Amd §410-z, add §410-aa, Soc Serv L (as proposed in S.1926 & A.7145)
Requires each social services district to maintain a waiting list of eligible families who have applied for child care assistance; requires the local districts to report such list to the office of children and family services who shall then compile such reports and issue one report to the legislature annually; requires the social services districts to collect data regarding the income of families who have applied, were denied and received child care assistance and issue a report to the office of children and family services who shall then compile such reports and issue one report to the legislature annually.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9506
SPONSOR: Walker TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring social
services districts to maintain a waiting list of certain families apply-
ing for child care assistance
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to make clarifying, technical, and conform-
ing amendments to current law relating to child care assistance wait-
lists and data reporting requirements.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would amend the social services law and Chapter 676 of the
Laws of 2025 by:
*requiring each social services district to maintain a waiting list of
families who have applied for child care assistance but have not been
authorized due to insufficient available funds;
*removing detailed data collection requirements social services
districts must report to the Office of Children and Family Services;
*specifying the minimum data elements to be included on such waiting
lists, including application dates, eligibility determinations, age of
children, and applicant status;
*requiring the Office of Children and Family Services to annually post
district-level waitlist totals on its website;
*requiring districts to collect and submit aggregate, non-identifying
data regarding families who were denied assistance, placed on a wait-
list, or received assistance, including family size, income where avail-
able, and age of children;
*clarifying that districts are not required to collect retrospective
data or maintain waitlists for periods prior to the effective date of
the act; and
*removing requirements that the Office of Children and Family Services
submit a comprehensive report on waitlist data annually to the Governor
and Legislature.
JUSTIFICATION:
Many low-income families rely on subsidized childcare in order to main-
tain employment and ensure financial security. The legislature and the
Governor work very hard every year to allocate adequate funding for
childcare assistance in each year's budget. In order to advance this
goal, an accurate estimate of the outstanding need in local districts
for subsidized childcare is needed. By establishing mandatory waiting
lists, the number of families, the length of time the family must wait
for childcare assistance, and the income level of families receiving
childcare assistance can be determined.
This enables lawmakers to make informed decisions regarding who subsi-
dies are reaching and whether current income eligibility requirements
are appropriate.
Chapter 676 of the Laws of 2025 established requirements for social
services districts to maintain waiting lists and report data related to
applications for child care assistance in order to improve transparency
and inform policymaking.
However, amendments were necessary to streamline statutory structure,
eliminate duplicative reporting provisions, and clarify the scope of
district responsibilities. These amendments consolidate waitlist
requirements into a new section of law, clearly delineate required data
elements, and ensure that reporting obligations are prospective and
administratively feasible for districts and OCFS to accomplish. Addi-
tional technical and conforming changes were made to align reporting
responsibilities with existing data collection practices while maintain-
ing protection against the disclosure of identifying information.
These amendments are necessary to ensure clear implementation, consist-
ent statewide reporting, and meaningful oversight of child care assist-
ance availability.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is new legislation.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a
chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the social services law relating to
requiring social services districts to maintain a waiting list of
certain families applying for child care assistance, as proposed in
legislative bills numbers 5.1926 and A.7145, takes effect.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9506
IN ASSEMBLY
January 8, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring social
services districts to maintain a waiting list of certain families
applying for child care assistance
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 410-z of the social services law, as amended by a
2 chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the social services law relating to
3 requiring social services districts to maintain a waiting list of
4 certain families applying for child care assistance, as proposed in
5 legislative bills numbers S. 1926 and A. 7145, is amended to read as
6 follows:
7 § 410-z. Reporting requirements. [1.] Each social services district
8 shall collect and submit to the office of children and family services,
9 in such form and at such times as specified by the office of children
10 and family services, such data and information regarding child care
11 assistance provided under the block grant as the office of children and
12 family services may need to comply with federal reporting requirements.
13 [2. (a) Each social services district shall maintain a waiting list
14 of eligible families who have applied for child care assistance pursuant
15 to this title and who have not received such assistance. Such waiting
16 list shall contain information including, but not limited to:
17 (i) the date the child care assistance was requested;
18 (ii) the date the child care assistance was received;
19 (iii) the age of the child or children the assistance was requested on
20 behalf of; and
21 (iv) the total number of families on such waiting list as of the first
22 day of each month.
