N.Y. Social Services Law § 410-ccc: Child day care facility development

§ 410-ccc. Child day care facility development. 1. Notwithstanding any

other provision of law, of the moneys appropriated to the department in

section one of chapter fifty-four of the laws of nineteen hundred

ninety-four, enacting the capital projects budget, four million seven

hundred fifty thousand dollars shall be available as follows: seven

hundred fifty thousand dollars for child care project development grants

and related administrative expenses; the remaining four million dollars

shall be available for the child care facilities construction program as

defined in section sixteen-g of the urban development corporation act;

of this amount, no less than three million dollars shall be available

for child care construction grants and related administrative expenses

and any remaining funds may be available for child care construction

revolving loans and loan guarantees, and related administrative

expenses. The amounts available for the child care facilities

construction program, as defined in section sixteen-g of the urban

development corporation act, shall be suballocated to the urban

development corporation pursuant to this section.

Up to five percent of the moneys available pursuant to this

subdivision may be used for payments to the department or other state

agencies or authorities, and the urban development corporation for

administrative expenses required to develop requests for proposals and

to approve contracts for child care construction projects pursuant to

this section and/or section sixteen-g of the urban development

corporation act. The director of the division of the budget shall

approve such payments.

2. Child care project development grants. The department shall develop

a request for proposals to provide grants to not-for-profit

organizations, including, but not limited to, child care resource and

referral programs, local development corporations, neighborhood

preservation companies and rural preservation companies as defined in

section nine hundred two of the private housing finance law, to support

pre-development planning, management, and coordination of activities,

leading to the development of child day care centers in under-served

areas meeting the needs of low-income working families. Such activities

may include: (a) design studies and services and other development or

redevelopment work in connection with the design and development of

child day care centers; and (b) studies, surveys or reports, including

preliminary planning studies to assess a particular site or sites or

facility or facilities for the development of child day care centers.

(c) In determining grants to be awarded, the department shall consider

the following: (i) that a not-for-profit organization applying for a

grant under this subdivision is a bonafide organization which shall have

demonstrated by its immediate past and current activities its ability to

lead or to assist in the development of projects, such as child day care

centers meeting the needs of low-income families; (ii) the need for day

care centers in the area; (iii) the potential viability for a child day

care center to succeed in the area; and (iv) such other matters as the

department determines necessary.

(d) Grants shall be awarded to eligible entities where the department

identifies an insufficient supply of child day care programs. Grants

awarded pursuant to the request for proposals shall not exceed

seventy-five thousand dollars per project.

3. Child care construction grants. (a) The child care construction

grants awarded pursuant to this section and section sixteen-g of the

urban development corporation act shall be available for not-for-profit

child care facilities construction projects owned or to be owned by

not-for-profit corporations for use as child day care centers that will

be duly approved, licensed, inspected, supervised, and regulated as may

be determined to be necessary and appropriate by the department, except

that with respect to child day care centers located in the city of New

York, such child day care centers will be duly approved, licensed,

inspected, supervised, and regulated as may be determined to be

necessary and appropriate by the commissioner of the department of

health of the city of New York.

(b) Grants shall be made through contracts to not-for-profit

corporations for child care facilities construction projects pursuant to

a request for proposal process jointly developed by the department and

the urban development corporation in consultation with the department of

economic development. The department shall receive, initially review,

and assess applications to determine which projects should be referred

to the urban development corporation and to rank by groups, the referred

projects according to the capacity of such projects to meet identified

needs for child day care. In assessing such applications, the department

shall consider: (i) the need for day care services in the area; (ii) the

potential viability for a child day care center to succeed in the area;

(iii) the qualifications of the proposed provider to operate a child

care center; (iv) the potential for meeting applicable regulatory

requirements; (v) the appropriateness of the site for licensing as a day

care center and (vi) such other matters as the department determines

necessary.

(c) Upon the timely completion of the department's initial review and

selection of applications meeting criteria, the department shall

immediately submit such selected applications and the group rankings of

such applications to the urban development corporation which, in

consultation with the department of economic development, shall select

award recipients. No later than upon submission of the selected

applications, the department shall also suballocate all moneys

appropriated for such purposes to such corporation.

4. Programs conducted pursuant to this section of law are limited to

the amounts appropriated therefor.