{"id":56801,"date":"2025-12-01T04:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T04:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/56801\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T04:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T04:25:10","slug":"advocates-win-fight-to-reopen-enrollment-for-n-j-s-child-care-assistance-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/56801\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates win fight to reopen enrollment for N.J.\u2019s child care assistance program"},"content":{"rendered":"

After growing pleas from family advocacy groups, Gov. Phil Murphy<\/a>\u2019s administration has reversed a decision that closed enrollment to New Jersey\u2019s popular Child Care Assistance Program. <\/p>\n

Next month, the state Department of Human Services will begin admitting up to 5,000 additional infants and toddlers whose families meet income guidelines, according to an announcement by Commissioner Sarah Adelman. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor most New Jersey families, child care isn\u2019t a luxury, it\u2019s a necessity,\u201d Adelman said Wednesday. \u201cThe child care assistance program is a vital economic lifeline that helps pay for high quality early childhood education and allows parents to continue their careers. That is why reopening applications to maximize utilization for this program is so important.\u201d <\/p>\n

The $79.5 million program serves 70,000 working-poor families across the state, enabling those parents to afford child care for their children. Enrollment was frozen in August<\/a> under a state budget agreement that cut additional funding for the initiative at the last minute, angering advocates.<\/p>\n

With the announcement, the state will start accepting new applications in December from families with children experiencing homelessness, children with special needs and children from households with very low incomes. Adelman said interested families should check the program\u2019s website for updates on how to apply.<\/a><\/p>\n

The reversal came amid intense public lobbying efforts led by the Advocates for Children of New Jersey, an organization that got the attention of several women lawmakers who vowed to fight to reopen the program.<\/p>\n

Winifred Smith-Jenkins, an ACNC director, praised Murphy\u2019s course correction and credited the work of Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex and other lawmakers. <\/p>\n

But Smith-Jenkins called it only a temporary fix, because enrollment will close once the program reaches its new limit of 75,000 children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to continuing to work with the majority leader on a long-term solution to the state\u2019s growing child care and affordability needs,\u201d Smith-Jenkins said.<\/p>\n

The New Jersey Child Care Assistance program pays most daycare expenses for 70,000 children whose parents earn twice the federal poverty rate. Parents with one child may qualify for assistance if they earn no more than $34,840 a year, while a parent with two children can earn no more than $43,920.<\/p>\n

A study by Rutgers University found<\/a> child care \u2014 which can cost upwards of $18,000 a year \u2014 consumes about 30% of a family\u2019s paycheck.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout access to this program, families were facing the unthinkable choice between making a living and caring for their children,\u201d said Meghan Tavormina, a director at the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children. \u201cThe reopening of the program marks a critical step in the right direction and signals to these families that they and their children matter.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lawmakers approved a $58.8 billion state budget that Murphy signed into law in June. The program had hoped to receive $30 million to expand, but at the last minute, that appropriation was reduced to $2 million.<\/p>\n

Enrollment was frozen beginning Aug. 1. The program also raised copays by 6%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After growing pleas from family advocacy groups, Gov. Phil Murphy\u2019s administration has reversed a decision that closed enrollment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-56801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}