Section 17-799-7 - Priority of applications(a) Approved applications shall be assigned to priority groups in the following order from the highest priority to lowest.(1) Children who turned or will turn four years old between August 1 of the prior year through December 31 of the prior year applying for the program for the designated school year, have a completed Special Populations Referral form prescribed by the department, are eligible to enter kindergarten at the start of the following school year, and need child care assistance to attend preschool;(2) Children who will turn four years old between January 1 through July 31 of the year applying for the program for the designated school year, have a completed Special Populations Referral form prescribed by the department, are eligible to enter kindergarten at the start of the following school year, and need child care assistance to attend preschool; and(3) Children who will turn four years old during the year applying for the program for the designated school year, are eligible to enter kindergarten at the start of the following school year, and need child care assistance to attend preschool,(b) Effective with the 2024-25 program year, approved applications shall be assigned to priority groups in the following order from the highest priority to lowest.(1) Children who are turning five years old between August 1 through December 31 of the applying program year, are eligible to enter kindergarten at the start of the following school year, and need child care assistance to attend preschool;(2) Children who were served by the program the year prior to the applying program year, have a completed Special Populations Referral form prescribed by the department, are eligible to enter kindergarten at the start of the following school year, and need child care assistance to attend preschool;(3) Children who were served by the program the year prior to the applying program year, are eligible to enter kindergarten at the start of the following school year, and need child care assistance to attend preschool;(4) Children who are four years old by July 31 of the applying program year, are eligible to enter kindergarten at the start of the following school year, and need child care assistance to attend preschool;(5) Children who will be three years old by July 31 of the applying program year, have a completed Special Populations Referral form prescribed by the department, and need child care assistance to attend preschool; and(6) Children who will be three years old by July 31 of the applying program year and need child care assistance to attend preschool.(c) Approved applications shall be income-ranked within their priority group, and within their geographical area designated by the department, by dividing their monthly gross income by: (1) Eighty-five per cent of the State Median Income for a family of the same size; or(2) Effective with the 2024-25 program year, three hundred per cent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines in effect for the program year for a family of the same size, which shall be updated annually on January 1 pursuant to section 17-799-8.(d) The department shall issue written notification to each applicant for services, pursuant to 17-799-19.[Eff 2/09/14] (Auth: HRS § 346-14, HRS § 346-181) (Imp: HRS § 346-14; HRS § 346-181)