Child Care After Going off MFIP (MFIP Transition Year Child Care)

Transition Year Child Care is Child Care Assistance you can get after you get off MFIP. Even though this is called Transition Year Child Care, you can use this program until a spot opens up in the basic sliding fee program. You can get Transition Year Child Care if:

• You got MFIP or DWP at least 1 of the past 6 months and
   
• You work 20 hours per week or more and earn at least minimum wage or you are looking for work. In a two-parent family, both parents have to work an average of 20 hours per week each.

• If you get Child Care Assistance now, call your childcare worker and say you want Transition Year Child Care when you get off MFIP.
   
• If you don’t have Child Care Assistance now, ask your financial worker or job counselor how to apply.
   
• You do not have to “earn your way” off MFIP to get Transition Year Child Care. You can get Transition Year Child Care when you leave MFIP for any reason except being cut off for fraud.

Yes. Transition Year Child Care pays for childcare while you attend an approved education or training program. This includes GED classes, ESL classes, and college courses. You can get Child Care Assistance for hours that you are in class, doing internships or independent study, and traveling to and from school. For post-secondary students, you can also get Child Care Assistance for study time. Talk to your child care worker about how to get your educational program approved for child care.

Yes. Transition Year Child Care will pay for childcare while you look for work – if you tell your childcare worker that you are looking for work. There are limits to how long you can get Child Care Assistance while looking for a job.

Transition Year Child Care is paid on a sliding scale, based on your family income. The sliding scale is the same as for MFIP Child Care. Like MFIP, if you use a childcare provider who charges more than the state maximum, you must pay the difference. There usually is not any increased cost when you move from MFIP Child Care to Transition Child Care.

Families who are on Transition Year Child Care can stay on it if there is a waiting list for Basic Sliding Fee Child Care when the transition year ends.

If you are not on Transition Year Child Care you may be put on a waiting list to get into the Basic Sliding Fee Program.

Basic Sliding Fee Child Care helps families with low incomes that are not on MFIP. The amount they pay depends on the family’s income – just as in Transition Year Child Care and MFIP Child Care.

Families have to “recertify” for Child Care Assistance once every 12 months. But there are things that need to be reported when they happen. You can’t wait for recertification to report them.

You have 10 days to report changes in your:

• address or residency
• household members - If anyone leaves, or if there is someone new
• Child Custody or visitation schedule
• Citizenship or immigration status
• Family status – like getting married or divorced or having children
• Change in the child’s school or school schedule
• Childcare providers

A change in childcare providers must be reported 15 days before the change.

There are also rules for reporting changes in income or your work or school schedule: 

Income: Families have to report increases in their income that puts them over 85% of the State Median Income (SMI). The amount depends on family size. You can find the current chart at www.dhs.state.mn.us.

• Click the “How do I” box
• Under “Find” click “edocs and forms”
• Put 6413 in the search box and hit enter
• On the top right hit the button for the second page. The last document is the current one. The rest say Expired. Click on the document title.

You don’t have to report any other changes to your income. But you might want to report if your income goes down because it could lower your Child Care Assistance copay.

Work and school schedules: You need to report if anyone stops working or going to school permanently. All other changes to work or school schedules only need to be reported by:

1. families who get Child Care Assistance for more than one childcare provider per child
    
2. families who get Child Care Assistance from a legal non-licensed provider, like a family member or friend, and
    
3. families where a parent is employed by a DHS-licensed childcare center or a high-risk Medicaid-enrolled provider.

For other families, an increase in work or school hours can still be reported and could result in an increase in the hours that are authorized for Child Care Assistance.

You can also get:

• Medical Assistance (MA), depending on your income.
• Food Support, depending on your income.
• If you have a crisis after you leave MFIP, you may be able to get Emergency Assistance (EA). 

Minnesota has a Child Care Resource and Referral Network for every area in the state. You can get childcare funds applications, lists of childcare providers, and other help by calling the information line at 1 (888) 291-9811.