1.  No payments to recipients.  The department may not make cash payments to recipients for child care services provided under this chapter, except when those payments represent reimbursement for services already provided to the recipient.  

2.  Maintenance of existing options.  The department shall ensure that child care funds are distributed through a range of mechanisms, including, but not limited to, vouchers to recipients and contracts to providers.  

3.  Quality differential.  To the extent permitted by federal law, the department shall pay a differential rate for child care services that meet or that make substantial progress toward meeting nationally recognized quality standards, such as those standards required by the Head Start program or required for accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and shall do so from the Child Care Development Fund 25% Quality Set-aside funds or by other acceptable federal practices. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined by Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A. The rules must establish a child care quality rating system with a minimum of 3 steps and must provide for graduated quality differential rates for steps that demonstrate that a child care provider meets or makes substantial progress toward meeting nationally recognized quality standards. The rules must provide that child care providers accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the American Montessori Society, the National Association for Family Child Care or the Council on Accreditation, or any of their successor organizations, or a Head Start program that meets national Head Start standards, receive the highest rating under the child care quality rating system.  

4.  Child care rates.  The department shall establish payment rates for child care services that are up to the 75th percentile of local market rates for the various categories of child care services. The payment rates for child care services for children with special needs may be higher than the 75th percentile of local market rates.  

5.  Payments to providers within 15 days.  The department shall reimburse a provider of child care services provided under this chapter within 15 days after receiving a complete and accurate invoice if the provider has met all the required state procurement and payment requirements.  

6.  Direct contracts with child care providers.  In order to increase the availability of child care in the State and to better stabilize payment practices for providers of child care, the office may directly contract with providers of child care to provide contracted child care slots to those providers in accordance with this subsection.  

7.  Reimbursements for subsidies.  The department shall reimburse a provider of child care services provided under this chapter for subsidies provided under the Maine Child Care Affordability Program established in section 3731‑A administered by the department pursuant to rules adopted by the department. To the extent allowable under federal law, reimbursement under the program to a child care provider must be based on generally accepted payment practices for private-pay families for child care, including enrollment-based rather than attendance-based practices. Reimbursement based on generally accepted payment practices must support child care provider stability and encourage more child care providers to serve children receiving child care services under the program. In developing the program, the department shall identify the practices common for child care providers serving private-pay families and determine which practices are most important to meet the goals of ensuring that high-quality child care providers participate in the program. The department shall make a plan to align requirements for providers accepting children receiving federal Child Care and Development Fund child care assistance to the practices of child care providers serving private-pay families. The department shall examine generally accepted payment practices regarding paying prospectively based on enrollment and practices related to separating provider closure limits for holidays or vacations or to compensate for inclement weather from child absence allowances. The department shall adopt rules to implement this subsection. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.  

8.  Subsidy above equivalent private rate.  To the extent allowable by federal law, the department may reimburse a provider of child care services for subsidies provided under the Maine Child Care Affordability Program established in section 3731‑A at the market rate established pursuant to subsection 4 to better reflect the cost of providing care even if that rate is higher than the rate charged by a provider of child care for a child in a family that is not receiving a subsidy under this chapter.