What This Bill Does
This bill establishes a federal program to provide universal child care and early learning services to all eligible young children. The government would pay for most or all of the costs through designated local organizations called "prime sponsors." The bill aims to ensure families can access affordable, high-quality child care regardless of their income level.
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Who It Affects
- Young children not yet required to attend school under state law
- Families with children, especially low-income families
- Child care providers and teachers
- State and local governments
- Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian communities
- Prime sponsors (organizations designated to manage programs)
- Migrant and seasonal farmworkers' families
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Key Provisions
- Every eligible child becomes entitled to participate in a child care and early learning program, with no limit on how many children can enroll (Sec. 111(b))
- The federal government pays at least 90 percent of program costs for most children, 100 percent for children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and 100 percent for Native American children (Sec. 112(c)(2))
- Low-income families pay no fees; other families pay a sliding fee scale capped at 1 to 7 percent of family income depending on earnings (Sec. 114(j))
- Prime sponsors must operate programs full-working-day and year-round, responding to families' needs including nonstandard hours (Sec. 114(b)(2)(F))
- Programs must prohibit or severely limit suspensions and must never expel children based on behavior alone (Sec. 114(b)(2)(I))
- Prime sponsors must establish a Child Care and Early Learning Advisory Council with parents, staff, providers, and community members (Sec. 114(d)(1))
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What Changes
If enacted, the federal government would create a new entitlement program guaranteeing child care services to eligible children. States, localities, Indian Tribes, and other organizations could become prime sponsors to receive federal funding and manage programs. Programs would have to meet specific quality standards and provide comprehensive services including health care, mental health support, nutrition, and family involvement activities. Families' out-of-pocket costs would be limited based on income. Teachers and child care workers would receive compensation meeting standards set through collective processes. The bill authorizes funding but specific dollar amounts beyond the $500,000,000 annual authorization for certain activities are not capped.
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Important Definitions
- **Covered child**: A child not yet required to attend school under state law who meets additional requirements set by regulation (Sec. 102(4))
- **Low-income**: A family earning no more than 200 percent of the poverty line (Sec. 102(16))
- **Full-working-day**: At least 10 hours per day (Sec. 102(8))
- **Child with a disability**: A child with disabilities as defined in federal special education law (Sec. 102(2))
- **Dual language learner**: A child acquiring two or more languages at the same time or learning a second language while developing their first language (Sec. 102(5))
- **Prime sponsor**: A state, locality, Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, or nonprofit agency designated by the Secretary to manage child care and early learning programs (Sec. 113(a))
- **Health**: Both physical and mental health services (Sec. 102(9))
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 388
To establish universal child care and early learning programs.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 9, 2023
Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr.
BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr.
BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To establish universal child care and early learning programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Care for Every
4
Community Act’’.
5
TITLE I—CHILD CARE AND
6
EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS
7
SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF PURPOSES.
8
The purposes of this title are—
9
(1) to provide all young children with a fair and
10
full opportunity to reach their full potential, by es-
11
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•S 388 IS
tablishing and expanding programs, to create uni-
1
versal, comprehensive child care and early learning
2
programs that are available to all young children;
3
(2) to ensure that families can access afford-
4
able, high-quality child care and early learning pro-
5
grams regardless of circumstance;
6
(3) to promote the school readiness of all young
7
children by enhancing their cognitive, social, emo-
8
tional, and physical development—
9
(A) in a learning environment that sup-
10
ports children’s growth in language, literacy,
11
mathematics, science, cognitive abilities, social
12
and emotional functioning, creative arts, phys-
13
ical skills, and approaches to learning; and
14
(B) through the provision to children and
15
their families of health, educational, nutritional,
16
social, and other services that are determined,
17
based on family needs assessments, to be nec-
18
essary;
19
(4) to recognize and build upon the experience
20
and success gained through the Head Start pro-
21
gram, the military child care program, and similar
22
efforts;
23
(5) to provide that decisions on the nature of
24
such child care and early learning programs be made
25
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at the community level with the full involvement of
1
parents, family members, and other individuals and
2
organizations in the community; and
3
(6) to establish the legislative framework for
4
child care and early learning services.
5
SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.
6
For purposes of this title:
7
(1) CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING PRO-
8
GRAM.—The term ‘‘child care and early learning
9
program’’ means any program that provides child
10
care and early learning services in child care and
11
early learning centers (including schools) or in fam-
12
ily child care homes.
