2007 Minnesota Statutes

119B.011 DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. Scope. For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the
meanings given.
    Subd. 2. Applicant. "Child care fund applicants" means all parents, stepparents, legal
guardians, or eligible relative caregivers who are members of the family and reside in the
household that applies for child care assistance under the child care fund.
    Subd. 3. Application. "Application" means the submission to a county agency, by or on
behalf of a family, of a completed, signed, and dated child care assistance universal application
form that indicates the family's desire to receive assistance.
    Subd. 4. Child. "Child" means a person 12 years old or younger, or a person age 13 or 14
who is disabled, as defined in section 125A.02.
    Subd. 5. Child care. "Child care" means the care of a child by someone other than a parent,
stepparent, legal guardian, eligible relative caregiver, or the spouses of any of the foregoing
in or outside the child's own home for gain or otherwise, on a regular basis, for any part of
a 24-hour day.
    Subd. 6. Child care fund. "Child care fund" means a program under this chapter providing:
(1) financial assistance for child care to parents engaged in employment, job search, or
education and training leading to employment, or an at-home infant child care subsidy; and
(2) grants to develop, expand, and improve the access and availability of child care services
statewide.
    Subd. 7. Child care services. "Child care services" means the provision of child care
as defined in subdivision 5.
    Subd. 8. Commissioner. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of human services.
    Subd. 9. County board. "County board" means the board of county commissioners in
each county.
    Subd. 10. Department. "Department" means the Department of Human Services.
    Subd. 10a. Diversionary work program. "Diversionary work program" means the program
established under section 256J.95.
    Subd. 11. Education program. "Education program" means remedial or basic education
or English as a second language instruction, a program leading to a general equivalency or high
school diploma, postsecondary programs excluding postbaccalaureate programs, and other
education and training needs as documented in an employment plan, as defined in subdivision
12. The employment plan must outline education and training needs of a recipient, meet state
requirements for employment plans, meet the requirements of this chapter, and Minnesota Rules,
parts 3400.0010 to 3400.0230, and meet the requirements of programs that provide federal
reimbursement for child care services.
    Subd. 12. Employment plan. "Employment plan" means employment of recipients
financially eligible for child care assistance, or other work activities defined under section
256J.49, approved in an employability development, job search support plan, or employment plan
that is developed by the county agency, if it is acting as an employment and training service
provider, or by an employment and training service provider certified by the commissioner of
employment and economic development or an individual designated by the county to provide
employment and training services. The plans and designation of a service provider must meet the
requirements of this chapter and chapter 256J or chapter 256K, Minnesota Rules, parts 3400.0010
to 3400.0230, and other programs that provide federal reimbursement for child care services.
    Subd. 13. Family. "Family" means parents, stepparents, guardians and their spouses, or other
eligible relative caregivers and their spouses, and their blood related dependent children and
adoptive siblings under the age of 18 years living in the same home including children temporarily
absent from the household in settings such as schools, foster care, and residential treatment
facilities or parents, stepparents, guardians and their spouses, or other relative caregivers and their
spouses temporarily absent from the household in settings such as schools, military service, or
rehabilitation programs. When a minor parent or parents and his, her, or their child or children are
living with other relatives, and the minor parent or parents apply for a child care subsidy, "family"
means only the minor parent or parents and their child or children. An adult age 18 or older who
meets this definition of family and is a full-time high school or postsecondary student may be
considered a dependent member of the family unit if 50 percent or more of the adult's support is
provided by the parents, stepparents, guardians, and their spouses or eligible relative caregivers
and their spouses residing in the same household.
    Subd. 13a. Family stabilization services. "Family stabilization services" means the services
under section 256J.575.
    Subd. 14. Human services board. "Human services board" means a board established under
section 402.02, Laws 1974, chapter 293, or Laws 1976, chapter 340.
