101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB1321

 

Introduced 2/7/2019, by Sen. Ram Villivalam

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
305 ILCS 5/9A-11  from Ch. 23, par. 9A-11

    Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Human Services to promote the availability of the Child Care Assistance Program. Provides that the target audience for the Department's promotion efforts must include all families with children under age 13, families eligible for child care assistance, and child care providers. Requires the Department to adopt any rules necessary to implement the provision.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning public aid.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
5changing Section 9A-11 as follows:
 
6    (305 ILCS 5/9A-11)  (from Ch. 23, par. 9A-11)
7    Sec. 9A-11. Child care.
8    (a) The General Assembly recognizes that families with
9children need child care in order to work. Child care is
10expensive and families with low incomes, including those who
11are transitioning from welfare to work, often struggle to pay
12the costs of day care. The General Assembly understands the
13importance of helping low-income low income working families
14become and remain self-sufficient. The General Assembly also
15believes that it is the responsibility of families to share in
16the costs of child care. It is also the preference of the
17General Assembly that all working poor families should be
18treated equally, regardless of their welfare status.
19    (b) To the extent resources permit, the Illinois Department
20shall provide child care services to parents or other relatives
21as defined by rule who are working or participating in
22employment or Department approved education or training
23programs. At a minimum, the Illinois Department shall cover the

 

 

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1following categories of families:
2        (1) recipients of TANF under Article IV participating
3    in work and training activities as specified in the
4    personal plan for employment and self-sufficiency;
5        (2) families transitioning from TANF to work;
6        (3) families at risk of becoming recipients of TANF;
7        (4) families with special needs as defined by rule;
8        (5) working families with very low incomes as defined
9    by rule;
10        (6) families that are not recipients of TANF and that
11    need child care assistance to participate in education and
12    training activities; and
13        (7) families with children under the age of 5 who have
14    an open intact family services case with the Department of
15    Children and Family Services. Any family that receives
16    child care assistance in accordance with this paragraph
17    shall remain eligible for child care assistance 6 months
18    after the child's intact family services case is closed,
19    regardless of whether the child's parents or other
20    relatives as defined by rule are working or participating
21    in Department approved employment or education or training
22    programs. The Department of Human Services, in
23    consultation with the Department of Children and Family
24    Services, shall adopt rules to protect the privacy of
25    families who are the subject of an open intact family
26    services case when such families enroll in child care

 

 

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1    services. Additional rules shall be adopted to offer
2    children who have an open intact family services case the
3    opportunity to receive an Early Intervention screening and
4    other services that their families may be eligible for as
5    provided by the Department of Human Services.
6    The Department shall specify by rule the conditions of
7eligibility, the application process, and the types, amounts,
8and duration of services. Eligibility for child care benefits
9and the amount of child care provided may vary based on family
10size, income, and other factors as specified by rule.
11    A family's eligibility for child care services shall be
12redetermined no sooner than 12 months following the initial
13determination or most recent redetermination. During the
1412-month periods, the family shall remain eligible for child
15care services regardless of (i) a change in family income,
16unless family income exceeds 85% of State median income, or
17(ii) a temporary change in the ongoing status of the parents or
18other relatives, as defined by rule, as working or attending a
19job training or educational program.
20    In determining income eligibility for child care benefits,
21the Department annually, at the beginning of each fiscal year,
22shall establish, by rule, one income threshold for each family
23size, in relation to percentage of State median income for a
24family of that size, that makes families with incomes below the
25specified threshold eligible for assistance and families with
26incomes above the specified threshold ineligible for

 

 

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1assistance. Through and including fiscal year 2007, the
2specified threshold must be no less than 50% of the
3then-current State median income for each family size.
4Beginning in fiscal year 2008, the specified threshold must be
5no less than 185% of the then-current federal poverty level for
6each family size. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or
7administrative rule to the contrary, beginning in fiscal year
82019, the specified threshold for working families with very
9low incomes as defined by rule must be no less than 185% of the
10then-current federal poverty level for each family size.
11    In determining eligibility for assistance, the Department
12shall not give preference to any category of recipients or give
13preference to individuals based on their receipt of benefits
14under this Code.
15    Nothing in this Section shall be construed as conferring
16entitlement status to eligible families.
17    The Illinois Department is authorized to lower income
18eligibility ceilings, raise parent co-payments, create waiting
19lists, or take such other actions during a fiscal year as are
20necessary to ensure that child care benefits paid under this
21Article do not exceed the amounts appropriated for those child
22care benefits. These changes may be accomplished by emergency
23rule under Section 5-45 of the Illinois Administrative
24Procedure Act, except that the limitation on the number of
25emergency rules that may be adopted in a 24-month period shall
26not apply.

 

 

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1    The Illinois Department may contract with other State
2agencies or child care organizations for the administration of
3child care services.
4    The Illinois Department shall promote the availability of
5the Child Care Assistance Program. The target audience must
6include all families with children under age 13, families
7eligible for child care assistance, and child care providers.
8The Illinois Department shall adopt any rules necessary to
9implement this provision.
10    (c) Payment shall be made for child care that otherwise
11meets the requirements of this Section and applicable standards
12of State and local law and regulation, including any
13requirements the Illinois Department promulgates by rule in
14addition to the licensure requirements promulgated by the
15Department of Children and Family Services and Fire Prevention
16and Safety requirements promulgated by the Office of the State
17Fire Marshal, and is provided in any of the following:
18        (1) a child care center which is licensed or exempt
19    from licensure pursuant to Section 2.09 of the Child Care
20    Act of 1969;
21        (2) a licensed child care home or home exempt from
22    licensing;
23        (3) a licensed group child care home;
24        (4) other types of child care, including child care
25    provided by relatives or persons living in the same home as
26    the child, as determined by the Illinois Department by

 

 

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1    rule.
2    (c-5) Solely for the purposes of coverage under the
3Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, child and day care home
4providers, including licensed and license exempt,
5participating in the Department's child care assistance
6program shall be considered to be public employees and the
7State of Illinois shall be considered to be their employer as
8of January 1, 2006 (the effective date of Public Act 94-320)
9this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, but not
10before. The State shall engage in collective bargaining with an
11exclusive representative of child and day care home providers
12participating in the child care assistance program concerning
13their terms and conditions of employment that are within the
14State's control. Nothing in this subsection shall be understood
15to limit the right of families receiving services defined in
16this Section to select child and day care home providers or
17supervise them within the limits of this Section. The State
18shall not be considered to be the employer of child and day
19care home providers for any purposes not specifically provided
20in Public Act 94-320 this amendatory Act of the 94th General
21Assembly, including, but not limited to, purposes of vicarious
22liability in tort and purposes of statutory retirement or
23health insurance benefits. Child and day care home providers
24shall not be covered by the State Employees Group Insurance Act
25of 1971.
26    In according child and day care home providers and their

 

 

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1selected representative rights under the Illinois Public Labor
2Relations Act, the State intends that the State action
3exemption to application of federal and State antitrust laws be
4fully available to the extent that their activities are
5authorized by Public Act 94-320 this amendatory Act of the 94th
6General Assembly.
7    (d) The Illinois Department shall establish, by rule, a
8co-payment scale that provides for cost sharing by families
9that receive child care services, including parents whose only
10income is from assistance under this Code. The co-payment shall
11be based on family income and family size and may be based on
12other factors as appropriate. Co-payments may be waived for
13families whose incomes are at or below the federal poverty
14level.
15    (d-5) The Illinois Department, in consultation with its
16Child Care and Development Advisory Council, shall develop a
17plan to revise the child care assistance program's co-payment
18scale. The plan shall be completed no later than February 1,
192008, and shall include:
20        (1) findings as to the percentage of income that the
21    average American family spends on child care and the
22    relative amounts that low-income families and the average
23    American family spend on other necessities of life;
24        (2) recommendations for revising the child care
25    co-payment scale to assure that families receiving child
26    care services from the Department are paying no more than

 

 

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1    they can reasonably afford;
2        (3) recommendations for revising the child care
3    co-payment scale to provide at-risk children with complete
4    access to Preschool for All and Head Start; and
5        (4) recommendations for changes in child care program
6    policies that affect the affordability of child care.
7    (e) (Blank).
8    (f) The Illinois Department shall, by rule, set rates to be
9paid for the various types of child care. Child care may be
10provided through one of the following methods:
11        (1) arranging the child care through eligible
12    providers by use of purchase of service contracts or
13    vouchers;
14        (2) arranging with other agencies and community
15    volunteer groups for non-reimbursed child care;
16        (3) (blank); or
17        (4) adopting such other arrangements as the Department
18    determines appropriate.
19    (f-1) Within 30 days after June 4, 2018 (the effective date
20of Public Act 100-587) this amendatory Act of the 100th General
21Assembly, the Department of Human Services shall establish
22rates for child care providers that are no less than the rates
23in effect on January 1, 2018 increased by 4.26%.
24    (f-5) (Blank).
25    (g) Families eligible for assistance under this Section
26shall be given the following options:

 

 

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1        (1) receiving a child care certificate issued by the
2    Department or a subcontractor of the Department that may be
3    used by the parents as payment for child care and
4    development services only; or
5        (2) if space is available, enrolling the child with a
6    child care provider that has a purchase of service contract
7    with the Department or a subcontractor of the Department
8    for the provision of child care and development services.
9    The Department may identify particular priority
10    populations for whom they may request special
11    consideration by a provider with purchase of service
12    contracts, provided that the providers shall be permitted
13    to maintain a balance of clients in terms of household
14    incomes and families and children with special needs, as
15    defined by rule.
16(Source: P.A. 100-387, eff. 8-25-17; 100-587, eff. 6-4-18;
17100-860, eff. 2-14-19; 100-909, eff. 10-1-18; 100-916, eff.
188-17-18; revised 10-9-18.)