S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
5709
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
April 26, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. MONTGOMERY -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed 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 day care for
children, 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:
Section 1. The office of children and family services shall examine,
evaluate and make recommendations concerning the availability of funding
for day care for children in the state. Such office shall pay particular
attention to the impact of the lack of necessary child day care upon the
ability of working families to achieve self-sufficiency and a better
standard of living.
The office of children and family services shall direct its attention
to:
(a) establishing an inventory of child day care for working families
and those at or near poverty;
(b) identifying child day care shortage areas on a regional basis and
providing projections of the future demand of the next five to ten years
for child day care based on the regional birth rates, employment and
population growth rates;
(c) comparing on a statewide and regional basis, the demand for child
day care services over the succeeding five to ten years, including
whether the projected growth rate in the child day care industry will be
sufficient to meet such future needs;
(d) offering recommendations to the department of labor and any other
relevant agencies as to how the labor force can help meet the projected
shortage;
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07129-01-7
S. 5709 2
(e) identifying policies that would encourage the establishment and
operation of more child day care center providers, and increasing the
capacity of existing child day care providers;
(f) assessing the cost to parents and guardians of day care for chil-
dren on a regional basis, including the availability of government funds
for parents and guardians toward child care costs;
(g) identifying which social services districts have insufficient
funding to serve all eligible families and determining whether they are
receiving no new cases or restricting eligibility based upon set income
levels;
(h) reviewing the number and percentage of eligible families receiving
child care subsidies in this state, as compared to other states, and
report on any policy approaches in use in other states that could be
useful for consideration in this state;
(i) identifying which social services districts maintain waiting lists
for eligible families seeking child care subsidies;
(j) calculating the total sum of families statewide that are awaiting
child care subsidies and the projected fiscal impact to the state if all
eligible families are served;
(k) comparing the income levels of families receiving child care
subsidies on a regional basis to determine what inequities exist across
the state;
(l) examining the use of child care funding by local social services
districts to provide transportation to child care and determining the
unmet need for this service; and
(m) identifying policies that would encourage and facilitate expansion
of quality child day care services by neighbors and in communities where
the working poor live and/or work; and identifying and quantifying those
factors that contribute to establishing quality child day care in commu-
nities with the greatest need.
§ 2. The office of children and family services may request and shall
receive any available information from state agencies that is relevant
and material to the study required by section one of this act.
§ 3. Within twelve months of the effective date of this act, the
commissioner of children and family services shall submit a report, to
the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the
assembly, the minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of
the assembly, on the office's findings, conclusions and recommendations,
and shall submit therewith such legislative proposals as the office of
children and family services shall deem necessary to implement its
recommendations. In addition, such office shall make such report avail-
able to the public and post it on the internet website operated by the
office.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall expire and be
deemed repealed one year after such date.