Implement Arkansas School Readiness Assistance (SRA / formerly CCAP) by hua7450 · Pull Request #8324 · PolicyEngine/policyengine-us

hua7450 · 2026-05-15T02:41:38Z

Summary

Implements Arkansas's School Readiness Assistance (SRA) program (formerly CCAP, transferred from AR DHS to AR Department of Education / Office of Early Childhood in June 2025; SRA-era rates effective Nov 1, 2025). Covers both Low-Income (LI) and Employment-Sponsored Subsidy (ESS) eligibility tracks with the full four-dimensional provider rate table (zone × age × care type × full-time/part-time), enforces the 4% per-family copay ceiling from the CCDF State Plan, and includes 180+ tests covering rate-sheet cells, state-share keys, eligibility tracks, and edge cases.

Closes #8323.

Regulatory Authority

Arkansas CCDF 2025-2027 State Plan, signed 4/26/2024 (171 pp) — §2.2.1 (disability extension to age 18, p18), §2.2.4 (income limit 85% SMI, p21), §2.2.6 (asset limit $1M, p25), §3.1.1 (4% copay cap, p39), §3.1.2 (sliding fee, p39), §3.1.2(e) (15% provider charge-above, p40).
Family Support Unit Procedure Manual, June 2023 (49 pp) — §4.1 eligibility factors (age <13, activity hours LI 30 hr/wk / ESS Yr1 20 hr/wk / ESS Yr2 25 hr/wk); §4.1.1 citizenship (p14); §4.1.3 residence; §4.1.5.1 (Year-1 alt path: earnings alone make family TEA-income-ineligible, p16); §4.3 income (p19-20); §4.3.3 excluded income — children's SSI and Social Security (p20); §5.4.6 FT/PT 7+ hr/day (p30).
OEC Rights & Responsibilities, Nov 2025 (2 pp) — SRA activity hours, asset limit, post-transfer agency authority.
OEC October 2025 Provider Call slides (10/7/25, 36 pp) — "Weekend and night time rates are set at a standard 10% increase of typical rates" (p4); 75th-percentile market survey methodology; Statewide vs Benton/Washington two-region structure.
SRA Sliding Fee Scale — Statewide Full-Time, eff Nov 1 2025 (1 pp) and the three companion sheets (Statewide Part-Time, Benton/Washington Full-Time, Benton/Washington Part-Time) — daily base rates and state-share fractions by income tier.
SRA SMI Monthly Income Chart, eff Oct 1 2025 (1 pp) — 40% / 60% / 85% / 100% SMI thresholds by family size.
AR Minimum Licensing Requirements for Child Care Centers (DCCECE, 2020) — Infant Center, Toddler Center, School Age Care age-group boundaries.

Program Overview

Administration: AR Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood (OEC). DCCECE transferred from AR DHS to ADE in June 2025.
Effective date modeled: 2025-11-01 onwards (in_effect gate). CCAP-era (pre-2025-11-01) deferred to a follow-up PR — the rate and copay structures differ materially (QRIS-based copay vs income-tier × age-group copay, county Rate Cap vs two-zone flat rates). The Oct 2025 transitional month (Quality Enhancement Payment supplement) is also out of scope.
Eligibility tracks modeled: Low-Income (LI) and Employment-Sponsored Subsidy (ESS, 24-month window after TEA exit).

Eligibility

Requirement	Source	How Modeled
Child under 13 (or under 19 if disabled)	FSU §4.1 / CCDF Plan §2.2.1	`is_ar_sra_age_eligible` reads `is_disabled` and selects `child_age_limit` (13) or `child_age_limit_disabled` (19)
Child US citizen / qualified alien / refugee	FSU §4.1.1	Reuses federal `is_ccdf_immigration_eligible_child`
Family income ≤ 85% SMI	CCDF Plan §2.2.4	`is_ar_sra_income_eligible`, param `eligibility/income_smi_rate=0.85`
Assets ≤ $1,000,000	CCDF Plan §2.2.6	Federal `is_ccdf_asset_eligible` (`gov.hhs.ccdf.asset_limit` is $1M from 2015, matching AR's specification)
Family resides in Arkansas	FSU §4.1.3	`defined_for = StateCode.AR` + `ar_sra_zone` state guard
LI: all adults active ≥ 30 hr/wk (with full-time student exemption + CCDF activity-test fallback)	FSU §4.1 + R&R Nov 2025	`is_ar_sra_li_activity_eligible`, param `activity_hours_li=30`
ESS Yr1: any adult ≥ 20 hr/wk, full-time student, OR family earned income alone exceeds the TEA limit	FSU §4.1.5.1 / R&R	`is_ar_sra_ess_eligible`; the alt path checks `ar_tea_countable_earned_income > tea_income_limit` (earnings-only per "earnings alone" wording)
ESS Yr2: any adult ≥ 25 hr/wk or full-time student	FSU §4.1.5.2 / R&R Nov 2025	params `activity_hours_ess_year_2=25`, `ess_window_months=24`

Benefit Calculation

The state pays a daily rate by zone × age category × care type × full-time/part-time, scaled by an income-tier state share. The family's per-child daily copay equals base_rate × (1 − state_share). The SPM-unit monthly subsidy is computed as sum(min(pre_subsidy_childcare_expenses − copay, max_monthly_state_payment)) across eligible children, then increased by cap_savings when the total payable copay exceeds 4% of monthly countable income.

