Child Care Choices Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1963 To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to modify certain State uses of funds. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2021 Mrs. FISCHBACH (for herself, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. JACOBS of New York, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. FEENSTRA, and Mr. ARMSTRONG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to modify certain State uses of funds. 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 Choices 4 Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. APPLICATION AND PLAN. 6 Section 658E(c) of the Child Care and Development 7 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amend- 8 ed— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1963.IH H1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1963 IH (1) in paragraph (2)— 1 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in- 2 serting the following: 3 ‘‘(A) PRIORITIZATION OF CHILD CARE 4 CERTIFICATES.—Provide assurances that— 5 ‘‘(i) in using funding made available 6 to a State pursuant to this subchapter, the 7 State shall prioritize the availability of 8 child care certificates (as defined in section 9 658P(2)) for child care services over other 10 payment methods, such as grants or con- 11 tracts; 12 ‘‘(ii) in cases in which a parent choos- 13 es to enroll such child with a child care 14 provider that has a grant or contract for 15 the provision of child care services, the 16 child will be enrolled with the eligible pro- 17 vider selected by the parent to the max- 18 imum extent practicable; and 19 ‘‘(iii) in cases in which a parent 20 chooses to receive a child care certificate, 21 the certificate shall be of a value commen- 22 surate with the subsidy value of child care 23 services provided if the child were enrolled 24 with a child care provider that has a grant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1963.IH H1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1963 IH or contract for the provision of child care 1 services.’’, 2 (B) in subparagraph (M) by inserting ‘‘in 3 accordance with subparagraph (E)(c)(2)(A)(i)’’ 4 after ‘‘strategies’’, and 5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(W) PRIORITIZATION OF CHILD CARE 7 CERTIFICATES.—The plan shall provide assur- 8 ances and describe how the State prioritizes the 9 use of child care certificates (as defined in sec- 10 tion 658P(2)) for child care services for which 11 financial assistance is provided under this sub- 12 chapter in preference to other payment methods 13 such as grants, contracts, or cash.’’, and 14 (2) in paragraph (4)(C), by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ‘‘(iii) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN DIF- 17 FERENT RATES.—When setting differential 18 rates on the basis of child care quality, 19 States are prohibited from using type of 20 child care (such as family child care or 21 center-based care) or type of provider 22 (such as nonprofit providers, for-profit pro- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1963.IH H1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1963 IH viders, or faith-based providers) as the sole 1 differential factor.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1963.IH H1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS