§ 4–409. Contracts with licensed child development centers; payment for services.

(a) Except as provided in § 4-410.02, the Department shall, on an annual basis, enter into contracts or agreements with licensed child development centers to provide day care services for children described in § 4-404.01. Payment for such services shall be on the following basis:

(1) Subject to subsections (b) through (h) of this section, payments to child development centers for care of these children shall be made on a monthly basis according to the following rates:

(A) For full care other than that provided under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, child development centers shall receive $18 per day for each child, plus $1 per day for each child to whom the child development center provides transportation.

(B) For full care provided only during summers and vacations to children who otherwise do not receive care under this section or who otherwise receive only part-time care, child development centers shall receive $14.40 per day for each child.

(2) No child development center shall be paid more than its stated rate prior to the application of its sliding fee scale for children not eligible for subsidized care.

(3) The Mayor, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, shall issue rules to establish differentiated payment rates for child development centers that reflect variations in the costs of providing services to children of different age groups which shall not be below the rates established pursuant to subsections (a)(1) and (h)(2) [sic] of this section.

(b) For child development centers that reserve at least 25% of their classroom capacity for children eligible for funding under this chapter, the Department shall, on or before August 1, 1979, for fiscal year 1980 and at least 90 days prior to the beginning of each subsequent fiscal year, specify the number of spaces it projects will be utilized by children eligible for funding under this chapter during the next fiscal year, and provide written notification of its projection to each such center.

(c) Payment shall be made by the Department to child development centers for all such spaces specified for reservation in accordance with subsection (b) of this section, so long as they remain available and are able to be utilized by children eligible for funding under this chapter.

(d) Reimbursement by the Department to child development centers providing services on a year-round basis shall be based upon a 260-day year.

(e) Repealed.

(f) The Department shall delegate the function of determining the eligibility of children to be served by each child development center whenever:

(1) The center has requested to perform this function; and

(2) The Department has determined, based on the center’s current performance of this function or otherwise, that the center has exhibited a reasonable capability to carry out such function.

(g) The Department shall retain all fees collected from parents of eligible children pursuant to subsection (a) of this section as specified by the fee scale set forth in § 4-405.

(h) The rates established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may be adjusted by the Mayor through promulgation of a rule in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2.

(Sept. 19, 1979, D.C. Law 3-16, § 10, 26 DCR 20; Mar. 15, 1985, D.C. Law 5-174, § 2(b), 32 DCR 743; Dec. 16, 1987, D.C. Law 7-57, § 2(a), 34 DCR 7081; July 29, 1988, D.C. Law 7-136, § 2(a), 35 DCR 4259; Aug. 17, 1991, D.C. Law 9-28, § 2(a), 38 DCR 4211; Apr. 7, 1995, D.C. Law 11-2, § 2(a), 42 DCR 1068; Sept. 26, 1995, D.C. Law 11-52, § 503(a), 42 DCR 3684; Apr. 9, 1997, D.C. Law 11-255, § 9, 44 DCR 1271; Apr. 13, 1999, D.C. Law 12-216, § 2(f), 46 DCR 281; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 4142, 64 DCR 7652; Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-179, § 201(b), 65 DCR 9569.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 3-309.

1973 Ed., § 3-309.

Applicability

Section 4150 of D.C. Law 22-33 provided that the amendment made to this section shall apply as of June 27, 2017.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4142 of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-167, Oct. 24, 2017, 64 DCR 10802).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4142 of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-104, July 20, 2017, 64 DCR 7032).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 103(a) of the Omnibus Budget Support Emergency Act of 1991 (D.C. Act 9-37, May 17, 1991, 38 DCR 3390). Section 301 of D.C. Act 9-37 provided that Section 103 shall apply as of October 1, 1990 and until the effective date of the Omnibus Budget Support Emergency Act of 1991 and beginning on the effective date of the Omnibus Budget Support Emergency Act of 1991 the rates for licensed child development centers, child development homes, and in-home caregivers in effect pursuant to the Day Care Policy Act shall revert to the rates in effect on September 1, 1990.

For temporary amendment of section, see § 103(a) of the Omnibus Budget Support Congressional Recess Emergency Act of 1991 (D.C. Act 9-69, July 24, 1991, 38 DCR 4945).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 2 (a) of the Day Care Policy Emergency Amendment Act of 1994 (D.C. Act 10-319, August 4, 1994, 41 DCR 5367),§ 2 (a) of the Day Care Policy Congressional Adjournment Emergency Amendment Act of 1994 (D.C. Act 10-330, October 21, 1994, 41 DCR 7162), and § 2 (a) of the Day Care Policy Congressional Adjournment Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-2, January 18, 1995, 42 DCR 539).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 3(a) of the Public Assistance and Day Care Policy Emergency Amendment Act of 1994 (D.C. Act 10-326, October 21, 1994, 41 DCR 7153).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 503(a) of the Multiyear Budget Spending Reduction and Support Emergency Act of 1994 (D.C. Act 10-389, December 29, 1994, 42 DCR 197).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 401 of the Omnibus Budget Support Emergency Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-44, April 28, 1995, 42 DCR 2217) and § 503(a) of the Omnibus Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-124, July 27, 1995, 42 DCR 4160).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 2(f) of the Day Care Policy Emergency Amendment Act of 1997 (D.C. Act 12-207, December 15, 1997, 45 DCR 353), § 2(f) of the Day Care Policy Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-509, November 10, 1998, 45 DCR 8146), and § 2(f) of the Day Care Policy Congressional Emergency Amendment Act of 1999 (D.C. Act 13-12, 46 DCR 2330).

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 103(a) of Omnibus Budget Support Temporary Act of 1991 (D.C. Law 9-19, June 21, 1991, law notification 38 DCR 5786).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(a) of Day Care Policy Temporary Amendment Act of 1994 (D.C. Law 10-198, March 14, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 1515).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of Public Assistance and Day Care Policy Temporary Amendment Act of 1994 (D.C. Law 10-208, March 14, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 1568).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 503(a) of Multiyear Budget Spending Reduction and Support Temporary Act of 1995 (D.C. Law 10-253, March 23, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 1652).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(f) of Day Care Policy Temporary Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Law 12-72, March 20, 1998, law notification 45 DCR 2107).