Revision: April 24, 2024, 11:13 a.m.
Rep. Wallner, Merr. 19
April 22, 2024
2024-1571h
05/08
Amendment to SB 404-FN
Amend the title of the bill by replacing it with the following:
AN ACT relative to expanding child care professionals' eligibility for the child care scholarship program.
Amend the bill by replacing all after the enacting clause with the following:
1 New Subdivision; Department of Health and Human Services; Child Care Assistance Program for Child Care Workforce. Amend RSA 167 by inserting after section 97 the following new subdivision:
Child Care Assistance Program for Child Care Workforce
167:98 Child Care Assistance Program for Child Care Workforce.
I. The department of health and human services, division of economic stability, shall develop and implement a child care assistance program for the child care workforce. The department shall adopt rules under RSA 541-A relative to implementation and administration of the program.
II. For purposes of the assistance program, child care centers that have participating, eligible staff shall, with the consent of the individual staff person, provide information to the department as requested regarding recruitment and retention impacts of the program.
III. The department shall use the information provided in accordance with paragraph II to make the determination as to whether the child care assistance program delivers the intended value as a recruitment and retention strategy for child care providers. This requirement shall not be construed as authorization to report personally identifiable information of the program participants.
IV. Households with at least one verified New Hampshire child care professional employed at a qualified child care center, may automatically be eligible for the child care assistance program, provided the following provisions are met:
(a) Each child in the household meets the same eligibility requirements of the current federal Child Care Scholarship program, specifically that each child shall be:
(1) A resident of New Hampshire;
(2) A U.S. citizen or qualified immigrant; and
(3) Thirteen years of age or under at the time of application or recertification; or through 17 years of age for children with disabilities who are enrolled before the age of 13.
(4) Any other federal eligibility criteria.
(b) Each eligible child resides with a verified New Hampshire child care professional. A verified New Hampshire child care professional means an individual who:
(1) Is a resident of New Hampshire;
(2) Is employed by a certified child care center and works a minimum of 25 hours per week; and
(3) Whose employment and eligibility are verified by the certified child care center at which the child care professional is employed.
(c) A certified child care center is a New Hampshire based, licensed child care center, licensed home child care center, or licensed-exempt center, that is registered and enrolled to accept child care scholarships with the state of New Hampshire.
(1) A family shall not be eligible if care is provided by a provider not licensed according to child-care center licensure rules; or registered and enrolled according to requirements for registered child care providers in the child care assistance program.
(2) A family shall not be eligible if care is provided in a home child care by: a parent or stepparent; a legal guardian; or a person living in the same residence as the child in need of care.
(d) A household that meets the requirements outlined in paragraph IV shall have eligibility determined for the federally-funded child care scholarship program under existing eligibility rules and be denied for being over income as a pre-requisite to consideration for the child care assistance program. If the household does not meet the eligibility income level requirements, it shall be deemed eligible for the assistance program and shall have all earned and unearned income excluded from the eligibility determination.
(e) Households eligible for the assistance program qualify for the child care scholarship benefit available according to the most current market rate survey for family size, child age, type of program and service level subject to the same cost share as families eligible for the child care scholarship program.
(f) Upon implementation, the department of health and human services shall develop and engage child care providers and/or staff on verification process for program eligibility and develop a public awareness campaign to support broad access.
V. On or before March 1, 2025, the department shall provide a detailed report of the assistance program to the house health and human services oversight committee and senate health and human services committee of the general court. The report shall include data on utilization, including the number of individuals seeking services of paragraph I, the number of individuals provided services as part of the program, the total cost of the services provided, and other relevant information necessary to assess the effectiveness and cost of the program.
2 Department of Health and Human Services; Waiver Request. The department of health and human services shall submit any waiver or request required by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Care to use New Hampshire's Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) funds for the purpose of administering the child care assistance program established in section 1 of this act.
3 Appropriation. The sum of $250,000 for the biennium ending June 30, 2025, is hereby appropriated to the department of health and human services for the purpose of information system enhancements to implement this assistance program. The sum of $2,300,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 is hereby appropriated to the department of health and human services for the administration, management, and benefit issuance of the child care assistance program for the child care workforce. Funds appropriated shall be nonlapsing and the department shall have the authority to transfer any remainder amounts in the child care workforce fund.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.
2024-1571h
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a child care assistance program for the child care workforce and makes an appropriation to the department of health and human services for this purpose.