Federal

PROSPECT Act

Source: Congress.gov · 12,119 words in original text

Summary

# PROSPECT Act (S. 848) — Plain English Translation ## WHAT THIS BILL DOES This bill creates grants for community colleges and minority-serving institutions (colleges that serve large numbers of students from underrepresented groups) to expand infant and toddler child care for student parents and to train more child care workers. The bill aims to help student parents graduate by reducing barriers they face in finding affordable child care for children under age 3. It also provides federal funding to support child care workforce development in communities that lack quality, affordable infant and toddler care options. ## WHO IT AFFECTS - Community college and minority-serving institution student parents with children under age 3 - Community colleges and minority-serving institutions - Child care providers and organizations - Early childhood educators and students entering child care fields - High school students interested in early childhood education careers - States administering child care assistance programs - Children under age 3 in communities lacking affordable child care ## KEY PROVISIONS - The Secretary of Education must award competitive grants to eligible entities (community colleges, minority-serving institutions, or consortiums) for planning grants, access grants, impact grants, and pipeline grants. (Sec. 111(a)) - Access grants must be used to provide free infant and toddler child care to up to 500,000 children of student parents through on-campus centers, contracting with licensed off-campus providers, or paying child care costs directly. (Sec. 123(a)) - On-campus child care centers receiving grant funds must be state licensed, meet quality standards, provide free care to student parents' children under age 3, employ staff paid comparable to elementary teachers, and prioritize enrollment for low-income student parents. (Sec. 123(b)) - Impact grants must be used to expand the number and quality of child care providers in communities through training, mentorship, technical support, and startup funding for new providers, with special focus on infant and toddler child care deserts. (Sec. 124(a)) - Pipeline grants must be used to establish or expand early childhood educator preparation programs (including associate degrees, certificates, and credentials), hire faculty to teach infant and toddler courses, create partnerships with high schools and 4-year institutions, and award microgrants to early childhood education students. (Sec. 125(a)) - Eligible entities must first complete a planning grant (including a needs assessment and creating an infant and toddler care committee) before receiving access, impact, or pipeline grants. (Sec. 112(c)) ## WHAT CHANGES **If this bill becomes law:** - Community colleges and minority-serving institutions can apply for federal grants specifically designed to provide free child care for their student parents' children under age 3, which currently does not exist as an established program. - Student parents attending these colleges will have access to free, licensed infant and toddler child care on campus or through contracted providers, reducing their child care costs and potential barriers to completing their degrees. - Communities identified as "infant and toddler child care deserts" (areas lacking quality, affordable child care) will receive targeted support to increase available child care slots through training and funding for new providers. - Early childhood educator preparation programs will expand at community colleges and minority-serving institutions, creating more career pathways and training opportunities for people wanting to become child care workers, particularly in communities of color and low-income areas. - High school students can pursue early childhood education careers through dual-enrollment programs that provide college credit while still in high school. - The federal government will increase matching payments to states for child care assistance for infants and toddlers if states provide payments at 75 percent or more of market rates. - College financial aid offices must inform student parents about dependent care allowances (amounts added to financial aid calculations for child care costs) and how to apply for them. ## IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS - **Infant and toddler child care:** Child care for children under age 3 as of the first day of the school year. - **Community college:** A public institution of higher education offering at least a 2-year educational program leading to an associate degree, with credits transferable toward a bachelor's degree. - **Minority-serving institution:** An institution as defined in federal higher education law that enrolls substantial numbers of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. - **Community college or minority-serving institution student parent:** A parent or legal guardian of a child under age 3 who is enrolled full-time or part-time at a participating community college or minority-serving institution. - **Infant and toddler child care desert:** A community that a state or tribal entity determines has low supply of quality, affordable infant and toddler child care. - **Culturally responsive teaching:** Teaching that uses students' cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives as tools to teach more effectively, accounting for the influence of race, culture, and ethnicity in learning. - **Drop-in child care:** Child care that does not require advance scheduling of set days or hours per week, is short-term (less than 5 hours per day), or may require 24-hour notice. - **Flex infant and toddler child care:** Infant and toddler child care where a child is registered weekly but for fewer than 5 days per week. - **Nontraditional hours:** Hours before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m., and any hours during weekends, academic breaks, or holidays. - **Early childhood educator preparation program:** A postsecondary course of study designed to prepare individuals to teach children birth to age 5, leading to a degree or state or nationally recognized credential. - **Low-income:** Individual from a family with income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty line. - **Dual language learner:** A child acquiring 2 or more languages at the same time or learning a second language while developing their first language. ## EFFECTIVE DATE Not specified in bill text.