAA) system to report attendance. The
vendor will not be reimbursed for child care services if a parent fails to record attendance in the CCAA
system, unless the vendor contacts Workforce Solutions within five calendar days of the absence or the
failure to report attendance using CCAA.
Below are the vendor security requirements for the CCAA system:
Neither the vendor nor its employees will possess, accept, have on premises, or otherwise have
access to a parents or secondary cardholders CCAA card or PIN, or perform the
attendance/absence reporting function on behalf of a parent.
The vendor owner, director, or assistant director will not be designated as the secondary
cardholder by a parent with a child enrolled at the facility.
The vendor will report misuse of CCAA cards and/or PINs to Workforce Solutions.
Workforce Solutions will take appropriate actions against anyone who fails to abide by the above
security requirements for the CCAA system, including closing intake, moving children to another
vendor selected by the parent, withholding vendor payments or reimbursement of costs incurred,
termination of child care services, recoupment of funds, and up to filing criminal charges with the
appropriate authorities.
Workforce Solutions will take the following corrective action when vendors do not adhere to
requirements of the CCAA system:
First Offense:
The first time a vendor keeps one or more automated attendance cards, Workforce Solutions will
inform the vendor of the violation, the need for a Service Improvement Agreement, and the
consequences of repeat violations.
Second Offense:
The second time a vendor keeps one or more automated attendance cards, Workforce Solutions may
stop referrals to the vendor for a minimum of 90 days, or if the violation is egregious, Workforce
Solutions may cancel the vendors agreement.
Third Offense:
The third time a vendor keeps one or more automated attendance cards, Workforce Solutions will
terminate the vendors agreement.
1. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor for each day the child attends and the childs presence is
reported in CCAA. (See definition for reported attendance below.)
2. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor for each day the child is absent and the childs absence
is reported in CCAA, subject to the annual limit described in 7 below.
3. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor for each day the child is absent or present and when the
childs absence or presence is not reported in CCAA (see Definitions below) because of the
following conditions:
a. The vendor uses Vendor Connection or calls 1-866-469-5627 to report to the Financial
Aid Payment Office (FAPO) that its Point of Service (POS) terminal is not working.
Vendors must also report the problem to Xerox at 1-866-320-8720.
b. A parent is waiting to receive a CCAA swipe card after having reported a card lost,
stolen, or damaged to FAPO.
c. A parent is waiting to receive his or her first CCAA swipe card at initial enrollment.
4. Workforce Solutions will also pay a vendor for days the child is absent or present when the
childs absence or presence is not reported in CCAA, subject to the annual limit in 7 below and
the following conditions:
a. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor up to five days of consecutive absences when a
child is absent and the parent has not reported the absences to the CCAA system or has
not contacted the vendor by the fifth consecutive day of absence. The vendor must report
the five consecutive days of absence to FAPO no later than the fifth day of the
consecutive absences.
b. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor for up to five days of consecutive non-reported
presence (i.e., days in which the child is present but is never counted present in CCAA).
The vendor must report the five consecutive days of non-reported presence to FAPO by
the sixth day of the consecutive non-reported presence.
c. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor for up to three days of absences after a child has
been authorized to attend but does not. The vendor must report the three consecutive
days of absence to FAPO by the third day.
d. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor for days of non-reported presence (less than the
five consecutive day period noted in b.) as long as those days do not cause a child to
exceed the annual limit shown in 7 below.
a) If the CCAA recorded presence or absence is greater than or equal to the number of
days in the month minus 8, Workforce Solutions will pay for those days but will not
pay for Z days.
b) If the CCAA recorded presence or absence is less than the number of days in the
month minus 8, Workforce Solutions will pay for those days and will pay for Z days
so long as the combined CCAA recorded presence or absence and Z days do not
exceed the number of days in the month minus 8.
6. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor up to nine holidays per calendar year. In order to keep
parents from being penalized against their annual limit as described in 7 below, vendors must
report all holidays (paid and unpaid) and any changes to the holidays in advance. Annual
holidays for the upcoming year must be reported no later than November 30th of the current year.
Failure to report holidays timely may lead to a delay in payment.
7. Each child for which a parent receives Workforce Solutions financial aid will have an annual
limit of 30 days for:
absences (reported or non-reported);
illnesses (reported or non-reported); and
non-reported presence for reasons other than those shown in 3 above.
