Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1878 To establish universal child care and early learning programs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 18, 2019 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. MARKEY) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish universal child care and early learning programs. 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 ‘‘Universal Child Care 4 and Early Learning Act’’. 5 TITLE I—CHILD CARE AND 6 EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS 7 SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF PURPOSES. 8 The purposes of this title are— 9 (1) to provide all young children with a fair and 10 full opportunity to reach their full potential, by es- 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1878 IS tablishing and expanding programs, to create uni- 1 versal, comprehensive child care and early learning 2 programs that are available to all young children; 3 (2) to ensure that families can access afford- 4 able, high-quality child care and early learning pro- 5 grams regardless of circumstance; 6 (3) to promote the school readiness of all young 7 children by enhancing their cognitive, social, emo- 8 tional, and physical development— 9 (A) in a learning environment that sup- 10 ports children’s growth in language, literacy, 11 mathematics, science, cognitive abilities, social 12 and emotional functioning, creative arts, phys- 13 ical skills, and approaches to learning; and 14 (B) through the provision to children and 15 their families of health, educational, nutritional, 16 social, and other services that are determined, 17 based on family needs assessments, to be nec- 18 essary; 19 (4) to recognize and build upon the experience 20 and success gained through the Head Start pro- 21 gram, the military child care program, and similar 22 efforts; 23 (5) to provide that decisions on the nature of 24 such child care and early learning programs be made 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1878 IS at the community level with the full involvement of 1 parents, family members, and other individuals and 2 organizations in the community; and 3 (6) to establish the legislative framework for 4 child care and early learning services. 5 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 6 For purposes of this title: 7 (1) CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING PRO- 8 GRAM.—The term ‘‘child care and early learning 9 program’’ means any program that provides child 10 care and early learning services in child care and 11 early learning centers (including schools) or in fam- 12 ily child care homes. 13 (2) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 14 ‘‘child with a disability’’ means— 15 (A) a child with a disability, as defined in 16 section 602(3) of the Individuals with Disabil- 17 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)); and 18 (B) an infant or toddler with a disability, 19 as defined in section 632(5) of such Act (20 20 U.S.C. 1432(5)). 21 (3) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘community’’ 22 means a city, county, or multicity or multicounty 23 unit within a State, an Indian reservation (including 24 Indians in any nearby off-reservation area des- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1878 IS ignated by an appropriate tribal government in con- 1 sultation with the Secretary), or a neighborhood or 2 other area (irrespective of boundaries or political 3 subdivisions) that provides a suitable organizational 4 base and possesses the commonality of interest need- 5 ed to operate a child care and early learning pro- 6 gram. 7 (4) COVERED CHILD.—The term ‘‘covered 8 child’’ means a child who— 9 (A) is— 10 (i) not younger than 6 weeks of age; 11 and 12 (ii) not yet required to attend school, 13 under the laws of compulsory school at- 14 tendance of the State in which the child re- 15 sides; and 16 (B) meets the requirements of regulations 17 issued under section 124. 18 (5) DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNER.—The term 19 ‘‘dual language learner’’ means a child who is ac- 20 quiring two or more languages at the same time, or 21 a child who is learning a second language while con- 22 tinuing to develop the child’s first language, includ- 23 ing a child who may also be identified by a State or 24 locality as ‘‘bilingual’’, ‘‘an English language learn- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1878 IS er’’, ‘‘limited English proficient’’, ‘‘an English learn- 1 er’’, or a child who speaks a ‘‘language other than 2 English’’. 3 (6) FAMILY LITERACY SERVICES.—The term 4 ‘‘family literacy services’’ means services that— 5 (A) are family literacy services, as defined 6 in section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 7 U.S.C. 9832); and 8 (B) meet the requirements of section 641A 9 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a). 10 (7) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘finan- 11 cial assistance’’ includes assistance provided by 12 grant, agreement, or contract, for which payments 13 may be made in installments and in advance or by 14 way of reimbursement with necessary adjustments 15 on account of overpayments or underpayments. 16 (8) FULL-WORKING-DAY.—The term ‘‘full-work- 17 ing-day’’ means not less than 10 hours per day. 18 Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to re- 19 quire an entity to provide services to a child who has 20 not reached the age of compulsory school attendance 21 for more than the number of hours per day per- 22 mitted by State law (including regulation) for the 23 provision of services to such a child. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1878 IS (9) HEALTH.—The term ‘‘health’’, when used 1 to refer to services or care provided to children en- 2 rolled in a child care and early learning program, 3 their parents, or their siblings, shall be interpreted 4 to refer to both physical and mental health. 5 (10) HOMELESS CHILD.—The term ‘‘homeless 6 child’’ means an individual described in section 7 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 8 Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)). 9 (11) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ means an in- 10 dividual who is— 11 (A) a member of an Indian tribe or band, 12 as membership is defined by the tribe or band, 13 including— 14 (i) any tribe or band terminated since 15 1940; and 16 (ii) any tribe or band recognized by 17 the State in which the tribe or band re- 18 sides; 19 (B) a descendant of an individual de- 20 scribed in subparagraph (A); 21 (C) considered by the Secretary of the In- 22 terior to be an Indian for any purpose; 23 (D) an Eskimo, Aleut, or other Alaska Na- 24 tive; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1878 IS (E) a member of an organized Indian 1 group that received a grant under the Indian 2 Education Act of 1988 as in effect on October 3 19, 1994. 