Subdivision 1. Authorization. Except as provided in subdivision 5, a county or the commissioner must authorize the provider chosen by an applicant or a participant before the county can authorize payment for care provided by that provider. The commissioner must establish the requirements necessary for authorization of providers. A provider must be reauthorized every two years. A legal, nonlicensed family child care provider also must be reauthorized when another person over the age of 13 joins the household, a current household member turns 13, or there is reason to believe that a household member has a factor that prevents authorization. The provider is required to report all family changes that would require reauthorization. When a provider has been authorized for payment for providing care for families in more than one county, the county responsible for reauthorization of that provider is the county of the family with a current authorization for that provider and who has used the provider for the longest length of time.

Subd. 1a. Background study required. This subdivision only applies to legal, nonlicensed family child care providers. Prior to authorization, and as part of each reauthorization required in subdivision 1, the county shall perform a background study on every member of the provider's household who is age 13 and older. The county shall also perform a background study on an individual who has reached age ten but is not yet age 13 and is living in the household where the nonlicensed child care will be provided when the county has reasonable cause as defined under section 245C.02, subdivision 15.

Subd. 1b. Training required. (a) Effective November 1, 2011, prior to initial authorization as required in subdivision 1, a legal nonlicensed family child care provider must complete first aid and CPR training and provide the verification of first aid and CPR training to the county. The training documentation must have valid effective dates as of the date the registration request is submitted to the county. The training must have been provided by an individual approved to provide first aid and CPR instruction and have included CPR techniques for infants and children.

(b) Legal nonlicensed family child care providers with an authorization effective before November 1, 2011, must be notified of the requirements before October 1, 2011, or at authorization, and must meet the requirements upon renewal of an authorization that occurs on or after January 1, 2012.

(c) Upon each reauthorization after the authorization period when the initial first aid and CPR training requirements are met, a legal nonlicensed family child care provider must provide verification of at least eight hours of additional training listed in the Minnesota Center for Professional Development Registry.

(d) This subdivision only applies to legal nonlicensed family child care providers.

Subd. 2. Persons who cannot be authorized. (a) The provider seeking authorization under this section shall collect the information required under section 245C.05, subdivision 1, and forward the information to the county agency. The background study must include a review of the information required under section 245C.08, subdivisions 2, 3, and 4, paragraph (b). A nonlicensed family child care provider is not authorized under this section if any household member who is the subject of a background study is determined to have a disqualifying characteristic under paragraphs (b) to (e) or under section 245C.14 or 245C.15. If a county has determined that a provider is able to be authorized in that county, and a family in another county later selects that provider, the provider is able to be authorized in the second county without undergoing a new background investigation unless one of the following conditions exists:

(1) two years have passed since the first authorization;

(2) another person age 13 or older has joined the provider's household since the last authorization;

(3) a current household member has turned 13 since the last authorization; or

(4) there is reason to believe that a household member has a factor that prevents authorization.

(b) The person has refused to give written consent for disclosure of criminal history records.

(c) The person has been denied a family child care license or has received a fine or a sanction as a licensed child care provider that has not been reversed on appeal.

(d) The person has a family child care licensing disqualification that has not been set aside.

(e) The person has admitted or a county has found that there is a preponderance of evidence that fraudulent information was given to the county for child care assistance application purposes or was used in submitting child care assistance bills for payment.

Subd. 3. Authorization exception. When a county denies a person authorization as a legal nonlicensed family child care provider under subdivision 2, the county later may authorize that person as a provider if the following conditions are met:

(1) after receiving notice of the denial of the authorization, the person applies for and obtains a valid child care license issued under chapter 245A, issued by a tribe, or issued by another state;

(2) the person maintains the valid child care license; and

(3) the person is providing child care in the state of licensure or in the area under the jurisdiction of the licensing tribe.

