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3/20/2025
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Senate approves DiMario’s bill to remove restrictions on child care assistance recipients
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 STATE HOUSE — The Senate today voted to approve Sen. Alana M. DiMario’s bill to allow more qualified Rhode Islanders to receive child care assistance by removing burdensome requirements that recipients cooperate with the Office of Child Support Services to establish paternity and enforce child support orders for children receiving child care assistance.
“Rhode Island remains one of only nine states that require those receiving child care assistance to cooperate with the state to enforce child support orders against absent parents. Many parents do not want to establish paternity or enforce a child support order because they have good reasons to not engage with an absent parent, as doing so could put them or their children at risk,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham). “Too often, this means that either children don’t get the care they qualify for or that their parent is unable to work, get an education or complete the training necessary to advance their career and better provide for their family.”
This legislation (2025-S 0062) would remove the current requirement that the parents or caretakers applying to the Department of Human Services for child care assistance cooperate in establishing paternity and in enforcing child support orders for any children they are applying for assistance for. Under this legislation, they would still be able to choose to use the Office of Child Support Services’ resources to establish parentage, a child support or medical order, or to enforce that order, but this would no longer be a condition to quality for child care assistance.
“Advocates have been working on this for years and we are thrilled to see the Senate advance Senator DiMario’s bill to repeal the burdensome Child Support Enforcement requirement from the RI Child Care Assistance Program,” said Leanne Barrett, director of Early Childhood Policy & Strategy at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT and coordinator of the RIght from the Start Campaign. “Most states have never imposed this requirement and the federal government does not require or recommend this requirement, which is not in place for any other early care and education program.”
Said Senator DiMario, “Since this regulation was enacted in Rhode Island in 2006, all it has yielded is red tape for families, and fewer parents entering the workforce. This especially hurts the child care industry, where employees frequently are forced to leave their jobs because they cannot afford child care themselves and are unable to claim the subsidies they qualify for because of the requirement to cooperate in establishing paternity and enforcing child support orders. This leaves the child care industry chronically understaffed, which has the cumulative effect of making it more difficult for all Rhode Island parents to find child care and stay in the workforce.”
The bill now heads to the House for consideration where Rep. Grace Diaz (D-Dist. 11, Providence) has introduced companion legislation (2025-H 5197).
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
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