Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1488 To assist States in carrying out projects to expand the child care workforce and child care facilities in the States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 4, 2019 Mr. PETERSON (for himself and Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To assist States in carrying out projects to expand the child care workforce and child care facilities in the States, 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 Workforce 4 and Facilities Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. CHILD CARE WORKFORCE AND FACILITIES GRANTS. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 7 (1) CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK 8 GRANT ACT OF 1990 DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘eli- 9 gible child care provider’’, ‘‘Indian tribe’’, ‘‘tribal or- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1488 IH ganization’’ and ‘‘State’’ have the meanings given 1 the terms in section 658P of the Child Care and De- 2 velopment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 3 9858n). 4 (2) CHILD CARE DESERT.—The term ‘‘child 5 care desert’’ means— 6 (A) an area— 7 (i) within a census tract; and 8 (ii) in which the number of children 9 who are under age 5 (as determined using 10 the most recent American Community Sur- 11 vey 1-year Estimates, as published by the 12 Bureau of the Census) is more than 3 13 times the number of slots provided by child 14 care providers who are licensed or reg- 15 istered by the State involved; or 16 (B) a community that the State or tribal 17 entity involved determines has a low supply of 18 quality, affordable child care. 19 (3) FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The term 20 ‘‘family child care provider’’ means such a provider 21 that is described in paragraph (6)(A) of section 22 658P of the Child Care and Development Block 23 Grant Act of 1990. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1488 IH (4) LICENSED FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME.— 1 The term ‘‘licensed family child care home’’ means 2 a facility of a family child care provider. 3 (5) PORTABLE CREDENTIAL; STACKABLE CRE- 4 DENTIAL.—The terms ‘‘portable’’ and ‘‘stackable’’, 5 used with respect to a credential, have the meanings 6 given the terms in the guidance document entitled 7 ‘‘Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 8 15–10’’, issued by the Assistant Secretary for Em- 9 ployment and Training of the Department of Labor 10 on December 15, 2010. 11 (6) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITU- 12 TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary educational institu- 13 tion’’ means an institution of higher education, as 14 defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act 15 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 16 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, after 18 consultation with the Secretary of Education and 19 the Secretary of Labor. 20 (8) TRIBAL AREA.—The term ‘‘tribal area’’ 21 means a reservation or other area that is served by 22 a tribal entity. 23 (9) TRIBAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘tribal entity’’ 24 means in Indian tribe or tribal organization. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1488 IH (b) GRANTS TO STATES AND TRIBAL ENTITIES.— 1 (1) GRANTS.— 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 3 make grants to States and tribal entities on a 4 competitive basis under subparagraph (B) to 5 pay for the Federal share of the cost of car- 6 rying out projects described in this Act, in 7 order to increase access to quality child care, by 8 eligible child care providers, in the States and 9 tribal areas. 10 (B) TYPES OF GRANTS.—In making those 11 grants, the Secretary may make— 12 (i) a child care workforce grant for a 13 State or tribal project to develop and ex- 14 pand the workforce of eligible child care 15 providers in child care deserts in the State 16 or tribal area; or 17 (ii) a child care facility grant for a 18 State or tribal project through which a 19 State or tribal entity may use or disburse 20 the grant funds, including by making 21 loans, for the construction, expansion, or 22 renovation of facilities of eligible child care 23 providers, including licensed family child 24 care homes of family child care providers 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1488 IH (including combinations of such providers) 1 who are eligible child care providers, in 2 child care deserts in the State or tribal 3 area. 4 (C) PERIOD OF GRANTS.—The Secretary 5 shall make a grant under this paragraph for a 6 period of not more than 5 years. 7 (2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 8 grant under this subsection, a State or tribal entity 9 shall submit an application to the Secretary for a 10 project described in paragraph (1) at such time, in 11 such manner, and containing a plan that contains 12 such information related to the project as the Sec- 13 retary may reasonably require, including— 14 (A) information identifying the lead State 15 agency that will administer the grant as deter- 16 mined by the Governor of the State, including 17 whether the lead agency will be different from 18 the lead agency referred to in section 658D of 19 the Child Care and Development Block Grant 20 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b), or cor- 21 responding information for a lead tribal agency 22 in the case of a tribal area; 23 (B) in the case of a child care workforce 24 grant— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1488 IH (i) information specifying how the 1 project carried out under the grant will in- 2 crease the number of individuals attaining 3 stackable and portable credentials in child 4 care or early childhood education; 5 (ii) information describing how the 6 State or tribal agency will emphasize the 7 provision of— 8 (I) outreach to individuals who 9 do not have degrees from postsec- 10 ondary educational institutions, re- 11 garding career pathways to careers in 12 child care or early childhood edu- 13 cation; and 14 (II) outreach to individuals who 15 seek a career working with children, 16 but who have not completed the re- 17 quirements for, or cannot afford to 18 obtain, a degree from a postsecondary 19 educational institution in education, 20 child care, or early childhood edu- 21 cation; 22 (iii) information describing how the 23 project will provide assistance, including 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1488 IH assistance described in paragraph (3)(A), 1 to individuals— 2 (I) who are pursuing or with 3 such project assistance would pursue 4 secondary education, postsecondary 5 education, or training, that leads to a 6 recognized postsecondary credential 7 (as defined in section 3 of the Work- 8 force Innovation Opportunity Act (29 9 U.S.C. 3102)), and that is eligible for 10 support under the Carl D. Perkins 11 Career and Technical