A2247 2R

An Act concerning the State’s child care assistance program and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

²1. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Every year, based on available funding, the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services determines how many families will be served by the State’s child care assistance program.

b. However, the true demand for child care assistance exceeds what is provided on a yearly basis, a fact which became apparent when in August 2025, the State’s child care assistance program received an increased number of applications prior to the program implementing a freeze on such applications.

c. A September 2025 brief by the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative found that 76 percent of New Jersey children under the age of five are in non-parental care, with half of those families spending more than seven percent of their annual income on child care.

d. For many of the most vulnerable families in the State, the child care assistance program is the only path to affordable, quality child care, highlighting the importance of the program in helping low-income families remain active participants in the State’s workforce.

e. The implementation of the freeze on applications to the State child care assistance program also had a negative impact on child care providers who rely on the subsidies provided by the State to continue operating their businesses.

f. Under the State’s child care assistance program, families pay their share of the cost of child care services directly to the child care provider, while the State pays the provider for the balance of the cost of care. The loss of subsidy payments from eligible families has led to decreased enrollment in child care programs and financial instability for child care providers, reinforcing the need for better data collection to inform State policy and funding decisions concerning the provision of child care services.

g. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the State to establish a system to register and track all applications for the State’s child care assistance program to improve transparency and data collection relating to the State’s child care assistance program and to quantify and respond to the unmet child care needs of, and the program’s role in supporting, the State’s working families.²

²[1. ] 2.² a. ²[Notwithstanding any law rule, or regulation to the contrary, the] The² Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services ²shall establish and maintain, on an ongoing basis, a system for registering and tracking all applicants and prospective applicants to the State’s child care assistance program.

The registration system² shall:

(1) maintain a waiting list of those ¹[income eligible persons] ²[presumptively eligible applicants¹] persons² who ²wish to² apply to receive assistance through the State’s child care assistance program ²[and are notified that their applications will not be processed due to limited funding]²;

(2) implement procedures by which such persons ²[may be placed]² on the waiting list²[;]² ¹[and]¹ ²shall be invited to apply for assistance through the State’s child care assistance program as determined by the division²;

(3) establish methods for notifying ¹[qualified] ²[presumptively eligible¹ applicants when the division will process] persons on the waiting list when they can submit² their applications for the State’s child care assistance program ²[once funding becomes available] and when the division shall process their applications², including, but not limited to, posting such information on its Internet website¹; and

(4) designate child care resource and referral agencies contracted with the division to ²[serve as access points to assist presumptively eligible applicants] provide persons who have been invited to apply for assistance with help in² completing and submitting applications for the State’s child care assistance program ²[and the self-attestation forms developed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection b. of this act]².¹

b. ²[¹(1) For the purposes of placement of an presumptively eligible applicant on the waiting list maintained by the division pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section, the division shall permit the applicant to establish eligibility via a standardized self-attestation form.

(a) The self-attestation form shall be developed by the division and made publicly available, either online through the Department of Human Services’ Internet website or in paper form to be distributed by child care resource and referral agencies, in languages including, but not limited to, English and Spanish.

(b) The applicant may submit the application for the State’s child care assistance program and the self-attestation form electronically on the division’s Internet website, in person, through a child care resource and referral agency, or by mail.

(2) The self-attestation form shall include information necessary to establish presumptive eligibility including, but not limited to, the applicant’s income, household composition, residency, participation in work, education, or job training activities, the birth month and year of each child requiring care, and the applicant’s contact information, including email address, telephone number, or other available methods the division can use to contact the applicant.

(3) Completion and submission of the self-attestation form shall be sufficient to establish presumptive eligibility for placement on the waiting list. The division shall not require the submission of pay stubs, tax returns, employer verification, or any other form of income verification as a condition of placement on the waiting list.

(4) The final determination and certification that an applicant is eligible for placement on the waiting list shall be made at the time the division processes the application for enrollment in the State’s child care assistance program.

(5) The division shall notify an applicant of their placement on the waiting list and any change in application status within 10 business days of the receipt of a completed self-attestation form, using the contact information provided by the applicant pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection. Failure to provide notification to the applicant within that timeframe shall not delay or prevent the applicant’s placement on the waiting list.

c.¹]² The division shall ¹[annually]¹ publish¹, at least semi-annually,¹ a report, to be made available on the Department of Human ²[Service's] Services’² website and submitted to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), containing non-identifying aggregate data about ¹[income-eligible persons] ²[presumptively eligible applicants qualified for,] persons on the waiting list, persons who were invited to apply,² and ²[applying] persons who did in fact apply² to receive assistance through²[,]² the State’s child care assistance program ²pursuant to subsection a. of this section². The report shall, at a minimum, include the number of:

(1) applications received for the State’s child care assistance program;

(2) ²[¹[eligible applicants approved to receive services through the program] presumptively eligible applicants, as determined by submission of a completed self-attestation form¹] applications received from persons who were invited to apply to receive services through the State’s child care assistance program²;

(3) ¹[qualified persons that apply for services through the program and are notified that their applications will not be processed due to limited funding; and

(4) applicants placed on the waiting list developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section applicants] ²persons who were invited to apply to receive services through the program and who applied to receive such services, were²determined eligible, and approved for enrollment in the program;

(4) ²[applicants placed] persons who wish to apply to receive assistance through the program² on the waiting list ²[due to insufficient program funding]²; and

(5) ²[applicants] persons who were invited to apply to receive services through the program² determined ineligible for the program, including aggregate reason categories for ineligibility, such as income exceeding eligibility limits, incomplete applications, or failure to meet activity requirements or other program criteria.

²[d.] c.² The report published pursuant to subsection ²[c.] b.² of this section shall also include, to the extent practicable, information on:

(1) average processing time for applications;

(2) average length of time ²[applicants] persons wish to apply to receive services through the State’s child care assistance program² remain on the waiting list;

(3) geographic distribution of ²persons who wish to apply to receive services through the program² and ²[applicants] persons who were invited to apply to receive services through the program,² by county; and

(4) total number of children by age represented by ²[applicants] persons who were invited to apply to receive services through the program².

²[e. As used in this section, “presumptively eligible applicant” meansa person who has submitted a completed self-attestation form proving that the person meets the State’s child care assistance program eligibility criteria, including income requirements, residency requirements, household composition, or participation in work, education, or job training activities, and is awaiting a determination and certification of eligibility for placement on the waiting list to receive assistance through the State’s child care assistance program¹.]²

²[2.] 3.² This act shall take effect immediately.