9. Workforce Solutions will pay a vendor for up to three days when a child is present after a
discontinuation date of a parents financial aid for child care, if the vendor is notified of the
discontinuation after the fact.
11. Vendor may not charge fees to a parent receiving child care subsidies that are not charged to
parents who are not receiving subsidies.
12. Vendor is prohibited from charging Workforce Solutions customers the difference between the
vendors published rates and the negotiated Workforce Solutions rate which is reflected on the
Vendor Rate Schedule.
13. Vendor may not deny a child care referral based on the parents income status; receipt of public
assistance; or the childs Texas Department of Family and Protective Services/CPS status.
14. Workforce Solutions will not pay listed providers for absences.
Definitions
A childs attendance is reported when a parent uses the CCAA system to indicate that the child was
present or absent.
A childs attendance is non-reported when a parent did not use the CCAA swipe card and did not call
the CCAA phone line within the required timeframes to report that the child was present or absent.
A parent has up to six calendar days from the day that he or she did not swipe the CCAA card (to show
the child absent or present) in which to return to the vendor and correct the failure to swipe.
Emergency closures
Workforce Solutions will reimburse the child care vendor for each child currently enrolled when they are
closed due to extenuating circumstances, such as weather conditions (when the local school is also
closed for that day), fire, electrical or gas outage, etc., for up to five days per calendar year.
BLENDED RATES
Vendors will be reimbursed a blended rate for all children on school-referral during the normal school
year including school holidays and teacher in-service days. Vendors will be reimbursed for children on
school-referral according to the referral during the summer months.
Payments
Workforce Solutions pays for services rendered through one of the following electronic methods:
Direct Deposit; or
Workforce Solutions Debit Card.
Both methods are free to vendors. All licensed child care facilities will receive payment through direct
deposit into a checking or savings account. All child care vendors providing home-based care may have
their payments directly deposited into a personal savings or checking account, or may choose to receive
payment via a Workforce Solutions debit card. If you choose the debit card you will receive your card in
the mail directly from the bank. The card will come with directions on how to use the card and a
separate toll-free phone number to call with questions about your card. The Direct Deposit
Authorization Agreement is available on the Workforce Solutions website.
Vendors can set up direct deposit to their checking or savings account by filling out the Direct Deposit
Authorization Agreement and returning it with a voided check or deposit slip from their bank account.
Workforce Solutions makes payments according to the schedule described in the Billing Periods and
Payment Schedule section, or Claims Submission and Payment Schedule which is available on the
Vendor Connection website. While Workforce Solutions always attempts to meet the payment date on
the schedule, occasionally there may be delays due to a number of reasons, including delays in the
banking system or a temporary shortage of funding.
Payment Statements
Payment statements are made available on the Vendor Connection website and if they use the Workforce
Solutions debit card program, they may use any affiliated ATM or the toll-free phone number on their
card to obtain net payment information when the payment is available on their debit card.
Billing Inquiries
If you believe an error was made on your payment, please create a Billing Inquiry Action on the Vendor
Connection website or contact your assigned Accounts Payable Specialist and submit a Billing Inquiry
Form to Workforce Solutions Financial Aid Payment Office by fax or mail.
Reconciliation
Workforce Solutions reconciles billing and payment issues on a quarterly basis. Vendors are required to
submit all inquiries and discrepancies with billing no later than the date shown in the chart below.
Failure to submit your reconciliation by the date shown may result in non-payment of any outstanding
amounts.
Service was provided in the month of: Submit all inquiries by:
October December February 15 of the following year
January March May 15
April June August 15
July September October 31
Child(ren) paid for with funds from Child Protective Services (CPS) are reconciled by the end of
September of every year. Vendors with CPS child(ren) will receive a special notice from Workforce
Solutions to inform them of the CPS reconciliation due date.
VENDOR DEBARMENT
Vendors must immediately notify Workforce Solutions if it or its employees become debarred, excluded
suspended, ineligible or voluntarily excluded from State or Federal programs. Once notified, Workforce
Solutions will notify existing customers of their option to transfer to another vendor, and may further:
Suspend new referrals of Workforce Solutions funded children .
Immediately remove all children referred by Workforce Solutions from the vendor.
Refuse payment for services delivered.