Summary

Implements Minnesota's Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) in PolicyEngine — a provider-rate reimbursement subsidy computed per child as the lesser of the provider's charge or the state maximum rate, minus the biweekly parent fee. Administered by the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), which took CCAP over from the Department of Human Services (DHS) in 2024.

Closes #8636

Regulatory Authority

• Minn. Stat. ch. 142E (Child Care Programs) — renumbered from ch. 119B during the 2025 DHS→DCYF transition (cite 142E for current law, 119B for historical):
  • 142E.15 Parent fee (copayment): https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/142E.15
  • 142E.17 Child care rates (incl. subd. 1(f) day/week payment caps, subd. 2(b) legal non-licensed caps): https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/142E.17
• Minn. Rules ch. 3400 (Child Care Fund): https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/3400/full
  • 3400.0170 Income eligibility (counted income, allowable deductions): https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/3400.0170/
• Minn. Stat. ch. 256P (income methodology): 256P.06 what income is/isn't counted — https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/256P.06
• DHS CCAP Policy Manual (issued Aug 2025): §4.6 authorized activities, §6.3 income limits, §6.6/§6.6.1 counted & exempt income, §6.18 allowable deductions, §9.9 rate-unit determination & payment caps, §9.24.9/§9.24.12 quality differentials.
• Operational schedules (hosted at DHS edocs):
  • DHS-6441F Standard Maximum Rates (eff. 01/06/2025): https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-6441F-ENG#page=6
  • DHS-6413N Copayment / parent-fee schedule (eff. 10/13/2025, FFY2026 SMI): https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-6413N-ENG#page=6
  • DHS-6443D Registration fees (eff. 01/06/2025): https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-6443D-ENG#page=5

Program Overview

• Three subprograms, all sharing the same benefit/rate/copay mechanics and differing only in entry income limit and funding: MFIP/DWP Child Care (67% SMI entry), Transition Year (families who left MFIP within the prior year), and Basic Sliding Fee (47% SMI entry). Modeled via a single income-limit switch rather than separate benefit formulas.
• Income limits are defined as a percentage of State Median Income by household size. These reconcile exactly with the federal hhs_smi variable × {47% / 67% / 85%} (verified to the dollar against DHS-6413N: 2-person 47% = $46,022; 3-person 67% = $81,042; 4-person 85% = $122,398), so the implementation reuses hhs_smi rather than introducing a separate Minnesota SMI variable.

Eligibility

Authorized activity (mn_ccap_activity_eligible; manual §4.6.1, §4.6.3; Minn. Stat. 142E.12 subd. 1(b)): at least one caretaker must be in an authorized activity — employed an average of ≥ 20 hrs/week, or enrolled as a full-time student (education is itself an authorized activity under §4.6.6.9, with no work-hours floor). In a two-caretaker family the other caretaker must also be active or "unable to provide care" — modeled via is_disabled, is_incapable_of_self_care, is_incarcerated (house arrest), and out-of-home/residential care-facility status. MFIP/DWP families meet the requirement categorically through their Employment Plan (is_tanf_enrolled), and families experiencing homelessness are exempt from the activity requirement (§4.6.9), modeled via is_homeless — we don't track the manual's ~3-month exemption window, so the exemption applies for the full period. The meets_ccdf_activity_test input covers approved activities we don't derive directly (job search, education/training programs, temporary leave) and the applicable-minimum-wage component.

Income

Income base = annual gross income after allowable deductions, used for both the eligibility test and the copay band lookup (manual §6.3, §6.6; Minn. Rules 3400.0170 subp. 4; Minn. Stat. 256P.06).

• Counted earned income (gross, before payroll deductions) — wages/salary incl. overtime and bonuses, paid vacation/sick leave, tips, commissions, severance, royalties, honoraria, taxable allowances, incentive payments, military pay (combat-zone pay excluded). Parameter: income/countable_income/earned.yaml.
• Self-employment is counted separately and floored per person (income/countable_income/self_employment_sources.yaml): a net business loss may offset other self-employment income but cannot reduce wages or unearned income (Minn. Rules 3400.0170 subp. 4; manual §6.15.6), so mn_ccap_gross_earned_income applies max_(self_employment, 0) per person before adding it to wages.
• A child's earned income is excluded (manual §6.6.1 / Exempt Earned Income chart §16.27): mn_ccap_gross_earned_income subtracts the earnings of household members under 18 (is_child). This is a simplification — the manual additionally counts a non-student minor's earnings and a dependent post-secondary student's earnings, which we don't separately track.
• Counted unearned income (exhaustive "includes only" list) — cash assistance (MFIP cash, MFIP Housing Assistance Grant, DWP, MSA, GA, RCA), interest/dividends, capital gains on real property, contract-for-deed above principal+interest, trust income (excl. special/supplemental needs trusts), family-loan interest, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, workers' comp, retirement/pension/veteran benefits, child/spousal support not assigned to the state, RSDI gross, cash prizes/winnings, taxable military entitlements. Parameter: income/countable_income/unearned.yaml. Income types without a PolicyEngine variable are listed as inline comments.
• Allowable deductions (manual §6.18, verified; Minn. Rules 3400.0170 subp. 6a): child support paid out-of-household; spousal support paid out-of-household; medical/dental/vision insurance premiums paid by family members; the un-reimbursed portion of an insurance premium for Medical Assistance recipients; expenditures necessary to secure payment of unearned income. Parameter: income/deductions/sources.yaml; applied as mn_ccap_countable_income = max_(gross − deductions, 0).

