Family Child Care Networks Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3545 To amend section 2202 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to authorize States to expand the uses of the child care stabilization funds to include support for the creation or enhancement of family child care networks designed to increase, or to improve the quality of, child care provided by family child care providers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2021 Ms. STEFANIK (for herself and Mr. SMUCKER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend section 2202 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to authorize States to expand the uses of the child care stabilization funds to include support for the creation or enhancement of family child care networks designed to increase, or to improve the quality of, child care provided by family child care providers, 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 ‘‘Family Child Care 4 Networks Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3545 IH SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 1 Section 2202 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2 2021 (Public Law 117–2; March 11, 2021) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (e) by striking ‘‘such a 4 subgrant’’ and inserting ‘‘a subgrant under sub- 5 section (d)’’, 6 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub- 7 section (h), and 8 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(f) SUBGRANTS TO FAMILY CHILD CARE NET- 11 WORKS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 13 (d)(2)(A) and with the authorization of the State 14 under paragraph (6), the lead agency may use the 15 remainder of grant funds awarded pursuant to sub- 16 section (c) to make subgrants to be obligated before 17 October 1, 2024, and expended before October 1, 18 2025, to eligible entities to support the creation or 19 enhancement of family child care networks to pro- 20 vide core services to family child care providers for 21 the purpose of expanding the availability of family 22 child care services. 23 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In making subgrants under 24 this subsection, the lead agency shall give priority to 25 eligible entities that will offer core services to family 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3545 IH childcare providers in geographical areas identified 1 by the State as having high needs, based on a com- 2 prehensive needs assessment of under-served areas 3 and rural areas. 4 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.— 5 ‘‘(A) Core Services. Services provided to 6 family child care providers that include the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(i) Consolidated business practices or 9 administrative support. 10 ‘‘(ii) Startup support for new family 11 child care providers to reimburse the costs, 12 not to exceed $10,000 per provider, to 13 make facility improvements or modifica- 14 tions to meet health and safety require- 15 ments, to form a small business, to sup- 16 port initial marketing and communications, 17 to purchase technology and supplies, and 18 to participate in professional development. 19 ‘‘(iii) Professional development of new 20 family child care providers, including sup- 21 port to obtain the advanced skills and cer- 22 tifications necessary to operate as a family 23 child care provider. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3545 IH ‘‘(iv) Technical assistance, and health 1 and safety compliance assistance to sup- 2 port providers who seek to obtain a license; 3 or to support providers who seeking to pro- 4 vide services for which assistance is pro- 5 vided under the Child Care and Develop- 6 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 7 9857 et seq.) and the child and adult care 8 food program under section 17 of the 9 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 10 Act (42 U.S.C. 1766). 11 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Entities quali- 12 fied to receive a subgrant under this subsection 13 include community-based organizations, private 14 or public nonprofit organization, and workforce 15 development boards that will offer not fewer 16 than 2 of the core services. 17 ‘‘(C) FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDER.— 18 The term ‘family child care provider’ has the 19 meaning given such term in section 658P of the 20 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 21 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 22 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that 23 receives funds through such a subgrant shall use 24 funds to provide at least 2 of the core services de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3545 IH scribed under paragraph (3) to family child care 1 providers and may use funds to provide additional 2 services, including— 3 ‘‘(A) monitoring support and improvement 4 activities; 5 ‘‘(B) peer networking and support activi- 6 ties; 7 ‘‘(C) recruitment of new family child care 8 providers; 9 ‘‘(D) technical assistance to increase fam- 10 ily child care services to support specialized 11 populations, including non-traditional hour 12 care, children with disabilities, dual-language 13 learners, infants, and toddlers; 14 ‘‘(E) community outreach to families and 15 employers to increase awareness of family child 16 care opportunities; and 17 ‘‘(F) collaborative purchasing of supplies 18 and technology to increase cost savings. 19 ‘‘(5) REIMBURSEMENTS FOR PROVIDERS.—Any 20 family child care provider seeking reimbursement for 21 start-up expenses allowed pursuant to paragraph 22 (3)(A)(ii) shall provide the following documentation 23 to the eligible entity: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3545 IH ‘‘(A) Invoices of each expense for which 1 the provider is seeking reimbursement. 2 ‘‘(B) An assurance such expenses are nec- 3 essary, one-time expenses to operate a family 4 child care center in accordance with local health 5 and safety requirements. 6 ‘‘(C) An assurance the provider cannot pay 7 for the work without assistance and that there 8 is not access to other Federal or State funding 9 to help with the costs. 10 ‘‘(6) AMENDED PLAN AND REPORT.—If a State 11 elects to authorize the lead agency to provide sub- 12 grants to eligible entities under this subsection the 13 State shall amend the State plan submitted under 14 section 658E of the Child Care and Development 15 Block Grant Act of 1990 to specify— 16 ‘‘(A) the goals and outcomes the State in- 17 tends to achieve to improve the availability of 18 services provided by family child care providers; 19 ‘‘(B) how the State will measure and 20 evaluate family child care networks in relation 21 to these goals; 22 ‘‘(C) how the State will continue to sup- 23 port family child care networks that are suc- 24 cessful at achieving such goals after the expend- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3545 IH iture of such subgrants, including support of 1 such networks under of the Child Care and De- 2 velopment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 3 9857); and 4 ‘‘(D) after the expenditure of such sub- 5 grants by such networks, the State shall submit 6 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 7 a report that measures with respect to each 8 supported eligible entity— 9 ‘‘(i) the amount of the subgrant re- 10 ceived by such entity; 11 ‘‘(ii) the period of time during which 12 such subgrant was expended by such enti- 13 ty; 14 ‘‘(iii) which core services were offered 15 by such entity during such period; 16 ‘‘(iv) the number of family childcare 17 providers who received core services de- 18 scribed in subparagraphs provided by such 19 entity during such period; 20 ‘‘(v) the number of children who re- 21 ceived services during such period from the 22 supported family child care providers; 23 ‘‘(vi) the increase or decrease in the 24 number of family child care providers in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3545 IH the geographical area served by such entity 1 during such period; and 2 ‘‘(vii) the extent to which such goals 3 and outcomes improved the quality and 4 availability of services provided by family 5 child care providers served by such net- 6 work. 7 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 8 Health and Human Services, acting through the National 9 Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance of the Of- 10 fice of Child Care, shall disseminate best practices infor- 11 mation and offer technical assistance to States, Terri- 12 tories, Indian Tribes, and eligible entities to help imple- 13 ment family child care networks and to support family 14 child care providers, to carry out the purposes and meet 15 requirements of subsection (f). Information and technical 16 assistance provided under this subsection— 17 ‘‘(1) shall include supporting family child care 18 networks in offering the core services described in 19 subsection (f)(3)(A); 20 ‘‘(2) may include supporting family child care 21 networks to offer additional services described in 22 subsection (f)(4); and 23 ‘‘(3) may include any other topic the Secretary 24 identifies as important or necessary to fulfil the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3545 IH goals of subsection (f), including topics requested by 1 States, family child care networks, and family child 2 care providers.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS