The California Department of Education (CDE) prepares a Family Fee Schedule. Family fees are based on a family's gross monthly income (income before taxes) as related to the size of their family.
Families who have a gross monthly income that is above 50 percent of the state's median income guidelines are required to pay a family fee.
Family fees are applied toward the cost of the family's child care and are a family's contribution to their child care services. Family fees are based on the child who uses the most hours of care each month, which is usually the youngest child. When PACEAPP processes the reimbursement for a family who has a family fee, the amount the family has paid will be subtracted from the provider's reimbursement check for the month.
Collecting Family Fees
The CDE requires that the family pay the family fee in advance to the provider. The family will pay the family fee within the first five days of the month directly to the provider. Child care providers are responsible for collecting the family fees from the family. Providers need to attach a pre-numbered receipt to the child's attendance report each month. This receipt will indicate the total family fee that the family paid to the provider. We will not process attendance reports without family fee receipts. Missing family fee receipts will delay the provider's reimbursement. Miscalculated family fees may also delay the issuing of a reimbursement check. Please contact your case manager if you need assistance calculating the family fee.
State regulations require that family fees be paid at all times, including during families' vacation days, or best interest days, and in the event of the child's absence. (License exempt providers need to collect a family fee only for the days the child is in care or for time PACEAPP provides reimbursement.)
Licensed providers do not collect family fees when they are closed.
Providers do not need to collect family fees for federal holidays.
Past-Due Family Fees
We ask all providers to notify PACEAPP if the family is not paying their family fee. If past-due family fees are not paid, the case manager will contact the family and a Notice of Action stating a Delinquency of Family Fee will be sent to the parent. Failure to pay a family fee may jeopardize a family's child care services. It is required the family pay the family fee as stated on the Notice of Action at all times.
A new provider will not be reimbursed until a payment agreement has been arranged with the original provider to pay for delinquent family fees.
Calculating a Family Fee
Example Ms. Jones has three children. Based on her monthly income and her family size, she has a family fee of $2.50 for each day of full-time care or $1.25 for each day of part-time care. Billy is her youngest child, and he uses child care the most each month. During the month of July, he was in child care 19 full-time days. He was sick on one of the total of 20 days that he was scheduled to use child care. Billy's provider, Happy Day Family Child Care Home, collected $50 (20 x $2.50) from Ms. Jones at the beginning of the month. This $50 includes the family fee for 19 days of full-time care and the one day that Billy was sick.
Happy Day Family Child Care Home wrote this amount on a pre-numbered receipt and sent the receipt to PACEAPP with Billy's attendance report at the end of the month. PACEAPP deducted this amount from the total cost for Billy's child care that month.
Paying a part-time family fee is calculated like this: The child utilized 20 days of part-time care during a month (including sick days) and the part-time family fee rate is $1.25. Use this formula: 20 part-time days x $1.25 = $25. The parent pays the provider $25, and the provider sends a receipt to PACEAPP indicating this family fee amount was paid.
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