4% per-family copay ceiling (CCDF State Plan §3.1.1): the State Plan's literal "gross income" wording is reconciled against FSU §4.3.3 (p20), which unconditionally excludes children's SSI and Social Security from the budget. The cap base is therefore ar_sra_countable_income — adult income only. Per child, the rate-sheet copay used in the cap calculation is clamped to that child's actual provider charge (min(rate_sheet_copay, monthly_expense)), so a child whose expense falls below the scheduled copay does not inflate cap_savings.

Zones (2): Benton/Washington Counties (Northwest AR) vs Statewide. Counties are parameter-driven (rates/benton_washington_counties.yaml).
Age categories (4): Infant (0-17 mo), Toddler (18-35 mo), Preschool (36-71 mo), School-Aged (72+ mo). Boundaries follow AR Min Licensing (Infant/Toddler) and Ark. Code 6-18-207 kindergarten enrollment age (School-Age).
Care types (5): Regular / Night-Weekend / Special Needs Level 1 (SN1) / SN2 / SN3.
Time (2): Full-Time (≥7 hr/day per FSU §5.4.6) / Part-Time. Classification uses childcare_hours_per_day.
Night/Weekend pricing: per the OEC Oct 7 2025 Provider Call ("Weekend and night time rates are set at a standard 10% increase of typical rates"), all Night/Weekend cells are populated at +10% of the corresponding REGULAR rate. The published rate sheets only carry the FT Night/Weekend column; PT Night/Weekend cells are derived as PT REGULAR × 1.10 from the same rule.
Special-needs supplements: SN1 = REGULAR; SN2 = SN3 = REGULAR × 1.4 (per OEC simplification).
Income tiers (3): LE_40 (≤40% SMI), GT_40_LE_60 (>40-60% SMI), GT_60 (>60% SMI; the 85% SMI cap is the eligibility ceiling, not a separate tier).
School-aged exception: state share at ≤40% SMI is 80% FT / 70% PT (not 100%), so school-aged children always incur a copay.
B/W rate convergence: under the Nov 1 schedule, B/W and Statewide rates converge for Preschool ($33 FT / $16.50 PT) and School-Aged ($28 FT / $14 PT); the regional premium applies only to Infant and Toddler.

ESS Track Modeling

Mirrors the California stage-3 pattern using two bare-input variables on the SPM unit:

ar_was_tea_recipient (YEAR, bool, default False)
ar_months_since_tea_exit (MONTH, int, default 0)

ESS Year 1 = months_since_tea_exit ∈ [1, 12]; ESS Year 2 = (12, 24]. Activity-hour thresholds and the 24-month window are parameter-driven. Hours are masked to adults (age >= adult_age_threshold, parameterized at 18) before the threshold check.

Year-1 activity is satisfied by 20+ hr/wk, any adult being a full-time student, OR family earned income alone exceeding the TEA income limit. The earned-income-only gate follows FSU §4.1.5.1's "earnings alone cause the family to be income ineligible for TEA" wording — unearned income (pension, Social Security, child support) is excluded from this specific test. Implementation: ar_tea_countable_earned_income > parameters.gov.states.ar.dhs.tea.income.income_limit.

Year-2 activity is satisfied by 25+ hr/wk or full-time student (no alt path per FSU §4.1.5.2).

Source-Document Reconciliation

The 4% copay ceiling and the ESS Year-1 alt path both required reconciling two source documents:

4% cap base — "gross income" vs FSU §4.3.3: CCDF State Plan §3.1.1 caps the family copay at "4% of gross income," but FSU §4.3.3 (p20) unconditionally excludes children's SSI and Social Security from the budget. The model uses ar_sra_countable_income (adult income only) as the cap base, treating the State Plan's "gross" as a colloquial reference to the post-§4.3.3 budget. The FSU Glossary defines "Gross Monthly Income" as "total earned and unearned income before tax deductions unless excluded" (p43), supporting this reading.
Year-1 alt path — "earnings alone" vs ~ar_tea_income_eligible: FSU §4.1.5.1 says the family qualifies if "the earnings alone cause the family to be income ineligible for TEA (the family's net countable income exceeds $513 per month)." The "alone" qualifier constrains the gate input to earned income — using the full TEA countable income (which includes pension, Social Security, etc.) would defeat the work-transition purpose of the ESS alt path. The model gates on ar_tea_countable_earned_income > tea_income_limit.
75% SMI no-cost waiver — State Plan §2.3.1(b) vs Nov 2025 rate sheets: State Plan §2.3.1(b) (p29) commits "no cost" assistance for families under 75% SMI, but the Nov 2025 operational rate sheets only zero the copay below 40% SMI. The model follows the rate sheets because they are the operational document the agency uses to compute copays; the broader State Plan waiver is not modeled (documented in no_copay_smi_threshold.yaml and ar_sra_daily_copay.py).

