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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 931
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4494
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING PAYMENTS TO CHILD CARE PROVIDERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 17b-749 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 2
1, 2019): 3
(c) The commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of 4
Social Services, shall establish eligibility and program standards 5
including, but not limited to: (1) A priority intake and eligibility 6
system with preference given to serving (A) recipients of temporary 7
family assistance who are employed or engaged in employment 8
activities under the Department of Social Services' "Jobs First" 9
program, (B) working families whose temporary family assistance was 10
discontinued not more than five years prior to the date of application 11
for the child care subsidy program, (C) teen parents, (D) low-income 12
working families, (E) adoptive families of children who were adopted 13
from the Department of Children and Families and who are granted a 14
waiver of income standards under subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of 15
this section, (F) working families who are at risk of welfare 16 Raised Bill No. 931
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dependency, and (G) any household with a child or children 17
participating in the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership federal 18
grant program for a period of up to twelve months based on Early 19
Head Start eligibility criteria; (2) health and safety standards for child 20
care providers not required to be licensed; (3) a reimbursement system 21
for child care services which account for differences in the age of the 22
child, number of children in the family, the geographic region and type 23
of care provided by licensed and unlicensed caregivers, the cost and 24
type of services provided by licensed and unlicensed caregivers, 25
successful completion of fifteen hours of annual in-service training or 26
credentialing of child care directors and administrators, and program 27
accreditation; (4) supplemental payment for special needs of the child 28
and extended nontraditional hours; (5) an annual rate review process 29
for providers which assures that reimbursement rates are (A) 30
maintained at levels which permit equal access to a variety of child 31
care settings, and (B) at least equal to the seventy-fifth percentile of the 32
market cost of child care, as determined by a market study conducted 33
by the Office of Early Childhood within the previous two years; (6) a 34
sliding reimbursement scale for participating families; (7) an 35
administrative appeals process; (8) an administrative hearing process 36
to adjudicate cases of alleged fraud and abuse and to impose sanctions 37
and recover overpayments; (9) an extended period of program and 38
payment eligibility when a parent who is receiving a child care 39
subsidy experiences a temporary interruption in employment or other 40
approved activity; and (10) a waiting list for the child care subsidy 41
program that (A) allows the commissioner to exercise discretion in 42
prioritizing within and between existing priority groups, including, 43
but not limited to, children described in 45 CFR 98.46, as amended 44
from time to time, and households with an infant or toddler, and (B) 45
reflects the priority and eligibility system set forth in subdivision (1) of 46
this subsection, which is reviewed periodically, with the inclusion of 47
this information in the annual report required to be issued annually by 48
the office to the Governor and the General Assembly in accordance 49
with section 17b-733. Such action will include, but not be limited to, 50
family income, age of child, region of state and length of time on such 51 Raised Bill No. 931
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waiting list. 52
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 8-210 of the general statutes is 53
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 54
1, 2019): 55
(b) The state, acting by and in the discretion of the Commissioner of 56
Early Childhood, may enter into a contract with a municipality, a 57
human resource development agency or a nonprofit corporation for 58
state financial assistance in developing and operating child care 59
centers for children disadvantaged by reasons of economic, social or 60
environmental conditions, provided no such financial assistance shall 61
be available for the operating costs of any such child care center unless 62
it has been licensed by the Commissioner of Early Childhood pursuant 63
to section 19a-80. Such financial assistance shall be available for a 64
program of a municipality, of a human resource development agency 65
or of a nonprofit corporation which may provide for personnel, 66
equipment, supplies, activities, program materials and renovation and 67
remodeling of the physical facilities of such child care centers. Such 68
contract shall provide for state financial assistance, within available 69
appropriations, in the form of a state grant-in-aid (1) for a portion of 70
the cost of such program, as determined by the Commissioner of Early 71
Childhood, if not federally assisted, (2) equal to one-half of the amount 72
by which the net cost of such program, as approved by the 73
Commissioner of Early Childhood, exceeds the federal grant-in-aid 74
thereof, or (3) in an amount [up to] not less than the per child cost as 75
described in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 10-16q, for each 76
child in such program. [that is three or four years of age and each child 77
that is five years of age who is not eligible to enroll in school, pursuant 78
to section 10-15c, while maintaining services to children under three 79
years of age under this section.] For the fiscal year ending June 30, 80
2020, and each fiscal year thereafter, any amount of state financial 81
assistance received pursuant to a contract entered into under this 82
subsection over the amount received for the fiscal year ending June 30, 83
2019, shall be used exclusively to increase the salaries of early 84 Raised Bill No. 931
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childhood educators employed at the child care center. The 85
Commissioner of Early Childhood may authorize child care centers 86
receiving financial assistance under this subsection to apply a program 87
surplus to the next program year. The Commissioner of Early 88
Childhood shall consult with directors of child care centers in 89
establishing fees for the operation of such centers. 90
Sec. 3. Section 10-16p of the general statutes is amended by adding 91
subsection (l) as follows (Effective July 1, 2019): 92
(NEW) (l) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, and each fiscal 93
year thereafter, any school readiness program that (1) is licensed by the 94
Office of Early Childhood pursuant to chapter 368a, (2) provides full-95
day and year-round child care and education programs for children, 96
and (3) receives funds pursuant to this section or section 10-16u, shall 97
use all such funds over the amount so received for the fiscal year 98
ending June 30, 2019, exclusively to increase the salaries of those 99
individuals with direct responsibility for teaching or caring for 100
children in a classroom at such school readiness program. 101
Sec. 4. Subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 10-16q of the 102
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 103
thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 104
(b) (1) For the fiscal [years] year ending June 30, 2015, [to June 30, 105
2019, inclusive] and each fiscal year thereafter, the per child cost of the 106
Office of Early Childhood school readiness program offered by a 107
school readiness provider shall not exceed [eight] nine thousand nine 108
hundred twenty-seven dollars. [For the fiscal year ending June 30, 109
2020, and each fiscal year thereafter, the commissioner may establish, 110
within available appropriations, new rates for the school readiness 111
program, provided such new rates are established to improve program 112
quality and access. The commissioner may revise the rates for the 113
school readiness program during a fiscal year if the commissioner 114
determines that such revised rates are necessary to improve quality of, 115
increase access to or fill spaces in school readiness programs.] 116 Raised Bill No. 931
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 17b-749(c)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 8-210(b)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 10-16p
Sec. 4 July 1, 2019 10-16q(b)(1)
ED Joint Favorable C/R APP