Informal child care is defined in State regulations as care provided for up to two children for less than 24 hours per day or, for more than two children for less than three hours per day. Such care may be provided outside of the child's home and is known as "legally-exempt family child care" or inside the child's home and is known as "legally-exempt in-home child care." Providers must be enrolled with an enrollment agency and meet regulatory requirements such as clearances through the Sex Offender Registry and the Child Welfare Data Base.

Informal child care providers are a critical source of child care for many low-income families who require subsidized care in order to maintain employment. According to the latest data from the Office of Children and Family Services, 42% of families receiving subsidized child care utilized informal child care in Federal Fiscal Year 2010. In such year, informal child care providers cared for a total of 83,415 children.

The purpose of this hearing is to examine the quality of care that informal child care settings provide to families. With due regard for the critical need for accessible child care, the Assembly is hoping to gather information regarding how such informal care is structured, and identify any areas in need of improvement that would benefit both providers and families.

Persons wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Committees at the above hearing should complete and return the enclosed reply form as soon as possible. It is important that the reply form be fully completed and returned so that persons may be notified in the event of emergency postponement or cancellation.

Oral testimony will be limited to 10 minutes. In preparing the order of witnesses, the Committees will attempt to accommodate individual requests to speak at particular times in view of special circumstances. These requests should be made on the attached reply form or communicated to Committee staff as early as possible. In the absence of a request, witnesses will be scheduled in the order in which reply forms are postmarked.

Ten (10) copies of any prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk.

In order to further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and organizations of the Committees' interest in hearing testimony from all sources.

In order to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the New York State Senate and Assembly have made its facilities and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to afford such individuals access and admission to Senate and Assembly facilities and activities.

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Persons wishing to present testimony at the public hearing on the Utilization of Informal Child Care are requested to complete this reply form as soon as possible and mail it to: