Bill Text: NY S01926 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires each social services district to maintain a waiting list of eligible families who have applied for child care assistance; requires the local districts to report such list to the office of children and family services who shall then compile such reports and issue one report to the legislature annually; requires the social services districts to collect data regarding the income of families who have applied, were denied and received child care assistance and issue a report to the office of children and family services who shall then compile such reports and issue one report to the legislature annually.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-14 - REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES [S01926 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S01926-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1926 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. PERSAUD, KAVANAGH, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring social services districts to maintain a waiting list of certain families applying for child care assistance The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 410-z of the social services law, as added by 2 section 52 of part B of chapter 436 of the laws of 1997, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 § 410-z. Reporting requirements. 1. Each social services district 5 shall collect and submit to the [department] office of children and 6 family services, in such form and at such times as specified by the 7 [department] office of children and family services, such data and 8 information regarding child care assistance provided under the block 9 grant as the [department] office of children and family services may 10 need to comply with federal reporting requirements. 11 2. (a) Each social services district shall maintain a waiting list of 12 eligible families who have applied for child care assistance pursuant to 13 this title and who have not received such assistance. Such waiting list 14 shall contain information including, but not limited to: 15 (i) the date the child care assistance was requested; 16 (ii) the date the child care assistance was received; 17 (iii) the age of the child or children the assistance was requested on 18 behalf of; and 19 (iv) the total number of families on such waiting list as of the first 20 day of each month. 21 (b) Each district shall issue a report to the office of children and 22 family services by October fifteenth, two thousand twenty-seven, and 23 annually thereafter detailing month-to-month information required pursu- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05769-01-5S. 1926 2 1 ant to this subdivision for the preceding period of October first 2 through September thirtieth, and shall include the following: 3 (i) the average length of time for families on the waiting list; 4 (ii) the number of families on the waiting list for each of the 5 following time periods: 6 (A) less than two weeks, 7 (B) two weeks to less than a month, 8 (C) one month to less than three months, 9 (D) three months to less than six months, 10 (E) six months to less than a year, and 11 (F) one year or more; 12 (iii) the average age of children represented on the waiting list; 13 (iv) the number of children represented on the waiting list eligible 14 for each: 15 (A) infant, 16 (B) toddler, 17 (C) pre-school, and 18 (D) school-aged subsidized child care slots; and 19 (v) the number of existing infant, toddler, pre-school and school-aged 20 subsidized child care slots; 21 (vi) the number of families who would receive child care assistance 22 except that they are waiting for available slots in a particular child 23 care program; and 24 (vii) other information as the district deems appropriate. 25 3. (a) Each social services district shall collect data regarding the 26 income of families who applied for child care assistance pursuant to 27 this title, specifying: 28 (i) the number of families who were denied; 29 (ii) the number of families who received such assistance; and 30 (iii) a listing of the incomes pursuant to paragraph (b) of this 31 subdivision of the families who applied for such assistance. 32 (b) Each district shall issue a report to the office of children and 33 family services by October fifteenth, two thousand twenty-seven, and 34 annually thereafter, detailing month-to-month information collected 35 pursuant to this subdivision for the preceding period of October first 36 through September thirtieth, and shall include the following: 37 (i) the number of all families who applied for and received child care 38 assistance pursuant to this title whose: 39 (A) incomes were under fifty percent of the state median income level 40 for their family size, 41 (B) incomes were between fifty percent and seventy-five percent of the 42 state median income level for their family size, and 43 (C) incomes were between seventy-five and eighty-five percent of the 44 state median income level for their family size; and 45 (ii) the number of all families who applied for and were denied child 46 care assistance pursuant to this title whose: 47 (A) incomes were under fifty percent of the state median income level 48 for their family size, 49 (B) incomes were between fifty percent and seventy-five percent of the 50 state median income level for their family size, and 51 (C) incomes were between seventy-five percent and eighty-five percent 52 of the state median income level for their family size. 53 4. The office of children and family services shall compile such 54 reports pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision two, and paragraph (b) 55 of subdivision three of this section, into one comprehensive report 56 containing all required information on a county by county basis. SuchS. 1926 3 1 report shall be provided to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, 2 the temporary president of the senate, the chairperson of the assembly 3 committee on children and families, the chairperson of the senate 4 committee on children and families, the chairperson of the assembly 5 committee on social services, the chairperson of the senate committee on 6 social services, the chairperson of the assembly ways and means commit- 7 tee and the chairperson of the senate finance committee no later than 8 December first, two thousand twenty-seven, and annually thereafter. 9 5. Reports issued and compiled under this section shall not use the 10 name, address, or any other identifying information of an individual who 11 is the subject of the report and shall ensure the anonymity of those 12 included in the reports. 13 § 2. Nothing in this act shall be construed to require local social 14 services districts to maintain waiting lists for dates preceding the 15 effective date of this act, or to collect data pursuant to subdivision 3 16 of section 410-z of the social services law, as added by section one of 17 this act, for persons who applied for subsidized child care prior to the 18 effective date of this act. 19 § 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2026. Effective immediate- 20 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation 21 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 22 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
