Bill > S4604

Introduced Session

This bill directs the Department of Children and Families (department) in consultation with the Departments of Human Services and Education, to develop a unified child care finder. The child care finder will provide a singular access point for information about all licensed child care facilities and registered family daycare providers in the State. There are currently two separate child care finders operating in the State, one administered by the Department of Human Services and the other by the department, which allow parents, guardians, and caregivers to search for child care. It is the sponsor's experience that neither system is effective, and significant barriers exist in identifying and securing available high-quality infant, toddler and pre-kindergarten programs. Creating a unified child care finder that leverages modern technology to connect families with licensed early learning providers will increase timely enrollment in under-filled child care and family day care programs and support the State's goal of maximizing participation in early childhood education. Specifically, the bill requires the department develop a secure, Internet web application, or computer or mobile application based child care finder platform that utilizes an intuitive search interface, including a map-based search function and comparable list function showing the location of each licensed child care center and registered family child care provider, its distance from a given address, the type of program offered, its schedule of operations, and any other filters as required by the department. Each licensed child care center and registered family child care provider shall be provided with a dedicated profile on the child care finder that displays information about the center or provider. The child care finder is also required to permit online submittal of applications for enrollment, allow communication between the provider and the parent or caretaker, submit deposits, enrollment, and tuition or registration fees directly to the center or provider, and be developed in accordance with generally accepted industry standards for data security and accessibility. Due to the type of technology required, the department is required to procure the services of a qualified third-party vendor, who meets the criteria described in the bill, to develop the child care finder no later than 90 days from the bill's enactment. No later than 270 days from the date the vendor is selected, the department shall require the vendor to launch a pilot of the child care finder in three counties, one in each region of the State. No later than one year from the date the vendor has been selected, the department is to authorize the vendor to release the child care finder throughout the State. The bill appropriates $3.6 million to the department to effectuate the purposes of the bill, and authorizes the Legislature to appropriate additional funds if needed. The Commissioner of the department is to work in consultation with the commissioners of Human Services and Education to effectuate the bill's mandate, and to request assistance from any other department or agency of the state as needed.

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Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 06/12/2025)

Official Document