Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration

Wisconsin Shares Handbook

 

 

17.1.1 Assessment Results Authorizations

An agency worker must assess an Assistance Group’s child care need (see 16.1) and the authorization must be based on the assessment results at all the following times:

If a reported change is not one (1) of the above situations, the Continuity of Care Authorizations policy (see 17.1.2) must be followed. 

Agency workers must correct an error in authorization, even if the error results in a lower number of authorized hours.  

Example 1 (More than one (1) calendar month): Jessie has two (2) school-aged children. The authorizations for both children began on January 1 and end on May 31. Jessie does not need child care during the month of June because the children will visit their grandparents that month. However, Jessie needs child care authorizations beginning on July 15. Jessie’s worker must complete an authorization assessment before the July 15 authorizations are written and the authorized hours must be based on this assessment because more than one (1) calendar month has passed since the previous authorizations ended.

 

Example 2 (Fall school year transition): From July 15 through August 31, Arturo’s school-aged children need full-time child care. When school starts in September, the agency worker completes an authorization assessment. The authorization for the school year must be based on the assessment results because the children are transitioning from summer break to the fall school year.


When completing an authorization assessment while the parent is in an Approved Activity Search Period (ACTS) or Temporary Break Period (TBRK), the agency worker must use the same parent approved activity schedule and child care need as the previous authorization, unless the parent requests fewer hours. However, the authorized hours could be reduced based on the assessment results during an Activity Break Period (see the following examples). When a parent is in an Activity Break Period and a second parent enters the home, the second parent must be in an approved activity other than ACTS or TBRK.

Example 3 (ACTS-Second parent moves into the home): Roberta is in an ACTS period when Jackson, the biological parent of her child, moves into the home. Roberta and Jackson’s child, Craig, has an authorization for 35 hours per week. Jackson has an approved activity of working 20 hours per week. Because Jackson is an eligible adult in the Assistance Group, an authorization assessment is required. The agency worker ends Craig’s authorization at the end of the current month and creates a new authorization to start the first of the next month. The new overlap between Roberta’s previous schedule and Jackson’s employment schedule is 20 hours. Craig’s authorization must be reduced to 20 hours following the authorization assessment.

 

Example 4 (TBRK-Provider change): Lauren is working 40 hours per week and her child, Kalie, has an authorization to ABC Child Care Center for when Lauren is working.  

Change 1 (Decrease in hours, continuity of care): In January, Lauren’s work hours decrease to 20 hours per week. The agency worker ends Kalie’s authorization at the end of the current month and creates a new authorization to start the first of the next month using the new work schedule. The agency worker asks if she would like to maintain the same number of hours for Kalie’s authorization. Lauren chooses to maintain Kalie’s authorization at 40 hours per week. The agency worker uses the “Copy from Prior Authorization” button and documents the conversation in case comments.  

Change 2 (Temporary break, maintain hours): In March, Lauren goes on maternity leave. A TBRK period is entered for April 1 – June 30. Lauren chooses to maintain Kalie’s authorization at 40 hours per week while she is on maternity leave. The agency worker leaves the current authorization in place and documents the conversation in case comments.

Change 3 (Change providers): In April, Lauren decides that she wants to change providers for May. The agency worker ends the current authorization for April 30 and creates a new authorization to Julie’s Jumpin’ Beans beginning May 1.  

The new authorization uses Lauren’s schedule from when she was last working (Change 1), which was 20 hours per week. Kalie’s authorization would need to be decreased from 40 hours per week to 20 hours per week because the authorization must be based on the assessment results when the parent selects a new provider.

 

Example 5 (ACTS-Provider change): In January, Morgan was working 40 hours per week and her child, Aaron, had an authorization for the times when she was working.

Change 1 (Decrease in hours): In April, Morgan’s work hours decreased to 20 hours per week. The agency worker completed an authorization assessment using Morgan’s new 20-hour per week work schedule and determined that Morgan was eligible to keep the higher hours per the policy in Section 17.1.2. Morgan chose to continue Aaron’s authorization for 40 hours per week. The agency worker used the “Copy from Prior Authorization” button to maintain the authorization at 40 hours per week.  

Change 2 (Job loss): In June, Morgan reported that she lost her job. An Approved Activity Search Period (ACTS) was created for July 1 – September 30 and the agency worker correctly left the current authorization in place.   

Change 3 (Change providers): In July, during Morgan’s ACTS period, Morgan reports that she would like to send Aaron to a new provider starting August 1. The agency worker enters the same 20-hour per week schedule that Morgan was working prior to the job loss, which was entered in CSAW in Change 1. However, a change in provider requires the authorization to be based on the assessment results. Aaron’s new authorization must be based on Morgan’s 20-hour per week work schedule that she was working prior to starting the ACTS period.

 

Example 6 (ACTS-Fall school year transition): Nora is in an ACTS period from July 1 – September 30. Her child, Phillip, had an authorization for 40 hours per week when she lost her job and she requested that the authorization continue during the ACTS period. Phillip is starting school in-person on September 9. Because child care cannot be authorized during the typical school day, Phillip’s authorization must be reduced from full-time to part-time based on the child care need beginning September 9, for any before and after school care that Nora would have had with her previous schedule. Nora must still plan to use child care for the authorized hours to continue to receive an authorization.

 

Example 7 (Provider hours of operation): Melissa works Monday – Friday at Hank’s Automotive from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and her child, Sydney, attends Stargazers Childcare during the same hours. Stargazers Childcare is open Monday – Friday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Melissa’s work hours at Hank’s Automotive are changing and she will now be working Monday – Friday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sydney’s child care need no longer aligns with the provider’s hours of operation and the authorization must be based on the assessment results.  

Change 1 (New hours, same provider): Melissa continues to send Sydney to Stargazers Childcare. When the agency worker writes the new authorization, they enter child care need for Monday – Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. This reflects the hours that Sydney needs care while the provider is open. Melissa will need to arrange for someone to pick up Sydney at 5 p.m. and provide child care until she returns home from work.

Change 2 (Same hours, switch providers): After a few weeks, Melissa finds a provider who is open until 10 p.m. and wants to change providers. When the agency worker writes the new authorization, they enter child care need for Monday – Friday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. because Melissa needs child care while she works and the new provider is open during those times.  

 

This section last updated 12/1/2022