Subd. 4. Unsafe care. A county may deny authorization as a child care provider to any applicant or rescind authorization of any provider when the county knows or has reason to believe that the provider is unsafe or that the circumstances of the chosen child care arrangement are unsafe. The county must include the conditions under which a provider or care arrangement will be determined to be unsafe in the county's child care fund plan under section 119B.08, subdivision 3.

Subd. 5. Provisional payment. After a county receives a completed application from a provider, the county may issue provisional authorization and payment to the provider during the time needed to determine whether to give final authorization to the provider.

Subd. 6. Record-keeping requirement. (a) As a condition of payment, all providers receiving child care assistance payments must:

(1) keep accurate and legible daily attendance records at the site where services are delivered for children receiving child care assistance; and

(2) make those records available immediately to the county or the commissioner upon request. Any records not provided to a county or the commissioner at the date and time of the request are deemed inadmissible if offered as evidence by the provider in any proceeding to contest an overpayment or disqualification of the provider.

(b) As a condition of payment, attendance records must be completed daily and include the date, the first and last name of each child in attendance, and the times when each child is dropped off and picked up. To the extent possible, the times that the child was dropped off to and picked up from the child care provider must be entered by the person dropping off or picking up the child. The daily attendance records must be retained at the site where services are delivered for six years after the date of service.

(c) A county or the commissioner may deny or revoke a provider's authorization to receive child care assistance payments under section 119B.13, subdivision 6, paragraph (d), pursue a fraud disqualification under section 256.98, take an action against the provider under chapter 245E, or establish an attendance record overpayment under paragraph (d) against a current or former provider, when the county or the commissioner knows or has reason to believe that the provider has not complied with the record-keeping requirement in this subdivision.

(d) To calculate an attendance record overpayment under this subdivision, the commissioner or county agency shall subtract the maximum daily rate from the total amount paid to a provider for each day that a child's attendance record is missing, unavailable, incomplete, inaccurate, or otherwise inadequate.

(e) The commissioner shall develop criteria for a county to determine an attendance record overpayment under this subdivision.

Subd. 7. Failure to comply with attendance record requirements. (a) In establishing an overpayment claim for failure to provide attendance records in compliance with subdivision 6, the county or commissioner is limited to the six years prior to the date the county or the commissioner requested the attendance records.

(b) The commissioner may periodically audit child care providers to determine compliance with subdivision 6.

(c) When the commissioner or county establishes an overpayment claim against a current or former provider, the commissioner or county must provide notice of the claim to the provider. A notice of overpayment claim must specify the reason for the overpayment, the authority for making the overpayment claim, the time period in which the overpayment occurred, the amount of the overpayment, and the provider's right to appeal.

(d) The commissioner or county shall seek to recoup or recover overpayments paid to a current or former provider.

(e) When a provider has been disqualified or convicted of fraud under section 256.98, theft under section 609.52, or a federal crime relating to theft of state funds or fraudulent billing for a program administered by the commissioner or a county, recoupment or recovery must be sought regardless of the amount of overpayment.

Subd. 8. MS 2018 [Repealed, 1Sp2019 c 9 art 2 s 134]

[See Note.]

Subd. 9. Reporting required for child's part-time attendance. A provider must report to the county and report on the billing form as required when a child's attendance in child care falls to less than half of the child's authorized hours or days for a four-week period. If requested by the county or the commissioner, the provider must provide additional information to the county or commissioner on the attendance of specific children.

History: 1Sp2003 c 14 art 9 s 21; 2004 c 228 art 1 s 29; 2004 c 288 art 4 s 16,17; 2005 c 136 art 7 s 21; 2006 c 264 s 3; 2007 c 147 art 2 s 10; 2008 c 361 art 3 s 5,6; 2010 c 299 s 14; 1Sp2011 c 9 art 1 s 6; 2012 c 216 art 7 s 4-6; 2014 c 228 art 2 s 1; 2015 c 71 art 1 s 1; 2015 c 78 art 4 s 1-4; 1Sp2019 c 9 art 2 s 9

NOTE: The repeal of subdivision 8 is effective September 30, 2019. The text may be viewed at MS 2018 in the statutes archives.