§ 410-U — Establishment of block grant for child care

§ 410-u. Establishment of block grant for child care. 1. The\ndepartment shall establish a state block grant for child care comprised\nof all of the federal funds appropriated for child care under title IV-A\nof the federal social security act and under the federal child care and\ndevelopment block grant act and any additional federal funds that the\nstate chooses to transfer from the federal family assistance to needy\nfamilies block grant to the child care and development block grant plus\nany state funds appropriated for the provision by social services\ndistricts of child care assistance to families in receipt of family\nassistance and other low income families and for activities to increase\nthe availability and/or quality of child care programs.\n 2. The state block grant for child care shall be divided into two\nparts pursuant to a plan developed by the department and approved by the\ndirector of the budget. One part shall be retained by the state to\nprovide child care on a statewide basis to special groups and for\nactivities to increase the availability and/or quality of child care\nprograms, including, but not limited to, the start-up of child care\nprograms, the operation of child care resource and referral programs,\ntraining activities, the regulation and monitoring of child care\nprograms, the development of computerized data systems, and consumer\neducation, provided however, that child care resource and referral\nprograms funded under title five-B of article six of this chapter shall\nmeet additional performance standards developed by the department of\nsocial services including but not limited to: increasing the number of\nchild care placements for persons who are at or below eighty-five\npercent of the state median income, with emphasis on placements\nsupporting local efforts in meeting federal and state work participation\nrequirements, increasing technical assistance to all modalities of legal\nchild care to persons who are at or below eighty-five percent of the\nstate median income, including the provision of training to assist\nproviders in meeting child care standards or regulatory requirements,\nand creating new child care opportunities, and assisting social services\ndistricts in assessing and responding to child care needs for persons at\nor below eighty-five percent of the state median income. The department\nshall have the authority to withhold funds from those agencies which do\nnot meet performance standards. Agencies whose funds are withheld may\nhave funds restored upon achieving performance standards. The other part\nshall be allocated to social services districts to provide child care\nassistance to families receiving family assistance and to other low\nincome families.\n 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, expenditures of funds\nfrom the block grant shall be governed by this title.\n