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Child-care and early‑learning groups ask lawmakers to close funding gaps; campus hunger and literacy grants face cuts
Summary
Advocates asked the Senate committee to fully fund child‑care assistance, restore or increase the Hunger Free Campus grant and reinstate Reach Out and Read support; they warned that partial funding and new federal requirements to prospectively pay providers would strain the system.
Winifred Smith Jenkins of Advocates for Children of New Jersey told the committee the Division of Family Development’s Child Care Assistance Program is at a breaking point and that a $20 million shortfall in the Division’s budget would mean fewer children served and added strain on providers. Jenkins urged the Legislature to fully fund DFD so the state can meet new federal requirements (including a prospective payment mandate in 2026) and avoid not serving eligible families.
Dylan Heffernan of Ramapo College described the Hunger Free Campus grant the college has used to expand food‑security services; he said the governor’s proposal would cut the program from $1.2 million to $600,000 and urged maintaining or increasing the grant as student need grows. Kim Byam of Reach Out and Read asked the Legislature to restore $100,000 that supported book distribution at early well‑child visits and to continue funding associated clinic programming that reaches tens of thousands of children.
Advocates stressed that prospective payments, summer enrollment surges and the unwinding of federal Medicaid redeterminations all increase pressure on the child‑care and early‑learning delivery systems; they asked for stable, recurring funding to avoid service disruptions and help providers adapt to federal rule changes. No votes were taken during testimony.
