This bill establishes a child care workforce assistance project aimed at temporarily expanding eligibility for the child care scholarship program to certain child care employees. The project is set to run from January 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025. It requires child care centers with participating staff to provide information to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regarding the recruitment and retention impacts of the project. The DHHS will use this information to assess the project's effectiveness as a recruitment and retention strategy. The bill also outlines the eligibility criteria for households, which includes income requirements, residency, and employment at a qualified child care center. It specifies that households meeting these criteria may automatically be eligible for the project, and those that do not meet the criteria will be deemed ineligible.

The bill appropriates $1,000,000 for issuing benefits and $100,000 for administering the project, with the governor authorized to use federal funds first and the remainder to come from general funds. The DHHS is tasked with submitting any necessary waiver requests to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to use Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) funds for the project. Additionally, the DHHS may contract with a private entity to manage the project. A detailed report of the project is to be provided to the relevant committees of the general court by November 1, 2025. The bill is set to take effect on January 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 167:83