Bill Text: NY S00753 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Directs the office of children and family services to study, make recommendations on and report on child day care and child care assistance and the availability of funding therefor.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-21 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE [S00753 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S00753-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         753--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. MONTGOMERY, GOUNARDES, LIU -- read twice and ordered
          printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children
          and  Families -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted
          as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to direct the office of children and family services to  examine,
          evaluate  and  make  recommendations  on the availability of child day
          care and child care assistance, and determine the unmet need of  child
          care  subsidies;  and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon
          expiration thereof

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  1. The office of children and family services shall exam-
     2  ine, evaluate and make recommendations concerning  the  availability  of
     3  funding  for  day  care for children in the state. Such office shall pay
     4  particular attention to the impact of the lack of  necessary  child  day
     5  care  upon  the  ability of working families to achieve self-sufficiency
     6  and a better standard of living.
     7    The office of children and family services shall direct its  attention
     8  to:
     9    (a)  establishing  an inventory of child day care for working families
    10  and those at or near poverty;
    11    (b) identifying child day care shortage areas on a regional basis  and
    12  providing projections of the future demand of the next five to ten years
    13  for  child  day  care  based on the regional birth rates, employment and
    14  population growth rates;
    15    (c) comparing on a statewide and regional basis, the demand for  child
    16  day  care  services  over  the  succeeding  five to ten years, including
    17  whether the projected growth rate in the child day care industry will be
    18  sufficient to meet such future needs;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03546-02-9

        S. 753--A                           2

     1    (d) offering recommendations to the department of labor and any  other
     2  relevant  agencies as to how the labor force can help meet the projected
     3  shortage;
     4    (e)  identifying  policies  that would encourage the establishment and
     5  operation of more child day care center providers,  and  increasing  the
     6  capacity of existing child day care providers;
     7    (f)  assessing the cost to parents and guardians of day care for chil-
     8  dren on a regional basis, including the availability of government funds
     9  for parents and guardians toward child care costs;
    10    (g) identifying which  social  services  districts  have  insufficient
    11  funding  to serve all eligible families and determining whether they are
    12  receiving no new cases or restricting eligibility based upon set  income
    13  levels;
    14    (h) reviewing the number and percentage of eligible families receiving
    15  child  care  subsidies  in  this state, as compared to other states, and
    16  report on any policy approaches in use in other  states  that  could  be
    17  useful for consideration in this state;
    18    (i) identifying which social services districts maintain waiting lists
    19  for eligible families seeking child care subsidies;
    20    (j)  calculating the total sum of families statewide that are awaiting
    21  child care subsidies and the projected fiscal impact to the state if all
    22  eligible families are served;
    23    (k) comparing the income  levels  of  families  receiving  child  care
    24  subsidies  on a regional basis to determine what inequities exist across
    25  the state;
    26    (l) examining the use of child care funding by local  social  services
    27  districts  to  provide  transportation to child care and determining the
    28  unmet need for this service;
    29    (m) identifying policies that would encourage and facilitate expansion
    30  of quality child day care services by neighbors and in communities where
    31  the working poor live and/or work; and identifying and quantifying those
    32  factors that contribute to establishing quality child day care in commu-
    33  nities with the greatest need; and
    34    (n) examining the feasibility of implementing a standard family  share
    35  percentage for child care cost co-payments across the state.
    36    2.  (a)  Each social services district shall submit data regarding the
    37  income of families who applied for child  care  assistance  pursuant  to
    38  this act to the department, specifying:
    39    (i) the number of families who were denied;
    40    (ii) the number of families who received such assistance; and
    41    (iii)  a listing of the incomes pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of para-
    42  graph (b) of this subdivision of  the  families  who  applied  for  such
    43  assistance.
    44    (b)  Each  social  services  district  shall submit data regarding the
    45  number of all families who applied for and received child  care  assist-
    46  ance pursuant to this act whose:
    47    (i)  incomes were under one hundred one percent of the federal poverty
    48  level for their family size;
    49    (ii) incomes were between one hundred  one  percent  and  one  hundred
    50  fifty percent of the federal poverty level for their family size; and
    51    (iii)  incomes  were  between  one  hundred  fifty-one percent and two
    52  hundred percent of the federal poverty level for their family size.
    53    (c) Each social services district  shall  submit  data  regarding  the
    54  number  of  all  families  who  applied  for  and were denied child care
    55  assistance pursuant to this act whose:

        S. 753--A                           3

     1    (i) incomes were under one hundred one percent of the federal  poverty
     2  level for their family size;
     3    (ii)  incomes  were  between  one  hundred one percent and one hundred
     4  fifty percent of the federal poverty level for their family size; and
     5    (iii) incomes were between  one  hundred  fifty-one  percent  and  two
     6  hundred percent of the federal poverty level for their family size.
     7    §  2. The office of children and family services may request and shall
     8  receive any available information from state agencies that  is  relevant
     9  and material to the study required by section one of this act.
    10    §  3.  Within  twelve  months  of  the effective date of this act, the
    11  commissioner of children and family services shall submit a  report,  to
    12  the  governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the
    13  assembly, the minority leader of the senate, the minority leader of  the
    14  assembly,  and the child care availability task force established pursu-
    15  ant to section 390-k of the social services law, on the  office's  find-
    16  ings,  conclusions  and recommendations, and shall submit therewith such
    17  legislative proposals as the office  of  children  and  family  services
    18  shall deem necessary to implement its recommendations. In addition, such
    19  office shall make such report available to the public and post it on the
    20  internet website operated by the office.
    21    §  4.  This act shall take effect immediately, and shall expire and be
    22  deemed repealed one year after such date.
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