Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration
Wisconsin Shares Handbook
The local agency must only authorize child care in two-parent or three-generation families for the period of overlap in the parents’ approved activities.
| Note: Agency workers must confirm with the parent that the self-declared child care need only includes times when all parents are participating in their approved activities (plus travel time, gap time, sleep time), but do not need to document each parent’s schedule. |
When determining the authorization for a teen parent’s child, the agency worker must authorize child care for the period of time during the overlap of approved activities of all parents in the assistance group, including the dependent teen parent.
When determining child care hours for other children in the assistance group of a three-generation family that are not the dependent teen parent’s children, the dependent teen parent’s schedule is not considered in the overlap. The agency worker must consider only the overlap in approved activity of the other adults in the assistance group for other children in the assistance group.
| Example 1: Alberto and Alana both work full time. Alberto works second shift and Alana works first shift. The child care authorization is limited to the overlap in work and travel time for both parents. Alberto is available to care for their child until he drops her off with the provider in the afternoon and leaves for work. Alana picks the child up after she gets done with work. The authorized hours include the entire time that the child is at the provider, from the time Alberto drops the child off to go to work until Alana picks the child up after work. |
| Example 2: Melissa is 16 years old. She and her baby live with her parents. The agency worker must consider the overlapping approved activity hours of Melissa and both of her parents when determining the number of authorized hours for Melissa’s baby. |
| Example 3: Mai is 17 years old. She and her baby live with her parent, Choua, and her 3-year-old sister Nancy. The agency worker must consider only Choua’s approved activity when determining the number of authorized hours for Nancy. The authorization for Mai’s baby is based on the overlap of both Choua’s and Mai’s approved activities. |
In two-parent and three-generation family situations where one (1) parent is unable to work and unable to care for the children as documented by a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, psychiatrist, or psychologist, child care may be authorized for the time period when the other parent is participating in an approved activity (see 5.2).
This section last updated 11/1/2024