Rates and Fees

Now it is time to talk about the money.

The contract with DHS has specific requirements concerning the rates and fees you are allowed to charge, and how much parents will be responsible for paying.

In this module you’ll learn about:

• Rates
• Allowable fees
• Family share co-payments
• Unit types which determine rates of pay

Rate Requirements

As a contracted provider, you must agree to accept the rates paid by DHS. This means you cannot charge parents any additional family share co-payments and you cannot charge parents the difference between the DHS rate and your private pay rate.

You can never charge DHS or a parent receiving subsidy for a time when the child is not in your care.

Therefore, you cannot charge a vacation fee or a termination fee, because this is charging for a time when the child is not in your care.

However, the contract does allow you to charge DHS parents certain fees, such as enrollment fees, transportation fees, and activity fees as long as these fees are clearly posted and you charge non-DHS parents the same fees.

Rate Unit Types

DHS pays a wide variety of rates based on many factors such as the type of facility, county, age of the child, unit type, and star rating.

Specific rates will be based on the unit type that has been approved for each child.

One of the following unit types can be approved:

• Part-time daily rate
• Full-time daily rate
• Weekly rate
• Blended rate
• Special needs rate

Daily rates are rates that are paid for daily attendance. Daily rates can be either part-time or full-time.

The part-time daily rate is approved when care is needed four hours or fewer per day.

The full-time daily rate is approved when care is needed for more than four hours per day. Full-time care is more than four hours and less than twenty-four hours. It is not limited to a specific number of hours per day.

The weekly unit type allows DHS to pay for a limited number of days the child is absent as long as the child attends full time the minimum number of days for that month.

However, the child must meet certain criteria to be eligible for the weekly rate. If full time care is needed and the weekly rate cannot be approved, the child will receive the full-time daily rate.

The blended unit type is a “blend” of the number of full time and part time days care is needed for a school age child.

The blended unit type is approved for school age children who need care:

• Monday through Friday only and,
• Part time for the days school is in session and,
• Full time for school holidays.

The blended rate cannot be given if a facility is not open on school holidays or the child does not need care on school holidays.

There are two types of blended rates:

• The traditional blended rate is authorized for children who attend school for approximately nine months and are out during the summer.
• The extended blended rate is authorized for children who attend school year round or on a continuous learning calendar.

If you see the incorrect blended rate has been approved, it is your responsibility to contact the family’s worker and have it corrected to make sure you are paid correctly.

The special needs rate is a rate paid in addition to the rate you receive for a typical child of the same age. This rate can be authorized for a child with disabilities.

A child with disabilities is defined as a child who receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI), SoonerStart, early intervention services provided in accordance with an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), or special education services provided in accordance with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) by the local school district.

A form is available on the provider web to request the special needs rate.

Check Your Understanding

Co-Payments

While DHS may subsidize some of the cost of child care, the children’s parents may still be responsible for a portion of their care.

The amount owed by the parents is called the family share co-payment or co-pay.

Co-payments are due on the first day of the month. The co-payment is deducted from your payment before DHS pays for child care services.

In other words, the parent must pay their share before the subsidy payments begin.

Co-Payments Example

Marie leaves her son Jackson in your child care facility while she works. Jackson is approved for 10 full-time days with a monthly co-payment of $40. She pays the $40 at the first of the month.

The DHS approved daily rate is $15 for this child. DHS is responsible for the charges after the first $40 of Jackson’s care.

When Marie swipes attendance each day it will show her co-payment – $40. On the first day her co-payment goes toward the complete daily rate of $15. On the second day her co-payment will also cover the daily rate of $15. On the third day the portion of Marie’s co-payment that remains – which is $10 ($40 – $15 – $15 = $10) will go toward that day’s rate. After that DHS subsidy will pay for all the approved attendance for the month.

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DHS does not collect the co-payment. You are responsible to collect any co-payment that is displayed on the POS machine.

You cannot charge the entire co payment if the amount of care provided for that month is less than the amount of the co-payment.

Take Marie that we recently discussed as an example.

Let’s say her son, Jackson, began attending your child care on the last two days of the month. You cannot charge Marie the full $40 co-payment because she would only owe you $30 based on the daily charge for Jackson for the first two days ($15 + $15 = $30).

You would only collect $30 from Marie. If Marie paid you the entire co-pay, you must refund $10 to her.

Check Your Understanding

Now try several questions to Check Your Understanding.

Summary

Click the button labeled Auditing and Your Rights below to continue to the next module.