13
(2) CHILD
WITH
A
DISABILITY.—The term
14
‘‘child with a disability’’ means—
15
(A) a child with a disability, as defined in
16
section 602(3) of the Individuals with Disabil-
17
ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)); and
18
(B) an infant or toddler with a disability,
19
as defined in section 632(5) of such Act (20
20
U.S.C. 1432(5)).
21
(3)
COMMUNITY.—The
term
‘‘community’’
22
means a city, county, or multicity or multicounty
23
unit within a State, an Indian reservation (including
24
Indians in any nearby off-reservation area des-
25
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ignated by an appropriate Tribal government in con-
1
sultation with the Secretary), or a neighborhood or
2
other area (irrespective of boundaries or political
3
subdivisions) that provides a suitable organizational
4
base and possesses the commonality of interest need-
5
ed to operate a child care and early learning pro-
6
gram.
7
(4) COVERED
CHILD.—The term ‘‘covered
8
child’’ means a child who—
9
(A) is not yet required to attend school,
10
under the laws of compulsory school attendance
11
of the State in which the child resides; and
12
(B) meets the requirements of regulations
13
issued under section 124.
14
(5) DUAL
LANGUAGE
LEARNER.—The term
15
‘‘dual language learner’’ means a child who is ac-
16
quiring two or more languages at the same time, or
17
a child who is learning a second language while con-
18
tinuing to develop the child’s first language, includ-
19
ing a child who may also be identified by a State or
20
locality as ‘‘bilingual’’, ‘‘an English language learn-
21
er’’, ‘‘limited English proficient’’, ‘‘an English learn-
22
er’’, or a child who speaks a ‘‘language other than
23
English’’.
24
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(6) FAMILY
LITERACY
SERVICES.—The term
1
‘‘family literacy services’’ means services that—
2
(A) are family literacy services, as defined
3
in section 637 of the Head Start Act (42
4
U.S.C. 9832); and
5
(B) meet the requirements of section 641A
6
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a).
7
(7) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘finan-
8
cial assistance’’ includes assistance provided by
9
grant, agreement, or contract, for which payments
10
may be made in installments and in advance or by
11
way of reimbursement with necessary adjustments
12
on account of overpayments or underpayments.
13
(8) FULL-WORKING-DAY.—The term ‘‘full-work-
14
ing-day’’ means not less than 10 hours per day.
15
Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to re-
16
quire an entity to provide services to a child who has
17
not reached the age of compulsory school attendance
18
for more than the number of hours per day per-
19
mitted by State law (including regulation) for the
20
provision of services to such a child.
21
(9) HEALTH.—The term ‘‘health’’, when used
22
to refer to services or care provided to children en-
23
rolled in a child care and early learning program,
24
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•S 388 IS
their parents, or their siblings, shall be interpreted
1
to refer to both physical and mental health.
2
(10) HOMELESS CHILD.—The term ‘‘homeless
3
child’’ means an individual described in section
4
725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
5
Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)).
6
(11) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ means an in-
7
dividual who is—
8
(A) a member of an Indian Tribe or band,
9
as membership is defined by the Tribe or band,
10
including—
11
(i) any Tribe or band terminated since
12
1940; and
13
(ii) any Tribe or band recognized by
14
the State in which the Tribe or band re-
15
sides;
16
(B) a descendant of an individual de-
17
scribed in subparagraph (A);
18
(C) considered by the Secretary of the In-
19
terior to be an Indian for any purpose;
20
(D) an Eskimo, Aleut, or other Alaska Na-
21
tive; or
22
(E) a member of an organized Indian
23
group that received a grant under the Indian
24
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•S 388 IS
Education Act of 1988 as in effect on October
1
19, 1994.
2
(12) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’
3
means the governing body of any individually identi-
4
fied and federally recognized Indian or Alaska Na-
5
tive Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or commu-
6
nity (including an affiliated Tribal group or compo-
7
nent reservation) included on the list published pur-
8
suant to section 104(a) of the Federally Recognized
9
Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131(a)).
10
(13) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—
11
The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the
12
meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the
13
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
14
(14) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term
15
‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given
16
such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and
17
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
18
(15) LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘locality’’ means
19
any city, municipality, county, or other political sub-
20
division of a State having general governmental pow-
21
ers, or any combination of such political subdivi-
22
sions.
23
(16) LOW-INCOME.—The term ‘‘low-income’’,
24
used with respect to a child or other individual,
25
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means an individual in a family with a family in-
1
come that is not more than 200 percent of the pov-
2
erty line.