    Subd. 15. Income. "Income" means earned or unearned income received by all family
members, including public assistance cash benefits and at-home infant child care subsidy
payments, unless specifically excluded and child support and maintenance distributed to the
family under section 256.741, subdivision 15. The following are excluded from income: funds
used to pay for health insurance premiums for family members, Supplemental Security Income,
scholarships, work-study income, and grants that cover costs or reimbursement for tuition, fees,
books, and educational supplies; student loans for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and living
expenses; state and federal earned income tax credits; assistance specifically excluded as income
by law; in-kind income such as food support, energy assistance, foster care assistance, medical
assistance, child care assistance, and housing subsidies; earned income of full-time or part-time
students up to the age of 19, who have not earned a high school diploma or GED high school
equivalency diploma including earnings from summer employment; grant awards under the
family subsidy program; nonrecurring lump sum income only to the extent that it is earmarked
and used for the purpose for which it is paid; and any income assigned to the public authority
according to section 256.741.
    Subd. 16. Legal nonlicensed child care provider. "Legal nonlicensed child care provider"
means a child care provider who is excluded from licensing requirements under section 245A.03,
subdivision 2 .
    Subd. 17. MFIP. "MFIP" means the Minnesota family investment program, the state's
TANF program under Public Law 104-193, Title I, and includes the MFIP program under chapter
256J, the work first program under chapter 256K, and tribal contracts under section 119B.02,
subdivision 2 , or 256.01, subdivision 2.
    Subd. 18. Postsecondary educational systems. "Postsecondary educational systems" means
the University of Minnesota Board of Regents and the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities.
    Subd. 19. Provider. "Provider" means: (1) an individual or child care center or facility, either
licensed or unlicensed, providing legal child care services as defined under section 245A.03; or
(2) an individual or child care center or facility holding a valid child care license issued by another
state or a tribe and providing child care services in the licensing state or in the area under the
licensing tribe's jurisdiction. A legally unlicensed family child care provider must be at least 18
years of age, and not a member of the MFIP assistance unit or a member of the family receiving
child care assistance to be authorized under this chapter.
    Subd. 19a. Registration. "Registration" means the process used by a county to determine
whether the provider selected by a family applying for or receiving child care assistance to care
for that family's children meets the requirements necessary for payment of child care assistance
for care provided by that provider.
    Subd. 20. Transition year families. "Transition year families" means families who have
received MFIP assistance, or who were eligible to receive MFIP assistance after choosing to
discontinue receipt of the cash portion of MFIP assistance under section 256J.31, subdivision 12,
or families who have received DWP assistance under section 256J.95 for at least three of the last
six months before losing eligibility for MFIP or DWP. Transition year child care may be used to
support employment or job search. Transition year child care is not available to families who have
been disqualified from MFIP or DWP due to fraud.
    Subd. 20a. Transition year extension families. "Transition year extension families" means
families who have completed their transition year of child care assistance under this subdivision
and who are eligible for, but on a waiting list for, services under section 119B.03. For purposes of
sections 119B.03, subdivision 3, and 119B.05, subdivision 1, clause (2), families participating in
extended transition year shall not be considered transition year families. Transition year extension
child care may be used to support employment or a job search that meets the requirements of
section 119B.10 for the length of time necessary for families to be moved from the basic sliding
fee waiting list into the basic sliding fee program.
    Subd. 21. Recoupment of overpayments. "Recoupment of overpayments" means the
reduction of child care assistance payments to an eligible family or a child care provider in order
to correct an overpayment of child care assistance.
    Subd. 22. Service period. "Service period" means the biweekly period used by the child care
assistance program for billing and payment purposes.
History: 1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 72; 1987 c 403 art 3 s 59; 1988 c 689 art 2 s 223; 1989 c 282
art 2 s 135-140; 1990 c 375 s 3; 1990 c 568 art 4 s 34-38; 1992 c 513 art 8 s 26,27; 1994 c 483 s
1; 1995 c 207 art 4 s 22,23; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1996 c 395 s 18; 1997 c 162 art 4 s 1-8;
1998 c 397 art 11 s 3; 1998 c 407 art 6 s 1; 1999 c 159 s 7-12,154; 1999 c 205 art 1 s 3-10,69; art
5 s 1,2,21; 2000 c 260 s 19,89; 2000 c 488 art 10 s 1; 2000 c 489 art 1 s 2-4; 1Sp2001 c 3 art 1 s
1,2; 2002 c 279 s 1,2; 2003 c 130 s 5,6; 1Sp2003 c 9 art 12 s 1; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 1 s 106; art 9 s
1-7; 2004 c 206 s 52; 2004 c 288 art 4 s 1-6; 2005 c 56 s 1; 2007 c 147 art 2 s 3