SPONSOR:

Rep. Lynn & Sen. Townsend

Reps. Bentz, Q. Johnson, Potter, K. Williams; Sen. Henry

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

149th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 126

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend § 503, Title 31 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows and redesignating accordingly:

§ 503. Eligibility for assistance; amount; method of payment.

(e) Child Care Assistance —Persons seeking employment who are in need of child care services in order to obtain employment, to retain employment, or to obtain training leading to employment are eligible to apply for child care assistance under the Child Care Subsidy Program. Such persons seeking employment are eligible to apply for child care assistance for a period not to exceed 90 non-consecutive days over the course of one year. Eligibility for and the amount of assistance granted to persons under Delaware’s Child Care Subsidy Program shall be determined in accordance with the rules and regulations made by the Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Social Services and Chapter 3 of this title.

Section 2. Amend § 505, Title 31 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows and redesignating accordingly:

§ 505. Categories of assistance.

Assistance may be granted, in accordance with rules and regulations established by the Department of Health and Social Services pursuant to § 503 of this title, in the following categories:

(4) Child care assistance; assistance granted to eligible persons who need child care but are unable to pay for all or part of the cost of care.

SYNOPSIS

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 mandated that states allow families that receive child care assistance to continue receiving that assistance for at least 90 days after losing their job provided they are seeking employment during that time. The federal law did not expressly stipulate that states must allow families to qualify for and begin receiving assistance so that they could search for a job, however 14 states have enacted policies to expand eligibility to those families. This legislation codifies the federal intent that families be eligible to continue receiving assistance for 90 non-consecutive days in a year, and extends that eligibility to families who want to start receiving assistance in order to seek employment for up to 90 days.