Special Child Care Benefit Fact Sheet

Special Child Care Benefit Fact Sheet1

Special Child Care Benefit Fact Sheet

October 2017

This fact sheet contains information on Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB).

SCCB Rules

It is a condition for approval and for continued approval of a child care service for Child Care Benefit (CCB) purposes that services must comply with the family assistance law.

The rules for SCCB are found in:

• A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act1999
• A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999
• Child Care Benefit (Child at Risk and Hardship Determinations) Rules 2017
• Child Care Benefit (Limits of Hours of Care) Rules 2017
• Child Care Benefit (Approved Child Care Service Record Keeping) Rules 2017

What is SCCB?

SCCB is a higher rate of CCB that can be used to cover the costs of approved child care for children in certain circumstances.

There are two types of situation where SCCB may be payable:

• where a child is at risk of serious abuse or neglect, and
• where the parent or caregiver of a child is experiencing a financial hardship event that substantially reduces their capacity to pay their usual child care fees.

How does SCCB work?

To be paid SCCB, a service gives a certificate for an hourly rate of CCB to be paid for up to 13 weeks for a child. It is a requirement under family assistance law that an approved child care service provider only certifies SCCB for a particular child for a period or periods of up to 13 weeks in a financial year. If further periods of SCCB are considered necessary in the same financial year, a claim must be submitted and a determination must be made in relation to that child for these additional periods by the appropriate delegate at the Department of Human Services (i.e. Centrelink).

There is no limit on the total number of weeks of SCCB which can be provided where a child remains at risk of serious abuse or neglect. There is a 52 week limit for SCCB in relation to a single hardship event. Services must be satisfied that SCCB is only certified, or applied for, where a child is at risk of serious abuse or neglect, or a parent or caregiver is experiencing (financial) hardship.

When is a child at risk of serious abuse or neglect?

Your service can certify SCCB if you believe that a child is at risk of serious abuse or neglect. Your considerations may be based on a range of relevant information, including for example:

• information provided by the parent or caregiver
• observations your staff have made of the child that indicates the child is at risk of serious abuse or neglect
• information or advice from a relevant welfare agency, for example a child protection agency in your state or territory.
  

How is Financial Hardship determined?

SCCB for financial hardship is only applicable where the parent or caregiver of a child is conditionally eligible for CCB. For a parent or caregiver experiencing financial hardship, SCCB is designed to assist the family while they adapt to their changed circumstances by helping them maintain access to child care. This may also help prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

SCCB is not intended to support parents or caregivers who have ongoing low incomes or issues relating to financial over commitment.

The Child Care Benefit (Rates and Hardship) Determination 2000 specifies the kinds of financial hardship for which SCCB can be certified, limits on making a hardship determination, and further rules relating to giving certificates for hardship. For most hardship situations, the maximum period of SCCB for one hardship event is 52 weeks. There are special rules that may apply where a hardship determination relates to individuals on income support. The total period of hardship determination where a person has ceased to receive an income support payment must not exceed 6 weeks in total.

Where a financial hardship event also creates a need for increased hours of child care, due to exceptional circumstances, the service may certify an increase in the weekly limit of hours (limited to 13 weeks), after that the service must complete the ‘Claim for Special Child Care Benefit and/or increased weekly limit of hours’ form and submit by fax (1800 700 533) to Centrelink for approval. Additional hours of care can also be covered by SCCB if approved by Centrelink.

What is Service SCCB?

Service SCCB applies where a child is at risk of serious abuse or neglect and the approved child care service is eligible for payment of CCB by fee reduction – in practice, this applies where there is no individual who is conditionally eligible in relation to the child at the time. The same rules and guidelines that apply to SCCB apply to Service SCCB.

Service SCCB is only available for a situation where the service believes a child is at risk of serious abuse or neglect. A service must not make a claim for Service SCCB for the purpose of:

• covering bad debts at the service from non-payment, or
• providing assistance to the parent or caregiver experiencing financial hardship where the child is not at risk of serious abuse or neglect.

The supporting documentation and details that services provide in giving a certificate or applying to the Department for a determination should clearly explain the circumstances or the observations that lead them to forming the opinion that a child is at risk of serious abuse or neglect.

What SCCB can services certify?

Services must ensure that certificates they give for SCCB satisfy the requirements for a child at risk of serious abuse or neglect or a family experiencing a financial hardship event (note: hardship reasons are not applicable for Service SCCB). Services need to retain documentation in support of the certificates including, for instance, documented contact with carers and persons of responsibility for the child at risk, governments, case officers or medical personnel. Chapter 14 of the Child Care Service Handbookprovides more guidance on this.

