STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman GABRIELA M. MOSQUERA
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN
District 29 (Essex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Timberlake, Haider and Assemblyman Calabrese
SYNOPSIS
Requires DHS to establish quality-based reimbursement system for registered family day care providers participating in Grow NJ Kids.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning payment rates for registered family day care providers participating in the Grow NJ Kids program and supplementing P.L.2009, c.299 (C.30:5B-22.1 et seq.)
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, the Commissioner of Human Services shall establish a tiered, quality-based reimbursement system for family day care providers, registered pursuant to P.L.1987, c.27 (C.30:5B-16 et seq.), that participate in the State’s subsidized child care assistance program and are rated under the Grow NJ Kids initiative, which quality-based reimbursement system shall be substantively the same as that for Grow NJ Kids-rated child care centers.
b. As used in this section “Grow NJ Kids” means New Jersey’s quality rating and improvement system for child care and early learning programs, which rates the quality of child care services on measurable quality metrics, and provides enhanced reimbursements to certain higher- performing providers.
c. The commissioner shall apply for such State plan amendments or waivers as may be necessary to implement the reimbursement system established pursuant to this section and to continue to secure federal financial participation for subsidized child care programs for qualified low-to-moderate income households.
2. The Commissioner of Human Services, 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. This act shall take effect on the first day of the second month next following the date of enactment, but the Commissioner of Human Services may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Commissioner of Human Services to establish a tiered, quality-based reimbursement system for registered family day care providers that participate in the State’s subsidized child care assistance program and are rated under the Grow NJ Kids initiative. Grow NJ Kids is the State’s quality rating and improvement initiative for child care and early learning programs, which reimburses child care providers based on objective quality measures. State-licensed child care centers, school- or center-based preschool programs, Head Start programs, and registered family day care providers may request to be evaluated and rated by Grow NJ Kids, based on the quality of child care services provided for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Based upon the outcome of this quality review, the Grow NJ Kids program may award the provider a three-, four- or five-star rating.
New Jersey’s subsidized child care assistance program currently pays a higher rate to child care centers, Head Start programs, and school- or center-based preschool programs that have a Grow NJ Kids three-, four-, or five star rating. In calendar year 2021, tiered incentive payments under the program range from five percent to twenty percent above the base rate, depending upon the age of the child receiving care and the facility’s star rating. Although family day care providers can request a Grow NJ Kids evaluation, these providers are currently ineligible for the program’s enhanced payments to providers earning a three-, four-, or five-star rating. It is the intent of the bill’s sponsor to ensure that registered family day care providers that offer high-quality care are reimbursed on an equal basis as child care centers under the Grow NJ Kids program.