Education Act 12 of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) or 13 the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 14 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), 15 to enable the individuals to success- 16 fully complete the education or train- 17 ing involved; or 18 (II) who are pursuing or with 19 such project assistance would pursue 20 secondary education, postsecondary 21 education, or training, that meets 22 such requirements as the State or 23 tribal entity shall specify, even if the 24 education or training does not lead to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1488 IH credit toward such a recognized post- 1 secondary credential or a degree from 2 a postsecondary educational institu- 3 tion; 4 (iv) information describing how the 5 project will— 6 (I) increase the availability of 7 quality child care provided by eligible 8 child care providers in child care 9 deserts (referred to in this clause as 10 ‘‘target child care’’) in the State or 11 tribal area; 12 (II) address the affordability of 13 target child care; and 14 (III) address the provision of tar- 15 get child care during nontraditional 16 hours; 17 (v) information describing how the 18 project will increase access to quality child 19 care provided by eligible child care pro- 20 viders in centers or other child care facili- 21 ties; 22 (vi) information describing how the 23 project will enhance retention or compensa- 24 tion of eligible child care providers; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1488 IH (vii) a description of how the State 1 agency or tribal entity will— 2 (I) coordinate activities carried 3 out under the child care workforce 4 grant with activities carried out under 5 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Tech- 6 nical Education Act of 2006 (20 7 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) and the Work- 8 force Innovation and Opportunity Act 9 (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) to support 10 education and training described in 11 clause (iii)(I); 12 (II) leverage funds provided 13 under the Acts specified in subclause 14 (I) to support that education and 15 training; and 16 (III) utilize, and encourage indi- 17 vidual participants in projects sup- 18 ported under this subsection to utilize, 19 available Federal and State financial 20 assistance, including assistance avail- 21 able under the Workforce Innovation 22 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 23 et seq.), education assistance benefits 24 available to veterans, and Federal Pell 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1488 IH Grants available under section 401 of 1 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 2 U.S.C. 1070a), prior to using assist- 3 ance made available under this Act; 4 and 5 (C) in the case of a child care facility 6 grant— 7 (i) information, with respect to the 8 child care facility project involved, de- 9 scribed in clause (v) of subparagraph (B); 10 (ii) information on how the State or 11 tribal entity will use the grant funds to ex- 12 pand the supply of family child care pro- 13 viders (including combinations of such pro- 14 viders); and 15 (iii) information describing how the 16 project will— 17 (I) directly and indirectly, in- 18 crease the availability of quality child 19 care provided by eligible child care 20 providers in child care deserts (re- 21 ferred to in this clause as ‘‘target 22 child care’’) in the State or tribal 23 area, including through the construc- 24 tion, expansion, or renovation of child 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1488 IH care facilities, including center-based 1 child care facilities and licensed family 2 child care homes; 3 (II) address the affordability of 4 target child care; and 5 (III) address the provision of tar- 6 get child care during nontraditional 7 hours. 8 (3) USE OF FUNDS.— 9 (A) CHILD CARE WORKFORCE GRANTS.—A 10 State or tribal entity that receives a child care 11 workforce grant under paragraph (1)(B)(i) may 12 use the funds made available through the grant 13 to support programs that assist individuals in 14 obtaining the education or training described in 15 paragraph (2)(B)(iii)(I), or education or train- 16 ing described in paragraph (2)(B)(iii)(II), in- 17 cluding using the funds to defray any of the fol- 18 lowing costs of related instruction: 19 (i) Tuition and fees. 20 (ii) Cost of textbooks, equipment, cur- 21 riculum development, and other required 22 educational materials. 23 (iii) Cost of creating or expanding ca- 24 pacity for statewide, regional, or local child 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1488 IH care resource and referral organizations, or 1 similar entities, to conduct outreach, tech- 2 nical assistance, or State-recognized and 3 credentialed training. 4 (iv) Cost of any other item or service 5 determined by the State or tribal entity to 6 be necessary. 7 (B) CHILD CARE FACILITY GRANTS.—A 8 State or tribal entity that receives a child care 9 facility grant under paragraph (1)(B)(ii) may 10 use the funds made available through the grant 11 to increase the availability of quality child care 12 as described in paragraph (2)(C)(iii)(I) by con- 13 structing, expanding, or renovating child care 14 facilities, including using the funds to defray 15 any of the following costs: 16 (i) Cost of equipment or materials. 17 (ii) Cost of construction, expansion, or 18 renovation. 19 (iii) Cost of any other item or service 20 determined by the State or tribal entity to 21 be necessary. 22 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The State or 23 tribal entity that receives a grant under paragraph 24 (1) may use not more than 10 percent of the grant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1488.IH H1488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 1488 IH funds for administrative costs relating to carrying 1 out a project described in paragraph (1). 2 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 4 cost described in subsection (b)(1) shall be 50 per- 5 cent. 6 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The State or tribal 7 entity may make the non-Federal share available— 8 (A) in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated, in- 9 cluding plant, equipment, or services; and 10 (B) directly or through donations from 11 public or private entities (other than recipients 12 of assistance from a State or tribal entity under 13 this section). 14 (d) EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 15 (1) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall conduct 16 an evaluation of the activities carried out under the 17 grants, which shall include an analysis of— 18 (A) with respect to the child care work- 19 force grants— 20 (i) the characteristics of the individ- 21 uals benefiting from the grants; 22 (ii) the progress of such individuals in 23 attain [Text truncated for display. 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