Child Care for Working Families Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1360 To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 and the Head Start Act to promote child care and early learning, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. CASEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. COONS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HEIN- RICH, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. MAR- KEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. SMITH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 and the Head Start Act to promote child care and early learning, and for other purposes. 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 Work- 4 ing Families Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1360 IS TITLE I—CHILD CARE AND 1 DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 2 SEC. 101. PURPOSES. 3 Section 658A(b) of the Child Care and Development 4 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9801 note) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(1) to ensure that no low- to moderate-income 9 family pays more than 7 percent of its household in- 10 come on child care;’’; 11 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(2) to support working parents in making 14 their own decisions regarding the child care services 15 that best suit their family’s needs;’’; 16 (3) in paragraph (4)— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘high-quality,’’ and insert- 18 ing ‘‘high-quality and inclusive, and’’; and 19 (B) by inserting ‘‘, as well as before- and 20 after-school and summer care for school-age 21 children,’’ after ‘‘services’’; 22 (4) in paragraph (5), by inserting before the 23 semicolon the following: ‘‘, and to help child care 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1360 IS programs meet evidence-based or national standards 1 to improve the quality of child care’’; 2 (5) in paragraph (6)— 3 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including children with 4 disabilities and infants and toddlers with dis- 5 abilities’’ before the semicolon; and 6 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 7 (6) in paragraph (7)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘high-quality’’ and insert- 9 ing ‘‘high-quality and inclusive’’; and 10 (B) by striking the period at the end and 11 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 12 (7) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(8) to support the development and improve- 14 ment of statewide systems to support the needs of 15 infants and toddlers with disabilities and children 16 with disabilities, better coordinate child care and 17 other services, and assist States in increasing the 18 number of child care providers that provide high- 19 quality and inclusive care to families of infants and 20 toddlers with disabilities and families of children 21 with disabilities.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1360 IS SEC. 102. APPROPRIATIONS. 1 Section 658B of the Child Care and Development 2 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 ‘‘SEC. 658B. APPROPRIATIONS. 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap- 6 propriated and there are appropriated, out of any money 7 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated— 8 ‘‘(1) to carry out this subchapter 9 $20,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, 10 $30,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, and 11 $40,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 12 ‘‘(2) to carry out this subchapter (other than 13 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 658O(a)) such 14 sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025 and 15 each subsequent fiscal year. 16 ‘‘(b) TERRITORIES, INDIAN TRIBES.—There are au- 17 thorized to be appropriated and there are appropriated, 18 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 19 priated to carry out paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 20 658O(a) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 21 2025 and each subsequent fiscal year.’’. 22 SEC. 103. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 23 Section 658C of the Child Care and Development 24 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858a) is amended 25 to read as follows: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1360 IS ‘‘SEC. 658C. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHILD CARE PROGRAM. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 2 administer a child care program under which families in 3 eligible States shall be provided an opportunity to obtain 4 child care for eligible children, subject to the requirements 5 of this subchapter. 6 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE FOR EVERY ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 7 Beginning on October 1, 2024, every family who applies 8 for assistance under this subchapter with respect to a child 9 who resides in a State with an approved application under 10 section 658E and who is determined, by a lead agency (or 11 other entity designated by a lead agency), to be an eligible 12 child as defined in section 658P, shall be offered assist- 13 ance in accordance with and subject to the requirements 14 and limitations of this subchapter.’’. 15 SEC. 104. LEAD AGENCY. 16 Section 658D of the Child Care and Development 17 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b) is amended— 18 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘a grant’’ and 19 inserting ‘‘payments’’; and 20 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting before 21 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including by certi- 22 fying the eligibility of children’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1360 IS SEC. 105. APPLICATION AND PLAN. 1 (a) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 658E(c) of the 2 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 3 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (2)— 5 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 6 (i) by striking the matter preceding 7 clause (i) and inserting the following: 8 ‘‘(A) SUPPORTING WORKING PARENTS.— 9 Support working parents by providing assur- 10 ances that—’’; and 11 (ii) by striking clause (i)(II) and in- 12 serting the following: 13 ‘‘(II) to enroll such child with a 14 child care provider who has received a 15 child care certificate on behalf of such 16 parent or parents;’’; 17 (B) in subparagraph (E)— 18 (i) in clause (i)— 19 (I) by striking subclause (II) and 20 inserting the following: 21 ‘‘(II) the State’s tiered and 22 transparent system for measuring the 23 quality of child care providers, de- 24 scribed in subparagraph (W)(i), in- 25 cluding— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1360 IS ‘‘(aa) a description of the 1 national standards or other 2 equally rigorous and evidence- 3 based standards tied to child out- 4 comes that the State uses for 5 purposes of subparagraph 6 (W)(i)(II)(aa); 7 ‘‘(bb) the payment rates re- 8 ferred to in paragraph (4), for 9 providers at each tier of such 10 system; and 11 ‘‘(cc) the number and per- 12 centage of eligible providers at 13 each tier of such system, in total 14 and disaggregated by geographic 15 location, by provider race and 16 ethnicity, and by the race and 17 ethnicity of the children served, 18 unless the disaggregation in- 19 volved would reveal personally 20 identifiable information about an 21 individual provider or child;’’; 22 (II) in subclause (IV), by insert- 23 ing ‘‘the program carried out under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1360 IS title II of the Child Care for Working 1 Families Act,’’ after ‘‘9831 et seq.),’’; 2 (III) in subclause (VI), by insert- 3 ing ‘‘(including for families who speak 4 languages other than English)’’ after 5 ‘‘family engagement’’; and 6 (IV) in subclause (VII), by strik- 7 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 8 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe- 9 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; 10 and 11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘(iii) information about the State’s 14 wage ladder described in subparagraph 15 (G)(iii); and 16 ‘‘(iv) information on opportunities for 17 staff of child care providers to improve 18 their skills and credentials, including infor- 19 mation about training opportunities and 20 professional organizations that provide 21 such training.’’; 22 (C) in subparagraph (G)— 23 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and pro- 24 fessional development requirements’’ and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1360 IS inserting ‘‘, professional development, and 1 compensation requirements’’; 2 (ii) in clause (ii)(V)— 3 (I) by redesignating item (dd) as 4 item (ee); 5 (II) in item (cc), by striking 6 ‘‘and’’; and 7 (III) by inserting after item (cc) 8 the following: 9 ‘‘(dd) infants and toddlers 10 with disabilities; and’’; 11 (iii) by redesignating clauses (iii) and 12 (iv) as clauses (v) and (vi), respectively; 13 and 14 (iv) by inserting after clause (ii) the 15 following: 16 ‘‘(iii) COMPENSATION.—The plan 17 shall provide a description of the State’s 18 wage ladder for staff of eligible child care 19 providers, and an assurance that wages for 20 such staff will, at a minimum, meet the re- 21 quirements of paragraph (4)(B)(iii)(II). 22 ‘‘(iv) STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.— 23 The plan shall demonstrate how the State 24 will facilitate participation of staff of eligi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1360 IS ble child care providers in organizations 1 that foster the professional development 2 and stakeholder engagement of the child 3 care workforce.’’; 4 (D) in subparagraph (I), by striking clause 5 (ii) and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(ii) may include other requirements, 7 such as— 8 ‘‘(I) requirements relating to nu- 9 trition, access to physical activity, or 10 any other subject area determined by 11 the State to be necessary to promote 12 child development or to protect chil- 13 dren’s health and safety; and 14 ‘‘(II) a requirement to comply 15 with the standards recommended in 16 the Department of Health and 17 Human Services’ report entitled ‘Car- 18 ing for our Children Basics: Health 19 and Safety Foundations for Early 20 Care and Education’ issued on June 21 25, 2015.’’; 22 (E) in subparagraph (K)(i), in the matter 23 preceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘, not later 24 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1360 IS Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 1 of 2014,’’; 2 (F) in subparagraph (M)— 3 (i) by adding ‘‘investment of quality 4 child care amounts described in section 5 658G(a)(1),’’ after ‘‘parents,’’; 6 (ii) by redesignating clause (iv) as 7 clause (vi); 8 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, as 9 defined by the State; and’’ and inserting a 10 semicolon; and 11 (iv) by inserting after clause (iii) the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(iv) infants and toddlers with disabil- 14 ities; 15 ‘‘(v) children who are dual language 16 learners; and’’; 17 (G) in subparagraph (N)— 18 (i) in the subparagraph heading, by 19 adding at the end the following ‘‘AND CON- 20 TINUITY OF CARE’’; 21 (ii) in clause (i)— 22 (I) in subclause (I), by striking 23 ‘‘child’s parent’’ and all that follows 24 and inserting ‘‘child’s parent as par- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1360 IS ticipating in an eligible activity (as de- 1 fined in section 658P), a change in 2 family income for the child’s family, 3 or a change in custody or guardian- 4 ship of the child.’’; and 5 (II) by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(III) LONGER-TERM PERIOD.— 8 The plan shall demonstrate that each 9 child who, on the date the child is de- 10 termined to be an eligible child, is a 11 child in foster care or a homeless 12 child, and who receives assistance 13 under this subchapter prior to reach- 14 ing the age of compulsory school at- 15 tendance, shall remain eligible for 16 such assistance and shall receive such 17 assistance, if so desired by the child’s 18 family, until such child reaches the 19 age of compulsory school attend- 20 ance.’’; 21 (iii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘(espe- 22 cially parents in families receiving assist- 23 ance under the program of block grants to 24 States for temporary assistance for needy 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1360 IS families under part A of title IV of the So- 1 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et 2 seq.))’’; 3 (iv) in clause (iii)— 4 (I) by striking ‘‘At the option of 5 the State, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; 6 (II) by striking ‘‘of attendance at 7 a job training or educational pro- 8 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘of participation 9 in an eligible activity (as defined in 10 section 658P)’’; and 11 (III) by striking ‘‘resume attend- 12 ance at a job training or educational 13 program’’ and inserting ‘‘resume par- 14 ticipation in an eligible activity (as so 15 defined)’’; and 16 (v) by striking clause (iv); 17 (H) in subparagraph (O)— 18 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘with pro- 19 grams operating’’ and all that follows and 20 inserting ‘‘with programs, operating at the 21 Federal, State, and local levels for chil- 22 dren, that are— 23 ‘‘(I) preschool programs, pro- 24 grams funded under title II of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 1360 IS Child Care for Wor [Text truncated for display. 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