23 (b) Each district shall issue a report to the office of children and
24 family services by October fifteenth, two thousand twenty-seven, and
25 annually thereafter detailing month-to-month information required pursu-
26 ant to this subdivision for the preceding period of October first
27 through September thirtieth, and shall include the following:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05769-02-6
A. 9506 2
1 (i) the average length of time for families on the waiting list;
2 (ii) the number of families on the waiting list for each of the
3 following time periods:
4 (A) less than two weeks,
5 (B) two weeks to less than a month,
6 (C) one month to less than three months,
7 (D) three months to less than six months,
8 (E) six months to less than a year, and
9 (F) one year or more;
10 (iii) the average age of children represented on the waiting list;
11 (iv) the number of children represented on the waiting list eligible
12 for each:
13 (A) infant,
14 (B) toddler,
15 (C) pre-school, and
16 (D) school-aged subsidized child care slots; and
17 (v) the number of existing infant, toddler, pre-school and school-aged
18 subsidized child care slots;
19 (vi) the number of families who would receive child care assistance
20 except that they are waiting for available slots in a particular child
21 care program; and
22 (vii) other information as the district deems appropriate.
23 3. (a) Each social services district shall collect data regarding the
24 income of families who applied for child care assistance pursuant to
25 this title, specifying:
26 (i) the number of families who were denied;
27 (ii) the number of families who received such assistance; and
28 (iii) a listing of the incomes pursuant to paragraph (b) of this
29 subdivision of the families who applied for such assistance.
30 (b) Each district shall issue a report to the office of children and
31 family services by October fifteenth, two thousand twenty-seven, and
32 annually thereafter, detailing month-to-month information collected
33 pursuant to this subdivision for the preceding period of October first
34 through September thirtieth, and shall include the following:
35 (i) the number of all families who applied for and received child care
36 assistance pursuant to this title whose:
37 (A) incomes were under fifty percent of the state median income level
38 for their family size,
39 (B) incomes were between fifty percent and seventy-five percent of the
40 state median income level for their family size, and
41 (C) incomes were between seventy-five and eighty-five percent of the
42 state median income level for their family size; and
43 (ii) the number of all families who applied for and were denied child
44 care assistance pursuant to this title whose:
45 (A) incomes were under fifty percent of the state median income level
46 for their family size,
47 (B) incomes were between fifty percent and seventy-five percent of the
48 state median income level for their family size, and
49 (C) incomes were between seventy-five percent and eighty-five percent
50 of the state median income level for their family size.
51 4. The office of children and family services shall compile such
52 reports pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision two, and paragraph (b)
53 of subdivision three of this section, into one comprehensive report
54 containing all required information on a county by county basis. Such
55 report shall be provided to the governor, the speaker of the assembly,
56 the temporary president of the senate, the chairperson of the assembly
A. 9506 3
1 committee on children and families, the chairperson of the senate
2 committee on children and families, the chairperson of the assembly
3 committee on social services, the chairperson of the senate committee on
4 social services, the chairperson of the assembly ways and means commit-
5 tee and the chairperson of the senate finance committee no later than
6 December first, two thousand twenty-seven, and annually thereafter.
7 5. Reports issued and compiled under this section shall not use the
8 name, address, or any other identifying information of an individual who
9 is the subject of the report and shall ensure the anonymity of those
10 included in the reports.]
11 § 2. The social services law is amended by adding a new section 410-aa
12 to read as follows:
13 § 410-aa. Waitlist requirements. 1. Each social services district
14 shall maintain a waiting list of families who have applied for child
15 care assistance pursuant to this title but have not been authorized for
16 such assistance due to a lack of available funds under either the
17 district's allocation from the state child care block grant program or
18 any local funds appropriated for such program. Such waiting list shall
19 contain:
20 (a) the date the child care assistance was requested;
21 (b) the date the eligibility determination or redetermination was
22 made;
23 (c) the age of the child or children the assistance was requested on
24 behalf of;
25 (d) whether the family was a new applicant or recertifying; and
26 (e) the total number of families on such waiting list.
27 2. The office shall post annually on their website the total number of
28 families on the waitlist for each social services district.
29 3. (a) Each social services district shall collect data regarding the
30 families who applied for child care assistance pursuant to this title,
31 specifying:
32 (i) the number of families who were denied because they were deter-
33 mined ineligible for assistance, including: (A) the family size, (B) the
34 income of those families, where available; and (C) the age of the child,
35 where available;
36 (ii) the number of families who were placed on a waitlist, including:
37 (A) the family size; (B) the income of those families, where available;
38 and (C) the age of the child, where available; and
39 (iii) the number of families who received such assistance, including:
40 (A) the family size; (B) the income of those families, where available;
41 and (C) the age of the child, where available.
42 (b) Each social services district shall provide the information
43 collected pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision to the office
44 annually. The office shall re-post this information on their website
45 upon receipt.
46 § 3. Nothing in this act shall be construed to require local social
47 services districts to maintain waiting lists for dates preceding the
48 effective date of this act, or to collect data pursuant to subdivision 2
49 of section 410-aa of the social services law, as added by section two of
50 this act, for persons who applied for subsidized child care prior to the
51 effective date of this act.
52 § 4. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
53 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the social services law
54 relating to requiring social services districts to maintain a waiting
55 list of certain families applying for child care assistance, as proposed
56 in legislative bills numbers S. 1926 and A. 7145, takes effect.
