Increasing Access to Safe Child Care Facilities Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3797 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 to improve and increase the availability of safe child care facili- ties, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 8, 2021 Mrs. SPARTZ (for herself and Mr. SMITH of Nebraska) 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 to im- prove and increase the availability of safe child care facilities, 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 ‘‘Increasing Access to 4 Safe Child Care Facilities Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3797.IH H3797 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3797 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)(1), 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 FOR SAFE CHILD CARE FACILI- 11 TIES.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para- 13 graphs (1) and (2)(A) of subsection (d), and with 14 the authorization of the State under subparagraph 15 (6), the lead agency may use any unobligated grant 16 funds awarded pursuant to subsection (c) (including 17 unobligated funds otherwise reserved under sub- 18 section (d)(1)) to make subgrants to eligible entities 19 to improve and increase the availability of safe child 20 care facilities. Any fund used for subgrants under 21 this subsection shall be obligated before October 1, 22 2024, and expended before October 1, 2025. 23 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF SUBGRANTEES.—In mak- 24 ing subgrants under this subsection, the lead agency 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3797.IH H3797 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3797 IH shall select subgrantees based on demonstrated need. 1 In making such selection, the lead agency shall— 2 ‘‘(A) give priority to eligible entities that— 3 ‘‘(i) are new child care providers de- 4 scribed in paragraph (3)(C) who agree to 5 serve children receiving assistance under 6 the Child Care and Development Block 7 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857); or 8 ‘‘(ii) serve rural areas; and 9 ‘‘(B) give highest priority to eligible enti- 10 ties that are new child care providers described 11 in paragraph (3)(C) who— 12 ‘‘(i) agree to serve children receiving 13 assistance under the Child Care and Devel- 14 opment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 15 U.S.C. 9857); and 16 ‘‘(ii) serve rural areas. 17 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the 18 term ‘eligible entity’ means— 19 ‘‘(A) an eligible child care provider, as de- 20 fined in section 658P(6)(A) of the Child Care 21 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 22 U.S.C. 9858n(6)(A)); 23 ‘‘(B) a child care provider that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3797.IH H3797 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3797 IH ‘‘(i) is license-exempt and operating 1 legally in the State; 2 ‘‘(ii) is not providing child care serv- 3 ices to relatives; and 4 ‘‘(iii) satisfies State and local require- 5 ments, including those referenced in sec- 6 tion 658E(c)(2)(I) of the Child Care and 7 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 8 ((42 U.S.C. 9858c)(c)(2)(I)); or 9 ‘‘(C) a new child care provider that, on or 10 before the date such provider begins to provide 11 child care services, will— 12 ‘‘(i) be licensed, regulated, or reg- 13 istered in the State, territory, or Indian 14 Tribe; and 15 ‘‘(ii) meet applicable State and local 16 health and safety requirements. 17 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that 18 receives funds through a subgrant authorized under 19 this subsection shall use such funds to modify, ren- 20 ovate, upgrade, maintain, or repair a child care facil- 21 ity to— 22 ‘‘(A) meet applicable State and local health 23 and safety requirements; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3797.IH H3797 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3797 IH ‘‘(B) increase the capacity of the provider 1 to offer child care services, including modifica- 2 tions, renovations, upgrades, maintenance, or 3 repairs necessary to— 4 ‘‘(i) offer child care during nontradi- 5 tional hours; and 6 ‘‘(ii) provide services to more children 7 or specific populations of children, includ- 8 ing infants and toddlers, and children with 9 disabilities. 10 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITED USE.—Funds received 11 through a subgrant authorized under this subsection 12 may not be used for the erection of a facility that 13 does not currently exist. 14 ‘‘(6) AMENDED PLAN AND REPORT.—If a State 15 elects to authorize the lead agency to provide sub- 16 grants to eligible entities under this subsection, the 17 State shall amend the State plan submitted under 18 section 658E of the Child Care and Development 19 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9859c) to 20 specify— 21 ‘‘(A) the goals and outcomes the State in- 22 tends to achieve to improve and increase the 23 availability of safe child care facilities; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3797.IH H3797 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3797 IH ‘‘(B) how the State will measure and 1 evaluate eligible entities in relation to these 2 goals; and 3 ‘‘(C) after the expenditure of such sub- 4 grants by such eligible entities, the State shall 5 submit to the Secretary of Health and Human 6 Services a report that measures, with respect to 7 each such eligible entity— 8 ‘‘(i) the amount of the subgrant re- 9 ceived by such entity; 10 ‘‘(ii) a list and description of the 11 modifications, renovations, upgrades, main- 12 tenance, and repairs carried out by such 13 entity during such period; and 14 ‘‘(iii) using the metrics described in 15 subparagraphs (A) and (B), the extent to 16 which the State improved or increased the 17 availability of safe child care facilities, in- 18 cluding— 19 ‘‘(I) in rural areas; 20 ‘‘(II) for children receiving sub- 21 sidies under the Child Care and De- 22 velopment Block Grant Act of 1990 23 (42 U.S.C. 9857); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3797.IH H3797 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3797 IH ‘‘(III) offering care during non- 1 traditional hours; and 2 ‘‘(IV) providing services to more 3 children or specific populations of 4 children.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3797.IH H3797 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS