1. (a) To promote access by families participating in the child care assistance program to the highest quality of child care, and subject to the availability of appropriations, the department will increase the program rate paid to a facility described in 7 AAC 41.200(a)(1) - (3), if the department determines the facility is qualified under this section. Unless available appropriations require a smaller increase, the department will increase the program rate by 10 percent above the program rate established in the schedule under 7 AAC 41.025 if the facility's current rate charged for child care is equal to or exceeds the enhanced rate.

2. (b) A facility may apply to be eligible for the enhanced program rate under this section using a form prescribed by the department. For a facility to be eligible under this section,

   1. (1) the facility must

      1. (A) be currently accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Association of Family Child Care, or the National Afterschool Alliance; or

      2. (B) provide documentation showing that at least 40 percent of the staff who work with children in the facility have been employed in the facility for at least one year; those staff members must also

         1. (i) meet or exceed level one requirements of the System for Early Education Development (SEED) program administered through the University of Alaska; and
         2. (ii) complete at least five hours of training each year over and above the annual licensing training requirements for each individual;
   2. (2) the facility may not have been the subject of a licensing enforcement action under AS 47.32 within the previous 12 months;
   3. (3) the facility may not have three or more violations of a single requirement within 12 months of the first violation, or continued violations of two or more requirements in the previous 12 months;
   4. (4) the facility may not be on a first year or provisional license; and
   5. (5) all staff who work with children in the facility must participate in the SEED registry if available.
3. (c) If the department determines that a facility is not qualified under (b) of this section, the facility may reapply every six months.
4. (d) The department will annually evaluate each facility receiving an enhanced program rate under this section to determine whether the facility continues to be qualified under (b) of this section.
5. (e) Within 30 days after issuing a written notice to the facility, the department will discontinue an enhanced program rate under this section if appropriations are no longer available or if the facility ceases to meet the standards of (b) of this section. If the discontinuance is for failure to meet the standards of (b) of this section, the notice will advise the facility of the right to request an administrative review under 7 AAC 41.435.
6. (f) In this section, "SEED" means System for Early Education Development.

(Eff. 6/23/2006, Register 178)