Not Modeled (by design)

What	Source	Why Excluded
ESS / LI lifetime limits (60 mo combined)	FSU §5.4	We don't track cumulative enrollment history at the moment
Emancipated-minor adult treatment	FSU §4.1.2	We don't track emancipated-minor status at the moment
75% SMI no-cost waiver	CCDF Plan §2.3.1(b)	Rate sheets supersede operationally; documented in copay variable
Provider 15% charge-above policy	CCDF Plan §3.1.2(e)	Provider-side, doesn't reduce family copay
Quality Enhancement Payment	OEC QEP Chart Nov 2025	Paid to provider only; doesn't affect family copay
Absentee day allowance (12-16 days/trimester)	R&R Nov 2025 rule 10	Provider invoice detail; not benefit-level
SSN requirement (each child)	FSU §4.1.4	Administrative requirement; not eligibility-determining
Pre-2025-11-01 CCAP / Oct 2025 transition era	—	Out of scope; era toggle leaves it disabled. Different rate/copay structure deferred to follow-up PR

Test Plan

All AR SRA tests pass locally: policyengine-core test policyengine_us/tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/ar/ade/oec/sra -c policyengine_us
cbo_household_income.yaml tests pass (no regression from household_state_benefits.yaml change)
make format clean (ruff format + ruff check pass)
CI passes

codecov · 2026-05-15T05:35:55Z

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 100.00%. Comparing base (bf8b00a) to head (3c9edbe).
⚠️ Report is 35 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@             Coverage Diff              @@
##             main     #8324       +/-   ##
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+ Coverage   78.70%   100.00%   +21.29%     
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  Files        4750        20     -4730     
  Lines       69270       324    -68946     
  Branches      341         1      -340     
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- Hits        54517       324    -54193     
+ Misses      14675         0    -14675     
+ Partials       78         0       -78

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Closes PolicyEngine#8323.

- Delete reinvented is_ar_sra_asset_eligible; delegate to federal is_ccdf_asset_eligible - Add ar_child_care_subsidies to gov/hhs/ccdf/child_care_subsidy_programs.yaml - Register AR SRA in programs.yaml under CCDF state implementations - Align in_effect.yaml start date to 2025-11-01 to match published rate sheets (Oct 2025 had different transitional rates and is documented as not-modeled)

…st.md - Delete orphan parameter income/excluded_sources.yaml (never referenced). - Rename was_tea_recipient/months_since_tea_exit → ar-prefixed for namespace. - LI activity: use age>=18 (not is_tax_unit_head_or_spouse); OR in meets_ccdf_activity_test fallback for unmodeled activities. - ESS activity: mask weekly_hours_worked to adults so working teens don't satisfy the threshold. - ar_sra: read pre_subsidy_childcare_expenses at period (auto-divides annual→monthly); drop redundant manual /MONTHS_IN_YEAR. - Compare monthly income vs monthly SMI in is_ar_sra_income_eligible and ar_sra_income_tier (single conversion instead of annualization). - Sweep parameter descriptions to use allowed verbs (limits / provides / sets / excludes / deducts / uses). - Remove absolute_error_margin from boolean-output test files. All 80 AR SRA tests pass. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Tier 1 — Honest references (drop or reframe phantom citations): - age_category_months.yaml: replace FSU §4.1 (doesn't define month boundaries) with the rate sheet (establishes the age-category labels) and strengthen the inline note that month boundaries are peer-state convention, not AR source. - full_time_hours_threshold.yaml: keep rate-sheet citations but retitle to make clear they establish FT/PT as billing categories — the 30-hour cutoff itself is peer-state convention. - child_age_limit.yaml, is_ar_sra_age_eligible.py, is_ar_sra_child_eligible.py: drop FSU co-citation (FSU §4.1 doesn't state the age-13 rule; only Title 016 §3.1.4 does). The two .py files also disagreed on which FSU page (13 vs 14). - base_rate.yaml: add top-of-file note that PT NIGHT_WEEKEND cells mirror PT REGULAR as a fallback — the source rate sheets have no PT N/W row. Tier 3 — Polish: - ar_sra.py: add clarifying comments on the YEAR→MONTH conversions for pre_subsidy_childcare_expenses (auto-divides at MONTH period) and childcare_attending_days_per_month (read at this_year to preserve count semantics). - Standardize absolute_error_margin to 0.1 across all currency rate tests (was 0.01, inconsistent with project convention of 0.1). - Expand variable-file reference tuples to cite all 4 rate-sheet PDFs (Statewide FT/PT + Benton-Washington FT/PT) — variables previously cited a subset of what the YAML cited. 80/80 AR SRA tests pass. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

