S-3203

   Amend  the amendment, S-3194, to Senate File 561, as follows:
   1.  Page 62, after line 18 by inserting: 
   <___.  The department shall set child care provider reimbursement rates based on the most recent market rate survey completed.>
   2.  Page 78, after line 19 by inserting: 
<DIVISION ___
STATE CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE —— CHILDREN NEEDING SPECIAL NEEDS CARE, INITIAL ELIGIBILITY, AND REIMBURSEMENT

   Sec. ___.  Section 237A.1, Code 2023, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  7A.  “Children needing special needs care” or “special needs child” means a child or children with one or more of the following conditions:
   a.  The child has been diagnosed by a physician or by a person endorsed for service as a school psychologist by the department of education to have a developmental disability which substantially limits one or more major life activities, and the child requires professional treatment, assistance in self-care, or the purchase of special adaptive equipment.
   b.  The child has been determined by a qualified intellectual disability professional to have a condition which impairs the child’s intellectual and social functioning.
   c.  The child has been diagnosed by a mental health professional to have a behavioral or emotional disorder characterized by situationally inappropriate behavior which deviates substantially from behavior appropriate to the child’s age, or which significantly interferes with the child’s intellectual, social, or personal development.
   Sec. ___.  Section 237A.13, Code 2023, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  1A.  A family shall only be initially eligible for state child care assistance if the family’s gross monthly income does not exceed the lesser of:
   a.  (1)  (a)  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, one hundred sixty percent of the federal poverty level applicable to the family size for children needing basic care.
   (b)  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, one hundred seventy percent of the federal poverty level applicable to the family size for children needing basic care.
   (c)  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, one hundred eighty percent of the federal poverty level applicable to the family size for children needing basic care.
   (d)  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, one hundred ninety percent of the federal poverty level applicable to the family size for children needing basic care.
   (e)  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2027, and for each fiscal year thereafter, two hundred percent of the federal poverty level applicable to the family size for children needing basic care.
   (2)  Two hundred percent of the federal poverty level applicable to the family size for children needing special needs care.
   b.  Eighty-five percent of the state median gross monthly income.
   Sec. ___.  Section 237A.13, subsection 8, Code 2023, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  e.  Families with an income of more than one hundred forty-five percent of the federal poverty level but not more than the maximum income necessary to be eligible for state child care assistance whose members, for at least twenty-eight hours per week in the aggregate, are employed or are participating at a satisfactory level in an approved training program or educational program.>
   3.  By renumbering as necessary.

______________________________
NATE BOULTON

______________________________
JANICE WEINER