Add Pennsylvania CCAP (Child Care Assistance Program)

[hua7450]

Summary

Implements Pennsylvania Child Care Works (CCW) — the state's CCDF child care subsidy program — in PolicyEngine.

Closes #7828

Regulatory Authority

• 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3042 — Subsidized Child Care Eligibility (eff. 2023-12-16; copayment chart amended eff. 2025-05-05 per 55 Pa.B. 4146)
• PA FFY 2025–2027 CCDF State Plan (approved 2024-11-09)
• PA DHS OCDEL MCCA Rate Chart (eff. 2025-01-01)
• PA DHS OCDEL MCCA Rate Chart (eff. 2023-03-01)

Income Eligibility Tests

Test	Threshold	Source
Initial application	Annual income <= 200% FPIG	55 Pa. Code 3042.31(a)
Between redeterminations	Annual income <= 85% SMI	55 Pa. Code 3042.31(b)
Redetermination	Annual income <= min(235% FPIG, 85% SMI)	55 Pa. Code 3042.31(c)
Asset limit	Family assets < $1,000,000	55 Pa. Code 3042.31(e)
TANF exclusion	Not receiving TANF cash assistance	55 Pa. Code 3042.15(a)
Child age	Under 13 (under 19 if incapable of self-care)	55 Pa. Code 3042.11(b),(d)
Child citizenship	US citizen or lawful permanent resident	55 Pa. Code 3042.36
Residency	Pennsylvania resident	55 Pa. Code 3042.32(a)

New applicants use the 200% FPIG threshold. Currently enrolled families (pa_ccw_enrolled = True) use 85% SMI between redeterminations (55 Pa. Code 3042.31(b)). The 235% FPIG cap applies only at the redetermination itself (3042.31(c)), which is not separately modeled.

Income Deductions & Exemptions

Income counted (55 Pa. Code 3042.42): Parent/caretaker, spouse, and children's unearned income. Appendix A Part I lists 21 income types (wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, unemployment, workers comp, veterans benefits, child support received, alimony, dividends, interest, rental income, etc.). Implemented via sources.yaml with 16 mapped PolicyEngine variables.

Deductions (55 Pa. Code Appendix A Part II):

Deduction	Rule	Source
Spousal support paid	Court-ordered or voluntary, to person not in household	Appendix A Part II, item A
Child support paid	Court-ordered or voluntary, to person not in household	Appendix A Part II, item B
Medical expenses	Unreimbursed amount exceeding 10% of gross monthly income	Appendix A Part II, item C
Stepparent deduction	Fixed amount by county group (4 groups) and family size (Appendix C)	55 Pa. Code Appendix C

Stepparent Deduction (Appendix C):

County Group	Size 2	Size 3	Size 4	Size 5	Size 6	Each add'l
Group 1 (30 counties incl. Philadelphia, Allegheny, Delaware)	$461	$587	$724	$859	$976	$121
Group 2 (15 counties incl. Cambria, Fayette, Greene)	$406	$532	$662	$791	$894	$121
Group 3 (17 counties incl. Beaver, Washington, Lawrence)	$444	$573	$698	$829	$943	$121
Group 4 (5 counties: Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Montgomery, Pike)	$481	$614	$749	$885	$1,001	$121

Income exclusions (55 Pa. Code Appendix A Part III): Teen earnings, tax refunds/EITC, SNAP, WIC, foster care payments, student aid, LIHEAP, and ~15 other categories. These are excluded by not including them in the sources.yaml income list.

Income adjustment procedure (55 Pa. Code 3042.43): 8-step process — determine gross income per Appendix A Part I, estimate monthly per conversion table (55 Pa. Code Appendix A), apply stepparent deduction and other deductions, multiply result by 12 for annual adjusted family income.

Copayment

The copayment is weekly, per family (not per child) — 55 Pa. Code 3042.91(c)-(d); CCDF State Plan 3.2.1.

Formula (implemented as rate-based calculation per 55 Pa. Code 3042.98):

weekly_copay = max($5, annual_income * rate / 52)

where:

• rate = 5% if annual income <= 100% FPIG, otherwise 7%
• Minimum copay: $5/week — 3042.98(a)(2)
• Maximum copay: 7% of annual income — 3042.98(a)(3)
• Lower cap for poverty: 5% of annual income if income <= 100% FPIG — 3042.98(a)(4)
• Copay waived for homelessness — 3042.146

Note: Appendix B contains a detailed sliding-fee copayment chart by family size and income bracket. The implementation uses the 5%/7% caps as an approximation, which overestimates copay by $4-35/month within the eligibility range (conservative — understates the actual benefit). The exact formula PA DHS uses to generate Appendix B is not published.

Benefit Calculation

Formula (55 Pa. Code 3042.14(b), 3042.92, 3042.118(c)):

monthly_copay = weekly_copay * WEEKS_IN_YEAR / MONTHS_IN_YEAR

max_monthly_payment = sum over eligible children:
    MCCA_daily_rate(region, provider_type, age_group, time_category) * attending_days_per_month

pa_ccw = max(0, min(childcare_expenses - monthly_copay, max_monthly_payment))

• Minimum department payment: $5/week — if department's weekly payment < $5, family is not eligible with that provider (3042.92(c))
• Provider may charge difference above MCCA to family (3042.14(d))

MCCA Rates

Structure: 19 regions x 4 provider types (CENTER, GROUP, FAMILY, R/N) x 5 age groups (Infant, Young Toddler, Old Toddler, Pre-School, School-Age) x 2 time categories (Full-Time, Part-Time).

Rate eras:

• 2025 rates (eff. 2025-01-01): 760 values across 19 region YAML files
• 2023 rates (eff. 2023-03-01): 760 values (2023 chart had 6 age groups including Old School-Age; School-Age and Old School-Age had identical rates, so only 5 age groups are parameterized)

Region mapping: Each PA county maps to one of 19 ELRC regions. pa_ccw_region derives the region from county_str using 18 parameter files (region 1 is the default). Source: PA DHS ELRC page.

Age group thresholds: Defined in age_group/months.yaml — Infant, Young Toddler, Old Toddler, Pre-School, School-Age based on child's age in months.

Not Modeled

Requirement	Reason
Domestic violence copay waiver (3042.145)	No input variable for DV status
Single parent disability exemption (3042.37(a)-(b))	Not simulatable
Two-parent disability exemption (3042.37(e))	Not simulatable
Provider charges above MCCA (3042.14(d))	Informational — no code needed
Copayment chart bracket lookup (Appendix B)	Approximated by formula-based 5%/7% rate; unused bracket files exist but are not wired to variables

Files Added

policyengine_us/
├── parameters/gov/states/pa/dhs/ccw/
│   ├── eligibility/
│   │   ├── age_threshold/child.yaml
│   │   ├── age_threshold/disabled_child.yaml
│   │   ├── initial_income_limit.yaml
│   │   ├── redetermination_income_limit.yaml
│   │   └── continuous_smi_limit.yaml
│   ├── income/
│   │   ├── countable_income/sources.yaml
│   │   └── medical_expense_threshold.yaml
│   ├── copay/
│   │   ├── minimum.yaml
│   │   ├── max_rate.yaml
│   │   ├── low_income_max_rate.yaml
│   │   └── low_income_threshold.yaml
│   ├── stepparent_deduction/
│   │   ├── group_{1-4}.yaml (bracket params by family size)
│   │   ├── county_group_{1-4}.yaml (county-to-group mapping)
│   │   ├── each_additional.yaml
│   │   └── max_family_size.yaml
│   ├── activity_requirements/
│   │   ├── weekly_hours.yaml
│   │   ├── training_combo_min_work_hours.yaml
│   │   └── teen_parent_max_age.yaml
│   ├── region/region_{1-19}.yaml (county-to-ELRC-region mapping)
│   ├── rates/region_{1-19}.yaml (MCCA daily rates, nested by provider/age/time)
│   ├── age_group/months.yaml
│   ├── full_time_hours_per_day.yaml
│   └── min_dept_payment.yaml
├── variables/gov/states/pa/dhs/ccw/
│   ├── eligibility/
│   │   ├── pa_ccw_eligible.py
│   │   ├── pa_ccw_eligible_child.py
│   │   ├── pa_ccw_income_eligible.py
│   │   └── pa_ccw_activity_eligible.py
│   ├── income/
│   │   ├── pa_ccw_countable_income.py
│   │   ├── pa_ccw_adjusted_income.py
│   │   ├── pa_ccw_stepparent_deduction.py
│   │   ├── pa_ccw_stepparent_county_group.py
│   │   └── pa_ccw_has_stepparent.py
│   ├── copay/pa_ccw_copay.py
│   ├── pa_ccw.py (top-level benefit)
│   ├── pa_ccw_maximum_monthly_payment.py
│   ├── pa_ccw_market_rate.py
│   ├── pa_ccw_region.py
│   ├── pa_ccw_age_group.py
│   ├── pa_ccw_time_category.py
│   ├── pa_ccw_provider_type.py
│   ├── pa_ccw_enrolled.py
│   └── pa_child_care_subsidies.py
└── tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/pa/dhs/ccw/
    ├── pa_ccw.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_eligible.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_eligible_child.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_income_eligible.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_activity_eligible.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_countable_income.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_adjusted_income.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_stepparent_deduction.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_stepparent_county_group.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_has_stepparent.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_copay.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_market_rate.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_maximum_monthly_payment.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_region.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_age_group.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_time_category.yaml
    ├── pa_ccw_enrolled.yaml
    ├── pa_child_care_subsidies.yaml
    └── integration.yaml

Review Fixes

Fix	Details
Activity test formula	Derives from weekly_hours_worked, is_full_time_student; requires ALL parents to qualify in two-parent households; training combo requires student status AND >=10 hrs; falls back to meets_ccdf_activity_test
YEAR period for child/activity	pa_ccw_eligible_child and pa_ccw_activity_eligible changed to YEAR to match PA's 12-month certification rules (55 Pa. Code 3042.11(d), 3042.19)
Foster/protective services bypass	pa_ccw_eligible_child now accepts foster care and protective services children regardless of tax dependency or immigration (55 Pa. Code 3042.3)
Region from county	pa_ccw_region derives ELRC region from county_str (18 county-mapping parameter files, 67 counties)
MCCA rate references	Added public hrefs to all 19 rate files (2025 via pakeys.org, 2023 via pa.gov)
Copay documented	Documented per-family copay and Appendix B approximation ($4-35/mo overestimate, conservative)
Adjusted income simplified	Formula stays in annual units; stepparent deduction annualized instead of converting all inputs to monthly
Market rate compact	19-way select() replaced with getattr loop (2 lines instead of 22)
Enrolled income limit	Enrolled families use 85% SMI only (not min(235% FPIG, 85% SMI)); the 235% cap applies at redetermination, not between (55 Pa. Code 3042.31(b)-(c))

Test plan

• 100 tests pass
• CI passes

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 100.00%. Comparing base (fd8a1f8) to head (d95d3cd).
⚠️ Report is 103 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##              main     #7829    +/-   ##
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  Coverage   100.00%   100.00%            
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  Files           12        19     +7     
  Lines          174       297   +123     
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+ Hits           174       297   +123     

Flag	Coverage Δ
unittests	100.00% <100.00%> (ø)

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