Initial 13 Weeks

Services can give certificates for up to 13 weeks of SCCB per child in each financial year. The 13 weeks is a combinedSCCB total per service for a child, and does not allow 13 weeks of each SCCB type for a child. Where SCCB certificates are given that exceed 13 weeks for a child in a financial year, these certificates are invalid and cannot be processed for payment.

For child at risk certificates, the 13 week period is worked out only by counting SCCB certificates (for risk or financial hardship) given in the same financial year by the service itself.

For financial hardship certificates, the 13 week period is worked out by counting any child at risk certificate given by the service itself, and any hardship certificate given by any service, in the same financial year. It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure their new service is advised how many weeks have been approved at another service before new approval commences.Your service will need to consult with the relevant family to ascertain if they have received any SCCB for financial hardship at any other services in the financial year to ensure that they can receive SCCB. The application form ‘Claim for Special Child Care Benefit and/or increased weekly limit of hours’ formrequires information to be provided regarding any other instances of SCCB for hardship claimed by the family at your service or any other service.

18% Reporting Period Limit

The total amount of SCCB that services can certify for the current quarter cannot be more than 18 per cent of the combined CCB, SCCB and Grandparent CCB paid to the service in the quarter before last. The 18 per cent does not include SCCB applications that are approved by Centrelink in the current quarter.

A quarter refers to a three month period in the financial year. Quarters run from:

July to September

October to December

January to March

April to June

Once the 18 per cent reporting period limit is reached by a service in the current quarter, the service must send individual claims for SCCB to Centrelink for consideration. Please refer to the section ‘How does a service claim SCCB” below for further information.

Please note: While family assistance law specifies a default 18 per cent reporting period limit, the Department of Education and Training may determine (on behalf of the Secretary) a different reporting limit for a service. Where this occurs a service would be advised in writing prior to the different reporting period limit being applied.

How does this work for a newly approved child care service?

As a newly approved child care service, your service will not initially have had any CCB payable in the quarter before last for the first two quarters your service operates. This means that the reporting period limit for the first two quarters of your service’s operation after your service is approved is zero. Consequently, you must not certify any SCCB during your first two quarters of operation. All claims for SCCB during those two quarters must be referred to Centrelink for consideration (or to the Department of Education and Training where no individual is conditionally eligible in relation to a child at risk – i.e. ‘Service SCCB’).

How does a service claim SCCB?

Within the initial 13 weeks and within the 18% limit

SCCB (where an individual is conditionally eligible for CCB by fee reduction)

Complete the ‘Claim for Special Child Care Benefit and/or increased weekly limit of hours’ formand attach any supporting documentation. Where the SCCB is being certified for a child at risk of abuse or neglect, the parent or caregiver is not required to sign the form. The service must retain these documents with their records. The service must report the approved sessions of care as ‘Increase Entitlement – SCCB’ on a formal enrolment through their Child Care Management System (CCMS) third party software.

Service SCCB (where the service is eligible for CCB by fee reduction)

Complete theCertificate or Application for Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB) For a Child at Risk when a service is eligible for Child Care Benefit (Service SCCB)and submit by fax (1300 663 429) or email () to the CCMS Helpdesk at the Department of Education and Training for payment processing and report sessions of care in CCMS third party software against a Service SCCB enrolment.

Note: For the first 13 weeks of Service SCCB, the Department of Education and Training is processing the payment, not approving the certificate issued by the service.

After the initial 13 weeks and/or the 18% limit has been reached

SCCB (where an individual is conditionally eligible for CCB by fee reduction)

Complete the ‘Claim for Special Child Care Benefit and/or increased weekly limit of hours’ form and attach any supporting documentation. Where the SCCB is being certified for at risk of abuse or neglect reasons, the parent or caregiver is not required to sign the form. This form must be sent by fax (1800 700 533) to Centrelink for approval. Once approved, sessions of care must then be reported against a formal enrolment using CCMS third party software.

Where financial hardship applies, the parent or caregiver and the service are required to complete relevant sections of the form, prior to submitting their claim form (attaching any supporting documentation) by fax (1800 700 533) to Centrelink for consideration.

