AB 5

This bill makes various changes to the requirements for the administration of

Wisconsin Shares. Wisconsin Shares is a part of the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program

under current law, which is administered by the Department of Children and

Families and which provides work experience and benefits for low-income custodial

parents who are at least 18 years old. Under Wisconsin Shares, 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 if the individual needs child care services to

participate in various educational or work activities and satisfies other eligibility

criteria.

Current law requires DCF to establish maximum payment rates for licensed

child care services provided through Wisconsin Shares. Current law states that child

care provider payment rates for after-school child care must be set lower than

payment rates for full-time child care. This bill eliminates the requirement for DCF

to establish a lower rate for after-school child care and instead allows DCF to apply

a lower rate to part-time child care, regardless of whether that part-time care occurs

after school.

Under current law, DCF may not authorize more than 12 hours of child care per

day per child for which an individual may receive a Wisconsin Shares subsidy. This

bill eliminates requirements under current law that DCF reduce the maximum

authorized amount of child care hours if the subsidy payment is based on the

authorized hours of care and the child's actual attendance is less than 60 percent of

the authorized hours of child care over any six-week period and that DCF notify both

the parent and the child care provider of any such reduction in authorized hours.

Also under current law, if DCF reduces the authorized hours of child care per

day from more than 12 to 12 or less hours because a parent fails to provide written

documentation of work or transportation requirements that exceed 12 hours in a day,

DCF must provide written notice to the parent and the child care provider four weeks

before actually reducing the child's authorized hours. This bill removes the

requirement to provide notice to the child care provider and the four weeks' notice

time frame when providing the notice to the parent.