[ Search ] [ Legislation ] [ Bill Summary ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
| [ Introduced ] | [ Engrossed ] | [ House Amendment 002 ] |
90_HB0630ham001
LRB9002514PTcwam02
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 630
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend HOUSE Bill 630 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4 "AN ACT to amend the Children and Family Services Act by
5 adding Section 5.25."; and
6 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
7 following:
8 "Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is
9 amended by adding Section 5.25 as follows:
10 (20 ILCS 505/5.25 new)
11 Sec. 5.25. State-assisted child care.
12 (a) The General Assembly finds and declares that
13 families with children need child care in order to work and
14 participate in education or training; and low-income families
15 struggle to pay the high cost of child care; and when
16 low-income families cannot afford child care they are in
17 danger of going on welfare; and families who leave welfare
18 for work need child care in order to successfully make this
19 transition and to stay off welfare; and families leaving
20 welfare for work do not usually experience large salary
21 increases, but rather remain very low-income, and time
-2- LRB9002514PTcwam02
1 limited child care benefits are a barrier to successful
2 workforce participation; and high quality child care helps
3 children develop to their full potential and helps them
4 succeed in school and life; and the rate for subsidized child
5 care needs to be high enough that families can find child
6 care providers to accept it; and the human services agencies'
7 reorganization and federal welfare reform give Illinois an
8 unprecedented opportunity to create a seamless child care
9 system and eliminate and consolidate categorical programs.
10 (b) The Department of Human Services shall administer a
11 statewide program of financial assistance for employment,
12 education, community service, and training-related child care
13 and development services for children of families that meet
14 the eligibility and activity requirements as set forth in
15 this Section and shall use all federal and State funds
16 designated for the purposes. Eligibility for families under
17 the criteria set forth in this Section shall be based upon
18 the family income and the age of the child and shall not be
19 time limited or based upon a connection with the Aid to
20 Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) or the
21 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF).
22 (c) The Department shall establish a uniform statewide
23 income eligibility level for child care assistance based on a
24 percentage of the State median income. The Department shall
25 ensure that all parents with children under 13 years of age
26 whose household income, as defined by rule, is equal to or
27 less than 60% of the State median income based upon the most
28 recent available data and who are participating in a
29 qualifying activity described in this Section shall have
30 access to financial assistance for child care and development
31 services under this Section. Families receiving
32 State-assisted child care services on the effective date of
33 this amendatory Act of 1997, but with household income above
34 the new eligibility guideline, shall be deemed eligible for
-3- LRB9002514PTcwam02
1 State-assisted child care services until July 1, 1998 if they
2 continue to meet the eligibility guidelines in effect
3 immediately prior to the effective date of this amendatory
4 Act of 1997. However, those families shall be required to
5 make co-payments toward the cost of child care in accordance
6 with the co-payment scale adopted by the Department under
7 this Section.
8 (d) Parents who meet the income eligibility criteria
9 adopted by the Department in accordance with this Section
10 shall be eligible for child care assistance if they engage in
11 any of the following activities:
12 (1) State-required or State-approved activities
13 while a recipient of TANF.
14 (2) Employment, whether or not the parent is a
15 recipient of TANF.
16 (3) Elementary or high school education in order to
17 obtain a high school diploma if a parent under 20 years
18 of age. (A teen parent and his or her children shall be
19 considered a separate household in determining
20 eligibility.)
21 (4) Participation in a GED, adult basic education,
22 or English-as-a-second-language program.
23 (5) Participation in an occupational or vocational
24 training program with a State-approved training provider
25 if the parent is engaged in the activity exclusively or
26 in combination with employment for a minimum of 20 hours
27 per week including transportation time, except that a
28 parent may qualify for assistance under this subsection
29 for only one occupational or vocational training program
30 in any 36-month period.
31 (6) Enrollment in a 2-year or 4-year postsecondary
32 degree program if the parent is engaged in a minimum of
33 30 hours per week of classes and employment with a
34 minimum of 8 hours per week of employment. In
-4- LRB9002514PTcwam02
1 calculating the 30 hours per week, the parent's course
2 credit hours shall be multiplied by 2.
3 (7) While engaged in a job search.
4 (8) Families with special needs or special
5 circumstances as defined by rule.
6 (e) The Department shall establish and periodically
7 revise, by rule, a co-payment scale that provides for cost
8 sharing by families receiving child care assistance under
9 this Section. The co-payment shall be an amount that is
10 reasonable and affordable for the family and shall be based
11 upon household income and family size. A family with 2 or
12 more children in care shall pay a higher co-payment than a
13 family with one child in care, but there shall be no
14 additional charge for additional children in care. The
15 amount of the co-payment shall not be based upon the type of
16 care chosen by the family.
17 (f) Families eligible for assistance under this Section
18 shall be given the following options:
19 (1) receiving a child care certificate issued by
20 the Department or a subcontractor of the Department that
21 may be used by the parents only as payment for child care
22 and development services; or
23 (2) if space is available, enrolling the child with
24 a child care provider that has a purchase-of-service
25 contract with the Department or a subcontractor of the
26 Department for the provision of child care and
27 development services. The Department may identify
28 particular priority populations for whom they may request
29 special consideration by providers with
30 purchase-of-service contracts, provided that the
31 providers shall be permitted to maintain a balance of
32 clients in terms of household incomes and families and
33 children with special needs, as defined by rule.
34 The Department shall maintain at least the current ratio
-5- LRB9002514PTcwam02
1 of contractual providers to certificates.
2 (g) In order to expand the capacity of existing
3 providers and to increase the number of providers of child
4 care and development services to meet the growing need of
5 families for quality State-assisted child care in this State,
6 the Department shall:
7 (1) Conduct biennial market rate surveys based on
8 the cost of care and other relevant factors, the first of
9 which shall be completed on or before December 1, 1997.
10 (2) Increase the reimbursement rate for
11 State-assisted child care by 10% in fiscal year 1998.
12 (3) Establish a reimbursement rate set at no lower
13 than the 75th percentile of the market rate as determined
14 by the biennial market rate survey commencing on July 1,
15 1998.
16 (4) Establish a lesser rate for license-exempt care
17 by rule.
18 (5) Create incentive rate enhancements for licensed
19 child care providers that serve families and children
20 with special needs as defined by rule.
21 (6) Create incentive rate enhancements for licensed
22 child care providers who are accredited by nationally
23 recognized accrediting bodies as defined by rule.
24 (h) The Department shall establish a uniform application
25 process for assistance under this Section. The application
26 process shall include:
27 (1) a standard application form;
28 (2) a prompt eligibility determination for each
29 applicant; and
30 (3) a timely written notice with reference to a case
31 number and date of application to each applicant of his
32 or her eligibility status and a description of the
33 process and timelines for requesting an administrative
34 appeal if the application wishes to dispute the
-6- LRB9002514PTcwam02
1 eligibility determination.
2 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3 becoming law.".