Service SCCB (where the service is eligible for CCB by fee reduction)

Complete Certificate or Application for Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB) For a Child at Risk when a service is eligible for Child Care Benefit (Service SCCB)and submit by fax (1300 663 429) or email () to the CCMS Helpdesk at the Department of Education and Trainingfor approval. If approved, the department will also process the payments. Sessions of care need to be reported against a Service SCCB enrolment using CCMS third party software.

Can services apply for an increase to the 18% limit?

A service may apply for an increase to the 18 per cent reporting period limit. To seek approval for an increase to the 18 per cent limit for SCCB a service must complete the ‘Approving Special Child Care Benefit Rate – Application for a higher limit where 18% limit has been reached'(Form 08-310) and submit it to the Department of Education and Training for consideration.

If a service does not seek an increase or is not approved for an increase to the 18 per cent limit, the service must follow the directions given above under the section “After the initial 13 Weeks and/or the 18% limit has been reached”.

Can a service backdate SCCB?

As SCCB is given to facilitate the inclusion of a child at risk of serious abuse or neglect into child care, you should give careful consideration to the appropriateness of backdating a certificate for SCCB. You should clearly detail the reason for any backdating in the certificate. In all instances, your service must be satisfied that the child is at risk of serious abuse or neglect or the parent or caregiver is experiencing financial hardship in relation to the session(s) of care which are backdated – for SCCB claims considered by Centrelink – or your service believed at the time the session of care was given that the child was at risk of serious abuse or neglect – Service SCCB (handled by the Department of Education and Training).

For example, backdating a certificate may be appropriate when you have provided care to a child at risk before your service completes the certificate for SCCB.

When forwarding SCCB claims to Centrelink (or Service SCCB applications) for a determination of SCCB – whether for an initial determination because the 18% reporting period limit has been reached or because 13 weeks have already been certified for the child in the financial year – a start date for the determination may be requested that involves backdating, or ensuring continuity of SCCB, respectively, where this is appropriate.

Services should be aware when they seeking consideration of a claim for SCCB to Centrelink, that the application may be rejected if evidence is insufficient to determine that the child was, at the time of the care, at risk of serious abuse or neglect, or if the use of SCCB does not meet the intent of the payment type. In this case, SCCB will not be paid for the period of care.

What records does a service need to keep?

All certificates, and supporting documentation, issued either by the service or by a third party such as Centrelink must be kept for a period of at least 36 months after the year in which care was provided.

All records of any instances in which the service certified something under the family assistance law, such as a SCCB for a child at risk or for financial hardship, must include the reasons for doing so.

What can happen if a service breaks the rules regarding SCCB?

13 Weeks

A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act1999: section 77 provides that a service may only issue a SCCB certificate for a child at risk where the total period of the certificates for that child (for child at risk or for hardship reasons) in that financial year given by that service does not exceed 13 weeks. The 13 week limit includes SCCB where someone is conditionally eligible, and SCCB where no-one is conditionally eligible for CCB (i.e. Service SCCB). Section 78 of the Act provides that a service may only issue a SCCB certificate for an individual experiencing hardship where the total period of the certificates for that child for child at risk given by that service and for hardship reasons given by any service in that financial year does not exceed 13 weeks.

Certificates issued by a provider for SCCB in excess of 13 weeks in a financial year, as described in the previous paragraph, are invalid. Where more than 13 weeks of SCCB is required in a financial year, the claims for the period in excess of 13 weeks must be forwarded for approval to Centrelink where someone is CCB eligible, or to the Department of Education and Training where the service is eligible for CCB (because no-one is conditionally eligible – ‘Service SCCB’).

If your service certifies SCCB for hardship and the family has exceeded the 13 week period limit, the CCMS will return an error and will not process the payment if approval has not been provided by Centrelink. The CCMS will also generate an error message and not process the payment if the maximum amount has been certified at the service in question for child at risk and no approval has been granted by Centrelink for a subsequent period. If a service issues a certificate for Service SCCB beyond the allowed 13 weeks, payment will not be processed and the service will be informed.

Reporting Period Limit

A service that exceeds the reporting period limit for the quarter (18 per cent or other limit) and continues to give SCCB certificates beyond its reporting period limit is contravening family assistance law and may have sanctions imposed on it.

Further, section 71H of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999provides that, where a service exceeds its reporting period limit, the difference between the amount of CCB paid to the service (under certificates given in excess of the reporting period limit) and the amount of CCB that would have been payable had those certificates not been given, is a debt due to the Commonwealth by the service. Under subsection 82(2) of the Administration Act, the amount of this debt can be recovered from the service by any of the methods listed in that subsection.