(1) The hourly rate is paid for services provided less than six hours during a calendar day.

(2) The daily rate is paid for six to ten hours of service during a calendar day.

(3) Child care certification plans may authorize payment for extended care of more than ten hours during a calendar day. When care is provided for ten to 16 hours per day, the daily rate applies to the first ten hours of service. The hourly rate applies up to six hours of additional service. If the certification plan specifies service exceeding 16 hours of care during a calendar day, the state will pay twice the daily rate for each day in which care exceeds 16 hours.

(4) Child care providers are entitled to payment only when care is actually provided to the child, with the following three exceptions:

(a) a licensed or registered child care facility may be paid for care for the holidays of New Year's Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, even though the facility is closed for business if:

(i) the facility charges private pay households for the holiday; and

(ii) the holiday falls on a day for which the certification plan authorizes care.

(b) a household may use the child care subsidy program to pay for days when care is not actually provided to the child in accordance with the requirements for the certified enrollment program as specified in ARM 37.80.206;

(c) a household may use the child care subsidy program to pay for days when care is not actually provided when the child's slot is vacant for a period of not more than 30 days and the child's slot will be lost to a child on the provider's waiting list if payment is not made.

(5) The rates set forth in the Child Care Manual, section 1-4, are the maximum rates payable.

(6) The rate charged by a child care provider for children whose child care is paid for by the department cannot exceed the rate charged to private pay parents for the same service.

(7) Rates for children with special needs may be adjusted for special accommodations which increase the cost of care. A special needs subsidy rating scale and/or an individual child care plan must be completed to determine the appropriate rate adjustment. The criteria used to determine special needs adjustments are set forth in section 1-4a of the Child Care Manual.

(8) When child care is provided in the child's home by a provider who does not live with the child, the state payment will be made to the parent. The parent is responsible to pay the provider, and failure to do so will result in the parent's ineligibility for child care assistance until the provider has been paid in full or the parent has made arrangements for payment which are satisfactory to the provider.