- Revert 4-PDF reference expansion in 4 rate variable files (ar_sra_daily_base_rate / daily_copay / daily_state_payment / state_share). Each variable does a parameter lookup; the YAML files already cite all 4 rate sheets as the authoritative source. Restore a single canonical URL per variable. - Drop tuple wrapper from ar_sra_care_type.py and ar_sra_age_category.py which had `reference = ( "single_url", )` — string is the convention for a single reference. - Trim no_copay_smi_threshold.yaml and partial_subsidy_smi_threshold.yaml from 2 refs to 1 — the income-tier headers (40%, 60%) appear identically on the FT and PT rate sheets so a second citation is redundant. 80/80 AR SRA tests pass. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Add 17 test cases targeting BLOCKER and HIGH-priority gaps from the round-3 review pass: integration.yaml (6 new cases): - Case 9: SN2 special-needs care exercises non-REGULAR care type path - Case 10: low monthly expense ($300) binds before the state payment cap - Case 11: mixed-eligibility household (one 4-year-old, one 13-year-old) confirms per-child masking in the spm_unit.sum - Case 12: zero attending days produces $0 benefit despite eligibility - Case 13: school-aged child at LE_40 SMI confirms 80% state share flows through to a non-zero benefit (always-copay rule) - Case 14: part-time infant care exercises the PT category path ar_sra_li_activity_eligible.yaml (2 new cases): - Case 6: meets_ccdf_activity_test fallback for unmodeled activities - Case 7: mixed work + full-time-student adult exemption ar_sra_ess_eligible.yaml (4 new cases): - Case 6: month 12 is last Year-1 month, 20 hr threshold satisfied - Case 7: month 24 is last in-window month, 25 hr threshold satisfied - Case 8: month 25 is past the window, household not eligible - Case 9: working teen does not satisfy threshold when adult masked hours fall below — exercises the adult-only hours masking ar_sra_income_tier.yaml (4 new cases): - Cases 4-5: 40% SMI boundary (LE_40 just under, GT_40_LE_60 just over) - Cases 6-7: 60% SMI boundary (GT_40_LE_60 just under, GT_60 just over) ar_sra_eligible.yaml (1 new case): - Case 6: high assets ($2M) above CCDF asset limit fails eligibility Total: 97/97 AR SRA tests pass (was 80/80). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

… should) Critical: - Add 4% SPM-unit copay cap (CCDF State Plan §3.1.1; AR self-cert under federal 7%). New max_copay_share_of_gross_income parameter; ar_sra.py adds cap_savings to subsidy when rate-sheet copays exceed the ceiling. Updated integration Cases 1/2/5/13 with cap-adjusted values; added multi-child cap-binding Case 18. - Parameterize adult age threshold (18) via new eligibility/adult_age_threshold.yaml; removed hardcoded 18 from ar_sra_countable_income, is_ar_sra_ess_eligible, is_ar_sra_li_activity_eligible. - Register ar_child_care_subsidies in household_state_benefits.yaml. - Add ESS boundary + below-threshold tests (month 13 with 20/25 hr, 19/24 hr below-threshold). - Cover all 24 state_share keys (added Cases 5-24 covering INFANT and PART_TIME branches). - Add is_ar_sra_eligible: false to integration Case 8 (non-AR). - Add NIGHT_WEEKEND / SN1 / SN3 integration cases (REQ-021). Should-Address: - FT threshold corrected to 35 hr/wk (≈ 5 × 7 hr/day per FSU §5.4.6). - ESS Year-2 activity adds is_full_time_student OR-clause; Year-1 TEA-income-ineligible alt path documented as unmodeled. - Strip trailing zeros across rates YAMLs; remove empty edge_cases dir; add #page=1 anchor on OEC announcement; remove redundant ACF reference. - Rewrite is_ar_sra_eligible scalar return as AND-chain; trim verbose comments in ar_sra_age_category and ar_sra_zone. - Test gaps: zero-adult LI case, age-category month boundaries (17/18, 35/36, 71/72), PT NIGHT_WEEKEND fallback, BW SN2 + NIGHT_WEEKEND, new ar_sra_care_type test file. 140/140 AR SRA tests pass; household_state_benefits tests unaffected. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Critical: 0 (none introduced). Should-Address: - Tighten student OR-clause from is_full_time_student to is_full_time_college_student (FSU §4.1.5.4 converts via post-secondary credit hours, not K-12 enrollment). Applies to both LI and ESS tracks. - ESS Year-1 student OR-clause was asymmetrically missing — make Year-1 symmetric with Year-2 (FSU §4.1.5.2 / R&R Nov 2025 both authorize full-time school as Year-1 path). - Restore is_ar_sra_eligible early-return guard (project standard; matches CT/MT/SC/UT pattern, broadcast-safe with YEAR-period in_effect lookup). - ar_sra.py: clamp countable income at 0 before computing copay ceiling (prevents cap_savings inflation on negative income). Add min_(total_uncapped_subsidy + cap_savings, total_expense) clamp so total subsidy never exceeds actual childcare cost. - in_effect.yaml: change from period: year to period: month so the Nov 1, 2025 start date isn't backdated to Jan 1, 2025 by year-period lookup. Drop duplicate Case 3 from in_effect tests. - adult_age_threshold.yaml: cite FSU §4.3 (p.19) which contains the explicit "age eighteen (18) years and over" language (was §4.3.2). - full_time_hours_threshold.yaml: cite FSU §5.4.6 Authorization Care Types table (p.30) rather than the section header (p.29). - ar_sra_child_eligible.yaml: fix header that claimed "tax-unit dependent" check (formula doesn't check it). - Add tests: ESS Year-1/Year-2 student satisfies activity (Cases 14/15), ESS months_since=0 boundary (Case 16), exact 40%/60% SMI tier boundaries (Cases 8/9), zero-expense integration clamp guard (Case 19), negative-income regression guard (Case 20). 146 AR SRA tests pass. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

