State Profile | New Jersey

The Afterschool Investments project has developed profiles for each state to provide a snapshot of the "state of afterschool," as well as an opportunity to compare afterschool activities across the country. This profile provides key data and descriptions of the afterschool landscape, which includes a range of out-of-school time programming that can occur before and after school, on weekends, and during summer months. It is designed to serve as a resource for policymakers, administrators, and providers.

• Quick Facts
• Statewide Initiatives
• Notable Local Initiatives
• Statewide Organizations
• Additional Resources
• Notes and Sources

Quick Facts

Demographics

For more demographic information, visit http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/statedata/statepro/index.html

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

CCDF Administrative Overview

Settings

Where CCDF-Subsidy school age-children are served:

Uses of CCDF Targeted Funds and Quality Dollars for Afterschool

"Resource and referral and school-age" targeted funds:
Funds may be used for state-wide collaboration and enhancement, including support for the development and expansion of School-age Child Care (SACC).  They can also be used for the Office of Early Care and Education, which through the Special Projects Manager provides guidance to the School-age Child Care Project and New Jersey Inclusive Child Care Project Grants and facilitates collaboration at local, state and national levels through community building.

Other quality activities:
Funds may be used for comprehensive consumer education, grants or loans to providers to assist in meeting state and local standards, and to monitor licensing and regulatory requirements. They can also be used for professional development, improving childcare providers’ salaries, activities promoting inclusive childcare, and for youth focused health programs. Other programs focused on improving the quality of childcare may also be funded.

Provider Reimbursement Rates

Tiered Reimbursement Rate System:
The rates the State pays to child care centers, family child care homes and summer camps that have achieved national accreditation are increased by 5 percent over the maximum rates for those centers, registered family child care homes, and summer camps meeting basic licensing requirements.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care

Program Licensing Policies

Exemptions apply to programs operated by the board of education of a local public school district.; or programs operated by a nonprofit organization in a public school building for 8 weeks or less and that do not offer continuous programs extending across the three-year period of licensure.

Systems/Quality Supports

21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC)

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Statewide Initiatives

• New Jersey Family Friendly Center Initiative. Since 1998, the Office of Early Care and Education of the New Jersey Department of Human Services has implemented state-funded Family Friendly Centers to provide $2.5 million in grants to afterschool programs that provide enrichment activities. Annual grants of up to $50,000 each have been awarded to 49 school districts or community based organizations that operate a total of 66 different Family Friendly Centers in elementary or middle schools. Grantees must collaborate with community organizations and agencies and must provide a 25 percent local funding match. The designated Family Friendly Centers use funds to offer a variety of educational, cultural, and recreational activities for children and social services for their families. Because of the family focus, parent involvement activities are a key component of the work of many centers. Many centers use the additional funds to meet the needs of their participants. Examples of this include an afterschool program that targets funds toward extra reading and math instruction for children who have behavioral problems and educational difficulties and a school district that used its funding to hire a substance abuse counselor and activity specialists for its free afterschool program.

  For more information, see http://www.state.nj.us/dcf/prevention/school/friendly.html

• New Jersey School-Age Care Coalition (NJSACC) has received CCDF quality dollars from the New Jersey Department Human Services to provide technical assistance to licensed out-of-school time programs. NJSACC provides technical assistance through consultation, site visits, and regional workshops around a range of program needs, including targeted assistance around provision of services for school-age children with special needs. In addition, NJSACC awards competitive sub-grants to afterschool programs for quality improvement activities. Finally, NJSACC dedicates funds toward statewide training conferences to educate and train school-age care providers.

  For more information, see http://www.njsacc.org.

• New Jersey Professional Development Center for Early Care and Education (NJPDC) supports the professional development and continuing education of educators across the state with funds from the New Jersey Department of Human Services. The Center, housed at Kean University, partners with the New Jersey Association of Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies (NJACCRRA) to offer a system of a professional development supports and services for all educators, including out-of-school time practitioners.

