Cabinet to submit approval request -- Kentucky Child Care Advisory Council to review

Council to review. (1) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall submit an approval request to the federal Administration for Children and Families to utilize a cost estimation model to inform payment rates beginning with the federal fiscal year 2028-2030 Child Care and Development Fund state plan. The cost-estimation model shall incorporate program factors, including but not limited to provider type; hours and seasons of operation; child age range served; geography; level of quality; staff salaries and benefits; facilities, including utilities, maintenance, and insurance; training and professional development; curricula; and supplies. (2) In developing the approval request, the cabinet shall consult regularly with the Kentucky Child Care Advisory Council, and the council shall have an opportunity to review the request before the cabinet submits it. (3) It is the intent of the General Assembly to ensure that the state’s methodology for setting rates for reimbursement to licensed and certified child-care providers serving children under the Child Care and Development Fund program accounts for the costs incurred by providers to serve these children in addition to estimated market rates. (4) (a) As used in this section, "Child Care Assistance Program" means Kentucky’s child-care subsidy program providing families who meet eligibility requirements established by the cabinet, with the financial resources to find and afford quality child care in accordance with the Child Care and Development Fund as defined in 45 C.F.R. sec. 98.2. (b) To the extent funds are available and to the extent allowable under federal law, the cabinet shall exclude all earned and unearned income from the eligibility determination for the Child Care Assistance Program if an applicant: 1. Meets all nonincome-related requirements for program eligibility as determined by the cabinet; and 2. a. Has verified employment in a regulated licensed Type I or licensed Type II child-care program, a child-care microcenter program, or a certified family child-care home; or b. Is the owner or operator of a certified family child-care home or licensed Type II child-care program.