6-5 Three Week Rule For Continuous Absence

Introduction

The Three Week Rule For Continuous Absence limits the period of time that the Ministry will fund continuous absences, to three weeks.

This section explains the Three Week Rule, and how to apply it.
 

Three Week Rule

Services may claim funding for all sessions/days a child was enrolled to attend, but was absent from, within a three week period. The three week period begins on the first day of absence.

Services must not claim funding for absences that continue into the fourth week and beyond.

Funding resumes when the child returns to the service.

Services must not claim funding following notification from a parent/guardian that a child will not be returning to the service – even if the three week period has not ended. Funding claimed beyond this point will be recovered.

Rationale

The ECE Funding Subsidy is payable to services on the basis of child enrolments. This enables services to claim funding for children who are absent. Some children are absent for lengthy periods of time. On occasion, children who appear ‘absent’ will have left the service.

The Ministry wishes to maintain a reasonable level of funding for children who will return to the service. A level of security in funding allows services to budget more accurately.

Services should not be penalised if they are unaware that an absent child will not be returning to the service. However, the Ministry cannot fund absences indefinitely.

Special needs exemptions

Children with special needs or health problems may need to be absent for longer than three weeks. Services can apply for an exemption to the Three Week Rule for these children.

See Section 7-7 for details on how to apply for an exemption.
 

Extension for Extended Non-Operation

The Three Week Rule is extended for services that are closed for an extended period.

Services that are closed for at least two consecutive calendar weeks (i.e. 14 consecutive calendar days) may extend the three week period for enrolled children who are absent before and after the period of closure (see Section 6-6 for further details).
 

Examples

The examples below illustrate how the Three Week Rule can be applied to children enrolled for one, three or five sessions per week.

In all cases, funding can be claimed for all sessions the child was absent from within a three week period. The three week period begins on the first day of absence.      
 

Key for examples

Use the key below to understand the letters used in the examples:

n/e      Days the child was not enrolled to attend. 
a-yes  Days the child was enrolled to attend and was absent and funding can be
           claimed.
a-no    Days the child was enrolled to attend and was absent and funding cannot be
           claimed.
Y         Days the child attended.

Example 1

The example below illustrates how the Three Week Rule can be applied to a child enrolled for one session or day per week:

Normal Funding

Absence Week One
FUNDED

Absence Week Two
FUNDED

Absence Week Three
FUNDED

Absence Week Four
UNFUNDED

Example 2

The example below illustrates how the Three Week Rule can be applied to a child enrolled for three sessions or days per week:

Normal Funding

Absence Week One
FUNDED

Absence Week Two
FUNDED

Absence Week Three
FUNDED

Absence Week Four
UNFUNDED

Example 3

The example below illustrates how the Three Week Rule can be applied to a child enrolled for five sessions or days per week:

Absence Week One
FUNDED

Absence Week Two
FUNDED

Absence Week Three
FUNDED

Absence Week Four
UNFUNDED