Implement North Dakota Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) by hua7450 · Pull Request #8709 · PolicyEngine/policyengine-us

hua7450 · 2026-06-22T01:41:26Z

Summary

Implements North Dakota's Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) in PolicyEngine. CCAP is a provider-reimbursement childcare subsidy administered by the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services (ND DHHS) under the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). The program reimburses providers up to a state maximum rate for eligible children in working or training families, net of an income-based family copay.

The implementation covers two-tier income eligibility (75% SMI at application / 85% SMI for enrolled families), the full 32-cell state maximum rate table (4 provider types x 4 age groups x full-time/part-time), an income-based copay with a 7% cap, and three provider-payment components: the special-needs +10% rate add-on and the additive QRIS-step and infant/toddler bonuses.

Closes #8708

Regulatory Authority

NDCC ch. 50-33 (general authority, NDCC 50-33-02; residency NDCC 50-33-05).
NDAC 75-02-01.3 — Child Care Assistance: https://ndlegis.gov/prod/acdata/pdf/75-02-01.3.pdf — establishes eligibility, income treatment (75-02-01.3-07/-08), the child/spousal-support deduction (75-02-01.3-09), and the two-caretaker availability rule (75-02-01.3-11). Dollar amounts are delegated to the department.
ND DHHS Policy Manual, Service Chapter 400-28 (Manual Letter 3930, eff. 7/1/2025): https://www.nd.gov/dhs/policymanuals/40028/40028.htm — operational rules. Key subsections used:
- §400-28-25-15 — graduated eligibility (75% applicant / 85% enrolled SMI; 18-month period).
- §400-28-35-02 — eligible children (under 13; 13–under-19 special-needs/court-ordered).
- §400-28-35-05 — Child Care Assistance Unit composition.
- §400-28-50-05/-20/-25 — residence, age verification, citizenship (child = US citizen or LPR).
- §400-28-55-05 — allowable activities.
- §400-28-65-05/-07/-09/-15 — assets ($1M, self-certified) and income exclusions.
- §400-28-80-50 — level of care (full-time = 25+ hrs/wk; part-time = 1 to <25).
- §400-28-90-05/-10/-15/-20 — copay determination, application, and waivers (≤30% SMI, TANF/Diversion/Crossroads).
- §400-28-100-05/-30 — state rates, family share, age bands, special-needs +10%, QRIS-step and infant/toddler provider bonuses.
HHS provider rate tables (eff. 1/1/2026): https://www.hhs.nd.gov/human-services/providers/ccap
HHS income limits and asset/fee values: https://www.hhs.nd.gov/applyforhelp/ccap
HHS 2026 program updates (rate decrease, QRIS-bonus change, 40-hr attendance, age→12): https://www.hhs.nd.gov/ec-news/child-care-assistance-program-ccap-updates-2026
DN 241 (10/2022) sliding-fee schedule (copay structure and percentages only): https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/testimony/SHUMSER-2190-20230118-13895-F-HOGAN_KATHY.pdf
2025 Market Rate Survey (basis for the percentile rates): https://www.hhs.nd.gov/sites/default/files/documents/EA/2025-market-rate-survey-exclusion.pdf

Program Overview

Administration: North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services (ND DHHS), Economic Assistance Policy Division, under the federal CCDF.
Agency directory: gov/states/nd/dhs/ccap (matches the existing nd/dhs/tanf convention).
Type: provider-reimbursement childcare subsidy. The benefit is paid to the provider; the family pays an income-based copay plus any charge above the state maximum rate.
Definition periods: all ND CCAP variables are MONTH-defined except the YEAR aggregator nd_child_care_subsidies, which feeds the federal YEAR child_care_subsidies.

Eligibility

Requirement	Source	How Modeled
Child under 13 (through 2026-03-31), under 12 (eff. 2026-04-01)	§400-28-35-02; HHS 2026 update	`eligibility/child_age_limit.yaml` (`{2020-01-01: 13, 2026-04-01: 12}`), compared via `age * MONTHS_IN_YEAR` in `nd_ccap_eligible_child`
Special-needs/court-ordered child eligible to under 19	§400-28-35-02	`eligibility/disabled_child_age_limit.yaml` (19), gated on `is_disabled`; court-ordered pathway not modeled (no input)
Child is US citizen or LPR (caretaker not subject)	§400-28-50-25	`(immigration_status == CITIZEN) \| (immigration_status == LEGAL_PERMANENT_RESIDENT)` — narrower than CCDF, so `is_ccdf_immigration_eligible_child` is not reused
At least one eligible child	§400-28-35-02	`nd_ccap_eligible` requires `add(spm_unit, ..., [nd_ccap_eligible_child]) > 0`
Income ≤ 75% SMI (applicant) / 85% SMI (enrolled)	§400-28-25-15	`nd_ccap_income_eligible`: `where(is_nd_ccap_enrolled, 0.85, 0.75) * hhs_smi`; rates in `income/initial_smi_rate.yaml`, `income/continuing_smi_rate.yaml`; new input `is_nd_ccap_enrolled`
Assets ≤ $1,000,000 (self-certified)	§400-28-65-05	Reuses federal `is_ccdf_asset_eligible` (`gov.hhs.ccdf.asset_limit` = $1M); no ND asset parameter created
All caretakers in an allowable activity (no minimum hours)	§400-28-55-05	`nd_ccap_parent_in_eligible_activity` (work/self-employment/student/training/incapacity/TANF) aggregated over head/spouse in `nd_ccap_activity_eligible`
Two-caretaker availability rule	NDAC 75-02-01.3-11(1)	Modeled implicitly by requiring all caretakers to be in activity; explicit "availability" not separately tracked
Family resides in North Dakota	§400-28-50-05; NDCC 50-33-05	`defined_for = StateCode.ND` chain on all top-level variables

Income & Copay

Two-tier SMI test. Income eligibility uses hhs_smi (federal State Median Income by state and family size, read with the bare monthly period). Applicants must be at or below 75% SMI; enrolled families (via is_nd_ccap_enrolled) at or below 85% SMI, reflecting the graduated-eligibility provision in §400-28-25-15.
Countable income = gross monthly income (income/sources.yaml, a positive list of counted PolicyEngine variables mirroring the 46 income exclusions in §400-28-65-15), less children's earned income (excluded per §400-28-65-15 item 6), less court-ordered child and spousal support paid (§400-28-65-30, NDAC 75-02-01.3-09; modeled in nd_ccap_child_support_deduction from child_support_expense + alimony_expense). TANF cash is deliberately omitted from sources.yaml to avoid the CCAP→TANF circular dependency.
Copay (nd_ccap_copay) is a stepped percentage of countable income by % SMI band (copay/rate.yaml), waived at or below 30% SMI (copay/waiver_smi_threshold.yaml) and for TANF-enrolled families (is_tanf_enrolled, the only one of TANF/Diversion/Crossroads that is tracked), and capped at 7% of income (copay/max_rate.yaml, consistent with 45 CFR 98.45).
Copay percentages pending validation. The percentage schedule (≤30% → 0%, 30–40% → 6%, >40% → 7%) is reconstructed from the published DN 241 (10/2022) sliding-fee schedule, which lists 2%/3%/4%/6%/7%/7%/7% by SMI band capped at 7%, with the ≤30% bands superseded by the statutory waiver. North Dakota no longer publishes a static copay table; the current schedule lives only in the HHS Power BI "Worksheet for Calculating Copay." The bracket structure is in place so exact percentages can be dropped in once confirmed. See Verification TODO.

Provider Rate Table & Bonuses

State maximum rate table (rates/full_time.yaml, rates/part_time.yaml), effective 2026-01-01, keyed by breakdown: [nd_ccap_provider_type, nd_ccap_age_group]:
- Provider types: Center (codes C,E,K,M), Licensed Family/Group (F,G,H), Self-Declared/Tribal Registered (S,R), Approved Relative (Q).
- Age groups: Infant (birth–17 mo), Toddler (18–35 mo), Preschool (3–5 yr), Other/School-age (6 up to 13), classified in nd_ccap_age_group from age * MONTHS_IN_YEAR and is_in_k12_school.
- Level of care: full-time (25+ hrs/wk) vs part-time (<25 hrs/wk), from nd_ccap_time_category (time_category/full_time_min_hours.yaml = 25).
- All 32 rate cells were independently re-verified against the live HHS provider page (HTTP 200, browser UA) on 2026-06-21 — zero mismatches. Part-time values are independently sourced (not full-time/2), and full-time/part-time are not swapped.
Base subsidy (nd_ccap_base_subsidy) = max(min(state_max_rate, billed/expenses) − copay, 0), capped at spm_unit_pre_subsidy_childcare_expenses. Copay is subtracted only from the base subsidy.
Special-needs +10% (rates/special_needs_multiplier.yaml = 1.10): raises the per-child state maximum rate ceiling inside the min(rate, expenses) cap, gated on is_disabled AND nd_ccap_provider_qris_step >= STEP_2 (§400-28-100-30). is_disabled proxies the required written special-needs verification (the specific documentation type is not tracked). Cited to ND §400-28-100-30 — the manual text here carries stray Kentucky KRS citations that are a copy/paste artifact and are NOT treated as ND authority (a code comment flags this).
QRIS provider-step bonus (rates/qris_step_bonus_rate.yaml; nd_ccap_qris_step_bonus): date-varying % of the base SMR by provider QRIS step — 7/1/2025 era Step 2/3/4 = +5%/+10%/+15%, eff. 1/1/2026 = +0%/+5%/+10% (Step 2 eliminated).
Infant/toddler provider bonus (rates/infant_toddler_bonus.yaml; nd_ccap_infant_toddler_bonus): flat $200/infant-month and $115/toddler-month, eff. 2026-01-01, for children attending 40+ hrs/mo (approximated from childcare_hours_per_week via rates/infant_toddler_bonus_min_weekly_hours.yaml). Provider licensure jurisdiction (ND/tribal/military) is not tracked and is assumed met for non-approved-relative providers.
Both bonuses are modeled as ADDITIVE provider payments on top of the base subsidy — NOT capped at billed expenses and NOT reduced by copay — per §400-28-100-30, which states they "are separate from the service month payments ... and are not intended to be used for a child's billed amount."
New input variable: nd_ccap_provider_qris_step (Person, MONTH, Enum NDCCAPProviderQRISStep: STEP_1, STEP_2, STEP_3, STEP_4, UNRATED [default, placed last]). Read by both the QRIS-step bonus and the special-needs +10% gate.

Net-income framing note for reviewers: the QRIS-step and infant/toddler bonuses are paid to the provider and, per the manual, are "not intended for the child's billed amount," so they do not reduce family out-of-pocket childcare cost. Per the implementation decision they are nonetheless counted in nd_ccap and flow into child_care_subsidies. Reviewers and microsimulation users should be aware that these provider-side payments inflate the household benefit total without lowering the family's out-of-pocket cost.

Benefit composition: nd_ccap = base subsidy + QRIS-step bonus + infant/toddler bonus → nd_child_care_subsidies (YEAR) → federal child_care_subsidies.

Requirements Coverage

31 of 31 in-scope requirements are covered (parameter where value-based, variable where logic-based, and at least one test each); 0 missing.

REQ	Description	Parameter	Variable	Test
000	Provider QRIS step input (Enum)	—	`nd_ccap_provider_qris_step`	`rates/nd_ccap_provider_qris_step.yaml` (5)
001/002	Child age limit 13 → 12 eff. 2026-04-01	`eligibility/child_age_limit`	`nd_ccap_eligible_child`	`nd_ccap_eligible_child.yaml` (11)
003	Special-needs/disabled child to under 19	`eligibility/disabled_child_age_limit` (19)	`nd_ccap_eligible_child`	age 15/19 cases
004	Child citizen or LPR	—	`nd_ccap_eligible_child`	citizen vs non-LPR cases
005	≥1 eligible child	—	`nd_ccap_eligible`	`nd_ccap_eligible.yaml` (6)
007–010	Two-tier 75%/85% SMI income	`income/initial_smi_rate`, `continuing_smi_rate`	`nd_ccap_income_eligible`	`nd_ccap_income_eligible.yaml` (7)
011	Countable income (exclusions, minor earned)	`income/sources`	`nd_ccap_gross_income`, `nd_ccap_countable_income`	`nd_ccap_countable_income.yaml` (5)
013	Asset test $1M	(federal `gov.hhs.ccdf.asset_limit`)	`nd_ccap_eligible` (reuses `is_ccdf_asset_eligible`)	`nd_ccap_eligible.yaml`
015/016	Allowable activity, no min hours	—	`nd_ccap_parent_in_eligible_activity`	`.yaml` (6)
017	Two-caretaker availability proxy	—	`nd_ccap_activity_eligible`	`.yaml` (5)
018	ND residency	—	`defined_for = StateCode.ND` chain	state_code gating
019	Court-ordered support deduction	—	`nd_ccap_child_support_deduction`	`.yaml` (3)
020/023/024	Copay stepped % by SMI band, 7% cap	`copay/rate`, `copay/max_rate`	`nd_ccap_copay`	`nd_ccap_copay.yaml` (10)
021/022	Copay waived ≤30% SMI / TANF	`copay/waiver_smi_threshold`	`nd_ccap_copay`	copay cases
025/026	Benefit = base subsidy + bonuses	—	`nd_ccap_base_subsidy`, `nd_ccap`	`nd_ccap_base_subsidy.yaml`, `integration.yaml` (17)
027/028/030	Rate table (provider × age × FT/PT)	`rates/full_time`, `part_time`	`nd_ccap_state_max_rate`, `nd_ccap_provider_type`, `nd_ccap_age_group`	`nd_ccap_state_max_rate.yaml` (17), `nd_ccap_age_group.yaml` (10)
029	Level of care FT/PT (25 hrs)	`time_category/full_time_min_hours`	`nd_ccap_time_category`	`nd_ccap_time_category.yaml` (4)
031	Special-needs +10% SMR	`rates/special_needs_multiplier`	`nd_ccap_state_max_rate`	state_max_rate + integration
034	QRIS-step bonus (additive)	`rates/qris_step_bonus_rate`	`nd_ccap_qris_step_bonus`	`nd_ccap_qris_step_bonus.yaml` (9) + integration
035	Infant/toddler bonus (additive)	`rates/infant_toddler_bonus`, `infant_toddler_bonus_min_weekly_hours`	`nd_ccap_infant_toddler_bonus`	`nd_ccap_infant_toddler_bonus.yaml` (7) + integration
051	Assistance-unit composition (partial)	—	SPMUnit entity	covered by entity structure

