Bill Comments
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SB 2808 – Child Care Assistance- Eligibility
HB 2850 – Child Care, Federal Poverty Level
SB 1397 – Paid Family Leave Study Commission
HB 2513 – AHCCCS; Preventive Dental Care
SB 1037 – AHCCCS; comprehensive dental care
SB 1191 – Developmental disabilities; Prader-Willi syndrome
SB 1363, HB 2752- Child Care Assistance; Appropriations
SB 1632, HB 2349 – Family and Medical Leave; Coverage
HB 2170 – Full-day Kindergarten Students; ADM
HB 2217 – Preschool Pilot Program; Appropriation
HB 2447 – Child Safety; Department Continuation; Procedures
HB 2645 – Foster Children; High School; Transfer
SB 1388 – Temporary assistance; child-only case
SB 1458 – Congregate Care; Dependent Children; Procedures
SB 1664 – DCS; Tiered Central Registry; Hearings
SB 2808 – Child Care Assistance- Eligibility
Sponsored by: Representative Jennifer Pawlik
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Assigned to Health and Human Services Committee but never heard
Bill description: State child care subsidies have a work requirement, which this bill would waive for full time college students so they may also have assistance paying for safe, quality child care for their children.
HB 2850 – Child Care, Federal Poverty Level
Sponsored by: Representative Jennifer Pawlik
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Assigned to Health and Human Services and Appropriations Committees but never heard
Bill description: Currently, only families below 165% of the federal poverty level are eligible for state assistance affording child care. This bill raises that limit to 300% of the federal poverty level so more families can afford quality child care so they can work and their children can be safe and learn.
SB 1397 – Paid Family Leave Study Commission
Sponsored by: Senator Mitzi Epstein
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Assigned to Government Committee but never heard
Bill description: This bill creates a study committee to explore the feasibility of paid family medical leave. It also outlines who should be part of that committee and has a framework for what they should look at.
HB 2513 – AHCCCS; Preventive Dental Care
Sponsored by: Representative Amish Shah
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Assigned to the Health and Human Services and Appropriations Committees but never heard
Bill description: Oral health disease before and during pregnancy can lead to preterm births and low birthweights, and children often are exposed to their parents’ oral health germs. Yet AHCCCS covers dental care only for children and not ad ults, not even during pregnancy. This bill would provide limited preventive oral health services to adults enrolled in AHCCCS.
SB 1037 – AHCCCS; comprehensive dental care
Sponsored by: Senator T.J. Shope
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Passed Health and Human Services Committee 5-1, Appropriations 6-2, and full Senate 19-9.
Bill description: Oral health disease before and during pregnancy can lead to preterm births and low birthweights, and children often are exposed to their parents’ oral health germs. Yet AHCCCS covers dental care only for children and not adults, not even during pregnancy. This bill would allow AHCCCS recipients to use their $1,000 emergency dental benefit for other comprehensive non-emergency dental services, including in outpatient settings that are less expensive.
SB 1191 – Developmental disabilities; Prader-Willi syndrome
Sponsored by: Senator Justine Wadsack
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Passed Health and Human Services Committee 7-0, Appropriations 7-2, and full Senate 25
Bill description: Arizona is one of only a handful of states in U.S. that still relies on a medical diagnosis list to determine who is eligible for Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) services. As medical science has advanced and new discoveries have been made, using a list of five diagnoses in state statute has become woefully inadequate and out of date. Many kids who functionally need DDD’s critical services end up falling through the cracks and are deemed ineligible. This bill expands the definition of who is eligible for developmental disability services to be inclusive of those with a severe, chronic disability attributable to a pathogenic mutation associated with neurodevelopmental disabilities, including Prader-Willi syndrome.
SB 1363, HB 2752 – Child Care Assistance; Appropriations
Sponsored by Senator Priya Sundareshan and Representative Analise Ortiz
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Assigned to Appropriations Committee in the Senate and Health and Human Services and Appropriations Committees in the House but never heard in either chamber.
Bill description: These mirror bills match Governor Hobbs executive proposal to appropriate $100M from state general fund and $91M from federal child care development fund to DES for child care assistance. Without these critically needed appropriations, low income working parents will have to endure a waiting list when they go to apply for child care assistance in the coming year. This will adversely impact children’s ability to access safe, quality early learning environments, parents’ ability work, and hinder Arizona’s economy.
SB 1632, HB 2349 – Family and Medical Leave; Coverage
Sponsored by: Senator Juan Mendez and Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Assigned to Finance and Commerce in Senate and Health and Human Services and Commerce committees in House but was never heard in either chamber.
