Halting New Applications for Child Care Assistance is a Policy Failure

Originally published on nj.com | By Debra Lancaster and Winifred Smith-Jenkins

August 3, 2025 — Child care is impossibly expensive for many New Jersey families. The state provides financial help to those who earn the least, but major changes are coming this week.

The New Jersey Child Care Assistance Program will no longer accept new applications submitted after July 31. If you’re not already in the program, you will be turned away.

Parents who are currently enrolled will be grandfathered in, as long as they continue to meet eligibility requirements, but many will see their copayments rise to 6% of their income. And, again, new applicants will be denied.

This is not just a fiscal oversight. It’s a policy failure.

Child care is one of the largest expenses facing families in New Jersey. Infant and toddler care, in particular, can cost more than $19,000 per year. Parents who cannot access affordable, reliable child care are often forced to reduce their hours at work or leave the workforce entirely, losing income and stunting their career advancement.

All of this adds up. Research estimates that the New Jersey economy loses $3.6 billion per year due to the child care crisis.

The New Jersey Child Care Assistance Program is one of the state’s most effective tools for helping low-income families. While the program received an $80 million increase in this year’s final state budget, that is $30 million short of what is needed maintain open enrollment and serve additional children from existing families.

Governor Murphy is touting a $6.7 billion surplus in New Jersey’s “rainy day” fund. We believe the governor and state lawmakers should dip into that surplus right now to fully fund the Child Care Assistance Program.

Without swift intervention, this devastating change will force many parents, especially moms, to quit their job. It will destabilize child care providers who are already operating on razor-thin margins. And it will further weaken a system that is essential to New Jersey’s economy.

The budget shortfall threatens the very foundation that helps families remain in the workforce, cover daily expenses, and plan for the future. Cutting support will leave parents facing difficult choices between keeping their jobs and ensuring that their children have safe, reliable care.

As many other states expand their subsidy programs to reach more working families, including those with moderate and middle incomes, our state is inexplicably moving in the opposite direction. New Jersey cannot claim to be fiscally responsible while abandoning working families.

Governor Murphy and legislative leaders need to act immediately to provide the $30 million required to ensure that no eligible family is turned away. We encourage all residents to contact their legislators and demand that they close the funding gap in the New Jersey Child Care Assistance Program.

Debra Lancaster is the Executive Director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Winifred Smith-Jenkins is the Director of Early Childhood Policy and Advocacy at ACNJ, Advocates for Children of New Jersey. They are members of the First 1,000 Days Policy Coalition, a group of advocates, researchers, educators, and other community leaders working to make safe, nurturing, and consistent child care accessible for all New Jersey.