THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	6
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

urging the department of human services to increase the eligibility criteria for receiving child care subsidies.

WHEREAS, the Department of Human Services allows for child care cost reimbursement under the Child Care Connection Hawaii program; and

WHEREAS, this reimbursement allows parents to secure stable employment and increase the family's economic wellbeing; and

WHEREAS, the child care reimbursement rates are based on federal poverty level percentages; and

WHEREAS, these reimbursements are capped at two hundred percent of the federal poverty level, which is currently set at $18,000 per year; and

WHEREAS, the reimbursement and co-payment ratios are set at a level that far exceeds the national guidelines of a maximum of seven percent of family income spending on child care; and

WHEREAS, the current child care co-payment ratio in Hawaii is the worst in the nation, at up to nineteen percent of the family income spending on child care; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, that the Department of Human Services is urged to adjust the co-pay under the Child Care Connection Hawaii program to a maximum of ten percent of family income spending on child care; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is urged to create a new three-level scale with the following criteria:

(1) Zero percent co-payment for families with incomes at or below one hundred percent federal poverty level;

(2) Five percent co-payment for families with incomes between one hundred percent and one hundred fifty percent federal poverty level; and

(3) Ten percent co-payment for families with incomes above one hundred fifty percent federal poverty level and up to fifty percent of the state median income; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Department of Human Services; Child Care Reimbursement Copay Adjustment; Keiki Caucus