S3084

An Act concerning child care providers and making an appropriation.

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, and commencing upon the effective date of this act and expiring on June 30, 2021, a child care center, licensed pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1983, c.492 (C.30:5B-4), or a family day care home, registered pursuant to section 8 of P.L.1987, c.27 (C.30:5B-23), that participates in the subsidized child care assistance program pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1993, c.46 (C.30:5B-31) during the 2020-2021 school year, shall be eligible to receive reimbursement from the Division of Family Development within the Department of Human Services for expenses directly related to providing additional hours of child care services to school-aged children beyond the number of hours allowed pursuant to N.J.A.C. 10:15-3.3 and N.J.A.C. 10:15-10.1.

b. Reimbursable expenses shall include, but shall not be limited to:

(1) costs related to recruiting, retaining and training new and current staff;

(2) facility expenses;

(3) salary expenses; and

(4) costs related to maintaining the health and safety of expanded programs, including the purchase of personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies and disinfectant.

c. The Director of the Division of Family Development shall determine the form, manner, and requirements for operators of licensed child care centers and registered family day care homes to apply for reimbursement for eligible expenses.

d. The division shall issue reimbursement to a licensed child care center or a registered family day care home for eligible expenses within thirty business days of receipt of an application.

2. 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 secure any available federal financial participation.

3. There is appropriated to the Department of Human Services the sum of $50,000,000 from the portion of the federal block grant funds allocated to the State from the federal “Coronavirus Relief Fund,” established pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Pub.L.116-136, for use by the department to reimburse qualified operators of licensed child care centers and registered family day care homes for expenses directly related to providing additional hours of child care services to school-aged children during the 2020-2021 school year, as provided for in section 1 of this act.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill provides financial support to operators of licensed child care centers and registered family day care homes to expand their hours of services for school-aged children who enroll during the 2020-2021 school year. Facility expenses that are eligible for reimbursement under this bill include, but are by no means limited to:

· costs related to recruiting, retaining and training new and current staff;

· facility operating expenses;

· salary expenses; and

· costs related to maintaining the health and safety of expanded programs, including the purchase of personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies and disinfectant.

The Director of the Division of Family Development within the Department of Human Services is authorized to determine the form, manner, and requirements that operators of child care centers and family day care homes are required to follow in applying for reimbursement. In addition, the division is to ensure that payment is issued for eligible expenses within 30 business days of receipt of an operator’s application.

Funding for eligible reimbursements flows from the federal “Coronavirus Relief Fund,” established pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Pub.L. 116-136. This bill appropriates $50 million, from the $2.4 billion in federal funds allocated to New Jersey through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, for expenses incurred by child care facility operators that are directly related to providing additional hours of child care services to school-aged children during the 2020-2021 school year. The bill also authorizes the State to issue reimbursement for such eligible expenses through June 30, 2021, subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

Finally, the Commissioner of Human Services is required to apply for any State plan amendments or waivers as may be necessary to implement the provisions of the bill and secure any available federal financial participation for the relevant child care programs.

Based on current projections for the 2020-2021 school year, most school-aged children spend between five to six hours in child care on days that they attend school in person. A child attending school virtually typically spends between eight and ten hours in child care per day. Prior to the 2020-2021 school year, the State limited subsidies for child care provided to school-aged children to three hours per day during the school year, permitting child care centers and family day care homes to offer before- and after-school services to school-aged children. However, in response to the changing child care needs of many of the State’s working families, the DHS has begun providing child care subsidies for child care services during the school day for school-aged children through the end of calendar year 2020.

To accommodate an influx of school-aged children who require additional hours of care during the school year, many operators of licensed child care centers and registered family day care homes have incurred additional personnel and operational expenses. However, the rates paid to operators of child care facilities under the subsidized child care assistance program are insufficient to cover the additional expenses these operators incur in order to provide high-quality child care to the State’s working families. It is the intent of the bill’s sponsor to provide financial support to these operators only for those expenses directly tied to expanding their hours of service for school-aged children during the 2020-2021 school year, and to fund these reimbursements using federal funds allocated to New Jersey through the “Coronavirus Relief Fund.”