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 848 To establish competitive Federal grants that will empower community colleges and minority-serving institutions to become incubators for infant and toddler child care talent, training, and access on their campuses and in their communities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 16, 2023 Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish competitive Federal grants that will empower community colleges and minority-serving institutions to become incubators for infant and toddler child care tal- ent, training, and access on their campuses and in their communities, 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 ‘‘Preparing and 4 Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood 5 Teachers Act’’ or the ‘‘PROSPECT Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 848 IS SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Findings. TITLE I—ESTABLISHMENT OF INFANT AND TODDLER CHILD CARE LEADERSHIP GRANTS Sec. 101. Purpose. Sec. 102. Definitions. Sec. 103. Authorization of appropriations. Subtitle A—General Provisions Sec. 111. Program authorized. Sec. 112. Application; selection criteria. Sec. 113. Amount, duration, and administration of grants. Subtitle B—Planning and Implementation Grants Sec. 121. Grants authorized. Sec. 122. Planning grants. Sec. 123. Access grants providing infant and toddler child care for community college or minority-serving institution student parents. Sec. 124. Impact grants. Sec. 125. Pipeline grants. Sec. 126. Evaluation criteria for grants. Sec. 127. Report to Congress. Sec. 128. Nondiscrimination in programs and activities. TITLE II—CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM Sec. 201. Eligibility. Sec. 202. Conforming amendments. Sec. 203. Increased Federal matching payments for child care. TITLE III—OUTREACH REGARDING THE DEPENDENT CARE ALLOWANCE FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID Sec. 301. Sharing dependent care allowance information for Federal student aid. SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 3 Congress finds the following: 4 (1) A child’s brain grows at a faster rate be- 5 tween birth and age 3 than at any later point in the 6 child’s lifetime. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 848 IS (2) Decades of research shows that children 1 under age 3 that receive quality child care are more 2 likely to have the behavioral, cognitive, and language 3 skills development necessary for success in school, 4 college, and life. 5 (3) According to a 2018 survey, 83 percent of 6 parents with a child under age 5 responded that 7 finding quality, affordable child care was a serious 8 problem in their area. 9 (4) In 2017, on average, center-based child care 10 for an infant cost 61 percent more than for a pre- 11 schooler, over $11,000 annually per child, and in 28 12 States, more than the cost of public college tuition. 13 (5) In the 2015–2016 academic year, approxi- 14 mately 4,300,000 postsecondary education students 15 were raising children while in college, and over half 16 of those students had children preschool-aged or 17 younger. 18 (6) According to a 2016 survey, 95 percent of 19 child care centers at 2-year and 4-year colleges 20 across the United States had a waiting list, with the 21 average list containing 82 children. 22 (7) Student parents were 20 percent more likely 23 to leave college without a degree than students with- 24 out children. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 848 IS (8) The Child Care Access Means Parents in 1 School Federal Grant program under subpart 7 of 2 part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070e et seq.) helps over 3,300 4 students at institutions of higher education afford 5 child care each year, but this program impacts just 6 0.5 percent of the entire student parent population, 7 and many institutions of higher education do not 8 open their subsidized child care programs to children 9 under age 3. 10 (9) The share of community colleges and 4-year 11 institutions of higher education with on-campus 12 child care has been in decline. Community colleges 13 saw a 10 percent decrease in the number of cam- 14 puses with child care between 2002 and 2017. 15 (10) Student parents are more likely to be en- 16 rolled at community colleges and minority-serving 17 institutions than other institutions of higher edu- 18 cation. Over a quarter of all community college stu- 19 dents are parents, and in the 2015–2016 academic 20 year, 40 percent of Black women attending college 21 were parents, 3 times the rate for White male col- 22 lege students. 23 (11) Community colleges and minority-serving 24 institutions lead the higher education sector in edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 848 IS cating infant and toddler child care providers, espe- 1 cially child care providers of color, so they are the 2 optimal actors for driving quality infant and toddler 3 child care access in their regions. 4 TITLE I—ESTABLISHMENT OF IN- 5 FANT AND TODDLER CHILD 6 CARE LEADERSHIP GRANTS 7 SEC. 101. PURPOSE. 8 The purposes of this title are to expand access to in- 9 fant and toddler child care for children of students at pub- 10 lic community colleges and at minority-serving institutions 11 and to grow, diversify, and strengthen the workforce pipe- 12 line of highly effective infant and toddler child care pro- 13 viders, especially in communities of color and infant and 14 toddler child care deserts. 15 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this title: 17 (1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu- 18 nity college’’ means a public institution of higher 19 education, as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher 20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), that 21 provides an educational program of not less than 2 22 years that culminates in an associate degree and is 23 acceptable for full credit toward a baccalaureate de- 24 gree. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 848 IS (2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE OR MINORITY-SERV- 1 ING INSTITUTION STUDENT PARENT.—The term 2 ‘‘community college or minority-serving institution 3 student parent’’ means an individual who— 4 (A) is a parent or legal guardian of a child 5 who qualifies for infant and toddler child care; 6 and 7 (B) is a full-time or part-time student at 8 a community college or minority-serving institu- 9 tion participating in an eligible entity. 10 (3) CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING.—The 11 term ‘‘culturally responsive teaching’’ means teach- 12 ing— 13 (A) using the cultural characteristics, expe- 14 riences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse 15 students as conduits for teaching them more ef- 16 fectively; and 17 (B) based on understanding the influences 18 of race, culture, and ethnicity in teaching and 19 learning and using the cultural experiences and 20 contributions of different ethnic groups as in- 21 strumental tools for teaching academic and so- 22 cial knowledge and skills. 