Federal wiring verified: nd_child_care_subsidies is in the adds list of child_care_subsidy_programs.yaml, and nd_ccap is registered in programs.yaml under North Dakota CCAP.

Not Modeled (by design)

What	Source	Why excluded
Foster-child licensing nuance	§400-28-35-02	No foster-licensure input
Court-ordered (non-disability) child pathway to age 19	§400-28-35-02	No court-order input; disability pathway modeled
Income conversion (weekly ×4.3 / biweekly ×2.15)	§400-28-70-05	PolicyEngine income is already annualized
Detailed asset exclusions	§400-28-65-09	Subsumed by the $1M limit (effectively no test)
Diversion/Crossroads copay waiver	§400-28-90-20	Only TANF enrollment is tracked
Whole-dollar rate rounding	§400-28-100-30	Rates stored as published whole dollars
Legacy $60/mo state-licensed bonus	Legacy guidebook	Superseded by current rate tables
Registration fee (max $150/yr)	HHS apply page	A fee, not a subsidy component
Absence pay (up to 40 hrs/mo)	HHS / §400-28	No attendance tracking
Minimum-attendance gate (40+ hrs/mo, eff. 2026-04-01)	HHS 2026 update	No attendance input; assumed met
Activity/job-search timing (15 hrs/wk, 3-month limit)	§400-28-55-05	No job-search-status input
Parental-leave timing	§400-28-55-05	No leave-status input
Approved-relative-caretaker activity bar	§400-28-55-05	No caretaker-is-provider input
Postsecondary-after-bachelor's bar	§400-28-55-05	No degree-held input
Child-hours add-ons (school-age +9 hr/wk, travel/night-shift)	§400-28-80-10	Level of care uses `childcare_hours_per_week` directly
Max-2-providers / no mid-cert level decrease	§400-28-80-50	Single childcare-expense input
18-month graduated-period tracking	§400-28-25-15	No review-cycle/tenure tracking
Pre-2024-07-01 transitional cohort	HHS / §400-28-25-15	Historical-cohort tracking
Payments < $10 not issued	§400-28-100-40	De minimis; negligible population
Homeless special handling	§400-28-38	Separate processing rules, not a copay waiver
Waitlist (eff. 2025-12-01)	§400-28-20-10	Framework limitation — PolicyEngine does not model waitlists
Minor-parent separate-household split	§400-28-35-05	Modeled implicitly via the SPMUnit

Verification TODO

Validate copay percentages (≤30% → 0%, 30–40% → 6%, >40% → 7%) against the current HHS Power BI "Worksheet for Calculating Copay." They are currently reconstructed from the DN 241 (10/2022) sliding-fee schedule; the bracket structure makes dropping in confirmed percentages trivial.
Rate tables reflect the 1/1/2026 HHS schedule; pre-2026 rate eras are not separately modeled (2026 rates backfill earlier periods). Confirm this is acceptable for historical analysis.
CI passes.

Test plan

125 tests pass (policyengine-core test policyengine_us/tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/nd/dhs/ccap -c policyengine_us), covering all formula variables plus 17 integration scenarios.
Microsimulation chain verified: a single ND household flows nd_ccap → nd_child_care_subsidies → federal child_care_subsidies with no circular dependency; a vectorized multi-SPM-unit run (2 ND + 1 TX) computes correctly and the non-ND unit is correctly zeroed by defined_for = StateCode.ND.
make format clean (ruff check passes).
CI passes.

