Ariz. Admin. Code § 6-5-4901
The following definitions apply to this Article:
1. "Adequate notice" means written notification that explains the action the Department intends to take, the reason for the action, the specific authority for the action, the client's appeal rights, and right to benefits pending appeal, and that is mailed before the effective date of the action.
2. "Appellant" means an applicant or recipient of assistance who is appealing a negative action by the Department.
3. "Availability" means the portion of time that a parent or caretaker can provide care to their own child, as determined by the Department, because the parent or caretaker is not participating in an eligible activity.
4. "Applicant" means a person who has filed an application for Child Care Assistance.
5. "Authorized" means the specific amount of Child Care Assistance approved by the Department for an eligible family for a specific period of time.
6. "CCA" means the DES Child Care Administration.
7. "Caretaker relative" means a relative who exercises the responsibility for the day-to-day physical care, guidance, and support of a child who physically resides with the relative.
8. "Cash Assistance" means the program administered by the Family Assistance Administration that provides temporary Cash Assistance to needy families.
9. "Cash Assistance participant" means a recipient of Cash Assistance.
10. "Child care" means the compensated service the Department provides to a child who is unaccompanied by a parent or guardian during a portion of a 24-hour day.
11. "Child Care Assistance" means money payments for child care services paid by the Department for the benefit of an eligible family.
12. "Child Care Provider" means a child care facility licensed under A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 7.1, Article 4, child care home providers, in-home providers, noncertified relative providers, and regulated child care on military installations or federally recognized Indian Tribes.
13. "Client" means a person who has requested, has been referred for, or who is currently receiving Child Care Assistance.
14. "Countable income" means the gross income of individuals included in family size that the Department considers to determine eligibility and calculate an assistance amount.
15. "CPS or Child Protective Services" means the child welfare services administration within the Department's Division of Children, Youth, and Family Services.
16. "Day" means a calendar day unless otherwise specified.
17. "DDD" means the Division of Developmental Disabilities.
18. "Denial" means a formal decision of ineligibility on an application, referral, or request for Child Care Assistance.
19. "Department" means the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
20. "Dependent" child means a person less than age 18, who resides with the applicant and whom the applicant has the legal financial obligation to support.
21. "DES-certified child care provider" means a provider who is certified by the Department of Economic Security under A.R.S. § 46-807 and who provides care in either the child's or the provider's own home.
22. "DHS-certified group home" means a provider who is certified by the Department of Health Services under A.R.S. § 36-897.01.
23. "DHS-licensed child care center" means a provider who is licensed by the Department of Health Services as prescribed in A.R.S. § 36-881.
24. "EITC" means Earned Income Tax Credit and is a federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families.
25. "Eligibility criteria" means the requirements an individual or family must meet to receive Child Care Assistance.
26. "Eligible activity" means a specific type of activity that causes an applicant or recipient and any other parent or responsible person in the eligible family to be unavailable to provide care to their children for a portion of a 24-hour day, and that partially determines the amount of Child Care Assistance an eligible family shall receive.
27. "Eligible child" means a child less than 13 years of age.
28. "Eligible family" means a group of persons whose needs, income, and other circumstances are considered as a whole for the purpose of determining eligibility and amount of Child Care Assistance.
29. "Eligible need" means a specific type of need that causes an applicant or recipient, or any other parent or responsible person in the eligible family, to be unavailable or incapable to provide child care to their children for a portion of a 24-hour day, and that partially determines the amount of Child Care Assistance an eligible family shall receive.
30. "E.S.O.L." means English for Speakers of Other Languages.
31. "Existing client" means an individual who is currently receiving Child Care Assistance or who has an open Child Care Assistance case with the Department.
32. "Family size" means the number of individuals considered when determining income eligibility, and includes the applicant, other parent or responsible person, and their dependent children who reside in the same household, subject to R6-5-4914(D).
33. "Federal poverty level" (FPL) means the poverty guidelines issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services under Section 673(2) of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981; and reported annually in the Federal Register; which are converted into monthly amounts by the Department; which shall become effective for use in determining eligibility for Child Care Assistance on the first day of the state fiscal year immediately following the publication of the annual amount in the Federal Register.
34. "Foster care" means that the Department or an Arizona Tribe placed a child in the custody of a licensed foster parent.
35. "Foster parent" means any person licensed by the Department or an Arizona Tribe to provide for the out of home care, custody, and control of a child.
36. "Gap in employment" means a period of 30 consecutive days of Child Care Assistance that begins the first day after the last day worked and ends the 30th day after the last day worked for an existing client who has lost employment.
37. "G.E.D." means General Equivalency Diploma.
38. "Homebound" means a person who is confined to their home because of physical or mental incapacity.
39. "Homeless shelter" means a public or private nonprofit program that is targeted to assist homeless families and is designed to provide temporary or transitional living accommodations and services to assist such families toward self-sufficiency.
