Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LISA SWAIN
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblyman VINCENT MAZZEO
District 2 (Atlantic)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman ROY FREIMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman GABRIELA M. MOSQUERA
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblyman CRAIG J. COUGHLIN
District 19 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Vainieri Huttle and Jimenez
SYNOPSIS
Establishes child care revitalization fund in Department of Children and Families; appropriates $100,000,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a child care revitalization fund, appropriating $100,000,000, and supplementing Title 30 of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Working mothers in New Jersey and across the nation have been disparately affected by child care and school closures during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
b. According to the United States Census Bureau, 1.6 million fewer women with school-aged children were actively working in January 2021, when compared with January 2020.
c. A Kaiser family Foundation survey conducted in late 2020 found that 30 percent of working mothers interviewed had taken time off from work due to child care or school closures.
d. Without access to affordable, high-quality child care, New Jersey’s working mothers will continue to face the difficult choice between caring for their young children and their careers.
e. Fully-operating schools and licensed child care providers are critical to the New Jersey’s reopening plan, as well as the State’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
f. Too many licensed child care providers have been unable to re-open following pandemic-related closures, due to high operating costs and reduced capacity required to slow the spread of COVID-19.
g. It is in the public interest for the Legislature to create a fund to address the critical child care and economic issues faced by the State’s working families and licensed child care providers.
2. a. There is created within the Department of Children and Families a dedicated, non-lapsing fund to be known as the Child Care Revitalization Fund for the purpose of supporting child care providers, licensed pursuant to P.L.1983, c.492 (C.30:5B-1 et seq.), who were severely impacted by high operating costs and reduced capacity required to mitigate the health impact of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
b. The Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services and the Chief Executive of the Economic Development Authority, shall establish processes by which licensed child care providers may submit, through an online portal, applications for assistance through the fund, and by which the allocation of resources from the fund may be prioritized.
c. Authorized allocations from the fund are to be disbursed to licensed child care providers within 21 days of the department’s receipt of a qualifying application, as submitted by a provider through the online portal established pursuant to this act, prior to September 1, 2021.
d. The commissioner, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt such rules and regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
3. There is appropriated $100,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Children and Families to effectuate the purposes of this act.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the Child Care Revitalization Fund, a dedicated, non-lapsing fund to be administered by the Department of Children and Families for the purpose of providing financial support to the State’s licensed child care providers. The bill authorizes the Commissioner of Children and Families, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services and the Chief Executive of the Economic Development Authority, to develop processes by which licensed child care providers may submit, through an online portal, applications for assistance through the fund, and by which the allocation of resources from the fund may be prioritized. Authorized allocations from the fund are to be disbursed to licensed child care providers within 21 days of the department’s receipt of a qualifying application, as submitted by a provider through the online portal established pursuant to this act, prior to September 1, 2021.
It is the intent of the bill’s sponsors to provide critical assistance to the State’s licensed child care providers who were severely impacted by high operating costs and reduced capacity required to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Numerous surveys conducted since the start of the pandemic evidence the staggering number of working mothers who have had to choose between caring for their young children and their careers. Without a sufficient network of high quality, affordable licensed child care providers in our communities, parents of young children will be unable to return to work on a full-time as the State economy reopens in the coming months, and the State’s economic recovery will falter.