Benefit Calculation

Per eligible child:

subsidy = max_(min_(actual_expenses, max_rate × (1 + quality_differential)) − biweekly_copay, 0)

summed across eligible children. Actual expenses come from the federal spm_unit_pre_subsidy_childcare_expenses (RI/MA/CO precedent). The parent pays any provider charge above the maximum, plus the copay (manual §9.9; Minn. Stat. 142E.17 subd. 1(e),(i)).

• Maximum rate keyed by County (87 counties) × provider type (Family Child Care | Child Care Center) × age group (Infant | Toddler | PreSchool | School Age) × rate unit. License-exempt programs are paid at the licensed-center rate for the same age group; LNL (Legal Non-Licensed) providers use their own hourly column. Parameters: rates/{weekly,full_day,hourly,lnl_hourly}.yaml.
• Rate unit (§9.9, single provider): weekly if scheduled/authorized > 35 hrs/week; full-day if ≤ 35 hrs/week and > 5 hrs/day; hourly if ≤ 35 hrs/week and ≤ 5 hrs/day. LNL providers are forced to hourly. Variable: mn_ccap_rate_unit; parameters: rate_unit/{weekly,daily}_hours_threshold.yaml.
• Monthly conversion & statutory caps (Minn. Stat. 142E.17 subd. 1(f), 2(b); manual §9.9): weekly max × (weeks/12); daily and hourly billing are converted to a monthly maximum subject to the statutory ceilings — payment for one day of care cannot exceed the daily rate, payment for one week cannot exceed the weekly rate, and legal non-licensed payment is capped at 10 hours/day and 50 hours/week. Parameters: rates/lnl_max_daily_hours.yaml (10), rates/lnl_max_weekly_hours.yaml (50).
• Quality differential applied as a multiplier on the standard maximum rate, capped at the provider's charge: ×1.15 for accredited/credentialed or 3-star Parent Aware providers, ×1.20 for 4-star Parent Aware (manual §9.24.9/§9.24.12; Minn. Stat. 142E.17 subd. 4–5). Parameter: quality_differential.yaml.
• Copay (parent fee) looked up by household size (2–13) × annual-income band → flat biweekly dollar amount, then converted to monthly (DHS-6413N pp.6–11; Minn. Stat. 142E.15). $0 in the lowest band, rising with income. Parameters: copay/biweekly/size_2.yaml … size_13.yaml; variable: mn_ccap_copay.

Source Verification

Every published dollar value was verified against the official PDFs:

• DHS-6441F provider rates — all county × provider-type × age × rate-unit values (incl. LNL) checked against the form; full match.
• DHS-6413N copay schedule — all 12 household-size schedules × income bands checked; full match. Entrance/exit dollar levels reconcile to hhs_smi × {47% / 67% / 85%}.
• Aug 2025 CCAP Policy Manual — eligibility, activity (§4.6), income counting (§6.6/§6.6.1), deductions (§6.18), rate-unit logic and payment caps (§9.9), and quality differentials (§9.24) verified against the implementation.

Not Modeled

Verification TODO

• Confirm the quality differential as a flat ×1.15 / ×1.20 multiplier is acceptable vs transcribing the separate quality-differential rate tables (v1 uses the multiplier per scope decision).
• CI passes.

Files

policyengine_us/parameters/gov/states/mn/dcyf/ccap/   (32 params)
  age_group/{center_months,family_months}.yaml
  age_threshold/{child,disabled_child}.yaml
  activity/min_weekly_hours.yaml
  copay/biweekly/size_2.yaml … size_13.yaml
  income/countable_income/{earned,unearned}.yaml
  income/deductions/sources.yaml
  income/smi_rate/{entrance_mfip,entrance_other,exit_during_period}.yaml
  quality_differential.yaml
  rate_unit/{weekly,daily}_hours_threshold.yaml
  rates/{weekly,full_day,hourly,lnl_hourly}.yaml
  rates/{lnl_max_daily_hours,lnl_max_weekly_hours}.yaml

policyengine_us/variables/gov/states/mn/dcyf/ccap/   (19 variables)
  mn_ccap.py, mn_child_care_subsidies.py, mn_ccap_countable_income.py,
  mn_ccap_gross_earned_income.py, mn_ccap_gross_unearned_income.py,
  mn_ccap_income_deductions.py, mn_ccap_max_rate.py, mn_ccap_provider_rate.py,
  mn_ccap_provider_type.py, mn_ccap_quality_rating.py, mn_ccap_rate_unit.py,
  mn_ccap_age_group.py, mn_ccap_enrolled.py, mn_ccap_registration_fee.py,
  copay/mn_ccap_copay.py,
  eligibility/{mn_ccap_eligible,mn_ccap_eligible_child,mn_ccap_income_eligible,mn_ccap_activity_eligible}.py

policyengine_us/tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/mn/dcyf/ccap/   (12 test files)
  integration.yaml, mn_ccap_age_group.yaml, mn_ccap_copay.yaml,
  mn_ccap_countable_income.yaml, mn_ccap_max_rate.yaml, mn_ccap_provider_rate.yaml,
  mn_ccap_rate_unit.yaml, mn_child_care_subsidies.yaml,
  eligibility/{mn_ccap_eligible,mn_ccap_eligible_child,mn_ccap_income_eligible,mn_ccap_activity_eligible}.yaml

Test plan

• 107 MN CCAP tests pass locally (policyengine-core test)
• CI passes