- Spell out "Employment-Sponsored Subsidy" instead of "ESS" acronym in 3 parameter descriptions (ess_window_months, activity_hours_ess_year_1, activity_hours_ess_year_2). - Simplify hhs_smi access in is_ar_sra_income_eligible and ar_sra_income_tier: drop the explicit period.this_year + /MONTHS_IN_YEAR pattern in favor of reading the YEAR-defined hhs_smi at MONTH period (core auto-converts the USD flow variable annual->monthly). 146 AR SRA tests pass; all critical and should-address findings from multi-round /review-program now cleared. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Switch FT classification to per-day (FSU §5.4.6 literal): - ar_sra_time_category now reads childcare_hours_per_day; threshold = 7. - Updates ~50 test inputs from childcare_hours_per_week to childcare_hours_per_day. - Fixes the 4-day × 8-hour case that was misclassified as PT under the per-week proxy. Reference / citation fixes: - ess_window_months page anchor 26 → 27 (where 24-month value displays). - adult_age_threshold title: §4.3 "Countable Income" → §4.3 "Income". - full_time_hours_threshold title: §5.4.6 "Authorization Care Types" → "Level of Care Authorized". - income_smi_rate page anchor 22 → 21 (where section header appears). - in_effect: drop #page=1 from the one-page OEC Announcement. Code style (drop multi-line "what" comments, add explanatory NOTEs): - ar_sra.py: trim CCDF Plan and clamp comments; add NOTE on the final expense clamp. - ar_sra_zone, is_ar_sra_ess_eligible, is_ar_sra_li_activity_eligible, ar_sra_countable_income: trim multi-line comments per code-style skill. - is_ar_sra_income_eligible, ar_sra_income_tier: add hhs_smi auto-divide NOTE. Move hard-coded Benton/Washington counties to a list parameter: - New rates/benton_washington_counties.yaml; ar_sra_zone uses np.isin lookup. Test additions / fixes: - $1M asset boundary tests (exact, +$1, -$1) added to ar_sra_eligible.yaml. - Fold ar_sra_in_effect.yaml into ar_sra_eligible.yaml; remove the standalone file. - Reconcile SMI documentation across integration.yaml and ar_sra_state_share.yaml (use uprated $95,201.95 to match hhs_smi at 2026-01-01). - Add just-below 85% SMI boundary case to ar_sra_income_eligible.yaml. - Clarify ESS Case 16 (months_since_tea_exit = 0 = still on TEA, not yet in window). - absolute_error_margin: 0.1 → 0.01 (currency tests); strip 0.1 from Enum-output tier file (no margin needed); rate-output state_share keeps 0.001. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

…t path, Night/Weekend coercion Substantive behavior changes (4 review-finding items resolved): 1. **4% cap base switched to gross income** (CCDF State Plan §3.1.1 literal): - New `ar_sra_gross_income` mirrors `ar_sra_countable_income` but does NOT exclude children's SSI / Social Security (the FSU §4.3.2 exclusion is for the countable-income tier, not the per-family copay ceiling). - `ar_sra.py` uses `ar_sra_gross_income` as the 4% cap denominator. 2. **Age-13+ disability extension** (CCDF State Plan §2.2.1): - New `child_age_limit_disabled = 18` parameter. - `is_ar_sra_age_eligible.py` uses the higher limit when `is_disabled`. - 3 new test cases (disabled child 15 eligible, non-disabled 15 not, age 18 boundary). 3. **ESS Year-1 TEA-income-ineligibility alt path** (FSU §4.1.5.1): - `is_ar_sra_ess_eligible.py` Year-1 activity OR-clauses `~ar_tea_income_eligible`. - Year-2 unchanged (FSU §4.1.5.2 does not have the alt path). - 3 new test cases (Y1 alt path triggers, Y1 work-hours fallback fails when TEA-income-eligible, Y2 does not include alt path). 4. **Night/Weekend rates coerced to FT-only** (OEC Oct 7 2025 Provider Call): - Per OEC, Night/Weekend is a separate 5th service category priced at 110% of FT typical rates — not a FT/PT subdimension. - `ar_sra_daily_base_rate.py` overrides time-category lookup to FT when care_type is NIGHT_WEEKEND. - Test Case 14 (PT NIGHT_WEEKEND infant) expected value updated from $18 (old PT REGULAR fallback) to $39.60 (Night/Weekend FT rate). Source-research updates: - `age_category_months.yaml` reference updated from peer-state convention flag to AR Minimum Licensing Requirements (DCCECE 2020) for Infant/Toddler boundaries plus Ark. Code 6-18-207 for kindergarten/School-Age boundary. - `is_ar_sra_age_eligible.py` reference expanded to include CCDF State Plan §2.2.1 (disability extension authority). - `ar_sra_daily_base_rate.py` reference expanded to include OEC Provider Call 10.7.25 (Night/Weekend category definition). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Resolves the 3 remaining "Verification TODO" items from the PR description. No formula or parameter-value changes — research-only round. - ar_sra_care_type.py: add FSU Procedural Manual §5.6.1 page-32 reference and a 4-line comment documenting SN1/SN2/SN3 criteria. SN level is set by a licensed medical practitioner's documentation per FSU §5.6.1; not derivable from any current PolicyEngine input. Variable remains a bare Enum input. - activity_hours_li.yaml: 2-line comment clarifying the 30 hr/wk applies to LI track only (ESS year-1 and year-2 thresholds live in separate parameter files). Verified separately (no change needed): - state_share_by_tier.yaml SCHOOL_AGED + LE_40 already gives 0.8/0.7 state share (not 1.0), matching OEC Oct 1 2025 deck's "$4.65 copay on $15.50 rate". No school-aged $0-copay bug. - base_rate.yaml already reflects Oct 1 2025 SN simplification: SN1 = REGULAR; SN2 = SN3 = REGULAR x 1.4 across all zones/ages. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

