Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration
Wisconsin Shares Handbook
Agency workers must complete an authorization within two (2) business days of the parent providing all necessary information for the authorization assessment. Any delay in completing the authorization within two (2) business days must be documented in case comments (see 12.2).
Parents are required to provide the number of weekly hours for which they need child care.
Authorized hours are based on:
The highest weekly hours within a month for which the child needs child care to allow the parent to participate in their approved activity, including time needed for lunch and breaks, a gap between approved activities, sleep hours, etc.
Travel time between the approved activity and the child care location, including time to walk from parking lots or bus stops, changing into uniforms, etc.
Overlapping schedules of two-parent and three-generation families
The child’s school day
Shared placement arrangements
School closed hours for school-age children (3 years or older)
Other factors that affect the family’s child care need
The exact schedule of attendance is determined between the parent and the provider. Only the total number of child care need hours are necessary for the authorization. Agency workers should discuss the factors above with parents to ensure the child receives the maximum number of hours for which they are eligible.
If the parent has a varying child care need, the child is eligible to receive the highest weekly hours within a month for which the parent needs child care.
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Example 1 (Varying work schedule): Monroe works varying shifts at Albany Crafts and needs child care for his child, Robin, whenever he is working. Some weeks he works 15 hours, while other weeks he works 25 hours. The worker enters 25 hours (the highest number of weekly hours that Monroe needs) as the approved hours in CSAW. |
When a parent has shared placement of a child, the child is eligible for the highest number of hours that each parent needs within a month. Parents are responsible for ensuring that they do not pay the provider more than the provider’s price for the care of that child.
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Example 2 (Shared placement, same provider): Logan and Haley have 50/50 shared placement of their child, Camilla. Each parent has Camilla three (3) days some weeks and four (4) days other weeks. Both parents are eligible for authorizations based on having Camilla four (4) days of the week. Camilla attends the same provider, regardless of placement. If this creates a full-time authorization for Camilla on both cases, Logan and Haley must collaborate to ensure they don’t pay the provider more than the provider’s full-time price for Camilla. |
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Example 3 (Shared placement, different providers): Jacob and William have shared placement of their child, Gianna. Each parent has Gianna every other week. Both parents are eligible for Wisconsin Shares and are requesting full-time authorizations. Gianna attends Exploring Learning on the weeks she is with Jacob and Koala Hugs on the weeks she is with William. Both parents work full-time and need care whenever they are working. Each provider charges for full-time enrollment, including weeks when Gianna does not attend to hold her slot. Both parents are eligible for full-time authorizations and can pay the providers based on Gianna’s full-time enrollment at each provider. |
Wisconsin Works (W-2) Financial and Employment Planners (FEPs) do not determine the child care needs for families that participate in the W-2 program. The agency worker must use the activity information from the W-2 Employability Plan (EP) and the parent’s stated child care need to complete the authorization assessment.
If an authorization-related agency error occurs, an overpayment must not be established but the authorization must be corrected.
16.1.1.1 Approved Activity and Child Care Need Alignment
16.1.1.3 Co-located Head Start and 4K School Programs
16.1.1.4 School-Age Children Authorizations
16.1.1.4.1 Zero-Hour Authorizations
16.1.1.4.2 School Closed Hours
16.1.1.5 Gaps Between Approved Activities
This section last updated 11/1/2024