Revision: Feb. 8, 2024, 8:51 a.m.
Health and Human Services
February 7, 2024
2024-0566s
05/06
Amendment to SB 404-FN
Amend the bill by replacing all after section 1 with the following:
2 Department of Health and Human Services; Child Care Workforce Child Care Assistance Pilot Program.
I. The department of health and human services, division of economic stability, shall develop and implement a child care workforce child care assistance pilot program for a period beginning January 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2027 in order to determine the financial impact of categorical eligibility, and collect relevant data regarding the success of intended outcomes. The department may adopt rules under RSA 541-A relative to implementation and administration of the pilot program.
II. For purposes of the pilot program, child care programs who 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 a child care workforce child care assistance pilot, 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 is 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 pilot program. If the household does not meet the eligibility income level requirements, it shall be deemed eligible for the pilot program and shall have all earned and unearned income excluded from the eligibility determination.
(e) Households eligible for the pilot 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 pilot 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 pilot program plan 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 pilot program, the total cost of the services provided, and other relevant information necessary to assess the pilot program for statewide expansion as part of the state budget for the biennium ending June 30, 2027.
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 pilot 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 worker child care assistance program for the one year pilot of this program. 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.
2024-0566s
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill directs the department of health and human services to establish a child care workforce child care assistance pilot program for one year and makes an appropriation to the department for this purpose.