Bill Text: NJ A4176 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Extends child care subsidies to families earning up to 300 percent of federal poverty level; appropriates funds.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-09 - Reported out of Asm. Comm. with Amendments, and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee [A4176 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A4176-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ELLEN J. PARK
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblywoman SADAF F. JAFFER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman ANGELICA M. JIMENEZ
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Extends child care subsidies to families earning up to 300 percent of federal poverty level and establishes "Child Care Tuition Assistance Program."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning child care services and supplementing P.L.1993, c.46 (C.30:5B-31).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Child care services" means those services provided to eligible children for which the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services receives and administers State and federal funding to provide subsidy payments to licensed child care providers.
"Child Care Tuition Assistance Program" means the program, established by the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services, which makes direct payments to a licensed child care provider for care provided to an enrolled child, ages birth through 13 years, from a qualifying family. The State provides tuition assistance payments on a sliding scale, based on annual income, for a child from a qualifying family.
"Full time child care" means child care services provided for a minimum of 6.25 hours of care per day, and a maximum of ten hours per day for a child enrolled with a licensed child care provider.
"Part time child care" means child care services provided for a maximum of six hours of care per day for a child enrolled with a licensed child care provider.
"School-aged child" means a child, ages five through 13 years, who is enrolled in public, private, or parochial school.
"Qualifying family" means a family, consisting of at least one child, aged 13 years or younger, and the child's parent or legal guardian, that earns an annual gross family income of up to $175,000, and meets all other eligibility criteria for the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program, as established by the Commissioner of Human Services pursuant to this act.
2. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services shall provide child care services through the State's subsidized child care assistance program for a family with a maximum annual gross family income, when adjusted for family size, that is at or below 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
b. The Commissioner of Human Services shall establish and utilize no less than four tiers, with the highest income tier being 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, to determine initial income eligibility and subsequent redetermination, as well as placement on the division's co-payment schedule regarding child care services provided under the State's subsidized child care assistance program.
c. The provisions of this section shall not preclude the Commissioner from establishing a tier that provides for a maximum income prior to exit from the State's subsidized child care assistance program in which a family's maximum annual gross family income, when adjusted for family size, is permitted to be higher than 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
3. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, and in accordance with federal statute and regulations concerning state expenditure of federal funds, the Commissioner of Human Services shall establish the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program, under which the State shall provide tuition payments to a licensed child care provider for full-time or part-time care provided to the child, ages birth through 13 years, of a qualifying family.
b. The amount of tuition assistance payments issued to a child care provider, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, shall be determined on a sliding scale, based on the annual gross family income of the qualifying family.
c. Tuition assistance payments may be made for the school-aged child of a qualifying family for child care provided before the start of the school day, after the end of the school day, and for any week day during which the child's school is closed.
d. Under no circumstances shall the tuition assistance payment rates, provided under this program for full-time or part-time child care, be lower than the rates paid under the provisional program, operated under the Department of Human Services between September 2020 and June 2021, to provide tuition assistance for child care for a school-aged child during periods of school closure or remote instruction due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
4. There are hereby appropriated such sums as necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this act, as determined by the Commissioner of Human Services. The appropriated amounts shall first be provided from assistance provided by the federal government for response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, to the extent not prohibited by federal law, and subsequently from State appropriations.
5. The Commissioner of Human Services shall apply for such State plan amendments or waivers as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act and to continue to secure any available federal financial participation for the applicable child care programs.
6. The Commissioner of Human Services, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedures Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
7. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill revises the criteria for determining income eligibility under the State's subsidized child care assistance program, and codifies the "Child Care Tuition Assistance Program," which operated on a provisional basis between September 2020 and June 2021. It is the intent of the bill's sponsor to make essential child care services more affordable for New Jersey's working families as they struggle to recover from the social and economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Currently, initial eligibility determination in the State's subsidized child care assistance program is limited to families that report a maximum annual gross family income of 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), which is $55,500 for a family of four in 2022. However, according to the most recent ALICE Report by the United Ways of New Jersey, the average ALICE - Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed - Household Survival Budget in the State was $88,224 for a family of four in 2018. In 2018, 37 percent of New Jersey's 3.2 million households struggled to make ends meet, with 27 percent of these households categorized as ALICE households.
As such, the current income eligibility criteria for the State's subsidized child care assistance program do not accurately reflect the economic need of New Jersey families, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill raises the maximum initial income eligibility, and subsequent redetermination income eligibility, for the State's subsidized child care assistance program to 300 percent of the FPL, which is $83,250 for a family of four in 2022.
The bill additionally codifies the "Child Care Tuition Assistance Program," which operated on a provisional basis between September 2020 and June 2021. This provisional program provided up to $1,900 in direct payments to licensed child care providers that cared for the school-aged children of eligible families during school closures or periods of remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, eligibility for the provisional program was limited to families with an annual income at, or below, $75,000 and who did not otherwise qualify for the State's subsidized child care assistance program; however, the Department of Human Services expanded program eligibility to families with an annual income of $150,000 or less. This bill expands eligibility for the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program to families that document an annual gross family income of $175,000 or less.
The bill appropriates such sums as may be necessary to implement the requirements therein, and stipulates that federal funds, allocated pursuant to the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, are to be the primary source of funds; State appropriations would be provided only after federal COVID assistance funds had been exhausted.