Bill description: About 80 percent of workers in Arizona do not have paid family leave. These bills would create a state Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program for all participating Arizona workers to access up to 26 weeks of paid and job-protected leave when they need to take time to bond with a new child, recover from a serious illness or care for a family member for medical reasons. As of January 2024, nine states plus the District of Columbia are operating paid leave programs at low-cost to employers, employees and self-employed people who participate. Four more states will begin their PFML programs within the next two years.
HB 2170 – Full-day Kindergarten Students; ADM
Sponsored by: Representative Jennifer Pawlik
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Assigned to the Education and Appropriations Committees but never heard
Bill description: Currently, all kindergarten students are counted as half-time students for the purposes of calculating average daily membership for school funding purposes, even when the student attends a full-time kindergarten program. The bill would authorize districts and charter schools to count kindergartners as full-time students if they provide a full-time program with total instructional hours of 712 over the course of a 180-day school year. Kindergartners that enroll in programs with less than 712 hours would continue to be counted as half-time students.
HB 2217 – Preschool Pilot Program; Appropriation
Sponsored by: Representative Laura Terech
CAA position: Support
Bill Status Assigned to the Education and Appropriations Committees but never heard.
Bill description: The bill would appropriate $3M to create a preschool pilot in 5 school districts for the 2025-2026, 2026-2027, and 2027-2028 school years.
HB 2447 – Child Safety; Department Continuation; Procedures
Sponsored by: Representative Steve Montenegro
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Signed by Governor Hobbs on April 10, 2024
Bill description: The bill authorizes continuation of the Department of Child Safety through July 1, 2028, and includes additional requirements regarding use of a standardized hotline assessment tool, investigations related to prenatal exposure to medically prescribed cannibis, and procedures for increases to the child placement rate for a child welfare agency or group foster home.
*Note: SB 1257—Department of Child Safety; Continuation, sponsored by Senator TJ Shope was the Senate’s version of the bill. SB 1257 was heard in and passed out of Senate Health and Human Services, but did not move forward to a Floor vote in the Senate
HB 2645– Foster Children; High School; Transfer
Sponsored by: Representative Rachel Jones
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Signed by Governor Hobbs on April 8, 2024
Bill description: The bill requires the State Board of Education to develop guidelines for school districts and charter schools to use in the creation of policies for academic credit, including partial credit, for students in foster care who had to transfer high schools. It further requires schools to meet with foster students within 10 days of enrollment to review and update the student’s graduation plan and prohibits school districts and charter schools from imposing graduation requirements beyond the minimum requirements of the SBE on students in foster care who had to transfer high schools. The bill also requires school districts and charter schools to adopt policies regarding the transfer of educational records for students in foster care.
SB 1388 –Temporary assistance; child only case
Sponsored by: Senator Lela Alston
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Heard in and passed out of Senate Health and Human Services but did not advance further.
Bill description: Previously, any child who was being cared for by a relative without a parent present in the home was eligible for a “child only” Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefit, whether the child was in foster care or not. During the budget cuts of the Great Recession the “child only” benefit was limited to children in foster care who were placed with a relative by DCS. SB 1388 would restore the “child only” TANF benefit for children who are in the care of a relative but not in foster care.
SB 1458 – Congregate Care; Dependent Children; Procedures
Sponsored by: Senator Ken Bennett
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Passed through the Senate and House Health and Human Services, but failed to pass out of the House.
Bill description: Arizona has the country’s highest rate of congregate care placements (shelters, group homes, and institutions) for young foster children. SB 1458 would require DCS Director approval prior to the placement of any child under the age of 12 in a congregate care setting.
SB 1664 – DCS; Tiered Central Registry; Hearings
Sponsored by: Senator David Gowan
CAA position: Support
Bill Status: Signed by Governor Hobbs on April 9, 2024.
Bill description: Arizona’s central child abuse and neglect registry lists more than 150,000 people who have a substantiated report of child maltreatment. Before a person can foster, adopt, or get certain jobs working with children, DCS checks the applicant against the central registry. In theory, these are people who shouldn’t be working with children. But, in practice, the central registry sweeps in many people who do not pose a risk to their own children or to other people’s children. Currently, all person’s placed on the registry remain on it for 25 years. SB 1664 reforms Arizona’s central child abuse and neglect registry by requiring DCS to adopt rules to establish a tiered central registry based on the nexus between the act of child abuse or neglect and potential risk to chldren posed by that act. DCS is also required to create a pathway for early removal from the registry upon demonstration of rehabilitation. Finally, the bill enhances due process by increasing the evidentiary standard for administrative central registry hearings from “probable cause” to “preponderance of the evidence.”