An Indian Tribe or tribal organization (as described in Subpart G of these regulations) may be awarded grants to plan and carry out programs for the purpose of increasing the availability, affordability, and quality of child care and childhood development programs subject to the following conditions:
(a) An Indian Tribe applying for or receiving CCDF funds shall be subject to all the requirements under this part, unless otherwise indicated.
(b) An Indian Tribe applying for or receiving CCDF funds shall:
(1) Have at least 50 children under 13 years of age (or such similar age, as determined by the Secretary from the best available data) in order to be eligible to operate a CCDF program. This limitation does not preclude an Indian Tribe with fewer than 50 children under 13 years of age from participating in a consortium that receives CCDF funds; and
(2) Demonstrate its current service delivery capability, including skills, personnel, resources, community support, and other necessary components to satisfactorily carry out the proposed program.
(c) A consortium representing more than one Indian Tribe may be eligible to receive CCDF funds on behalf of a particular Tribe if:
(1) The consortium adequately demonstrates that each participating Tribe authorizes the consortium to receive CCDF funds on behalf of each Tribe or tribal organization in the consortium; and
(2) The consortium consists of Tribes that each meet the eligibility requirements for the CCDF program as defined in this part, or that would otherwise meet the eligibility requirements if the Tribe or tribal organization had at least 50 children under 13 years of age; and
(3) All the participating consortium members are in geographic proximity to one another (including operation in a multi-State area) or have an existing consortium arrangement; and
(4) The consortium demonstrates that it has the managerial, technical and administrative staff with the ability to administer government funds, manage a CCDF program and comply with the provisions of the Act and of this part.
(d) The awarding of a grant under this section shall not affect the eligibility of any Indian child to receive CCDF services provided by the State or States in which the Indian Tribe is located.
(e) For purposes of the CCDF, the determination of the number of children in the Tribe, pursuant to paragraph (b)(1) of this section, shall include Indian children living on or near reservations, with the exception of Tribes in Alaska, California and Oklahoma.
(f) In determining eligibility for services pursuant to Sec. 98.20(a)(2), a tribal program may use either:
(1) 85 percent of the State median income for a family of the same size; or
(2) 85 percent of the median income for a family of the same size residing in the area served by the Tribal Lead Agency.