Extends child care subsidies to families earning up to 300 percent of federal poverty level; appropriates funds.

A1374

ASSEMBLY, No. 1374

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ELLEN J. PARK

District 37 (Bergen)

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblyman Rodriguez,
Assemblywoman Dunn, Assemblyman Schnall, Assemblywoman Bagolie, Assemblyman
Stanley, Assemblywoman Haider and Assemblyman Singh

SYNOPSIS

���� Extends child care subsidies to families earning up
to 300 percent of federal poverty level; appropriates funds.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning child care services, supplementing
P.L.1993, c.46 (C.30:5B-31), and making an appropriation.

����
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 from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services such
sums as may be necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this act,
as determined by the Commissioner of Human Services subject to approval by the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Department of the
Treasury.�

���� 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 Procedure�� 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 raises the annual
household income limit for determining initial income eligibility under the
State�s subsidized child care assistance program.

���� 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.

���� 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 Commissioner of Human
Services will be required to establish and utilize at least four tiers to
determine initial income eligibility and placement on the Division of Family
Development�s co-payment schedule for child care services under the State�s
subsidized child care assistance program.� The bill specifies that nothing in
its provisions precludes the commissioner from establishing a child care
assistance income threshold that is higher than 300 percent of the FPL.

���� The bill additionally
appropriates such sums as may be necessary to implement the provisions of the
bill, which appropriation will be in an amount determined by the Commissioner
of Human Services, subject to approval by the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget in the Department of the Treasury.