10:15-1.1 Purpose and scope

(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 In addition to other provisions, PRWORA repealed existing Title IV-A child care programs and the program authorized by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Public Law 101-508 and consolidated the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. History HISTORY: Amended by R.2005 d.77, effective February 22, 2005. See: 36 N.J.R. 4882(a), 37 N.J.R. 630(c). In ( l), substituted "DHS Office" for "Bureau" preceding "Adoption Resource Centers;", inserted "and Workforce Development" preceding "One-stop Career Centers;". Amended by R.2009 d.18, effective January 5, 2009. See: 40 N.J.R. 2637(b), 41 N.J.R. 226(b). In (b), substituted "child care resource and referral (CCR&R) agency" for "unified child care agency (UCCA)"; in (f)2, (i)9, (j) and ( l), substituted "CCR&R" for "UCCA"; in the introductory paragraph of (g), substituted "Department of Children and Families (DCF)/Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS)" for "DYFS"; in (g)1, deleted "of the DHS" following "divisions"; in (i)6, substituted "CCR&Rs" for "UCCAs"; and in ( l), substituted "Education" for "Educational", "Area" for "District" and "DCF" for "DHS". Notice of readoption with technical changes. See: 48 N.J.R. 2807(a). Annotations Notes Chapter Notes 2025