This bill revises the child care assistance program in Minnesota by introducing new provisions and repealing existing ones. It requires the commissioner to provide direct child care services through grants or contracts specifically for families in underserved areas, those with infants and toddlers, and families with children with disabilities. The bill also updates eligibility criteria, allowing counties to synchronize eligibility periods for multiple children in a family and extending eligibility for young parents still in school. A new parent fee structure is established, which exempts certain vulnerable families from fees and adjusts the minimum fee threshold. Additionally, the bill mandates the commissioner to simplify the application process to minimize disruptions to parents' employment or education and to report on the implementation progress by December 31, 2025.

Moreover, the bill sets new guidelines for reimbursement related to absent days for legal nonlicensed family child care providers. Providers will only be reimbursed for absent days if they have a written policy that applies uniformly to all families, with exceptions for children with documented medical conditions and those from families with young parents in supportive programs. The bill allows reimbursement for up to ten federal or state holidays per year, provided that all families are charged for these days. It also ensures that families are not penalized for absent day payments unless there is an error in the authorized care amount, and it requires notifications to both providers and families regarding the number of absent days used to maintain transparency in the reimbursement process.

Statutes affected:
Introduction: 142E.17, 142E.02, 142E.03, 142E.15, 245C.13