The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) is committed to protecting the health and well-being of our staff and the people we serve. It’s central to our mission.
During this uncertain time, we want to ensure that families continue to have the access they need to child care. The Department has made the following changes to child care assistance to help support families and child care providers during the state of emergency related to the virus that causes COVID-19.
The following temporary changes for Employment Related Day Care began Monday, March 16, 2020 and continue for the duration of the Governor’s declared state of emergency period or until further notice:
- Copays have been reduced to $0.00 through families’ current certification periods for families applying or recertifying through December 31, 2020 or until further notice
- If a family applies or re-applies for ERDC benefits for January 2021 or later, they will have a copay amount based on their gross income and household size.
- The income limit has increased for initial eligibility and now is the same as the ongoing and exit income limit:
- Families
may now apply or re-apply over the phone. If families are unable to apply online or
with a paper application and they have an application on file within the
last 18 months, ODHS staff can conduct an intake via phone with a verbal
signature obtained on the call.
- The absent day policy has been expanded and child care providers can bill the
Department for up to a full month for children scheduled to be in care but
are unable to attend due to the COVID-19 crisis. This also applies to families
receiving child care assistance through the TANF JOBS program. Providers may
bill if they receive a billing form for an eligible child – ODHS is unable to
pay for child care costs for ineligible families.
- We
have implemented emergency billing for temporarily closed facilities.
- Child care providers can bill the Department
in the event of a temporary shutdown due to COVID-19. Providers must remain in an approved listing status to receive payment and must remain connected to an eligible family’s case. This also applies to families receiving child care
assistance through the TANF JOBS program. Providers may bill if they receive a billing
form for an eligible child – ODHS is unable to pay for child care costs for
ineligible families.
- There
have been several changes to the provider listing process. Fingerprints are not currently required for
new providers. Additionally, the required First Aid and CPR class is not
required for up to 90 days after a provider is approved and can be completed through approved online trainings.
More
information and resources are available for providers on the Early Learning Division
website.
Stay
up to date with the latest COVID-19 information on the Oregon Health
Authority’s Coronavirus website, www.healthoregon.org/coronavirus.
Don’t
hesitate to reach out with concerns or questions. Please contact the Direct Pay
Unit with questions Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at
1-800-699-9074. They can also be reached by e-mail below.
For
billing forms and listing forms: dpu.billing@dhsoha.state.or.us
For
general questions: customerservice.dpu@dhsoha.state.or.us