3
(17) MIGRANT OR SEASONAL CHILD CARE AND
4
EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘migrant or
5
seasonal child care and early learning program’’
6
means—
7
(A) with respect to services for migrant
8
farmworkers, a child care and early learning
9
program that serves families who are engaged
10
in agricultural labor and who have changed
11
their residence from one geographic location to
12
another in the preceding 2-year period; and
13
(B) with respect to services for seasonal
14
farmworkers, a child care and early learning
15
program that serves families who are engaged
16
primarily in seasonal agricultural labor and who
17
have not changed their residence to another ge-
18
ographic location in the preceding 2-year pe-
19
riod.
20
(18) MILITARY
CHILD
CARE
PROGRAM.—The
21
term ‘‘military child care program’’ means the pro-
22
gram carried out under subchapter II of chapter 88
23
of title 10, United States Code.
24
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•S 388 IS
(19) NATIVE
HAWAIIAN.—The term ‘‘Native
1
Hawaiian’’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
2
tion 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
3
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517).
4
(20) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’
5
means the official poverty line (as defined by the Of-
6
fice of Management and Budget) based on the most
7
recent data available from the Bureau of the Cen-
8
sus—
9
(A) adjusted to reflect the percentage
10
change in the Consumer Price Index For All
11
Urban Consumers, issued by the Bureau of
12
Labor Statistics, during the annual or other in-
13
terval immediately preceding the date on which
14
such adjustment is made; and
15
(B) adjusted for family size.
16
(21)
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.—The
17
term ‘‘professional development’’ means the career-
18
pathway aligned mechanisms that contribute to en-
19
suring that a member of the early care and edu-
20
cation workforce, in any setting, has or is working
21
towards obtaining the degrees and other credentials
22
needed to demonstrate the necessary knowledge and
23
competencies for quality provision of child care and
24
early learning services.
25
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•S 388 IS
(22) SCIENTIFICALLY VALID RESEARCH.—The
1
term ‘‘scientifically valid research’’ includes applied
2
research, basic research, and field-initiated research,
3
in which the rationale, design, and interpretation are
4
soundly developed in accordance with principles of
5
scientific research.
6
(23)
SECRETARY.—The
term
‘‘Secretary’’
7
means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
8
(24) STAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’
9
means a community-based employer of child care
10
providers, a labor organization representing child
11
care providers, a joint labor-management partner-
12
ship advocating for child care standards, an entity
13
operating a trust fund that provides training and
14
education for child care providers, or a nonprofit or-
15
ganization that represents parents of children eligi-
16
ble for services in a program carried out under this
17
title.
18
(25) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means—
19
(A) a State, as defined in section 637 of
20
the Head Start Act; and
21
(B) the Republic of Palau—
22
(i) for each of fiscal years 2024
23
through 2028; and
24
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•S 388 IS
(ii) (if legislation approving a new
1
agreement regarding United States assist-
2
ance for the Republic of Palau has not
3
been enacted by September 30, 2026), for
4
each subsequent fiscal year for which such
5
legislation has not been enacted.
6
(26) TRIBAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Tribal land’’
7
means a reservation, the land of an Indian Tribe, or
8
land designated by Hawaii as under the control of
9
Native Hawaiians for purposes of this title.
10
(27) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Trib-
11
al organization’’ means—
12
(A) the recognized governing body of any
13
Indian Tribe, and any legally established orga-
14
nization of Indians which is controlled, sanc-
15
tioned, or chartered by such governing body or
16
which is democratically elected by the adult
17
members of the Indian community to be served
18
by such organization and which includes the
19
maximum participation of Indians in all phases
20
of its activities, except that in any case where
21
a contract is let or grant made to an organiza-
22
tion to perform services benefitting more than
23
one Indian Tribe, the approval of each such In-
24
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•S 388 IS
dian Tribe shall be a prerequisite to the letting
1
or making of such contract or grant; and
2
(B) includes a Native Hawaiian organiza-
3
tion, as defined in section 6207 of the Elemen-
4
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
5
U.S.C. 7517) and a private nonprofit organiza-
6
tion established for the purpose of serving
7
youth who are Indians or Native Hawaiians.
8
SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; APPRO-
9
PRIATIONS.
10
(a) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be
11
appropriated and there are appropriated to carry out this
12
title (other than the activities described in subsection (b)),
13
including meeting the entitlement requirements of section
14
111(b), such sums as may be necessary.
15
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
16
authorized to be appropriated to carry out activities under
17
sections 135, 136, 137, 138, 151, 152, and such adminis-
18
trative activities as the Secretary determines to be nec-
19
essary
and
appropriate
to
carry
out
this
title,
20
$500,000,000 f
[Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]