First Responder Co-Payment Clarification

Beginning on January 1, 2021, families participating in the SR program that did not receive a renewed referral, will begin paying or resume paying the parent copayment as established by the early learning coalition prior to the copayment waiver period.

Clarification: Families participating in the First Responder program were not initially assessed a co-payment based on their income unless they were already receiving services as a School Readiness family and then rolled over to the First Responder program. To ensure the copayment waiver requirement for the program was adhered to, assessed fees were waived to $0 for all families.

Note: The system automatically assessed the initial First Responder family fees to the lowest co-payment of $.73. As such, beginning in January, families due for redetermination will be assessed the parent copayment based on their income (originating School Readiness families) OR $.73 until their initial 12-month authorization period has expired. During the next redetermination at the end of the 12-month authorization, the latter group of parents will be have their co-payment assessed based on their income.

Here is language from SR rule regarding co-payment changes:
6M 4.400 (8) Co-payment changes. “A parent co-payment shall not be increased during the initial 12-month eligibility authorization period. The amount of co-payment assessed shall be in effect for the family’s authorized eligibility period,…”

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to send your questions to eligibilityfax@elcbroward.org.