1998 Minnesota Statutes

     119B.02 Duties of commissioner. 

    Subdivision 1.    Child care services.  The commissioner 
 shall develop standards for county and human services boards to 
 provide child care services to enable eligible families to 
 participate in employment, training, or education programs.  
 Within the limits of available appropriations, the commissioner 
 shall distribute money to counties to reduce the costs of child 
 care for eligible families.  The commissioner shall adopt rules 
 to govern the program in accordance with this section.  The 
 rules must establish a sliding schedule of fees for parents 
 receiving child care services.  The rules shall provide that 
 funds received as a lump sum payment of child support arrearages 
 shall not be counted as income to a family in the month received 
 but shall be prorated over the 12 months following receipt and 
 added to the family income during those months.  In the rules 
 adopted under this section, county and human services boards 
 shall be authorized to establish policies for payment of child 
 care spaces for absent children, when the payment is required by 
 the child's regular provider.  The rules shall not set a maximum 
 number of days for which absence payments can be made, but 
 instead shall direct the county agency to set limits and pay for 
 absences according to the prevailing market practice in the 
 county.  County policies for payment of absences shall be 
 subject to the approval of the commissioner.  The commissioner 
 shall maximize the use of federal money in section 256.736 and 
 other programs that provide federal or state reimbursement for 
 child care services for low-income families who are in 
 education, training, job search, or other activities allowed 
 under those programs.  Money appropriated under this section 
 must be coordinated with the programs that provide federal 
 reimbursement for child care services to accomplish this 
 purpose.  Federal reimbursement obtained must be allocated to 
 the county that spent money for child care that is federally 
 reimbursable under programs that provide federal reimbursement 
 for child care services.  The counties shall use the federal 
 money to expand child care services.  The commissioner may adopt 
 rules under chapter 14 to implement and coordinate federal 
 program requirements. 

    Subd. 2.    Contractual agreements with tribes.  The 
 commissioner may enter into contractual agreements with a 
 federally recognized Indian tribe with a reservation in 
 Minnesota to carry out the responsibilities of county human 
 service agencies to the extent necessary for the tribe to 
 operate child care assistance programs under sections 119B.03 
 and 119B.05.  An agreement may allow for the tribe to be 
 reimbursed for child care assistance services provided under 
 section 119B.05.  The commissioner shall consult with the 
 affected county or counties in the contractual agreement 
 negotiations, if the county or counties wish to be included, in 
 order to avoid the duplication of county and tribal child care 
 services.  Funding to support services under section 119B.03 may 
 be transferred to the federally recognized Indian tribe with a 
 reservation in Minnesota from allocations available to counties 
 in which reservation boundaries lie.  When funding is 
 transferred under section 119B.03, the amount shall be 
 commensurate to estimates of the proportion of reservation 
 residents with characteristics identified in section 119B.03, 
 subdivision 6, to the total population of county residents with 
 those same characteristics.  

    HIST: 1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 72; 1987 c 403 art 2 s 146; art 3 s 
 60; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 141; 1990 c 432 s 1; 1991 c 292 art 5 s 
 52; 1995 c 207 art 4 s 24; 1995 c 257 art 1 s 17; 1997 c 162 art 
 4 s 9; 1998 c 407 art 6 s 2