4 (12) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 5 means an Indian tribe, within the meaning of part 6 A of title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.). 8 (13) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 9 The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 10 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 12 (14) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 13 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 14 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 15 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 16 (15) LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘locality’’ means 17 any city, municipality, county, or other political sub- 18 division of a State having general governmental pow- 19 ers, or any combination of such political subdivi- 20 sions. 21 (16) LOW-INCOME.—The term ‘‘low-income’’, 22 used with respect to a child or other individual, 23 means an individual in a family with a family in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1878 IS come that is not more than 200 percent of the pov- 1 erty line. 2 (17) MIGRANT OR SEASONAL CHILD CARE AND 3 EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘migrant or 4 seasonal child care and early learning program’’ 5 means— 6 (A) with respect to services for migrant 7 farmworkers, a child care and early learning 8 program that serves families who are engaged 9 in agricultural labor and who have changed 10 their residence from one geographic location to 11 another in the preceding 2-year period; and 12 (B) with respect to services for seasonal 13 farmworkers, a child care and early learning 14 program that serves families who are engaged 15 primarily in seasonal agricultural labor and who 16 have not changed their residence to another ge- 17 ographic location in the preceding 2-year pe- 18 riod. 19 (18) MILITARY CHILD CARE PROGRAM.—The 20 term ‘‘military child care program’’ means the pro- 21 gram carried out under subchapter II of chapter 88 22 of title 10, United States Code. 23 (19) NATIVE HAWAIIAN.—The term ‘‘Native 24 Hawaiian’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1878 IS tion 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 1 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517). 2 (20) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 3 means the official poverty line (as defined by the Of- 4 fice of Management and Budget) based on the most 5 recent data available from the Bureau of the Cen- 6 sus— 7 (A) adjusted to reflect the percentage 8 change in the Consumer Price Index for All 9 Urban Consumers, issued by the Bureau of 10 Labor Statistics, during the annual or other in- 11 terval immediately preceding the date on which 12 such adjustment is made; and 13 (B) adjusted for family size. 14 (21) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The 15 term ‘‘professional development’’ means the career- 16 pathway aligned mechanisms that contribute to en- 17 suring that a member of the early care and edu- 18 cation workforce, in any setting, has or is working 19 towards obtaining the degrees and other credentials 20 needed to demonstrate the necessary knowledge and 21 competencies for quality provision of child care and 22 early learning services. 23 (22) SCIENTIFICALLY VALID RESEARCH.—The 24 term ‘‘scientifically valid research’’ includes applied 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1878 IS research, basic research, and field-initiated research, 1 in which the rationale, design, and interpretation are 2 soundly developed in accordance with principles of 3 scientific research. 4 (23) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 5 means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 6 (24) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 7 (A) a State, as defined in section 637 of 8 the Head Start Act; and 9 (B) the Republic of Palau— 10 (i) for each of fiscal years 2020 11 through 2024; and 12 (ii) (if legislation approving a new 13 agreement regarding United States assist- 14 ance for the Republic of Palau has not 15 been enacted by September 30, 2024), for 16 each subsequent fiscal year for which such 17 legislation has not been enacted. 18 (25) TRIBAL LAND.—The term ‘‘tribal land’’ 19 means a reservation, the land of an Indian tribe, or 20 land designated by Hawaii as under the control of 21 Native Hawaiians for purposes of this title. 22 (26) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 23 organization’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1878 IS (A) the recognized governing body of any 1 Indian tribe, and any legally established organi- 2 zation of Indians which is controlled, sanc- 3 tioned, or chartered by such governing body or 4 which is democratically elected by the adult 5 members of the Indian community to be served 6 by such organization and which includes the 7 maximum participation of Indians in all phases 8 of its activities, except that in any case where 9 a contract is let or grant made to an organiza- 10 tion to perform services benefitting more than 11 one Indian tribe, the approval of each such In- 12 dian tribe shall be a prerequisite to the letting 13 or making of such contract or grant; and 14 (B) includes a Native Hawaiian organiza- 15 tion, as defined in section 6207 of the Elemen- 16 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 17 U.S.C. 7517) and a private nonprofit organiza- 18 tion established for the purpose of serving 19 youth who are Indians or Native Hawaiians. 20 SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; APPRO- 21 PRIATIONS. 22 (a) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be 23 appropriated and there are appropriated to carry out this 24 title (other than the activities described in subsection (b)), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1878.IS S1878 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1878 IS including meeting the entitlement requirements of section 1 111(b), such sums as may be necessary. 2 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated to carry out activities under 4 sections 135, 136, 137, 138, 151, 152, and such adminis- 5 trative activities as the Secretary determines to be nec- 6 essary and appropriate to carry out this title, 7 $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2030. 8 Subtitle A—Prime Sponsors and 9 Providers 10 SEC. 111. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR CHILD CARE AND 11 EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide finan- 13 cial assistance for carrying out child care and early learn- 14 ing programs under this title to prime sponsors, to provide 15 family-centered services to children to promote their devel- 16 opment and learning, pursuant to plans and applications 17 approved in accordance with the provisions of this title. 18 (b) ENTITLEMENT.—Each covered child shall be enti- 19 tled to participate in a child care and early learning pro- 20 gram that meets the [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]