- child_age_limit_disabled: 18 -> 19 per FSU §5.6.1 ("under nineteen") and CCDF State Plan §2.2.1 ("below age 19"). - Night/Weekend rate: populate PT N/W cells as PT REGULAR * 1.10 per Provider Call slide 4 ("+10% on typical rates"); remove FT-coercion override in ar_sra_daily_base_rate formula that doubled the PT rate. - income_smi_rate reference: #page=21 -> #page=22 (§2.2.4 header location). - Promote dese.ade.arkansas.gov CCDF State Plan as primary source for child_age_limit{,_disabled} (drop publichealthlawcenter.org aggregator). - Add ar_sra unit test (5 cases): baseline, total_expense clamp, zero-expense clamp, 4% gross-income cap binding, negative-income clamp. - Add ar_sra_gross_income unit test (4 cases): adult-only, child SSI inclusion (vs countable exclusion), child SSDI inclusion, defined_for guard. - Repair pre-existing ESS Year-1 alt-path test: use employment_income_before_lsr (the variable tanf_gross_earned_income actually reads), not employment_income, so TEA-income-ineligibility is correctly triggered. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

PavelMakarchuk

Program Review — PR #8324: Arkansas School Readiness Assistance (SRA)

Source Documents

9 PDFs reviewed:
- CCDF State Plan FFY 2025-2027 (171 pages)
- DHS-DCCECE Families Service Unit (FSU) Manual, June 2023 (49 pages)
- HHS State Median Income (SMI) Chart 2025 (1 page)
- 4 Sliding Fee Scale rate sheets (Statewide FT/PT, B/W FT/PT — 1 page each)
- DCCECE R&R Notice Nov 2025 (2 pages)
- DCCECE Provider Call Slides, October 2025 (36 pages)
Year coverage: Effective 2025-11-01. Pre-2025 CCAP era explicitly deferred to follow-up via an in_effect gate.
Effort scale: 6,070-line diff across 62 files. CI: all PASS.

Critical (Must Fix Before Merge)

None. All three reconciliation items the author flagged for reviewer attention were investigated and verified defensible (see "Investigated and Cleared" below).

Should Address

Changelog filename typo — changelog.d/ar-ccap.added.md should be ar-sra.added.md. The program is School Readiness Assistance, not CCAP (CCAP is the pre-2025 era explicitly deferred). Same pattern as the AL CCSP al-ccap typo found in PR #8322.
max_copay_share_of_gross_income.yaml period mismatch — Declared period: year but applied to a monthly base in ar_sra.py. The share is unit-agnostic so arithmetic is correct, but metadata should be period: month (or eternity) for clarity and to avoid misleading future maintainers.
pre_subsidy_childcare_expenses access pattern — Accessed with MONTH period in ar_sra.py:5507 though the variable is YEAR. Works via auto-conversion, but inconsistent with the AL/NH precedent of using .this_year. Align with peer-state pattern for clarity.
ar_child_care_subsidies aggregator missing reference field — Aggregator variable should cite the federal aggregation pattern or the SRA program reference for traceability.
G5 — LI activity test possibly over-lenient — is_ar_sra_li_activity_eligible ORs in meets_ccdf_activity_test as a fallback. Per FSU §4.1.5 + R&R, LI requires ALL adults to meet a 30 hr/wk activity floor; the federal fallback may admit weaker activity definitions. Verify this is intentional flexibility or tighten by removing the fallback for the LI branch.
income/sources.yaml — Add an explicit FSU §4.3.3 (#page=20) reference for the child SSI/SS exclusion rule. Currently the exclusion is encoded but the citation pointer is loose.
rates/base_rate.yaml — Add a Provider Call PDF (#page=4) reference documenting the derivation of the +10% Night/Weekend and +40% Special Needs (SN2/SN3) multipliers.
eligibility/ess_window_months.yaml citation anchor — The manifest places the 24-month value on FSU p14, but the YAML cites §5.4.1. Verify the correct anchor and align.
$31 vs $28 School-Aged FT base — Provider Call slides show School-Aged FT base = $31, but the Nov 1 rate sheet shows $28. The PR uses $28 (correct, since rate sheets are operative). Add an inline comment in base_rate.yaml or ar_sra_daily_base_rate.py documenting this reconciliation so future updates do not "fix" it back to $31.
Missing test — 70% SMI fixture asserting non-zero copay — Locks in the 75% State Plan no-cost waiver as intentionally deferred behavior.
Missing test — Adult age 17 vs 18 threshold — Currently only implicated via teen-masking in Case 9; add a direct boundary test.
Missing test — Income source fixtures for adult SSI/SS counted — Currently only employment_income is exercised; need fixtures confirming adult SSI/SS feed into countable income while child SSI/SS are excluded.
Self-employment "@ federal minimum wage" floor (FSU §4.3.6 p21) not enforced — Documented limitation, acceptable but worth surfacing in a changelog note or a TODO comment.
Combined work/school formula (FSU §4.1.5.4 — hours × 2.5) not modeled — Documented limitation, acceptable as Phase-1 scope.

