§ 98.15 Assurances and certifications.

(a) The Lead Agency shall include the following assurances in its CCDF Plan:

(1) Upon approval, it will have in effect a program that complies with the provisions of the CCDF Plan, and that is administered in accordance with the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, as amended, section 418 of the Social Security Act, and all other applicable Federal laws and regulations;

(2) The parent(s) of each eligible child within the area served by the Lead Agency who receives or is offered child care services for which financial assistance is provided is given the option either:

(i) To enroll such child with a child care provider that has a grant or contract for the provision of the service; or

(ii) To receive a child care certificate as defined in § 98.2;

(3) In cases in which the parent(s), pursuant to § 98.30, elects to enroll their child with a provider that has a grant or contract with the Lead Agency, the child will be enrolled with the eligible provider selected by the parent to the maximum extent practicable;

(4) In accordance with § 98.30, the child care certificate offered to parents shall be of a value commensurate with the subsidy value of child care services provided under a grant or contract;

(5) With respect to State and local regulatory requirements (or tribal regulatory requirements), health and safety requirements, payment rates, and registration requirements, State or local (or tribal) rules, procedures or other requirements promulgated for the purpose of the CCDF will not significantly restrict parental choice from among categories of care or types of providers, pursuant to § 98.30(f).

(6) That if expenditures for pre-Kindergarten services are used to meet the maintenance-of-effort requirement, the State has not reduced its level of effort in full-day/full-year child care services, pursuant to § 98.55(h)(1).