2006 Minnesota Statutes

119B.11 COUNTY CONTRIBUTION.
    Subdivision 1. County contributions required. (a) In addition to payments from basic
sliding fee child care program participants, each county shall contribute from county tax or
other sources a fixed local match equal to its calendar year 1996 required county contribution
reduced by the administrative funding loss that would have occurred in state fiscal year 1996
under section 119B.15. The commissioner shall recover funds from the county as necessary to
bring county expenditures into compliance with this subdivision. The commissioner may accept
county contributions, including contributions above the fixed local match, in order to make
state payments.
(b) The commissioner may accept payments from counties to:
(1) fulfill the county contribution as required under subdivision 1;
(2) pay for services authorized under this chapter beyond those paid for with federal or state
funds or with the required county contributions; or
(3) pay for child care services in addition to those authorized under this chapter, as authorized
under other federal, state, or local statutes or regulations.
(c) The county payments must be deposited in an account in the special revenue fund. Money
in this account is appropriated to the commissioner for child care assistance under this chapter and
other applicable statutes and regulations and is in addition to other state and federal appropriations.
    Subd. 2.[Repealed, 1997 c 162 art 1 s 19]
    Subd. 2a. Recovery of overpayments. (a) An amount of child care assistance paid to a
recipient in excess of the payment due is recoverable by the county agency under paragraphs (b)
and (c), even when the overpayment was caused by agency error or circumstances outside the
responsibility and control of the family or provider.
(b) An overpayment must be recouped or recovered from the family if the overpayment
benefited the family by causing the family to pay less for child care expenses than the family
otherwise would have been required to pay under child care assistance program requirements. If
the family remains eligible for child care assistance, the overpayment must be recovered through
recoupment as identified in Minnesota Rules, part 3400.0187, except that the overpayments must
be calculated and collected on a service period basis. If the family no longer remains eligible
for child care assistance, the county may choose to initiate efforts to recover overpayments
from the family for overpayment less than $50. If the overpayment is greater than or equal to
$50, the county shall seek voluntary repayment of the overpayment from the family. If the
county is unable to recoup the overpayment through voluntary repayment, the county shall
initiate civil court proceedings to recover the overpayment unless the county's costs to recover
the overpayment will exceed the amount of the overpayment. A family with an outstanding debt
under this subdivision is not eligible for child care assistance until: (1) the debt is paid in full;
or (2) satisfactory arrangements are made with the county to retire the debt consistent with the
requirements of this chapter and Minnesota Rules, chapter 3400, and the family is in compliance
with the arrangements.
(c) The county must recover an overpayment from a provider if the overpayment did not
benefit the family by causing it to receive more child care assistance or to pay less for child care
expenses than the family otherwise would have been eligible to receive or required to pay under
child care assistance program requirements, and benefited the provider by causing the provider
to receive more child care assistance than otherwise would have been paid on the family's
behalf under child care assistance program requirements. If the provider continues to care for
children receiving child care assistance, the overpayment must be recovered through reductions
in child care assistance payments for services as described in an agreement with the county.
The provider may not charge families using that provider more to cover the cost of recouping
the overpayment. If the provider no longer cares for children receiving child care assistance, the
county may choose to initiate efforts to recover overpayments of less than $50 from the provider.
If the overpayment is greater than or equal to $50, the county shall seek voluntary repayment of
the overpayment from the provider. If the county is unable to recoup the overpayment through
voluntary repayment, the county shall initiate civil court proceedings to recover the overpayment
unless the county's costs to recover the overpayment will exceed the amount of the overpayment.
A provider with an outstanding debt under this subdivision is not eligible to care for children
receiving child care assistance until:
(1) the debt is paid in full; or
(2) satisfactory arrangements are made with the county to retire the debt consistent with
the requirements of this chapter and Minnesota Rules, chapter 3400, and the provider is in
compliance with the arrangements.
(d) When both the family and the provider acted together to intentionally cause the
overpayment, both the family and the provider are jointly liable for the overpayment regardless
of who benefited from the overpayment. The county must recover the overpayment as provided
in paragraphs (b) and (c). When the family or the provider is in compliance with a repayment
agreement, the party in compliance is eligible to receive child care assistance or to care for
children receiving child care assistance despite the other party's noncompliance with repayment
arrangements.
    Subd. 3. Federal money; state recovery. The commissioner shall recover from counties any
state or federal money that was spent for persons found to be ineligible, except if the recovery
is made by a county agency using any method other than recoupment, the county may keep 25
percent of the recovery. If a federal audit exception is taken based on a percentage of federal
earnings, all counties shall pay a share proportional to their respective federal earnings during
the period in question.
    Subd. 4. Maintenance of funding effort. To receive money through this program, each
county shall certify, in its annual plan to the commissioner, that the county has not reduced
allocations from other federal and state sources, which, in the absence of the child care fund,
would have been available for child care assistance. However, the county must continue
contributions, as necessary, to maintain on the basic sliding fee program, families who are
receiving assistance on July 1, 1995, until the family loses eligibility for the program or until a
family voluntarily withdraws from the program. This subdivision does not affect the local match
required for this program under other sections of the law.
History: 1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 72; 1987 c 403 art 3 s 70; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 150; 1995 c
139 s 1; 1995 c 207 art 4 s 33-35; 1997 c 162 art 4 s 34-36; 1999 c 205 art 1 s 32; 1Sp2001 c 3
art 1 s 5; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 9 s 19