Suggestions

Optional decomposition of the dense ar_sra formula into named intermediate variables for readability (long expression nesting in the main copay/subsidy formula).
Reconciliation comments could cross-reference parameter YAML headers (bi-directional pointers between code and parameters).
ar_sra_age_category uses age * MONTHS_IN_YEAR — loses sub-year resolution. This is a policyengine-core limitation, not a PR bug; document inline.
ar_sra_zone has an explicit state == "AR" runtime guard inside the formula (defense-in-depth beyond defined_for). Intentional, OK to keep — note as a pattern.
activity_hours_ess_year_2.yaml cites §4.1.5.1; could additionally cite §4.1.5.2 for completeness.
Add a 2025 whole-year date-boundary test (around the 2025-11-01 cutover).
Add an ESS Yr2 26-hr symmetric test (currently tests 25; symmetric coverage at 26 helps).
Add an integration test combining the 4% cap with child-SSI exclusion.
Add an unknown-county zone-default test.
Add an explicit "12 = half of 24" comment for ess_year_1_window_months.yaml.
Add a CCDF Plan citation for the B/W zone distinction (Benton + Washington counties).

Investigated and Cleared

The author explicitly flagged three reconciliation items in the PR description. All three were investigated and found defensible:

4% copay cap base "gross" → countable income — Using ar_sra_countable_income (adult-only) is defensible. FSU §4.3.3 unconditionally excludes children's SSI/SS; FSU Glossary p43 defines "gross" as "before tax deductions UNLESS EXCLUDED", which supports treating the cap base as countable_income rather than raw gross_income. No change required.
ESS Year-1 alt path "earnings alone" → earned-only income — Gating on ar_tea_countable_earned_income > tea_income_limit (NOT ~ar_tea_income_eligible) correctly honors the FSU §4.1.5.1 verbatim phrase "earnings ALONE". Verified by tests:
- Case 17, Case 19, Case 20 exercise this branch.
- Case 20 specifically confirms that unearned-only income does not trigger the alt path.
  No change required.
75% SMI no-cost waiver NOT modeled — The PR follows operational rate sheets (≤40% SMI only) rather than State Plan §2.3.1(b)'s priority-group waiver up to 75% SMI. Defensible because the rate sheets are the operative pricing document; the §2.3.1(b) waiver is a separate priority-group mechanism. Author documents this in no_copay_smi_threshold.yaml and ar_sra_daily_copay.py. Recommend a follow-up issue to track the deferred §2.3.1(b) waiver implementation.

PDF Audit Summary

Category	Result
Confirmed correct	~150 data points across 15 categories
Mismatches	0
Reconciliation items defensible	3

What was verified exactly:

80 base-rate cells across Statewide FT/PT + B/W FT/PT × Infant/Toddler/Preschool/School-Aged × Regular/Night-Weekend/SN1/SN2/SN3.
24 state-share cells across 2 time × 4 age × 3 income tiers.
Care-type multipliers: Night/Weekend = Regular × 1.10; SN1 = Regular; SN2 = SN3 = Regular × 1.40.
PT = ½ FT per Provider Call methodology — confirmed via direct rate-sheet comparison.
Age categories: 0–17 mo / 18–35 mo / 36–71 mo / 72+ mo (Core month-resolution limitation noted).
85% SMI ceiling matches federal hhs_smi exactly (Family 1: $3,325.31; Family 2: $4,348.49; Family 3: $5,371.66).
$1M asset limit via federal is_ccdf_asset_eligible reuse.
Child age 13 standard, 19 disabled extension.
Citizenship: child-only via is_ccdf_immigration_eligible_child reuse; parents NOT required.
LI 30 hr/wk all-adults pattern.
ESS Yr1 20 hr/wk any-adult OR FT student OR earnings-alone alt path.
ESS Yr2 25 hr/wk any-adult.
ESS window 24 months; Yr1 = months 1–12; Yr2 = months 13–24.
Adult age threshold = 18.
4% copay cap formula with per-child clamping.
School-aged exception (NEVER 100% state share, even at ≤40% SMI).
B/W convergence at Preschool + School-Aged tiers (B/W premium only for Infant + Toddler).
Benton + Washington counties only in B/W zone.
Federal aggregator + programs.yaml + household_state_benefits.yaml integration.
Full-time hours threshold = 7 per FSU §5.4.6.
$31 vs $28 School-Aged FT discrepancy resolved (rate sheets are operative).

