AB 598

The Wisconsin Works (W-2) program under current law, which is administered

by Department of Children and Families (DCF), provides work experience and

benefits for low-income custodial parents who are at least 18 years old. Also, an

individual who is the parent of a child under the age of 13 or, if the child is disabled,

under the age of 19, may receive a child care subsidy under the part of the W-2

program known as Wisconsin Shares if the individual needs child care services to

participate in various educational or work activities and satisfies other eligibility

criteria. Work activities for which an individual may be eligible for a child care

subsidy include work in an unsubsidized job, work in a W-2 employment position,

which is subsidized, and participation in a work experience component of the food

stamp program, which is also subsidized. This bill expands the work activities for

which an individual may be eligible for a child care subsidy to include work in a job

under the Transitional Jobs Demonstration Project, which is subsidized but not part

of W-2 or the food stamp program.

Under Wisconsin Shares, a child care provider licensed to operate a child care

center may not receive payment for providing child care services to a child if the

child's parent or a person with whom the child resides is employed by the child care

provider. This qualification does not apply if at least 60 percent of the children for

whom the child care provider provides care do not have a parent or a person with

whom the child resides employed by the child care provider. The bill provides that

this qualification does not apply if at least 60 percent of the children for whom the

child care provider provides care at all locations, in the aggregate, at which the

provider is providing care do not have a parent or a person with whom the child

resides employed by the child care provider.

Under current law, to receive reimbursement for providing child care services

for an individual who is eligible for a child care subsidy under Wisconsin Shares, a

person must be licensed by DCF to operate a child care center or certified by DCF,

a county department of human services or social services, or an agency contracted

with by DCF to certify child care providers as a Level I or II certified family child care

provider. The bill prohibits a person who is licensed to operate a child care center

from also being certified as a Level I or II certified family child care provider.