Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Cruz-Perez, Cryan, Cunningham, Singleton, Stanfield and Turner
SYNOPSIS
Extends child care subsidies to families earning up to 300 percent of federal poverty level.
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. 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.
d. As used in this section:
“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.
e. 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
2. There are hereby appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this act, as determined by the Commissioner of Human Services.
3. 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.
4. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill raises the annual household income limit for determining initial income eligibility under the State’s subsidized child care assistance program. 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, finally, appropriates such sums as may be necessary to implement the requirements therein.