Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration
Wisconsin Shares Handbook
All parents must provide verification of participation in an approved activity (see 7.8). However, parents can self-declare their child care need (see 16.1.1). The parent’s self-declared child care need must align with the total number of hours on the approved activity verification. Alignment means that the request is reasonably related to the verified hours. The hours requested do not need to exactly match the verified approved activity hours.
If the parent's self-declared schedule and approved activity verification obtained during eligibility determination do not align, but the difference is within full-time (above 20 weekly hours) or part-time (20 hours or less), the worker should enter the parent’s self-declared hours; no further follow-up is needed.
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Example 1: Vicki is requesting an authorization for her child, Leah. Her paystubs show that she works 24 hours per week. Vicki requests 35 weekly hours for Leah’s authorization. The agency worker enters 35 weekly hours as the authorized hours in CSAW because Leah is eligible for a full-time authorization based on Vicki’s verified work hours. No follow-up questions are necessary because the difference between 24 weekly hours and 35 weekly hours is within full-time and does not change the subsidy amount. |
| Example 2: Lacey is participating in Wisconsin Works (W-2) and is requesting an authorization for her child, Andre. Her W-2 Employability Plan (EP) has five (5) hours per week of W-2 activities. Lacey requests 20 hours for Andre’s authorization. The agency worker enters 20 weekly hours as the authorized hours in CSAW because Andre is eligible for a part-time authorization based on Lacey’s EP activities. No follow-up questions are needed because the difference between five (5) weekly hours and 20 weekly hours is within part-time and does not change the subsidy amount. |
If the difference crosses the threshold from part-time approved activity hours to full-time authorized hours, or the threshold from full-time to above full-time (see 16.1.1), agency workers should review the following items to account for the difference:
Unpaid Lunch Breaks
Other Unpaid Breaks
Unusual circumstances that may not be reflected in pay stubs, including but not limited to:
Child was ill and the parent missed work
Parent was ill and had fewer work hours
Parent or child had medical/dental appointment and missed work
Vacation
The employer closed the business due to a holiday, weather, or unsafe conditions
Parent was sent home early due to low workload
Parent was called into work due to increased workload
Parent is requesting child care based on the highest weekly hours needed within a month and CWW has averaged hours
Sleep hours (see 16.1.1.2)
Head Start or 4K times when the parent is in their approved activity only part of the school program hours (see 16.1.1.3)
Gap time coverage (see 16.1.1.5)
Travel time (see 16.1.1.6)
Any other explanation that reasonably explains a difference between the self-declared child care need and the approved activity verification
If the inclusion of the items above brings the self-declared child care need into alignment with the verified approved activity hours, the agency worker must accept the parent’s stated child care need. A summary of the reason(s) for the difference must be documented in case comments (see 12.2). Specific details about the difference (i.e., exact travel times, start or end times of gaps, etc.) do not need to be documented. Agency workers may request additional verification if the answers provided are questionable.
| Example 3: Ray attends college and is requesting an authorization for his child, Alan. His school schedule shows that he has 15 hours of class per week. Ray requests an authorization for 25 hours per week. Because this crosses the full-time threshold, the agency worker asks follow-up questions to understand the 10-hour difference. Ray indicates that the 25 hours includes travel time and a gap between classes that occurs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The agency worker documents that the authorized hours include travel time and gap time and enters 25 weekly hours as the authorized hours in CSAW. |
| Example 4: Lindsey requests an authorization for 30 weekly hours for her child, Tom. The approved activity verification she provided indicates that she works 20 hours per week. When the worker asks about this difference, Lindsey explains that she works third shift and leaves Tom at the child care provider until the morning so that she can sleep and avoid waking Tom up in the middle of the night. Her request also includes travel time to drop him off at the child care provider before work. The agency worker determines this reasonably aligns with the verification, documents the reasons in case comments, and enters 30 weekly hours as the authorized hours in CSAW. |
If the agency worker determines that the parent’s self-declared need does not reasonably align with their approved activity, the reason for the difference between the approved hours and the requested hours, as well as the rationale for the hours that were ultimately approved, must be documented in case comments (see 12.2).
| Example 5: Hannah requests an authorization of 40 weekly hours for her child, Zoe. The approved activity verification she provided indicates that she works 15 hours per week. When the worker asks about this difference, Hannah indicates that she prefers to have Zoe attend the child care provider full-time because it allows her to do other things during the day after she is done with work. The agency worker determines this is not reasonably related to Hannah’s need to participate in her approved activity. The worker discusses Hannah’s schedule with her and determines that Zoe needs 20 hours based on Hannah’s schedule and travel time. The agency worker documents in case comments that the requested 40 weekly hours were reduced to 20 weekly hours because Hannah did not need 40 hours to participate in her approved activity and that the 20 approved hours are sufficient to cover work and travel time. The agency worker enters 20 hours as the authorized hours in CSAW. |
| Example 6: Aiden works full-time and is requesting an authorization for his school-age child, Jack, in October. He requests 45 hours based on his 40-hour work schedule and his need to enroll Jack full-time at the provider. Since Jack is in school, the agency worker asks follow-up questions to understand the need for the full-time authorization. Aiden tells the worker that he works first shift but since he needs both before and after school care, Jack is enrolled “full-time” with the provider. He explains that the provider enrolls children “part-time” if they only need before or after school care (not both). The agency worker explains that even though this is how the provider defines full-time, the actual weekly hours needed are used to determine the authorization hours for Wisconsin Shares. Aiden and the agency worker discuss Aiden’s schedule and determine that Jack needs 18 hours per week based on the actual before and after school care, including travel time for Aiden. The agency worker documents that the requested 45 hours were reduced to 18 hours due to the misunderstanding of the “full-time” definition and that the 18 approved hours are sufficient to cover work and travel time. The agency worker enters 18 weekly hours as the authorized hours in CSAW. |
This section last updated 11/1/2024