STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7873

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 28, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. JEAN-PIERRE, BLAKE, COOK, DICKENS, D'URSO, FAHY,
          JOYNER, ORTIZ, RAIA, VANEL, WALSH, WILLIAMS -- read once and  referred
          to the Committee on Children and Families

        AN  ACT to direct the office of children and family services to examine,
          evaluate and make recommendations on the  availability  of  child  day
          care  and child care assistance, and determine the unmet need of child
          care subsidies; and providing for the repeal of such  provisions  upon
          expiration thereof

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. 1. The office of children and family services  shall  exam-
     2  ine,  evaluate  and  make recommendations concerning the availability of
     3  funding for day care for children in the state. Such  office  shall  pay
     4  particular  attention  to  the impact of the lack of necessary child day
     5  care upon the ability of working families  to  achieve  self-sufficiency
     6  and a better standard of living.
     7    The  office of children and family services shall direct its attention
     8  to:
     9    (a) establishing an inventory of child day care for  working  families
    10  and those at or near poverty;
    11    (b)  identifying child day care shortage areas on a regional basis and
    12  providing projections of the future demand of the next five to ten years
    13  for child day care based on the regional  birth  rates,  employment  and
    14  population growth rates;
    15    (c)  comparing on a statewide and regional basis, the demand for child
    16  day care services over the  succeeding  five  to  ten  years,  including
    17  whether the projected growth rate in the child day care industry will be
    18  sufficient to meet such future needs;
    19    (d)  offering recommendations to the department of labor and any other
    20  relevant agencies as to how the labor force can help meet the  projected
    21  shortage;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03546-03-9

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     1    (e)  identifying  policies  that would encourage the establishment and
     2  operation of more child day care center providers,  and  increasing  the
     3  capacity of existing child day care providers;
     4    (f)  assessing the cost to parents and guardians of day care for chil-
     5  dren on a regional basis, including the availability of government funds
     6  for parents and guardians toward child care costs;
     7    (g) identifying which  social  services  districts  have  insufficient
     8  funding  to serve all eligible families and determining whether they are
     9  receiving no new cases or restricting eligibility based upon set  income
    10  levels;
    11    (h) reviewing the number and percentage of eligible families receiving
    12  child  care  subsidies  in  this state, as compared to other states, and
    13  report on any policy approaches in use in other  states  that  could  be
    14  useful for consideration in this state;
    15    (i) identifying which social services districts maintain waiting lists
    16  for eligible families seeking child care subsidies;
    17    (j)  calculating the total sum of families statewide that are awaiting
    18  child care subsidies and the projected fiscal impact to the state if all
    19  eligible families are served;
    20    (k) comparing the income  levels  of  families  receiving  child  care
    21  subsidies  on a regional basis to determine what inequities exist across
    22  the state;
    23    (l) examining the use of child care funding by local  social  services
    24  districts  to  provide  transportation to child care and determining the
    25  unmet need for this service;
    26    (m) identifying policies that would encourage and facilitate expansion
    27  of quality child day care services by neighbors and in communities where
    28  the working poor live and/or work; and identifying and quantifying those
    29  factors that contribute to establishing quality child day care in commu-
    30  nities with the greatest need; and
    31    (n) examining the feasibility of implementing a standard family  share
    32  percentage for child care cost co-payments across the state.
    33    2.  (a)  Each social services district shall submit data regarding the
    34  income of families who applied for child  care  assistance  pursuant  to
    35  this act to the department, specifying:
    36    (i) the number of families who were denied;
    37    (ii) the number of families who received such assistance; and
    38    (iii)  a listing of the incomes pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of para-
    39  graph (b) of this subdivision of  the  families  who  applied  for  such
    40  assistance.
    41    (b)  Each  social  services  district  shall submit data regarding the
    42  number of all families who applied for and received child  care  assist-
    43  ance pursuant to this act whose:
    44    (i)  incomes were under one hundred one percent of the federal poverty
    45  level for their family size;
    46    (ii) incomes were between one hundred  one  percent  and  one  hundred
    47  fifty percent of the federal poverty level for their family size; and
    48    (iii)  incomes  were  between  one  hundred  fifty-one percent and two
    49  hundred percent of the federal poverty level for their family size.
    50    (c) Each social services district  shall  submit  data  regarding  the
    51  number  of  all  families  who  applied  for  and were denied child care
    52  assistance pursuant to this act whose:
    53    (i) incomes were under one hundred one percent of the federal  poverty
    54  level for their family size;
    55    (ii)  incomes  were  between  one  hundred one percent and one hundred
    56  fifty percent of the federal poverty level for their family size; and

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     1    (iii) incomes were between  one  hundred  fifty-one  percent  and  two
     2  hundred percent of the federal poverty level for their family size.
     3    §  2. The office of children and family services may request and shall
     4  receive any available information from state agencies that  is  relevant
     5  and material to the study required by section one of this act.
     6    §  3.  Within  twelve  months  of  the effective date of this act, the
     7  commissioner of children and family services shall submit a  report,  to
     8  the  governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the
     9  assembly, the minority leader of the senate, the minority leader of  the
    10  assembly,  and the child care availability task force established pursu-
    11  ant to section 390-k of the social services law, on the  office's  find-
    12  ings,  conclusions  and recommendations, and shall submit therewith such
    13  legislative proposals as the office  of  children  and  family  services
    14  shall deem necessary to implement its recommendations. In addition, such
    15  office shall make such report available to the public and post it on the
    16  internet website operated by the office.
    17    §  4.  This act shall take effect immediately, and shall expire and be
    18  deemed repealed one year after such date.