Bill Text: NJ A2220 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes Task Force on Child Care Deserts in New Jersey.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee [A2220 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A2220-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Dunn
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Task Force on Child Care Deserts in New Jersey.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act establishing the Task Force on Child Care Deserts in New Jersey.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Department of Children and Families the Task Force on Child Care Deserts in New Jersey. The purpose of the task force shall be to identify and study
child care deserts and to evaluate why these child care deserts exist in New Jersey.
b. The task force shall consist of 15 members as follows:
(1) the Commissioner of Human Service, the Director of the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services, the Commissioner of Children and Families, and the Director of the Division on Women in the Department of Children and Families, or their designees, who shall serve ex-officio;
(2) one member of the Advisory Council on Child Care;
(3) one member of a family day care sponsoring organization;
(4) one member of a child care resource and referral agency
(5) four members appointed by the Governor who have experience, training, and interests in child care issues;
(6) one member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the President of the Senate and one member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate, both of whom shall be members of the public who reside in a child care desert located in an urban area of the State; and
(7) one member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly and one member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the General Assembly, both of whom shall be members of the public who reside in a child care desert located in a rural area of the State.
c. Appointments to the task force shall be made within 30 days after the effective date of this act. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the task force within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes.
d. The task force shall organize as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 days following the appointment of its members. The task force shall choose a chairperson from among its members and shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force. The presence of eight members of the task force shall constitute a quorum. The task force may conduct business without a quorum, but may only vote on recommendations when a quorum is present.
e. The Department of Children and Families shall provide stenographic, clerical, and other administrative assistants and professional staff as the task force requires for its purposes. The task force shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.
f. As used in this act, "child care desert" means a geographic location that lacks any child care options or a geographic location where there is an insufficient number of licensed child providers resulting in more than two-thirds of the children, who live within that location, unable to receive child care.
2. The task shall study and evaluate aspects of the provision of child care that may contribute to the existence of child care deserts in New Jersey. The task force shall:
a. review existing research, studies, and data concerning child care deserts; and
b. identify specific policies for eliminating child care deserts throughout the State including, but not limited to, analyzing the relationship between the existence of child care deserts and:
(1) the geographic proximity of licensed child care centers and family day care homes to families accessing child care services;
(2) parental labor force participation;
(3) the demographic characteristics of families accessing child care services such as race, ethnicity, and employment status;
(4) public investments in child care and early education;
(5) child care tuition rates and child care subsidy reimbursement rates; and
(6) the lack of investment in child care infrastructure including, but not limited to, facility upgrades which address the health, safety, and educational development of children enrolled in child care centers.
3. a. The task force shall issue a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than six months after the task force organizes. The report shall contain the task force's findings and recommendations.
b. The task force shall expire 30 days after the issuance of its report.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill establishes the Task Force on Child Care Deserts in New Jersey. The purpose of the task force is to identify, and study child care deserts and evaluate why child care deserts exist in the State. The task force will consist of 15 members as follows: the Commissioner of Human Service, the Director of the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services, the Commissioner of Children and Families, and the Director of the Division on Women in the Department of Children and Families, or their designees, who will serve ex-officio; one member of the Advisory Council on Child Care; one member of a family day care sponsoring organization; one member of a child care resource and referral agency; four members appointed by the Governor with experience, training, and interests in child care issues; two members appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the President of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the Senate, respectively, both residing in a child care desert located in an urban area of the State; and two members appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly and the Minority Leader of the General Assembly, respectively, both of residing in a child care desert located in a rural area of the State.
Under the bill, the task force is to study and evaluate aspects of the provision of child care that may contribute to the existence of child care deserts in New Jersey. The task is to: review existing research, studies, and data concerning child care deserts; and identify specific policies for eliminating child care deserts throughout the State including, but not limited to, analyzing the relationship between the existence of child care deserts and: the geographic proximity of licensed child care centers and family day care homes to families accessing child care services; parental labor force participation; the demographic characteristics of families accessing child care services such as race, ethnicity, and employment status; public investments in child care and early education; child care tuition rates and child care subsidy reimbursement rates; and the lack of investment in child care infrastructure including, but not limited to, facility upgrades which address the health, safety, and educational development of children enrolled in child care centers.
The bill defines "child care
desert" as a geographic location that lacks any child care options or a
geographic location where there is an insufficient number of licensed child
providers resulting in more than two-thirds of the children, who live within
that location, unable to receive child care.
The task force is to issue a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than six months after the task force organizes, containing the task force's findings and recommendations, and expire 30 days after the report's issuance.
