Bill
HB 1018
HB 1018 broadens School Age Child Care grants by removing a transportation requirement for approval and requires rules to set cost standards for transporting non-attendance facilit
Status snapshot
- Bill: HB 1018 — “School age child care”
- Jurisdiction: Indiana (amendments to IC 12-17-12)
- Introduced: Filed Nov 12, 2024 (authored/updated dates in 2025–2026 listed in file)
- Current procedural status (from document): First reading (Dec 1, 2025); referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs.
- Proposed effective date: July 1, 2026 (if enacted)
Purpose and intent
- To modify the grant‑approval criteria and rulemaking requirements for the School Age Child Care Project Fund by (1) removing certain transportation requirements from the statutory criteria used to approve grants and (2) directing the Division of Family Resources to adopt rules that set cost and expense standards for transporting children to child care facilities they do not attend.
Key provisions / changes
- Amend IC 12‑17‑12‑11 (approval criteria for grants from the School Age Child Care Project Fund):
- Removes (or narrows) the statutory transportation requirement that applicants demonstrate the ability to provide transportation “to and from a school or schools to the facility operated by the applicant” as part of the grant approval checklist. (Other existing approval criteria for physical environment, program activities, staffing, nutrition, emergency health services, administration, and operating in accordance with division cost/expense standards are preserved.)
- Amend IC 12‑17‑12‑17 (rulemaking duties of the Division of Family Resources):
- Requires the director of the Division to adopt administrative rules (under IC 4‑22‑2) that specify cost and expense standards for:
- Establishing and operating a school‑age child care program both inside a school and in a facility other than a school; and
- Transporting a child to a facility where the child does not attend school.
- Retains other rulemaking topics for the Division including hiring standards, sliding fee scales, staff‑to‑child ratios, space and nutrition requirements, emergency health services, application guidelines, and applicant priority methods.
Who is affected
- Providers seeking grants from the School Age Child Care Project Fund — approval criteria will change, potentially altering what evidence applicants must show concerning transportation capability.
- The Division of Family Resources — required to adopt specific rules that set cost standards for transporting children to non‑school facilities and to maintain existing program standards.
- School systems, child care operators, and families — possible operational and financial effects depending on how new rules define allowable transportation costs and how providers structure service delivery (onsite vs. offsite programs).
Potential impact
- Administrative: The Division must promulgate rules defining transportation cost/expense standards; this will require rule drafting and implementation work by state staff.
- Programmatic: Removing a statutory transportation approval requirement could give providers and grant reviewers more flexibility, while the required transport cost standards could standardize what transport expenses are eligible or reimbursable under grants.
- Families: Impacts depend on provider responses — may affect availability or convenience of off‑site school‑age child care and whether transportation to off‑site facilities is subsidized.
Procedural / timeline notes
- If enacted as drafted, statutory changes take effect July 1, 2026.
- Next steps follow the committee process (hearings, possible amendment, further readings) in the Indiana General Assembly before final passage and gubernatorial action.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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