A 1200 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Requires child care centers to establish procedures to notify parents or guardians in event of unexcused child absence as condition of licensure.

This bill requires New Jersey child care centers to create procedures for notifying parents or guardians when a child is absent without an excused reason, as a condition for obtaining or renewing their state license. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) must verify these procedures before issuing a license and can deny, revoke, or refuse to renew a center's license if the procedures aren't established. Centers must determine the reason for unexcused absences following existing law (P.L.2020, c.152). The policy directly affects licensed child care centers and their enrolled families, mandating a specific administrative process tied to licensing compliance.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 16, 2026

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What changed between versions

Technical Review Of Prefiled Bill → Introduced · 3 edits · Jan 13, 2026

MINOR

The bill moved from technical review status to formally introduced status. No substantive policy changes were made; the only meaningful addition is the standard legislative Statement section that summarizes the bill's existing provisions in plain language. All other changes are formatting and procedural.

TECHNICAL

Bill status changed from 'As reported by the Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee with technical review' to 'Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel,' reflecting the formal introduction of the bill.

A standard legislative Statement section was added at the end summarizing the bill's provisions: DCF must require child care centers to establish notification procedures for unexcused absences as a condition of licensing, and may deny, revoke, or refuse to renew licenses if those procedures are not in place.

Minor formatting and character encoding adjustments throughout the text, including line break shifts in the act description and a character fix in subsection c.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 16, 2026

Committee

Reported and Referred to Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor