Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The purpose
of this chapter is to set forth the policies for a unified child care delivery
system inclusive of all child care programs for which identified funding is
received by the Department of Human Services (DHS) and administered through the
Division of Family Development (DFD).
(b) The DHS, in fulfillment of its
responsibility to develop and implement a Statewide comprehensive child care
system and to comply with the most recent Federal welfare reform program under
the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA),
Public
Law 104-193, has developed and implemented a
unified child care delivery system. A child care resource and referral (CCR
& R) agency is located in each county to ensure that all identified child
care services are administered in a uniform method and provided to the public
in an efficient and effective manner.
(c) Effective October 1, 1996, PRWORA was
enacted. In addition to other provisions, PRWORA repealed existing Title IV-A
child care programs and the program authorized by the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990,
Public
Law 101-508 and consolidated the funds under these
programs to form the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) using Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), CCDF and State aid to fund the
comprehensive system.
(d) The fund
consists of discretionary funds authorized under section 658B of the amended
Act, and Mandatory and Matching Funds appropriated under section 418 of the
Social Security Act. (See
P.L.
101-508, as codified at
42 U.S.C. §
9858 et seq.) These funds are also to be used
to serve families who:
1. Are receiving
assistance under a State program under part A of Title IV of the Social
Security Act;
2. Are attempting
through work activities to transition off such assistance programs;
and
3. Are at risk of becoming
dependent on such assistance programs.
(e) The CCDF was developed to ensure the
delivery of Statewide child care services to:
1. Eligible families receiving cash
assistance benefits through the TANF program and participating in Work First
New Jersey (WFNJ);
2. Families at
risk of TANF dependency;
3.
Employed families who have transitioned off of TANF and are eligible for
Transitional Child Care benefits (TCC);
4. Low and moderate income families who are
employed or participating in an education/training program; and
5. Children in out of home placement under
supervision of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (CP &
P).
(f) The CCDF also
authorizes funds to be used for activities that:
1. Increase parental choice. When a parent
elects to enroll the child with a provider that has a grant or contract for the
provision of child care services, the child will be enrolled with the provider
selected by the parent, to the maximum extent practicable;
2. Provide comprehensive consumer education
to parents and the public. The CCR & R shall certify that it will
disseminate to parents and the general public consumer education information
that will promote informed child care choices including, at a minimum,
information about the full range of providers and health and safety
requirements; and
3. Improve the
quality and availability of child care, such as resource and referral
services.
(g) The DHS
shall operate these child care services programs through the coordination of
efforts with the DFD and the Department of Children and Families (DCF)/Division
of Child Protection and Permanency (CP & P), which delineates subsidized
child care services available through the DHS.
1. The policies and procedures set forth in
this chapter shall be binding on those agencies contracting with the DHS to
provide services through these child care service programs and are enforceable
through the CP & P and the DFD, the divisions jointly responsible for
overseeing the child care service programs.
2. The child care programs shall be
administered within the framework of Federal and State laws, rules and
regulations. Requirements, other than those established pursuant to Federal and
State law and this chapter, shall not be imposed as a condition of receiving
child care services.
(h)
The DHS shall streamline its subsidized child care service system by uniting
its many categorical child care programs and functions into a seamless unified
child care service delivery system. A primary objective of the DHS is to offer
families comprehensive child care services that shall enable families to secure
or maintain employment and thus become self-sufficient. The CCDF, in
combination with State aid, provides services to low income employed persons
and those low income employed persons engaged in a training or educational
program. The New Jersey Cares for Kids program also provides child care
services for protective services children and those in out of home placements
who are identified by the CP & P. Additionally, the child care support
services offered to families enrolled in WFNJ and TCC are provided to assist
families participating in employment-directed activities and/or to secure and
maintain employment. All families shall satisfy the eligibility criteria for
the applicable program through which services are provided.
(i) The DHS sets forth the following
principles for a comprehensive delivery system of child care services in the
State:
1. New Jersey supports programs that
encourage family stability and self-sufficiency. As such, the DHS supports
child care services addressing the needs and concerns of working families and
employers.
2. The DHS shall provide
assurances that consumers of child care services shall have the maximum choice
possible among types of child care options.
3. The DHS encourages the development of
diverse types of child care by type of sponsorship (employers, public schools,
religious institutions, community organizations, and recreation programs) and
by types of corporate status (both for profit and nonprofit).
4. The DHS believes that mechanisms should
exist for improving child care program quality, including, but not limited to,
supports for the improvement of curriculum development and administration, a
comprehensive training initiative for child care staff members, and monies for
renovations to child care sites.
5.
The DHS believes that child care should be provided in settings that meet basic
health and life/safety guidelines. To this end, the DHS authorizes payments for
child care in programs in compliance with laws, rules and regulations
pertaining to health and life/safety.
6. The DHS incorporates into its ongoing
child care planning process recommendations received from interdepartmental
agencies of the State; child care organizations within the State, including,
but not limited to, the New Jersey Child Care Advisory Council; the human
services community; the State Human Services Advisory Council; units of local
government; CCR & Rs; providers of child care services; employers; and the
general public. That input is used by the DHS to assist in the overall planning
for the provision of child care subsidies and services in New Jersey.
7. The DHS supports unlimited access by
parents to their children and to the providers caring for their children during
the normal hours of operations, or whenever such children are in the care of
such providers.
8. The DHS believes
that an informed consumer of child care services is that individual who has
available to him or her information on child care concerns, such as licensing
and regulatory requirements, complaint procedures, and policies and practices
relative to child care services available in the State. The DHS shall make
available consumer materials for that purpose.
9. The DHS ensures that child care service
programs funded through the CCDF shall be established in the respective
counties of the State in accordance with Federal provisions as agreed upon in
State Plan submittals to the Federal Administration of Children and Families
(ACF) on specific Federally-funded programs. The DHS shall ensure that the CCR
& R complies with State Plan provisions. The State Plan shall be updated by
the DHS routinely, as changes are made to program requirements by Federal
and/or State government.
10. The
DHS, to the best of its ability within annual State Legislative appropriations,
shall ensure that payment rates for services through the child care service
programs are sufficient to ensure equal access for eligible children under
these subsidized programs to comparable child care services in the State that
are provided to children whose parents are not eligible to receive assistance
under these programs.
11. The DHS
promotes the development of employer-supported child care. The CP & P
provides technical assistance and consultation services to
public/private/volunteer advocacy organizations seeking to promote
employer-supported child care services throughout the State.
(j) Nothing in this chapter shall
be construed as conferring on a parent/applicant receiving child care services
an entitlement to those services. If the fiscal or other resources necessary
for child care service provision to a parent/applicant are unavailable, that
individual shall not be deemed to have a right to such services and the
individual, the CCR & R or contracted child care centers shall be released
from all obligations for those services under this chapter.
(k) Financial assistance provided through the
DHS' child care service programs shall not be authorized when, during the same
period, such needs are actually being provided by any other source.
(l) Each CCR & R shall coordinate child
care delivery services with: units of local government; early childhood
education programs in the county, including Head Start programs; preschool
programs funded under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement
Act of 1981 ( Public Law 97-35; 95 Stat. 463); school and nonprofit child care
programs, including community-based organizations receiving funds for preschool
programs for disabled children; organizations sponsoring before-and-after
school activities; the WFNJ program; child care centers contracted with the
DFD; CP & P Area Offices; Adoption Resource Centers; DCF Office of
Licensing; Department of Labor and Workforce Development One-Stop Career
Centers; School-Based Youth Services Programs; Adolescent Pregnancy and
Prevention Programs; Teen Parenting Programs; private providers; sectarian
providers; Federal and/or State demonstration programs; and any other provider
entities, agencies or resources as appropriate.
(m) Child care arrangements shall:
1. Be in the best interests of the child and
shall consider the individual needs of the child, including the reasonable
accessibility of the care to the child's home and school, and the
appropriateness of the care to the age and special needs of the
child;
2. Be agreeable to the
participant and located within reasonable commuting distance from the
participant's home, place of employment or site of employment-directed
activity. The hours provided or claimed for reimbursement are reasonably
related to the hours of participation or employment and shall be sufficient to
accommodate the hours required by the employer or employment-directed
activity;
3. Be accessible to
parents at all hours of operation; and
4. Meet applicable standards of State and
local law.
(n) The
Statewide rates for child care payments are set forth at N.J.A.C. 10:15-10 and
are made available to eligible providers from the Division of Family
Development, Child Care Operations Unit, 6 Quakerbridge Plaza, PO Box 716,
Trenton, NJ 08625-0716.