Validation Summary

Check	Result
Regulatory Accuracy	0 critical + 1 should + 5 suggestions
Reference Quality	0 critical + 4 should + 6 suggestions
Code Patterns	0 critical + 8 should + 6 suggestions
Test Coverage	0 critical + 3 should + 4 suggestions
PDF Value Audit	0 mismatches / ~150 data points confirmed
CI Status	All PASS

Review Severity: APPROVE (with should-fix recommendations)

Phase-1 AR SRA is a high-quality new-state-program implementation by the same author as the recently-reviewed WA WCCC (#8208, merged) and AL CCSP (#8322).

Zero critical findings.
All 3 reconciliation items (the items the author explicitly flagged for reviewer attention) are defensible.
PDF audit verified ~150 data points exactly: 80 base-rate cells, 24 state-share cells, 85% SMI tier values matching federal hhs_smi, all eligibility thresholds, all formula correctness checks.
Remaining items are polish: changelog filename typo (same pattern as AL CCSP), reference page tightening, period metadata fix, several missing-test fixtures, and one possibly-overlenient LI activity fallback to scrutinize.

Next Steps

Author may proceed with merge after addressing the should-fix items inline, or address them as follow-ups. The §2.3.1(b) 75% SMI priority-group waiver deferral should be tracked as a separate issue.

# Conflicts: # policyengine_us/parameters/gov/household/household_state_benefits.yaml # policyengine_us/programs.yaml

Two code-health tests started failing on main after PRs #8324 (AR SRA) and #8208 (WA WCCC) merged. Neither was caught by the originating PRs' CI because the tests were added later. Both fixes are localized. 1. ar_sra_countable_income.py — `test_no_builtin_sum_over_entity_calls` flagged line 21: per_person_income = sum(person(source, period) for source in p.income.sources) The built-in `sum()` walks an AST containing direct `person(...)` calls, which can break vectorization. Precompute the per-person arrays into a list, then sum the list (the AST under the `sum()` call no longer contains entity-variable calls). 2. wa_wccc_provider_type.py — `test_input_variable_definitions ::test_input_variables_do_not_use_non_geographic_defined_for` flagged this input variable's `defined_for = "wa_wccc_eligible_child"`. Non-geographic `defined_for` on an input variable silently zeros user-provided inputs in surprising ways. Replace with the standard geographic `defined_for = StateCode.WA`, matching every other wa_wccc_* variable. Downstream consumers (e.g., wa_wccc_max_monthly_reimbursement, which retains its own eligible-child gate) continue to filter by eligibility, so output behavior is unchanged. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

hua7450 changed the title ~~Implement Arkansas Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)~~ Implement Arkansas School Readiness Assistance (SRA / formerly CCAP) May 15, 2026

hua7450 and others added 11 commits May 18, 2026 01:26

Scaffold AR CCAP implementation

159c6e1

Implement Arkansas School Readiness Assistance (SRA)

ddaca54

Closes PolicyEngine#8323.

hua7450 force-pushed the ar-ccap branch from 3d3b125 to b0c08c1 Compare May 18, 2026 05:27

hua7450 and others added 4 commits May 18, 2026 01:42

fix

8b2cc5a

hua7450 marked this pull request as ready for review May 20, 2026 03:21

hua7450 added 3 commits May 19, 2026 23:22

fix

8be9b66

upstream main

fcc37d2

minor

3c9edbe

hua7450 requested a review from PavelMakarchuk May 20, 2026 03:32

PavelMakarchuk approved these changes May 28, 2026

View reviewed changes

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into pr-8324

d14dd54

# Conflicts: # policyengine_us/parameters/gov/household/household_state_benefits.yaml # policyengine_us/programs.yaml

PavelMakarchuk merged commit 0dd7167 into PolicyEngine:main May 28, 2026
23 of 24 checks passed

This was referenced May 28, 2026

Fix code-health regressions in AR SRA and WA WCCC #8537

Merged

Fix federal-state tax conformity for EITC, deductions, and ALDs #8243

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Implement Arkansas School Readiness Assistance (SRA / formerly CCAP)#8324

Implement Arkansas School Readiness Assistance (SRA / formerly CCAP)#8324
PavelMakarchuk merged 19 commits into
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Summary

Regulatory Authority

Program Overview

Eligibility

Benefit Calculation

ESS Track Modeling

Source-Document Reconciliation

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Program Review — PR #8324: Arkansas School Readiness Assistance (SRA)

Source Documents

Critical (Must Fix Before Merge)

Should Address

Suggestions

Investigated and Cleared

PDF Audit Summary

Validation Summary

Review Severity: APPROVE (with should-fix recommendations)

Next Steps

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hua7450 commented May 15, 2026 •

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