Veterans’ Access to Child Care Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 840 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 11, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs AN ACT To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to provide child care assistance to veterans receiving certain medical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 840 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Access to 2 Child Care Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR VETERANS RECEIV- 4 ING MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND OTHER IN- 5 TENSIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES PROVIDED 6 BY THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 7 FAIRS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 17 of 9 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 10 end the following new section: 11 ‘‘§ 1730D. Child care assistance for veterans receiving 12 mental health care and other intensive 13 health care services 14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), the 15 Secretary shall provide child care assistance to an eligible 16 veteran for any period that the veteran— 17 ‘‘(1) receives covered health care services at a 18 facility of the Department, such as a community- 19 based outpatient clinic; and 20 ‘‘(2) is required to travel to and return from 21 such facility for the receipt of such health care serv- 22 ices. 23 ‘‘(b) CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE.—(1) Subject to sub- 24 section (c), child care assistance provided under this sec- 25 tion may include any of the following: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 840 RFS ‘‘(A) A stipend for the payment of child care of- 1 fered by a licensed child care center or extended day 2 program (either directly or through a voucher pro- 3 gram) which shall be, to the extent practicable, mod- 4 eled after the Department of Veterans Affairs Child 5 Care Subsidy Program established pursuant to sec- 6 tion 590 of title 40. 7 ‘‘(B) Direct provision of child care at an on-site 8 facility of the Department. 9 ‘‘(C) A payment made directly to a private child 10 care agency. 11 ‘‘(D) A collaboration with a facility or program 12 of another Federal department or agency. 13 ‘‘(E) Such other form of assistance as the Sec- 14 retary considers appropriate. 15 ‘‘(2) In the case that child care assistance under this 16 section is provided as a stipend under paragraph (1)(A), 17 such stipend shall cover the full cost of such child care. 18 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall establish criteria for pro- 19 viding child care assistance under paragraph (1) designed 20 to ensure reasonable access to such assistance for veterans 21 who experience any unusual or excessive burden to access- 22 ing child care services, including excessive driving dis- 23 tances, geographic challenges, and other environmental 24 factors that impede such access. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 840 RFS ‘‘(c) CONDITION ON RECEIPT OF ASSISTANCE.—(1) 1 The Secretary may not provide any child care assistance 2 under this section to an eligible veteran who is receiving 3 covered health care services from the Department unless 4 that eligible veteran actively participates in such services. 5 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘ac- 6 tively participates’ means, with respect to covered health 7 care services— 8 ‘‘(A) engaging in transit to and from appoint- 9 ments for such services; 10 ‘‘(B) attending appointments for such services; 11 and 12 ‘‘(C) such other activities as the Secretary de- 13 termines appropriate. 14 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORT.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit 16 to Congress an annual report on the provision of 17 child care assistance under this section. Each such 18 report shall include, for the year covered by the re- 19 port, each of the following for each of the categories 20 of child care assistance specified in paragraph (2): 21 ‘‘(A) The average amount of time required 22 by the Department to provide a payment for 23 child care assistance. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 840 RFS ‘‘(B) The average cost of child care assist- 1 ance. 2 ‘‘(C) The extent to which the Department 3 has a backlog of unprocessed claims for child 4 care assistance. 5 ‘‘(D) The number of Department employ- 6 ees who worked on the processing of claims for 7 child care assistance. 8 ‘‘(E) The average amount of time required 9 by such an employee to process such a claim. 10 ‘‘(F) The number of improper or duplica- 11 tive payments of child care assistance made. 12 ‘‘(G) The recommendations of the Sec- 13 retary for improving the processing of claims 14 for child care assistance. 15 ‘‘(2) CATEGORIES OF CHILD CARE ASSIST- 16 ANCE.—The categories of child care assistance speci- 17 fied in this paragraph are each of the following: 18 ‘‘(A) Direct stipends. 19 ‘‘(B) Payments made directly to a child 20 care agencies. 21 ‘‘(C) Stipends provided through a voucher 22 program. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 840 RFS ‘‘(e) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall perform out- 1 reach to inform eligible veterans of the child care assist- 2 ance available under this section. 3 ‘‘(f) REQUIREMENTS; RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—(1) 4 In accordance with paragraph (2), a child care center, 5 child care agency, or any other child care provider de- 6 scribed in subsection (b) may not provide child care under 7 this section if the center, agency, or provider employs an 8 individual who has been convicted of a sex crime, an of- 9 fense involving a child victim, a violent crime, a drug fel- 10 ony, or other offense the Secretary determines appro- 11 priate. 12 ‘‘(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall supersede, nul- 13 lify, or diminish any Federal or State law (including any 14 local law or ordinance), contract, agreement, policy, plan, 15 practice, or other matter that establishes standards and 16 requirements for employees of child care centers, child 17 care agencies, or other child care providers described in 18 subsection (b) that are more restrictive than the require- 19 ments specified in paragraph (1). 