23 (4) DROP-IN.—The term ‘‘drop-in’’, when used 24 with respect to child care— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 848 IS (A) means child care that— 1 (i) does not require prescheduling a 2 definite number of scheduled days or hours 3 per week; or 4 (ii) is short term, such as less than 5 5 hours per day; and 6 (B) includes child care described in sub- 7 paragraph (A) that requires parents to provide 8 24-hour notice before using the child care or 9 provides child care subject to availability. 10 (5) DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNER.—The term 11 ‘‘dual language learner’’ means a child who— 12 (A) is acquiring 2 or more languages at 13 the same time; or 14 (B) is learning a second language while 15 continuing to develop the child’s first language, 16 including a child who may also be identified by 17 a State or locality as bilingual or limited 18 English proficient or as an English language 19 learner, an English learner, or a child who 20 speaks a language other than English. 21 (6) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR PREPARA- 22 TION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘early childhood educa- 23 tor preparation program’’ means a postsecondary 24 course of study that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 848 IS (A) is designed to prepare individuals to 1 teach in early childhood settings serving chil- 2 dren between birth and age 5; and 3 (B) leads to a degree (including an associ- 4 ate’s, bachelor’s, or graduate degree) or a State 5 or nationally recognized credential enabling in- 6 dividuals to teach in early childhood settings, 7 including a child development associate creden- 8 tial or a State teaching license. 9 (7) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 10 ty’’ means— 11 (A) a community college; 12 (B) a minority-serving institution; or 13 (C) a consortium of 2 or more community 14 colleges or minority-serving institutions. 15 (8) FLEX INFANT AND TODDLER CHILD 16 CARE.—The term ‘‘flex infant and toddler child 17 care’’ means infant and toddler child care for which 18 a child is registered to attend weekly, but for a total 19 of less than five days per week. 20 (9) HIGH SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high school’’ 21 has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of 22 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 848 IS (10) INFANT AND TODDLER CHILD CARE.—The 1 term ‘‘infant and toddler child care’’ means child 2 care for children who are under the age of 3 as of 3 the first day of the academic year of the applicable 4 community college or minority-serving institution. 5 (11) INFANT AND TODDLER CHILD CARE 6 DESERT.—The term ‘‘infant and toddler child care 7 desert’’ means a community that the State or tribal 8 entity involved determines has a low supply of qual- 9 ity, affordable infant and toddler child care. 10 (12) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DIS- 11 ABILITY.—The term ‘‘infant or toddler with a dis- 12 ability’’ has the meaning given the term in section 13 632 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 14 Act (20 U.S.C. 1432). 15 (13) LOW-INCOME.—The term ‘‘low-income’’ 16 means an individual from a family with an income 17 at or below 150 percent of the poverty line (as de- 18 fined by the Office of Management and Budget and 19 revised annually in accordance with section 673(2) 20 of the Community Services Block Grant Act) appli- 21 cable to a family of the size involved. 22 (14) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 23 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 848 IS tution described in section 371(a) of the Higher 1 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 2 (15) NONTRADITIONAL HOURS.—The term 3 ‘‘nontraditional hours’’ means— 4 (A) the hours before 9 a.m. and after 4 5 p.m.; and 6 (B) any hours during weekends, breaks 7 during the academic year, and holidays. 8 (16) ON-CAMPUS.—The term ‘‘on-campus’’, 9 when used with respect to a childcare center, means 10 a childcare center that is located on the campus of 11 a community college or minority-serving institution. 12 (17) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 13 means the Secretary of Education. 14 (18) SERVICE AREA.—The term ‘‘service area’’, 15 when used with respect to an eligible entity, means 16 the area served by the eligible entity. 17 (19) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 18 ing given the term in section 103 of the Higher 19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 20 SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 21 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 22 this title a total of $9,000,000,000 for fiscal years 2021 23 through 2025. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 848 IS Subtitle A—General Provisions 1 SEC. 111. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 3 under section 103, the Secretary shall award to eligible 4 entities— 5 (1) planning grants under section 122; 6 (2) access grants under section 123, which will 7 provide free high-quality child care for as many as 8 500,000 infants and toddlers who have a community 9 college or minority-serving institution student par- 10 ent, helping to reduce barriers that impact the abil- 11 ity of community college or minority-serving institu- 12 tion student parents attending community college or 13 a minority-serving institution to graduate, and re- 14 ducing their postgraduation debt; 15 (3) impact grants under section 124, which will 16 expand the supply and quality of child care in the 17 community by providing training, mentorship, tech- 18 nical support, and expansion funding to new and ex- 19 isting child care providers in the service area of the 20 eligible entity; and 21 (4) pipeline grants under section 125, which 22 will fund eligible entities to— 23 (A) launch and expand early childhood ed- 24 ucator preparation programs; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:15 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 848 IS (B) form strategic partnerships with re- 1 gional institutions to expand, diversify, and 2 strengthen the workforce pipeline for infant and 3 toddler care providers. 4 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—In administering this title, 5 the Secretary shall— 6 (1) consult with the Secretary of Health and 7 Human Services with respect to all grants carried 8 out under this Act; and 9 (2) consult with the Administrator of the Small 10 B [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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