Files Added

parameters/gov/states/nd/dhs/ccap/
  age_group/
    infant_max_months.yaml
    toddler_max_months.yaml
    preschool_min_months.yaml
  copay/
    rate.yaml
    max_rate.yaml
    waiver_smi_threshold.yaml
  eligibility/
    child_age_limit.yaml
    disabled_child_age_limit.yaml
  income/
    initial_smi_rate.yaml
    continuing_smi_rate.yaml
    sources.yaml
  rates/
    full_time.yaml
    part_time.yaml
    special_needs_multiplier.yaml
    qris_step_bonus_rate.yaml
    infant_toddler_bonus.yaml
    infant_toddler_bonus_min_weekly_hours.yaml
  time_category/
    full_time_min_hours.yaml

variables/gov/states/nd/dhs/ccap/
  nd_ccap.py
  nd_child_care_subsidies.py
  is_nd_ccap_enrolled.py
  eligibility/
    nd_ccap_eligible.py
    nd_ccap_eligible_child.py
    nd_ccap_income_eligible.py
    nd_ccap_activity_eligible.py
    nd_ccap_parent_in_eligible_activity.py
  income/
    nd_ccap_gross_income.py
    nd_ccap_countable_income.py
    nd_ccap_child_support_deduction.py
  copay/
    nd_ccap_copay.py
  rates/
    nd_ccap_base_subsidy.py
    nd_ccap_state_max_rate.py
    nd_ccap_provider_type.py
    nd_ccap_provider_qris_step.py
    nd_ccap_age_group.py
    nd_ccap_time_category.py
    nd_ccap_qris_step_bonus.py
    nd_ccap_infant_toddler_bonus.py

tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/nd/dhs/ccap/
  integration.yaml
  eligibility/   (nd_ccap_eligible, nd_ccap_eligible_child, nd_ccap_income_eligible,
                  nd_ccap_activity_eligible, nd_ccap_parent_in_eligible_activity)
  income/        (nd_ccap_countable_income, nd_ccap_child_support_deduction)
  copay/         (nd_ccap_copay)
  rates/         (nd_ccap_state_max_rate, nd_ccap_age_group, nd_ccap_time_category,
                  nd_ccap_base_subsidy, nd_ccap_provider_qris_step,
                  nd_ccap_qris_step_bonus, nd_ccap_infant_toddler_bonus)

Federal wiring edits:

parameters/gov/hhs/ccdf/child_care_subsidy_programs.yaml — added nd_child_care_subsidies to the adds list.
programs.yaml — registered North Dakota CCAP (variable nd_ccap) as a state implementation under federal CCDF.
changelog.d/nd-ccap.added.md — changelog fragment.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Closes PolicyEngine#8708 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Child Care Assistance Program (NDAC 75-02-01.3; Manual Service Chapter 400-28, ML 3930): two-tier SMI income test (75% applicant / 85% enrolled), provider max-rate table (4 provider types x 4 age groups x FT/PT), stepped-%SMI copay (waived <=30% SMI, capped 7%), special-needs +10% SMR, QRIS step bonuses, infant/toddler provider bonus. Wired into federal CCDF child_care_subsidies and programs.yaml. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

codecov · 2026-06-22T03:47:30Z

Codecov Report

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- C1: revert child age limit to under-13 (unsourced 2026-04-01 under-12 entry removed) - C2: infant/toddler bonus gated on QRIS step 2+ and licensed provider; drop unsourced hours gate - C3: children's earned-income exclusion corrected to under-19 (NDAC 75-02-01.3-08(12)) - A1: document incapacity (400-28-35-15) basis for disabled-caretaker activity - A2: add top-level nd_ccap unit test Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

… limitations - Remove stale '40 hours/month' comment from infant_toddler_bonus.yaml (no hours gate after R1) - Document child-age grace-month and CCAP Workforce Benefit waiver as not-modeled Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

hua7450 and others added 2 commits June 21, 2026 21:41

Initialize North Dakota CCAP implementation

39eece2

Closes PolicyEngine#8708 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

hua7450 and others added 2 commits June 22, 2026 00:07

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Implement North Dakota Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)#8709

Implement North Dakota Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)#8709
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Summary

Regulatory Authority

Program Overview

Eligibility

Income & Copay

Provider Rate Table & Bonuses

Requirements Coverage

Not Modeled (by design)

Verification TODO

Test plan

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