Child Care benefits may be approved for children as an intervention strategy in certain critical situations to help prevent neglect, abuse, or exploitation. It may serve to stabilize the family situation and/or enhance family functioning. Please see the Presumptive Eligibility article issuing 30 days of Protective/Preventive child care for new application. When a client needs protective/preventive care at renewal, a full “extension request” must be submitted to ChildCareSubsidy@okdhs.org before continuing care and completing the renewal.

Typical examples of this type of child care include:

• A single parent who is in counseling or receiving some type of medical treatment where the child cannot be present;
• A mother who is on bed rest due to a difficult pregnancy;
• For a sibling while the parent is caring for another child with medical problems;
• Two parent families where one is working or in school and the other parent is not physically capable of caring for the child; or
• Grandparents who have medical problems that limit their ability to care for grandchildren.

County staff may approve child care through the presumptive eligibility process for up to 30 calendar days using the reason code “10-PREVENTION OF OR PROTECTION FROM ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND/OR EXPLOITATION.” Once the case has cleared, the worker needs to close the E-section (Child Care Tab) on reason 81 – Plan of Service Completed, 30 days from the approval date. If protective/preventive is needed beyond 30 days, an “extension request” email must be sent by the worker to Sequoyah building staff, AFS, Child Care Subsidy Unit at ChildCareSubsidy@okdhs.org.

The email must include:

• Why protective/preventive child care is needed , the circumstances leading to the conclusion the child(ren) is at risk of neglect, abuse or exploitation and how child care will eliminate or substantially reduce risk to the child(ren);
• The plan to reduce or eliminate the need for subsidized care;
• The name(s) and age(s) of the child(ren);
• What days and hours care is needed;
• How long will it be needed;
• Whether the family is expected to contribute to the cost of the child care and if not, why not and for how long;
• A discussion of whether a Child Welfare referral has been made and if not, why the worker did not feel it was necessary;
• A discussion of any coordination efforts between Adult and Family Services , Child Welfare Services, and any other community partners (e.g. Sooner Start, mental health services);
• An explanation of the support system available to the family;
• An explanation of the exploration of any free alternative to child care;
• The worker’s opinion about the need for child care.

The worker must scan any documents supporting the protective/preventive need for child care, including a statement from a professional working with the family, into Imaging and “Protective/Preventive Request” indexed in the Details field.

The statement from the professional must be detailed and explain:

• the names and ages of the children for whom child care is recommended;
• The reason child care is recommended
• the days and hours child care is needed;
• How placing the child in a child care facility helps to prevent neglect, abuse, and exploitation of the child;
• The length of time the professional expects care to be needed.

An extension will not be approved if the statement from the professional does not provide enough detail regarding why the client is unable to care for the child(ren).