  For more information, see http://www.njpdc.org.

• 21st Century Community Learning Centers Advisory Committee. This committee, created and overseen by the New Jersey Department of Education, guided the transfer of administration of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program to the state and continues to provide leadership around program administration. The committee represents multiple state agencies, including the Departments of Education, Human Services, and Community Affairs; the Juvenile Justice Commission; and the Office of Law and Public Safety. In addition, representatives from the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, the Parent Teacher Association, faith-based organizations, and the New Jersey School-age Care Association serve on the committee.
• New Jersey School Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP). This state-funded New Jersey Department of Human Services initiative integrates a range of services for adolescents in one location in or near schools. Serving over 35,000 students, SBYSP sites offer a range of services before- and afterschool and during weekends and summers. Sites can be found in 44 school districts in each of the state’s 21 counties. Each site develops a range of services that respond to local needs, including school-age care, pregnancy prevention, mental health and family counseling services, primary and preventative health services, employment services, learning support services, family involvement, recreation activities, and many others. The SBYSP model has been replicated in a number of states including Iowa, Kentucky, and California.

  For more information, see http://www.princeton.edu/~cbli/profiles/sbysp.html.

• New Jersey After 3. In 2004, the Governor announced a plan for a statewide afterschool program in his State of the State address. Under the plan, state funds would be matched by other public and private sources on a 1:1 basis, which would support programs that serve 20,000 youth in grades K-8 in Year 1, the 2004- 2005 school year. The New Jersey After-School Partnership acts as a non-profit corporation to raise private funds and re-grant public and private funds to program operators. Programs must be school based, partner with community-based organizations, and feature a low student to teacher ratio and a comprehensive mix of academic, recreational, and arts-related programs.
  
  For more information, see http://www.njafter3.org/index.php.

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Statewide Organizations

National AfterSchool Association Affiliate:

New Jersey School-Age Care Coalition
231 North Avenue West, PM363
Westfield, NJ 07090
Phone: 908-789-0259
Email: dianegenco@njsacc.org
Web: http://www.njsacc.org

Statewide Child Care Resource & Referral Network:

New Jersey Assocation of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies
c/o Child Care Connection
1001 Spruce Street, Suite 201
Trenton, NJ 08638
Phone: 609-989-7770
Fax: 609-989-8060

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Additional Resources

State Child Care Administrators:
http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/statedata/dirs/display.cfm?title=ccdf

State TANF Contacts:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/states/tanf-dr.htm

21st Century Community Learning Centers Contacts:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/contacts.html

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Notes and Sources

Demographics

Total population, 2008: Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008, U.S. Census Bureau.

Number of children ages 5-12, 2008: Estimates of the Resident Population by Single-Year of Age and Sex for the United States and States: July 1, 2007, U.S. Census Bureau.

Percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch rate, 2006: Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Note: Most recent data.

Percent of K-12 students in Title I "schoolwide" schools, 2006: Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Schools enrolling at least 40 percent of students from poor families are eligible to use Title I funds for schoolwide programs that serve all children in the school. Note: Most recent data.

Child Care and Development Fund

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the largest federal funding source for child care. States receive a funding allocation determined by formula and have broad flexibility to design programs that provide child care subsidies for low-income children under the age of 13 and to enhance the quality of child care for all children. Federal CCDF funding consists of mandatory, matching, and discretionary funds. Federal law requires that states spend at least 4 percent of their CCDF funds as well as additional targeted funds on activities to improve the quality and availability of child care. CCDF administrative data in this and the following sections is from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau, as reported by States, unless otherwise noted.

FFY09 CCDF Allocation: Funding allocations are based on appropriation and do not reflect any reallotted or redistributed funds that may occur at a later date.

FFY09 state MOE plus match: In order to receive Federal matching funds, a state must expend Maintenance of Effort funds. Note that this does not capture actual expenditures, only the minimum required to draw down all available federal funds.

