SB 487

This bill authorizes the Department of Children and Families to establish a

program for making monthly payments and monthly per-child payments to certified

child care providers, licensed child care centers, and child care programs established

or contracted for by a school board. This new payment program is in addition to the

current law system for providing child care payments under Wisconsin Shares. The

bill allows DCF to promulgate rules to implement the program, including

establishing eligibility requirements and payment amounts and setting

requirements for how recipients may use the payments. The bill funds the program

through a new appropriation and by allocating federal moneys, including child care

development funds and moneys received under the Temporary Assistance for Needy

Families block grant program. To accomplish this, the bill eliminates a current law

allocation of TANF funding for increasing Wisconsin Shares maximum payment

rates paid to child care providers on the basis of a provider's quality rating, known

as YoungStar.

This bill also authorizes DCF to establish a grant program to award funding to

businesses that provide or wish to provide child care services for their employees.

The bill allows such a grant to be used to reserve child care placements for local

business employees, pay child care tuition, and other costs related to child care.

Under the bill, a grant recipient must provide at least 25 percent matching funds.

The bill allows DCF to promulgate rules to administer the grant program, including

to determine eligibility for a grant.