Wisconsin Department
of Children and Families - Division
of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration
Wisconsin Shares Handbook
When the local agency receives the report of a permanent loss or temporary break in approved activity, the agency worker must take action to change the parent’s approved activity in CWW to ACTS or TBRK (based on the change reported) for the month following the change without first contacting the parent to determine if there is a continuing child care need during the break in or loss of activity.
| Example 1 (ACCESS report of job loss): George reports through ACCESS on Saturday, March 2, that he lost his job on February 25. On Monday, March 4, when the agency worker receives the report, they update the Approved Activity Status in CWW to ACTS for March. An ACTS period is established for March 1 – May 31. George’s eligibility can continue until May 31. George must continue to meet all financial and nonfinancial requirements. |
Agency workers must document in case comments if the agency worker entered an Approved Activity Search Period (ACTS) or Temporary Break Period (TBRK) for the parent following a reported change and any response or lack of response from the parent (see 12.1).
Following a permanent loss or temporary break in approved activity, agency workers should only end eligibility for lack of approved activity if:
The parent states that they do not want to maintain Wisconsin Shares eligibility, or
The parent is not eligible for an Activity Break Period.
Agency workers should advise parents to leave eligibility open with the ACTS or TBRK activity so that the parent will not need to reapply. If the parent agrees to leave their eligibility open but states they will not use child care, the agency worker must end the authorization (see 17.1) and document this in case comments (see 12.2).
| Example 2 (Leave eligibility open): Daniel has an authorization for his child, Andrew. He reports to the agency worker on June 28 that he will be on temporary leave from his job starting June 30. Daniel states that he does not need the authorization or Wisconsin Shares eligibility because he will be caring for Andrew. The agency worker informs Daniel that if he leaves his Wisconsin Shares eligibility open, it will be easier to receive a new authorization and avoid the need to reapply when he goes back to work. Daniel agrees to leaving his Wisconsin Shares eligibility in place. The agency worker updates Daniel’s Approved Activity Status in CWW to TBRK for July and ends the authorization. |
| Example 3 (Request to end eligibility): On August 20, Naomi calls the local agency to report that she had a baby and is on maternity leave from her job. Her maternity leave started August 15 and she expects to return to work on October 15. She currently has an authorization for her older child, Jodie. The agency worker informs Naomi that she may maintain eligibility for up to three (3) months, and that Jodie’s authorization may remain at the same number of hours during that time. The agency worker advises Naomi to leave eligibility open so that she doesn’t need to reapply when she returns to work. However, Naomi still requests to end her Wisconsin Shares eligibility. The agency worker changes the Child Care Request in CWW to “No” and her eligibility for Wisconsin Shares ends on September 30 (according to adverse action). Jodie’s authorization will also systematically end on September 30; the agency worker does not need to update the authorization end date unless Naomi indicates she will not need child care in September. |
This section last updated 12/1/2022