20 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible veteran’ means a vet- 22 eran who— 23 ‘‘(A) is a primary caretaker of a child or 24 children; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 840 RFS ‘‘(B) is— 1 ‘‘(i) receiving covered health care serv- 2 ices from the Department; or 3 ‘‘(ii) in need of covered health care 4 services, and but for lack of child care 5 services, would receive such covered health 6 care services from the Department. 7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered health care services’ 8 means— 9 ‘‘(A) regular mental health care services, 10 including telemental health services furnished 11 by the Department, including health care serv- 12 ices provided as part of readjustment coun- 13 seling; 14 ‘‘(B) intensive mental health care services, 15 including telemental health services furnished 16 by the Department, including counseling and 17 care and services under section 1720D of this 18 title; 19 ‘‘(C) health care services related to sub- 20 stance or drug abuse counseling; 21 ‘‘(D) intensive health care services related 22 to physical therapy for a service-connected dis- 23 ability; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 840 RFS ‘‘(E) emergency mental health care serv- 1 ices; or 2 ‘‘(F) such other intensive health care serv- 3 ices that the Secretary determines that provi- 4 sion of assistance to the veteran to obtain child 5 care would improve access to such health care 6 services by the veteran. 7 ‘‘(3) The term ‘facility of the Department’ in- 8 cludes any Vet Center. 9 ‘‘(4) The term ‘Vet Center’ has the meaning 10 given that term in section 1712A of this title.’’. 11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 13 after the item relating to section 1730C the following new 14 item: 15 ‘‘1730D. Child care assistance for veterans receiving mental health care and other intensive health care services.’’. (c) FEASIBILITY STUDY ON CHILD CARE FOR VET- 16 ERANS RECEIVING CARE IN NON-DEPARTMENT FACILI- 17 TIES.— 18 (1) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Vet- 19 erans Affairs shall conduct a feasibility study to de- 20 termine how the Department of Veterans Affairs 21 could provide child care assistance for veterans who 22 receive covered health care services (as such term is 23 defined in section 1730D(c)(2) of title 38, United 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 HR 840 RFS States Code, as added by subsection (a)) from the 1 Department at non-Department facilities. 2 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 4 the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 5 Veterans Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep- 6 resentatives a report containing the results of the 7 study required to be conducted under paragraph (1). 8 (d) PUBLIC NOTICE.—After the enactment of this 9 Act, the Secretary shall make publicly available on a De- 10 partment website notice of the child care assistance benefit 11 under section 1730D of title 38, United States Code, as 12 added by subsection (a). Such notice shall be easily acces- 13 sible and visible and shall include a description of the ex- 14 panded and cost-free child care assistance for veterans, eli- 15 gibility requirements, and any additional information the 16 Secretary determines necessary. 17 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 19 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a 20 report on the effectiveness and accessibility of the child 21 care assistance provided under section 1710D of title 38, 22 United States Code, as added by this section, for eligible 23 individuals who reside in rural and highly rural areas. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 HR 840 RFS (f) AUTHORITY TO CONSULT WITH SECRETARY OF 1 DEFENSE.—In implementing section 1730D of title 38, 2 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), the Sec- 3 retary of Veterans Affairs may consult with the Secretary 4 of Defense. 5 SEC. 3. STUDY ON EFFECTS OF CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE. 6 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 8 of Veterans Affairs shall conduct a study of the effects 9 of the child care assistance provided under section 2 on 10 access to covered health care services, as that term is de- 11 fined in that section, and on compliance with treatment 12 protocols. 13 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 15 erans Affairs shall submit a report to Congress regarding 16 the study required under subsection (a). 17 SEC. 4. REPORT REQUIRED. 18 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning in the first fiscal 19 year following the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 20 of Veterans Affairs shall submit, as part of the annual 21 budget request document for the Department of Veterans 22 Affairs, a report regarding eligible veterans who received 23 child care assistance under section 2 during the imme- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 HR 840 RFS diately preceding fiscal year. Each such report shall in- 1 clude the following: 2 (1) The number of such eligible veterans in 3 each region of the Veterans Health Administration. 4 (2) If feasible, the number of such eligible vet- 5 erans per facility of the Department. 6 (3) The amount of funding for such assistance 7 made available by the Secretary— 8 (A) for each region of the Veterans Health 9 Administration; and 10 (B) for each type of assistance specified in 11 subsection (b) of such section. 12 (4) Findings regarding— 13 (A) challenges in providing such assist- 14 ance; 15 (B) child care not covered by such assist- 16 ance; and 17 (C) recommendations to improve such as- 18 sistance. 19 (b) BIENNIAL SUPPLEMENT.—Not less than once 20 every two years, the report under subsection (a) shall in- 21 clude a supplement regarding the following: 22 (1) Other challenges regarding child care serv- 23 ices that prevent veterans from receiving covered 24 health care services under section 2. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 HR 840 RFS (2) Plans of the Secretary to address challenges 1 identified under paragraph (1). 2 (3) An assessment of the extent to which lack 3 of education by the Department or awareness by vet- 4 erans of the assistance under section 2 contributes 5 to a lack of use of such assistance. 6 Passed the House of Representatives February 8, 2019. Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.RFS H840 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS