Add Tennessee Child Care Payment Assistance (CCAP / Smart Steps)

[hua7450]

Summary

Implements Tennessee's Child Care Certificate Program (Child Care Payment Assistance, branded Smart Steps) in PolicyEngine. The program is Tennessee's CCDF-funded child care subsidy, administered by the Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS). This PR adds the full eligibility, income-limit, copay, and provider-reimbursement pipeline, wired into the federal child_care_subsidies aggregator via a new tn_child_care_subsidies program.

Closes #9039

Review fixes

This branch also addresses the Tennessee CCAP review findings:

• Adds a case-by-case protective-services waiver for the income and activity tests.
• Limits countable income to gross wages or salary, matching State Plan §2.2.4(c).
• Requires evidence of employment so the 40-hour default cannot qualify an unemployed parent.
• Applies the two-parent disabled-parent exception using the general is_disabled input. The narrower “unable to meet the child's care needs” condition is not separately modeled.
• Prevents Tennessee benefits before reimbursement rates took effect on October 1, 2024.
• Uses chart-compatible whole-dollar QRIS rates for licensed providers and does not apply QRIS bonuses to authorized providers.
• Defers the court-supervision age extension until a general is_under_court_supervision input is available; tracked in Add a general court-supervision input variable #9055.

Regulatory Authority

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-3-104 — Child Care Certificate Program statutory authority
• Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-01-54-.01 — Smart Steps / child-only guardian / teen-parent eligibility (note: 1240-04-01 is child care licensing, not the subsidy program, and is not cited here)
• CCDF State Plan FFY 2025-2027 (Tennessee) — federal-required elements (age, activity, asset, copay): https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/human-services/documents/CCDF%20State%20Plan%20FFY%202025-2027%20Tennessee.pdf
• Income Eligibility Limits & Parent Co-Pay Chart, eff. 10/1/2025 (current): https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/human-services/documents/Income%20Eligibility%20Limits%20and%20CoPay%20Chart%2010.1.25.pdf#page=2
• Income Eligibility & Co-Pay Chart, eff. 6/1/2024 (prior): https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/human-services/documents/Income%20Eligibility%20and%20Co-Pay%20Chart_June_1_2024.pdf#page=2
• Provider Reimbursement Rate Chart, eff. 1/1/2026 (current, single page): https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/human-services/documents/Reimbursement_Rate_Chart_1.1.26.pdf
• Provider Reimbursement Rate Chart, eff. 10/1/2024 (prior, single page): https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/human-services/documents/Current%20state%20rate%20and%20QRIS%20bonus%20table.pdf
• Update on Child Care Funding FAQ (policy-change dates): https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/for-families/child-care-services/update-on-child-care-funding.html

Eligibility

Test	Rule	Source	How modeled
Categorical / income pathway	Smart Steps working or full-time post-secondary; income ≤ 85% SMI (initial). Enrolled families qualify to 100% SMI from 10/1/2025 (Smart Steps Plus); 85% before that.	State Plan §2.3.1e (p.36); copay charts	tn_ccap_income_eligible with initial/enrolled SMI-rate params; tn_ccap_enrolled bare input distinguishes applicants from redetermination
Families First (TANF) categorical	Guaranteed subsidy while receiving Families First	State Plan §2.3.1e (p.36)	is_tanf_enrolled bypass in tn_ccap_eligible (breaks the CCAP↔TANF cycle)
Child age	Under 13 (through age 12); disabled children to under 19. The court-supervision extension is deferred pending a general input.	State Plan §2.2.1 (p.23)	child_age_limit (13) and special_needs_age_limit (19) params in tn_ccap_eligible_child; court supervision tracked in #9055
Activity	Employed avg ≥ 30 hrs/week OR full-time post-secondary; in a two-parent household with one disabled parent, the other parent must work ≥ 30 hrs/week	State Plan §2.2.2 (p.26)	tn_ccap_activity_eligible requires positive employment evidence plus hours, accepts full-time study, and uses is_disabled for the two-parent exception
At least one eligible child	SPM unit must contain ≥ 1 eligible child in care	general	tn_ccap_eligible gates on add(..., ["tn_ccap_eligible_child"]) > 0
Immigration	Child must be a citizen or qualified noncitizen	federal CCDF	reuses is_ccdf_immigration_eligible_child
Assets	Family assets ≤ $1,000,000	State Plan §2.2.6 (p.32)	reuses is_ccdf_asset_eligible

Income Limits (SMI-based)

The published dollar bands are not hardcoded. We verified that every band in both copay charts equals the federal smi() value × rate ÷ 12 exactly, so income limits are computed from PolicyEngine's existing gov.hhs.smi infrastructure with FFY Oct-1 pinning (the NJ CCAP pattern: month ≥ 10 → {year}-10-01, else {year-1}-10-01).

• June 2024 chart (FFY2024 SMI, TN amount = 90,197): HH4 100% SMI monthly = 90,197 / 12 = $7,516.42; × 0.85 = $6,388.95 (chart 85% HH4); × 0.60 = $4,509.85 (chart 60% HH4). Exact match.
• Oct 2025 chart (FFY2026 SMI, TN amount = 102,735): HH4 100% SMI monthly = 102,735 / 12 = $8,561.25 (chart 100% band top); × 0.85 = $7,277.63; × 0.60 = $5,136.75. Exact match.

The smi() size adjustment for HH4 is 0.52 + 0.16 × 3 = 1.00, so 4-person SMI equals the raw TN amount. We parameterize only the rate (initial = 0.85; enrolled = 0.85 → 1.00 @ 2025-10-01), never the dollar tables.

Copay

Copay follows the chart's exact weekly double-floor formula rather than a simplified flat 5% (the user chose full fidelity, and the adjudication is that the chart's worked example — not the chart's prose "5% of income" — governs):

1. Monthly copay = floor(monthly countable gross income × 0.05)
2. Weekly copay = floor(monthly copay ÷ 4.3)
3. Split equally among all children in care; part-time care (≤ 19 hrs/week) copay = half.

The chart's worked example reproduces exactly: $1,895 × 0.05 = $94.75 → floor $94 → ÷ 4.3 = $21.86 → floor $21/week → ÷ 2 children = $10.50/child. The 4.3 divisor is the exact regulatory factor stored in copay/weeks_per_month.yaml (not WEEKS_IN_YEAR / MONTHS_IN_YEAR = 4.333…).

• Rate: 5% of monthly countable gross income (copay/rate.yaml), below the federal 7% ceiling (which never binds).
• Pre-10/1/2025 FPL waiver: copay waived at or below 150% FPL; families with no income pay nothing. copay/fpl_waiver_threshold.yaml = 1.5 → 0 @ 2025-10-01 (waiver ended 9/30/2025; 5% now applies to all families).
• Waived categories: Families First (is_tanf_enrolled) and protective-services / DCS-referred children (receives_or_needs_protective_services). Head Start/EHS and Mental Health & Substance Abuse referrals are not modeled (no input).

Provider Reimbursement Rates

Per-child max weekly benefit starts with the charted Base State Rate[provider type × county tier × age category]. Licensed-provider QRIS rates are reproduced as whole dollars using half-up rounding before applicable differentials; authorized providers receive no QRIS bonus. Part-time is ½ the full-time rate rounded up (np.ceil). The provider is paid the lesser of its charge and this state rate.

Additive (multiplicative-on-top) stacking — verified. The +15% differentials are applied on top of the base state-rate rows, not baked into them:

• Footnote wording (identical on both charts): "a 15% differential above the current reimbursement rates will be provided" for infants (and separately for disability/special-needs). "Above … will be provided" = additive.
• Decisive proof: the Center / Top-Tier / Toddler State Rate is $240 on both the 10/1/2024 chart (toddler differential active) and the 1/1/2026 chart (toddler differential eliminated 10/1/2025). Had the +15% been baked in, eliminating it would have dropped the base to ~$209 — it did not move, proving the base rows exclude the differential.
• QRIS columns confirm the base × (1 + bonus) structure, with licensed-provider results rounded half-up to the charted whole dollars: $240 × 1.05 = $252, × 1.10 = $264 (2026 era); × 1.15 = $276, × 1.20 = $288 (2024 era).

Era-dependent multipliers:

• QRIS bonus: +15% (80-89) / +20% (90-100) in the Oct 2024 era → +5% / +10% from 1/1/2026 (rates/qris_bonus.yaml).
• Infant differential +15% and disability differential +15%: kept in both eras.
• Toddler differential +15% → 0 @ 2025-10-01 (rates/toddler_differential.yaml).

County Tiers

Weekly rates are keyed by county tier (Top Tier vs Lower Tier). The rate-chart footnote lists (the operational source of truth) govern, not the Market Rate Survey (MRS) ranking:

• Oct 1 2024 era: 27 Top Tier counties (chart footnote), including Gibson and Dyer.
• Jan 1 2026 era: 26 Top Tier counties, including Gibson; Dyer dropped to Lower. Everything else defaults to Lower Tier.

Only Dyer moved between eras. Tiers are encoded deterministically from the TN county enum (county_tier/top_tier_counties.yaml, era-dated), defaulting unlisted counties to Lower.

Gibson discrepancy resolution: Gibson appears on both charts' Top Tier footnote but is absent from the MRS top-20 ranking in both FY24 and FY25 (it shows up only in the MRS county fee tables, ~49k population — far too small to make either top-20 list). Its Top Tier status therefore comes from the employer-petition mechanism (MRS footnote 3: a county gains Top Tier when an employer creates 50+ new child-care slots, majority ages 0–3). Because the operational chart footnote governs reimbursement, Gibson is modeled as Top Tier in both eras. (The FY25 MRS prose also self-contradicts — it says "26 counties" but enumerates 25; the 26th is a stale FY24 copy-paste, and the extra chart name is Gibson, not a phantom.)

Requirements Coverage

The table below maps the implemented requirements. Deferred or approximated pathways are listed under Not Modeled.

REQ	Description	Param	Variable	Test
001	Smart Steps working/post-secondary, ≤85% SMI	income/smi_rate/initial	tn_ccap_eligible, tn_ccap_income_eligible, tn_ccap_activity_eligible	eligibility/*
002	Families First categorical	—	tn_ccap_eligible (is_tanf_enrolled)	tn_ccap_eligible, integration
006	≥1 eligible child in care	—	tn_ccap_eligible	tn_ccap_eligible
007	Child age < 13	eligibility/child_age_limit	tn_ccap_eligible_child	tn_ccap_eligible_child
008	Disabled-child age < 19; court-supervision pathway deferred	eligibility/special_needs_age_limit	tn_ccap_eligible_child	tn_ccap_eligible_child
009	Countable gross wages or salary	income/countable_income/sources	tn_ccap_countable_income	tn_ccap_countable_income
010	Initial ceiling 85% SMI	income/smi_rate/initial	tn_ccap_income_eligible	tn_ccap_income_eligible
011	Enrolled ceiling 100% SMI from 10/1/2025	income/smi_rate/enrolled	tn_ccap_income_eligible	tn_ccap_income_eligible
012	Enrolled ceiling 85% SMI before 10/1/2025	income/smi_rate/enrolled	tn_ccap_income_eligible	tn_ccap_income_eligible
013	SMI via federal smi() + Oct-1 pin	—	tn_ccap_smi	tn_ccap_smi
015	Asset limit $1M	—	tn_ccap_eligible (is_ccdf_asset_eligible)	tn_ccap_eligible
016	Immigration	—	tn_ccap_eligible_child (is_ccdf_immigration_eligible_child)	tn_ccap_eligible_child
017	Activity ≥ 30 hrs/wk or FT student	activity/weekly_hours	tn_ccap_activity_eligible	tn_ccap_activity_eligible
018	Two-parent: both parents	—	tn_ccap_activity_eligible	tn_ccap_activity_eligible
021	Copay 5% of gross	copay/rate	tn_ccap_copay	tn_ccap_copay
022	Pre-10/1/2025 waiver ≤150% FPL	copay/fpl_waiver_threshold	tn_ccap_copay	tn_ccap_copay
023	From 10/1/2025 no FPL waiver	copay/fpl_waiver_threshold	tn_ccap_copay	tn_ccap_copay
024	Part-time copay = half; FT ≥ 20 hrs	copay/part_time_share, time/full_time_threshold	tn_ccap_part_time, tn_ccap_copay	tn_ccap_part_time, tn_ccap_copay
025	Weekly double-floor ÷ 4.3, per-child split	copay/weeks_per_month	tn_ccap_copay	tn_ccap_copay
026	Federal 7% ceiling; TN uses 5%	copay/rate	tn_ccap_copay	(implicit)
027	Waived categories	—	tn_ccap_copay	tn_ccap_copay
028	Provider type	rates/{child_care_center,group_home,family_home,authorized}	tn_ccap_provider_type	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit
029	Age category (School In)	age_category/{infant,toddler}_max_months	tn_ccap_age_category	tn_ccap_age_category
030	County tier	county_tier/top_tier_counties	tn_ccap_county_tier	tn_ccap_county_tier
031	QRIS tier	rates/qris_bonus	tn_ccap_qris_tier	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit
032	QRIS bonus +15/20% → +5/10% @1/1/2026	rates/qris_bonus	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit
033	Part-time rate ½, rounded up	rates/part_time_share	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit
034	Infant differential +15%	rates/infant_differential	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit
035	Disability differential +15%	rates/disability_differential	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit
036	Toddler differential eliminated 10/1/2025 (partial)	rates/toddler_differential	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit
037	Pay lesser of charge and rate	—	tn_ccap	tn_ccap, integration
038	Per-child max weekly benefit	(rates)	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit	tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit
039	Benefit = min(expenses, annualized) − copay	—	tn_ccap	tn_ccap, integration
041	Register tn_child_care_subsidies	child_care_subsidy_programs.yaml, programs.yaml	tn_child_care_subsidies	tn_child_care_subsidies

Not Modeled

What	Source	Why excluded
Court-supervised child age extension	State Plan §2.2.1(c)	Awaiting a general cross-program is_under_court_supervision input; tracked in #9055
Disabled parent's inability to meet child-care needs	State Plan §2.2.2	is_disabled is used as a proxy; inability to care is not separately modeled
Transitional Child Care (18-mo post-TANF, ≤60% SMI)	T.C.A. §71-3-104; State Plan §2.3.1e	No post-TANF-transition input flag
Child-only guardians of a TANF relative child (≤60% SMI)	1240-01-54-.01	No guardian input flag
Teen parents in middle/high school (≤85% SMI)	1240-01-54-.01	No teen-parent-in-school input flag
Seasonal earnings-fluctuation continuity	State Plan §2.2.5	Not simulatable
Graduate 6/8 study-hour rules	State Plan §2.2.2	Beyond available inputs
Part-year / 10-month worker off-month eligibility	State Plan §2.2.2	Not simulatable
Funding-availability waitlist (from 8/26/2025)	FAQ	Funding-driven, not rule-based
School Out (summer) rates for school-age children	rate chart	No school-calendar input; default to School In
Desert/distressed-county +15% and non-traditional-hours +15% differentials	FAQ; Oct 2024 chart	No distressed-county or care-schedule-hours input; both sunset 10/1/2025 (only affect the 10/2024–9/2025 window). This is the partial portion of REQ-036 — the toddler +15% elimination IS modeled.

Historical Notes

Four effective-date eras are represented and deliberately not collapsed:

• 6/1/2024 — income-limit / copay chart era (85% SMI ceiling, 150% FPL copay waiver, 60/85 SMI copay bands). The top-level benefit remains zero until reimbursement rates begin on 10/1/2024. Source: June 2024 Income & Co-Pay Chart.
• 10/1/2024 — base reimbursement-rate chart + FY24 county list (27 Top Tier incl. Dyer); QRIS +15%/+20%; toddler / desert-distressed / non-traditional-hours differentials all active. Source: Oct 2024 Rate Chart, FY24 MRS.
• 10/1/2025 — copay 150% FPL waiver removed (5% for all); Smart Steps Plus adds the 100% SMI enrolled ceiling; toddler / desert-distressed / non-traditional-hours differentials eliminated. Sources: Oct 2025 Income & Co-Pay Chart, Funding FAQ.
• 1/1/2026 — QRIS bonus reduced to +5%/+10%; FY25 county list (26 Top Tier, Dyer dropped). Sources: Jan 2026 Rate Chart, FY25 MRS.

For Reviewer Confirmation

• special_needs_age_limit = 19 is taken from CCDF State Plan §2.2.1(b) for children incapable of self-care. The court-supervision pathway in §2.2.1(c) is intentionally deferred to Add a general court-supervision input variable #9055.

Files Added

55 new files (24 parameters, 17 variables, 14 tests), plus 2 registry edits and a changelog fragment.

Parameters (policyengine_us/parameters/gov/states/tn/dhs/ccap/):

activity/weekly_hours.yaml
in_effect.yaml
age_category/infant_max_months.yaml
age_category/toddler_max_months.yaml
copay/fpl_waiver_threshold.yaml
copay/part_time_share.yaml
copay/rate.yaml
copay/weeks_per_month.yaml
county_tier/top_tier_counties.yaml
eligibility/child_age_limit.yaml
eligibility/special_needs_age_limit.yaml
income/countable_income/sources.yaml
income/smi_rate/enrolled.yaml
income/smi_rate/initial.yaml
rates/authorized.yaml
rates/child_care_center.yaml
rates/disability_differential.yaml
rates/family_home.yaml
rates/group_home.yaml
rates/infant_differential.yaml
rates/part_time_share.yaml
rates/qris_bonus.yaml
rates/toddler_differential.yaml
time/full_time_threshold.yaml

Variables (policyengine_us/variables/gov/states/tn/dhs/ccap/):

tn_ccap.py
tn_child_care_subsidies.py
tn_ccap_protective_services_waiver.py
tn_ccap_countable_income.py
tn_ccap_smi.py
tn_ccap_enrolled.py
tn_ccap_provider_type.py
tn_ccap_qris_tier.py
tn_ccap_county_tier.py
tn_ccap_age_category.py
tn_ccap_part_time.py
eligibility/tn_ccap_eligible.py
eligibility/tn_ccap_eligible_child.py
eligibility/tn_ccap_income_eligible.py
eligibility/tn_ccap_activity_eligible.py
copay/tn_ccap_copay.py
payment/tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit.py

Tests (policyengine_us/tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/tn/dhs/ccap/, 130 cases):

integration.yaml                              (8)
tn_ccap.yaml                                  (8)
tn_ccap_age_category.yaml                     (11)
tn_ccap_countable_income.yaml                 (4)
tn_ccap_county_tier.yaml                      (7)
tn_ccap_part_time.yaml                        (5)
tn_ccap_smi.yaml                              (6)
tn_child_care_subsidies.yaml                  (3)
copay/tn_ccap_copay.yaml                      (16)
eligibility/tn_ccap_activity_eligible.yaml    (12)
eligibility/tn_ccap_eligible.yaml             (11)
eligibility/tn_ccap_eligible_child.yaml       (8)
eligibility/tn_ccap_income_eligible.yaml      (11)
payment/tn_ccap_max_weekly_benefit.yaml       (20)

Registry / changelog:

policyengine_us/parameters/gov/hhs/ccdf/child_care_subsidy_programs.yaml   (added tn_child_care_subsidies)
policyengine_us/programs.yaml                                              (TN CCAP entry under CCDF state_implementations)
changelog.d/tn-ccap.added.md

Test plan

• 130 tests pass across 14 test files (policyengine_us/tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/tn/dhs/ccap)
• Ruff format and lint pass
• Parameter/schema checks pass (7 tests)
• Microsimulation checks pass (6 tests)
• Remote CI passes