40. "Income" means earned and unearned income combined.
41. "Jobs" means the Department program that assists Cash Assistance participants to prepare for, obtain, and retain employment. "Jobs" Program also includes the Tribal Jobs Program and any other entities that contract with the state to perform this function.
42. "Jobs participant" means a Cash Assistance participant who is participating in the Jobs program as a condition of receiving Cash Assistance.
43. "Local office" means a CCA location that is designated as the location in which Child Care Assistance applications and other documents are filed with the Department and in which eligibility and assistance amounts are determined for a particular geographic area of the state.
44. "Lump sum income" means a single payment of earned or unearned income, such as a retroactive monthly benefit, non-recurring pay adjustment or bonus, inheritance, or personal injury and workers' compensation award.
45. "Mailing date" when used in reference to a document sent first-class, postage prepaid, through the United States mail, means the date:
a. Shown on the postmark;
b. Shown on the postage meter mark of the envelope, if there is no postmark; or
c. Entered on the document as the date of its completion, if there is no legible postmark or postage meter mark.
46. "Minor parent" means a parent less than the age of 18 years.
47. "Negative action" means one of the Department actions described in R6-5-4918, including action to terminate assistance or increase the fee level and copayment for Child Care Assistance.
48. "Noncertified relative provider" means a person who is at least 18 years of age, who is by blood, marriage, or adoption the grandparent, great grandparent, sibling not residing in the same household, aunt, great aunt, uncle or great uncle of the eligible child, who provides child care services to an eligible child, and meets the Department's requirements to be a noncertified relative provider.
49. "Notice date" means the date that appears as the official date of issuance on a document or official written notice the Department sends or gives to an applicant or recipient.
50. "OSI" or "Office of Special Investigations" means the Department office to which CCA refers cases for investigation of certain eligibility information, investigation and preparation of fraud charges, coordination and cooperation with law enforcement agencies and other similar functions.
51. "Other related child" means a child who is related to the applicant or recipient by blood, marriage, or adoption, and who is not the applicant's or recipient's natural, step, or adoptive child.
52. "Overpayment" means a Child Care Assistance payment received by a child care provider or for an eligible family that exceeds the amount to which the provider or family was lawfully entitled.
53. "Parent" means the biological mother or father whose name appears on the birth certificate, the person legally acknowledged as a mother or father, a father who has had an adjudication of paternity, or the adoptive mother or father of the child.
54. "Positive action" means the approval, increase, or resumption of service such as increasing the amount of assistance or decreasing the fee level and copayment.
55. "Recipient" means a person who is a member of an eligible family receiving Child Care Assistance.
56. "Relative" means a person who is by blood, adoption, or marriage a parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling of the whole or half blood, stepbrother, stepsister, aunt, uncle, great-aunt, great-uncle, or first cousin.
57. "Request for Hearing" means a clear written expression by an applicant or recipient, or such person's representative, indicating a desire to appeal a Department decision to a higher authority.
58. "Responsible person" means one or more persons, residing in the same household, who have the legal responsibility to financially support:
a. One or more of the children for whom Child Care Assistance is being requested, or
b. The applicant or recipient of Child Care Assistance.
59. "Review" means the Department's review of all factors affecting an eligible family's eligibility and assistance amount.
60. "Self-Sufficiency Declaration" means a written statement signed and dated by the child care recipient that lists the specific actions the recipient has taken during the most recent six or 12-month period to maintain or increase self-sufficiency.
61. "Tax Claimant" means a relative more than age 17 who resides with a parent who has applied for or is receiving Child Care Assistance, and who states their intention to claim any member of the eligible family as a tax dependent on a federal or state income tax return for the current calendar year, to be filed in the following calendar year.
62. "Tax Dependent" means a member of an eligible family applying for or receiving Child Care Assistance who is included in family size, and who the tax claimant states an intention to claim as a dependent on a federal or state income tax return for the current calendar year, to be filed in the following calendar year.
63. "Time Limit" means that each child in the eligible family may receive no more than 60 cumulative months of Child Care Assistance in a lifetime, unless the parent, caretaker relative, or legal guardian of the child needing care can prove they are making efforts to improve skills and move toward self-sufficiency, under A.R.S. § 46-803(K)(1).
64. "Unit" means a part or full day measurement of Child Care Assistance authorized by the Department to meet the needs of an eligible family based on the participation of parents, caretaker relatives, or legal guardians of the children needing care in an eligible activity.
65. "Waiting List" means the prioritization of applicants by the Department to manage resources within available funding by placing applicants determined eligible for Child Care Assistance on a list, until the Department determines that sufficient funds are available to fund Child Care Assistance for families on the list.
66. "Work" means the performance of duties on a regular basis for wages or salary.
Ariz. Admin. Code § R6-5-4901