Agenda

Public Policy
Support

Our Goal

NJAEYC’s public policy goal is to support a system of high quality early childhood education for all children from birth to age eight. We advocate for a system that provides supports for children, families, and the early education workforce.

Early childhood professionals who work with children each day know the challenges that families face. We are in the best position to make a difference for children.  You can support our efforts as we advocate for the children in our state by donating to the NJAEYC and by staying involved! Check back here for ways you can timely advocate for high-quality early care and education at the state and national levels as issues arise! We need your voice.

NJAEYC’s work reflects the position of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Our position statements reflect research and evidence from the field. NJAEYC collaborates with like-minded organizations and works closely with state government organizations and legislators on policies impacting the field.

Our advocacy education program is conducted for all those in the field to inform them of critical issues facing the field of early care and education and provides them with the tools to effect positive change on behalf of children, families, the early childhood workforce and system-building efforts.

Statement on Funding

New Jersey enters 2026 with a new administration and a child care system under significant strain, driven most urgently by the unresolved CCAP shortfall. Access to child care assistance remains constrained, not because families are ineligible, but because funding has failed to keep pace with need. As a result, otherwise-qualified families are being frozen out of assistance, providers are operating with instability, and communities are losing child care capacity.

At the same time, recent shifts in preschool expansion—including barriers in community based partnerships within the mixed- delivery preschool model—have compounded pressure on providers by disrupting enrollment patterns and financial predictability. These dynamics are unfolding in a tight fiscal environment, where continued inaction on CCAP and workforce stabilization will accelerate program closures, limit family access to care, and create downstream economic consequences for the state. 

NJAEYC’s 2026 agenda prioritizes restoring access to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), stabilizing the provider base, and addressing immediate system pressures—so that early learning policy decisions do not unintentionally weaken the child care infrastructure families rely on every day.

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Main Legislative Priorities

NJAEYC’s main priorities are to restore and stabilize CCAP, address mixed delivery implementation fractures, and address workforce issues.

      • Restore and Stabilize CCAP (Top Priority)
        Ensure adequate funding is in the FY27 budget to cover all eligible families eliminating the enrollment freeze. When the budget reflects the necessary funding we see the following positive outcomes:
        >> Increased and stable workforce participation
        >> Stability in the child care industry
        >> Positive outcomes for children
        >> Stability for families.
        >> Ensure subsidy policy reflects the true cost of quality.
        >> Ensure reimbursement parity across settings so subsidies follow the child, not the program type.
      • Strengthen Mixed-Delivery Preschool Implementation
        Protect community-based provider capacity by ensuring true partnership when advancing universal preschool.
        >> Enforce and strengthen mixed-delivery guardrails to ensure districts partner with community-based providers before creating district-only seats.
        >> Require school districts to partner with community based providers before utilizing or building in district classrooms.
        >> Require transparent contracting practices that reflect the true cost of delivery and support program sustainability.
        >> Create a liaison within the Department of Education to support implementation challenges between providers and districts.
      • Workforce Stabilization and Compensation (Phased Approach)
        Address the compensation crisis for early childhood educators through targeted, fiscally responsible steps.
        >> Advance phased compensation strategies (targeted wage supports, pilots, or supplements) to reduce turnover and keep classrooms open.
        >> Expand paid pathways, apprenticeships, and earn-and-learn models aligned with career advancement.
        >> Create a wage ladder that works toward K-12 parity and aligns with the new state Career Lattice

    Supporting Legislation & Actions

    NJAEYC is dedicated to supporting initiatives that will have a positive and sustainable impact on the early care and education industry. Using the identified legislative priorities to guide our advocacy efforts, NJAEYC sets forth the following advocacy priorities:

    Advocate for Policies and Regulations that Support Early Care and Education Programs:

    • Improve special education supports
    • Provide funding for facility improvements
    • Pay CCAP/Subsidy payments prospectively
    • Increase eligibility limits for families to qualify for subsidies
    • Expand capacity for family child care providers while maintaining health, safety, and ratio regulations.
    • Creation of a substitute system

    Advocate for Policies and Regulations that Support the Early Care and Education Workforce:

    • Create pathways for the workforce to access quality and affordable health care benefits
    • The creation and improvement of career pathways in early care and education that are competitively compensated
      • Apprenticeships
      • CDA’s
      • Higher education routes
      • Credit for prior experience
    • Expansion of current initiatives, such as loan forgiveness, to include the early care and education workforce.

    Federal Agenda

    NJAEYC supports the federal agenda of NAEYC. NJAEYC is dedicated to working with our national partners and New Jersey Congressional Representatives to support the following policy areas:

    • Workforce investments
    • Child care and development block grant funding increases
      Preschool development grant
      Head Start and Early Head Start
      IDEA Part C
      CCAMPIS
      Tax bills that support educator and provider credits

     

     

    CURRENT BILLS

    A2291/S1968 Provides categorical eligibility for subsidized child care services to certain child care workers. 

    A2222/ Provides refundable gross income tax credits to staff members at childcare centers. 

    A2243/S3382 Allows gross income tax credit for certain child care staff and registered family child care providers. 

    A4221/S3165 Requires DHS to conduct a review of reimbursement rates paid by State’s child care assistance program to certain child care providers. 

    S2238/A1415 Requires school districts to provide majority of preschool pupil placements at licensed child care provider programs. 

    S2241/A1920 Extends child care subsidies to families earning up to 300 percent of federal poverty level; appropriates funds. 

    S3440 Authorizes use of affordable housing and municipal development fee trust funds for planning and construction of certain childcare centers.