Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:9
A new tax credit package:
1) establishes a $250 non-refundable child tax credit for children under age 6;
2) increases the state Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) from 30 percent to 50 percent of the federal credit;
3) provides tax benefits to employers who make direct payments to child care facilities to cover a portion of employees’ child care costs.
This tax credit package, which received bipartisan and bicameral support, is a direct outcome of the Senate Study Committee on Access to Affordable Childcare. This will impact ip to 1,115,000 children under 13 whose parent(s) are both employed and in need of child care.
An additional $3.9 million in state general funds was allocated to provide for an additional 500 child care scholarships through Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Program. This amount was included in the Governor’s budget proposal and maintained by the legislature. $1.5 million was also allocated to CAPS to support increasing reimbursement rates for CAPS providers to the 60th percentile of market rate. Although advocates worked for a higher investment, this increase signals a recognition of the importance of this program and an opportunity to build on this win in future years.
The Georgia legislature appropriated $2.9 million to expand a home visiting pilot program, Perinatal Health Partnership, to improve birth outcomes, reduce pre-term delivery, and decrease infant and maternal mortality in rural Georgia.The investment expands Perinatal Health Partnership home visiting to 25 additional counties for a total of 75 counties. This allocation was included in the Governor’s budget and maintained by the legislature.
The legislature
allocated $550,895 to support the recruitment and retention of Babies Can’t Wait special instructors and service coordinators, professionals who support families who have young children with disabilities and developmental delays. These professionals have not seen a rate increase since the 1990s. Almost 200 service coordinators and 293 special instructors will receive rate increases as a result of this new allocation.
The legislature passed
SB 276, which prohibits third-party payers (such as private insurance companies, care management organizations, and pharmacy benefits managers) from denying payment to a provider based solely on a lack of prior authorization. This will especially help Babies Can’t Wait (Early Intervention) therapists who have indicated that prior authorizations requirements are a burden to providing care. Nearly 800,000 children under the age of 6 in Georgia will benefit from reduced administrative burdens for pediatric physical and mental health care providers across the state, especially the over 17,000 children enrolled in Babies Can’t Wait.
The legislature allocated $14 million for year two of a four-year phase to reduce pre-k classroom size from 22 to 20 students to improve instructional quality. In 2011, that number was raised to 22 students to cut costs during the recession. This is part of the House Working Group on Early Childhood Education’s recommendations that were primarily implemented last year with an historic investment in the program. This relatively large increase of state funding adds an additional 92 pre-k classes and reduces the class size for all of the participating children (around 73,000).
The Georgia House passed HR 847, which creates a House study committee evaluating funding for Georgia’s public health system. Five members of the Georgia House, including the chairs of Rules, Appropriations, and Health Appropriations, will join the committee.
Recently the state applied for an extension of Georgia’s Medicaid program for working adults, called Pathways to Coverage. If approved, this extension would include caretaking for children under the age of 6 as a qualifying activity in order to receive Medicaid coverage.
