Advocates are urging New Jersey lawmakers to cover a $30 million budget gap in a state-funded child care program for low-income working parents, saying the shortfall has had “devastating consequences” for families and providers alike.
The state’s child care assistance program quit accepting new applicants on Aug. 1 and raised copays for already-enrolled families after lawmakers in June passed a $58.8 billion budget that did not include enough money to cover the program’s total operating costs.
Those program changes forced some parents to quit their jobs or reduce their work hours because they couldn’t get assistance or afford the higher copays, and that, in turn, drove some providers to cut their hours or consider closing as their enrollment fell, according to a coalition of about 30 social justice advocates and labor unions.
Read full story here.