BILL NUMBER: S6237
SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to qualifications
for employees of child day care centers
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Limits the experiential qualifications of child day care center employ-
ees to what was required for their educational qualifications.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the social services law.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The childcare industry is struggling immensely due to staffing shortages
and a lack of funding for the career. It has become more appealing for
individuals to work at a chain restaurant or retail store, where they
know they will be paid adequately for their services, than for them to
work in a child care center, where they know they will be understaffed,
and responsible for the lives of young children.
These staffing shortages are in part, due to the needed experience an
individual must have in order to be a qualified hire. When completing
educational requirements to be certified for this type of work, many
individuals are required to complete some sort of
internship/experiential learning program. However, this valuable educa-
tional component does not translate to the "experience" requirement to
be a qualified hire. This legislation seeks to remove the experience
requirement to be classified as a qualified childcare instructor, in
hopes of alleviating staffing shortages in the industry.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A.8366 - Referred to children and families
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S6237: 390-a social services law, 390-a(2) social services law