Summary

Implements the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship Program (Employment-Related) in PolicyEngine, covering eligibility, income testing, cost share, payment rates, and benefit calculation.

Closes #7759

Regulatory Authority

• He-C 6910 -- Employment-Related Child Care Scholarship (eff. 4-30-24, #13951)
• NH CCDF State Plan 2025-2027
• CCDF Provider Payment Rates by State (Jan 2025)
• NH Child Care Market Rate Study (June 2024)
• Federal: 42 U.S.C. 9858 (CCDBG Act), 45 CFR Part 98

Eligibility Tests

Income

Countable income (He-C 6910.06(b),(e)): Monthly gross income from the adds pattern summing:

• employment_income, self_employment_income, farm_income, social_security, pension_income, retirement_distributions, unemployment_compensation, workers_compensation, child_support_received, alimony_income, interest_income, dividend_income, rental_income, veterans_benefits, disability_benefits, capital_gains

Self-employment: Net income after IRS-allowable deductions (He-C 6910.06(d)).

Exclusions (He-C 6910.06(c)): TANF payments, foster care, adoption subsidies, educational assistance, grandparent income (3-generation), caretaker relative income, VISTA, dependent child student earnings, child SSI -- handled by omission from sources list.

Cost Share / Copay Schedule

Per He-C 6910.18 and Table 6910.19:

• Family cost share divided equally among all eligible children (He-C 6910.18(f))
• Monthly-to-weekly conversion: divide by 52/12 = 4.333 (He-C 6910.18(b))

Payment Rates

75th percentile of Market Rate Survey (He-C 6910.17(a)-(b)), by provider type x age category x service level.

Age categories (He-C 6910.17(i)):

• Infant: 0-17 months
• Toddler: 18-35 months
• Preschool: 36-78 months
• School Age: 79-155 months

Service levels (He-C 6910.03):

• Full-time: > 30 hours/week
• Half-time: > 15 and <= 30 hours/week
• Part-time: 1 to <= 15 hours/week

Full-time weekly rates (MRS June 2024, 75th percentile):

Half-time = ~1/2 of full-time; Part-time = ~1/4 of full-time (state rounding applied).

Derived rates (He-C 6910.17(c)-(d)):

• License-exempt in-home: 70% of licensed family rate
• License-exempt center: 50% of licensed center rate

Disability supplement (He-C 6910.17(g)):

• Full-time: $100/week, Half-time: $75/week, Part-time: $50/week

Benefit Calculation

Per He-C 6910.17(e):

per_child_weekly = max(0, min(weekly_charge, base_rate + disability_supplement) - per_child_cost_share)
monthly_benefit = sum_over_eligible_children(per_child_weekly * 52 / 12)

Where:

• weekly_charge = pre_subsidy_childcare_expenses converted to weekly
• base_rate = payment rate for provider type / age category / service level
• per_child_cost_share = family cost share / number of eligible children

Requirements Coverage

22/22 in-scope requirements covered.

Not Modeled (33 requirements)

Excluded due to being administrative, time-bound, enrollment-dependent, or requiring data not available in PolicyEngine:

• Alternative eligibility paths: TANF-related medical assistance (REQ-003), NHEP with TANF pending (REQ-004)
• Activity types: Job search (REQ-011), training/education (REQ-012), basic education (REQ-013), NHEP (REQ-014), mental health treatment (REQ-015), two-parent activity (REQ-016)
• Income exclusions: 9 specific exclusions individually not modeled (REQ-021 through REQ-028) -- handled by omission from sources
• Household composition: Assistance group rules (REQ-018), two-adult common child (REQ-019)
• Service level adjustments: Commute time (REQ-040), school-age restriction (REQ-041), two-parent lowest hours (REQ-042)
• Administrative: 12-month eligibility period (REQ-049), 92-day continued assistance (REQ-050), job search time limits (REQ-051), training lifetime limits (REQ-052), $50 registration fee (REQ-053), waitlist (REQ-054), absentee allotment (REQ-055)
• Cost share: Family cap over 12 months (REQ-036)
• Provider: Child linked to enrolled provider (REQ-009)

Test Coverage

114 test cases across 12 files:

Files Added

policyengine_us/
  parameters/gov/states/nh/dhhs/ccap/
    age_category/
      infant_max_months.yaml
      preschool_max_months.yaml
      toddler_max_months.yaml
    cost_share/
      step_1_fpg_rate.yaml
      step_2_amount.yaml
      step_2_fpg_rate.yaml
      step_3_rate.yaml
    eligibility/
      child_age_limit.yaml
      disabled_child_age_limit.yaml
      qualified_immigration_statuses.yaml
    income/
      countable_income/
        sources.yaml
      income_limit_smi_rate.yaml
    payment/
      disability_supplement/
        amount.yaml
      exempt_center_rate.yaml
      exempt_in_home_rate.yaml
      rates/
        licensed_center.yaml
        licensed_family.yaml
    service_level/
      full_time_hours.yaml
      half_time_hours.yaml
  variables/gov/states/nh/dhhs/ccap/
    eligibility/
      nh_ccap_activity_eligible.py
      nh_ccap_eligible.py
      nh_ccap_eligible_child.py
      nh_ccap_immigration_status_eligible_person.py
      nh_ccap_income_eligible.py
    payment/
      nh_ccap_disability_supplement.py
      nh_ccap_payment_rate.py
    nh_ccap.py
    nh_ccap_child_age_category.py
    nh_ccap_cost_share.py
    nh_ccap_countable_income.py
    nh_ccap_provider_type.py
    nh_ccap_service_level.py
  variables/gov/states/nh/dhhs/
    nh_child_care_subsidies.py
  tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/nh/dhhs/ccap/
    integration.yaml
    nh_ccap.yaml
    nh_ccap_activity_eligible.yaml
    nh_ccap_child_age_category.yaml
    nh_ccap_cost_share.yaml
    nh_ccap_disability_supplement.yaml
    nh_ccap_eligible.yaml
    nh_ccap_eligible_child.yaml
    nh_ccap_immigration_status_eligible_person.yaml
    nh_ccap_income_eligible.yaml
    nh_ccap_payment_rate.yaml
    nh_ccap_service_level.yaml