H97 - 2015 Appropriations Act, Sec. 12B.2: Child Care Subsidy Rates (SL 2015-241)

Overview: Section 12B.2 of S.L. 2015-241 does all of the following:

• Sets requirements for payments for the purchase of child care services for low-income children and directs the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to make any necessary rule changes to restructure services.
• Provides for payment rates for child care providers in counties that do not have at least 50 children in each age group for center-based and home-based care.
• Directs the Division of Child Development and Early Education in DHHS to calculate a market rate for child care centers and homes at each rated license level for each county and each age group as well as calculate a statewide rate and regional market rate for each rated license level for each age category.
• Directs the Division to continue implementing policies that improve the quality of child care for subsidized children, including a policy in which child care subsidies are paid, to the extent possible, for child care in the higher quality centers and homes only.
• Provides that licensed child care facilities and religious-sponsored child care facilities may participate in the program that provides for the purchase of care in child care facilities for minor children of needy families and that child care facilities must meet any additional applicable requirements of federal law or regulations.
• Provides that noncitizen families who reside in this State legally must be eligible for child care subsidies if all other conditions of eligibility are met and is one of the following: (i) the child is receiving child protective services or foster care services; (ii) the child is developmentally delayed or at risk of being developmentally delayed; or (iii) the child is a citizen of the United States.
• Directs the Division to require all county departments of social services to include on any forms used to determine eligibility for child care subsidy whether the family waiting for subsidy is receiving assistance through the NC Pre-K Program or Head Start.

This section became effective July 1, 2015.