Manage Offers

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Overview

Once you make an offer to a family, the family has two business days, excluding holidays or weekends, to (a) respond to the offer (i.e., accept, decline, or request a deferral) and (b) reconfirm all other active requests for the same child. In some cases, how a family responds depends on the type of offer they received.

There may be situations when you have to make an early or partial offer depending on what space you have available and when care can start. In those situations, a family has more options in how they can respond to the offer. The below list describes three unique situations.

Early Offer: If the family receives an early offer, they have the option to (a) accept the offer and start the enrollment process for the date care is available; (b) decline this offer and wait until another space is available after their date care needed; or (c) decline the offer and be removed from the waitlist.
Partial Offer: If a family receives a partial offer, they have the option to (a) accept the partial offer and stay on the waitlist for the remaining part(s) of the request, (b) decline this offer and wait for a full offer, or (c) decline the offer and be removed from the waitlist.
Early and Partial Offer: If a family receives an early, partial offer, they have the option to (a) accept the offer; (b) decline the offer and wait until the DCN; (c) decline the offer and wait for a full offer; (d) select both to decline the offer and wait until their DCN and for a full offer; or (e) decline the offer and be removed from the waitlist.

Help Families Respond to the Offer

A family can accept or decline the offer independently on their My Child Care screen in MCC, take no action (in which case the offer will expire after two business days), or call a program user to request that the offer be deferred.

If the family needs assistance responding to the offer, you can walk the family member through the process of responding to the offer, either while they use their own device or use a device available at your program. This helps the family member learn how to use MCC, so they may respond on their own should they receive another offer, and tracks and documents that the family has logged in and made the decision. See How a Family Responds to an Offer for step-by-step instructions from the family’s view.

In rare circumstances, you may respond to an offer on the family’s behalf. When doing so, you must read the onscreen text to the family as you perform each action so they are fully aware of the decisions they are making. You can take action on their behalf from your Placement List or from the family’s Manage Care tab accessible via their Household Profile. For instructions on how to take action in the Manage Care tab, review Manage a Family’s Request. Follow the steps below for instructions on how to take action via the Placement List based on how the family wants to respond.

ACCEPT OR DECLINE AN OFFER ON BEHALF OF A FAMILY

Regardless of the type of offer – full, partial, or early – you can accept or decline the offer (and remove the request from the waitlist) using the same action.

Select the Manage Placement List button from the dashboard.
Find the appropriate offer on the Placement List. You can search by the child’s first and/or last name to quickly find the offer.
Select the Accept or Decline link.
If you select the Accept link, an Accept Offer window appears. Select the Yes button to finish accepting the offer. Select the No button to cancel the action and return to the Placement List.
If a family declines an offer from an FCC provider, you must select the reason for declining the offer.
The decline reasons displayed are based on whether the offer was for an FCC provider or a facility-based program (CDC, SAC, 24/7). After selecting the reason, select the Yes button to finish declining the offer. Select the No button to cancel the action and return to the Placement List.

WAIT FOR AN OFFER ON BEHALF OF A FAMILY

There are three situations where a family may not want to accept the current offer, but instead want to remain on the waitlist for another offer.

If the family received an early offer, but cannot start care early, they may want to “Wait Until Date Care Needed”.
If the family received a partial offer, they may want to “Wait for a Full Offer” that meets their entire child care need.
If the family received an early, partial offer, they may choose to “Wait” until the date care needed, for a full offer, or for both.

In this topic, you will learn to take the appropriate wait action from the Placement List. To take action from the Manage Care tab in the Household Profile, review Respond to an Offer. In all cases, make sure to read the onscreen text to the family, so they are aware of the steps they are taking.

Select the Manage Placement List button from the dashboard.
Find the appropriate offer on the Placement List. You can search by the child’s first and/or last name to quickly find the offer.
Select the appropriate Wait action link.

Wait Until Date Care Needed

Select the 'Wait Until Date Care Needed' action when an early offer is made and the family cannot start care early.
Select the Yes button to confirm the selection.
- The confirmation message will close and the offer will be declined.
- The request will not appear on the Make Offer list until the DCA is on or after the DCN.
- The request will show on the Waitlist View with the ‘Cannot Take an Early Offer’ icon next to the program that made the early offer.
- If you select the No button , the confirmation message will close. The offer will remain active until an action is taken or the offer expires.

Wait for Full Offer

Select the “Wait for a Full Offer” action when a partial offer is made and the family cannot accept a partial offer.
Select the Yes button to confirm the selection.
- The confirmation message will close and the offer will be declined.
- The request will show on the Make Offer list with an icon indicating the family cannot take a partial offer.
- If “No” is selected, the confirmation message will close. The offer will remain active until an action is taken or the offer expires.

Wait (for full offer and/or until DCN)

Select the Wait action when an offer is both early and partial.
Select the type of offer the family would like to wait for.
- If you select ‘Wait until my date care needed’, the request will remain active, but the child will not appear on the Make Offer list until on or after their DCN. They may receive a partial offer.
- If you select ‘Wait for a full offer’, the request will remain active, but the request will show on the Make Offer list with an icon indicating the family cannot take a partial offer. They may receive an early offer.
- If you select both options, the request will remain active. The child will not display on the Make Offer list until the DCA is on or after the DCN and once displayed an icon indicating the family cannot take a partial offer will display.
Select the Yes button to confirm the action. Select the No button to close the confirmation message; the offer will remain active until an action is taken or the offer expires.