FFY09 Tribal CCDF Allocation: Federal CCDF Funds are awarded directly to Federally-recognized Indian Tribes.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Funding: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) appropriates an additional $2 billion in one-time CCDF Discretionary funding available to State, Territory and Tribal Lead Agencies in FY09 as part of the economic stimulus package.

FFY07 total quality expenditures: This data includes FY07 and prior year funds expended for quality from each of the CCDF funding streams (mandatory, matching, and discretionary) and expenditures under targeted funds for infant and toddler, school-age care and resource and referral. This figure provides information obtained from state financial reports submitted for FY07.

Uses of CCDF Targeted Funds and Quality Dollars for Afterschool: Portions of CCDF discretionary funds are targeted specifically for resource and referral and school-age child care activities as well as for quality expansion. (These funds are in addition to the required 4 percent minimum quality expenditure.)

Maximum rate for school-age category: Rates are listed for center-based care, family child care, and license exempt programs; where rates vary by region or county, the rate for the most populated urban area is given.

Standardized monthly school-age rate: Monthly rate for a child, age 8, in care after school during the school year at a center in the most costly district for four hours per day, 20 days per month. Calculated (in the lowest tier of a tiered system) using information from the FY2008-2009 State CCDF Plan, including rate structures, as submitted to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Separate subsidy rates for different age ranges and Tiered Reimbursement Rate Systems: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Child Care Bureau. Report of State Plans FY2008-2009.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care

In addition to spending TANF funds directly on child care, a state may transfer up to 30 percent of its TANF grant to CCDF. Expenditures represent TANF funds spent in FY07 that were awarded in FY07 and prior years. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, available at: In addition to spending TANF funds directly on child care, a state may transfer up to 30 percent of its TANF grant to CCDF. Expenditures represent TANF funds spent in FY07 that were awarded in FY07 and prior years. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofs/data/2007/tanf_2007.html.

Program Licensing and Accreditation Policies

States with separate school-age licensing standards and states with specialized requirements for child care centers serving school-age children: National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) and National Association for Regulatory Administration, 2007 Child Care Licensing Study, see: http://www.naralicensing.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=160.

Ratio of children to adults in school-age setting: Data from the National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC), available at: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov.

School-based, school-age programs exempt from licensing: Research conducted by Afterschool Investments, March 2008.

Systems/Quality Supports

School-age credential: NCCIC, State Professional Development System Credentials for Individuals, see: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/poptopics/pd-credentials.html.

Statewide quality rating system: NCCIC, Quality Rating Systems: Definitions and Statewide Systems, see: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/qrs-defsystems.html.

Statewide afterschool network: National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks, see: http://www.statewideafterschoolnetworks.net/.

21st Century Community Learning Centers

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program is a state formula grant. Funds flow to states based on their share of Title I, Part A funds. Data from the U.S. Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Centers Office and the 21st CCLC Profile and Performance Information Collection System as of July 2009.

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The Child Care Bureau awarded a technical assistance contract to The Finance Project for the Afterschool Investments project. The goals of the Afterschool Investments project include:

• Identifying ways that state and communities are using Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidy and quality dollars to support out-of-school time programs, and sharing these practices and approaches with other states;
• Identifying administrative and implementation issues related to CCDF investments in out-of-school time programs, and providing information and context (about barriers, problems, opportunities) as well as practical tools that will help CCDF administrators make decisions; and
• Identifying other major programs and sectors that are potential partners for CCDF in supporting out-of-school time programs and providing models, strategies, and tools for coordination with other programs and sectors.

Contact Us:

Email:
afterschool@financeproject.org

Web:
http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/afterschool/

The Finance Project
1401 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-587-1000
Web: www.financeproject.org

The Afterschool Investments project’s State Profiles are designed to provide a comprehensive overview of noteworthy State and local initiatives across the country. Inclusion of an initiative in the Profiles does not represent an endorsement of a particular policy or practice.