DEFER AN OFFER FOR A FAMILY

A family may request a deferral if (a) they are unable to start care in the short term and would like to remain on the waitlist with their original RFC date, or (b) an offer is made for the next age group to a child on the cusp of that age group and the family does not think it is the right fit for their child. A family must call you directly to request a deferral because they cannot take this action through MCC. There are two types of deferrals:

First time deferral. If it is the family’s first time requesting a deferral, you can defer the offer for the family as a courtesy automatically without requesting or documenting a reason.
Subsequent deferral request for the same care option. If the family has already deferred an offer for the same care option at the same program or FCC provider, you must document the reason for the subsequent deferral request and obtain approval prior to granting the deferral.

Determine if family has deferred an offer

Before processing a deferral, access the History tab in the family’s Household Profile to determine if they have already deferred an offer for the same care option.

Access the History tab in two different ways.
- If you are on the Placement List, find the appropriate offer and select the child’s name to open the Child Details window. From there, select the Household Profile link to open the family’s profile and select the History tab.
- From the dashboard, select the Find Household button to open the Household Profile page. Use the filters to search for the family’s profile. Select the Edit link and then the History tab.
Filter the list by selecting Deferred from the multi-select Status drop-down. Offers will be group by child in descending order.
Scan the list to determine if the child has a record for the same Care Requested.
- If yes, process the request as a subsequent deferral
- If no, process the request as a first-time deferral

Process a first-time deferral

Select the Manage Placement List button from the dashboard.
Find the appropriate offer on the Placement List. You can search by the child’s first and/or last name to quickly find the offer.
Select the Defer link to open the Defer Offer window.
Use the calendar tool to select a new DCN. The new DCN must be at least 45 calendar days after their most recent DCN, or, if the DCN is in the past, at least 45 calendar days from today’s date.
Select the Yes button to finish deferring the offer. Select the No button to cancel the deferral and return to the Placement List.

Process a subsequent deferral request (same care option)

A manager must review and approve any subsequent deferral requests before you process it in MCC. If the manager approves the request, follow these steps. Note: An FCC provider that manages their own waitlist can make subsequent deferrals themselves.

Select the Manage Placement List button from the dashboard.
Find the appropriate offer on the Placement List. You can search by the child’s first and/or last name to quickly find the offer.
Select the Defer link to open the Defer Offer window.
Select the reason for deferring the offer or select “Other” and enter a description into the text box. When deferring an offer made to a child on the cusp of the next age group, select “Other” and enter the reason into the text field.
Use the calendar tool to select a new DCN. The new DCN must be at least 45 calendar days after their most recent DCN.
Select the Yes button to finish deferring the offer. Select the No button to cancel the deferral and return to the Placement List.

Take Action Based on the Family’s Response

It is important that you actively monitor the Placement List to identify any changes to the offer status because of the family’s response to an offer so you can take the next required action quickly. The default sort for the Placement List shows the items for which action is needed first, with the most recent at the top so you can quickly identify what to handle first.

Once you are aware of the offer disposition, take the appropriate action (as listed in the table below) based on the family’s response. Instructions for each action are after the table.

Table that displays list of family actions and the program user’s next step

MAKE ANOTHER OFFER

If a family declines an offer, fails to respond to an offer and the offer expires, or defers an offer, you must make an offer to the family whose request is next in sequence within one business day.

FCC Provider

You have two options on how to make another offer if an offer expires or has been declined or deferred depending on if you have other requests in interviewing status or not.

Option 1: There are requests in interviewing status

If you interviewed more than one family for the space, each family’s request will stay on your Placement List in “Interviewing” status until you select either the Make Offer or No Offer option. If you conducted multiple interviews and still have requests waiting disposition, follow the steps below to make another offer.

Select the Manage Placement List button from your dashboard.
Filter the list for offers with a status of interviewing.
Select the Make Offer link on the request sequenced first.
Select the Submit button on the Make Offer Confirmation window to send an offer notification to the family and update the family’s dashboard with the offer information.

Placement List filtered to show offers in interviewing and offered-pending complete status

Option 2: There are no requests in interviewing status

If you do not have any requests in interviewing status, you must make another offer using the process described in the Make Offers topic.

CDC, SAC, 24/7 Centers Only

Select the Manage Placement List button from your dashboard.
Filter the list for offers with a status of declined, deferred, or expired.
Locate the request for which you would like to make another offer and select the Make Another Offer button. Once you select the Make Another Offer button, you will return to the Describe Space screen. The previously entered space information will be prepopulated, except that the number of available spaces will default to one and the Date Care Available will be left blank for you to complete.
Select the Next button to generate the Make Offer list or modify the space description, as needed, and then select the Next button.
Select the first request in sequence. Remember that for care types with flexible schedules (e.g., 24/7, extended), you may select the first request where the family’s schedule need matches your available space.
Review the child’s name to ensure you selected the correct request, and then either select (a) the Submit button to confirm the offer or (b) the Cancel link to return to the Make Offer screen. Once you select the Submit button, the system sends an offer notification to the family and updates the family’s dashboard with the offer information.

NOTE: You can only select the Make Another Offer button once. Once selected, the button will be grayed out. If you still need to make an offer, and this button is no longer available, select the Make Offer button from your dashboard and start the process over by describing your space. The Make Another Offer button is also disabled if the care option has ended (e.g., school out day has passed) or the program is in a closure status.

Last revised: 25 Aug 2021

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Manage Offers

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