Child Care Is Essential Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7027 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 30, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations AN ACT Making additional supplemental appropriations for disaster relief requirements for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, 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 The following sums in this Act are appropriated, out of 3 any money in the Treasury not otherwise 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 7027 RFS appropriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1 2020, and for other purposes, namely: 2 TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 3 HUMAN SERVICES 4 ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES 5 PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR THE CHILD CARE AND 6 DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT 7 For an additional amount for ‘‘Payments to States 8 for the Child Care and Development Block Grant’’, 9 $50,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 10 2021, for necessary expenses to carry out the Child Care 11 Stabilization Fund grants program, as authorized by sec- 12 tion 1 of this Act: Provided, That such funds shall be 13 available without regard to the requirements in subpara- 14 graphs (C) through (E) of section 658E(c)(3) or section 15 658G of the Child Care and Development Block Grant 16 Act: Provided further, That funds appropriated under this 17 heading in this Act may be made available to restore 18 amounts, either directly or through reimbursement, for ob- 19 ligations incurred prior to the date of enactment of this 20 Act for the purposes provided herein: Provided further, 21 That such amount is designated by the Congress as being 22 for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 23 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 24 Deficit Control Act of 1985 and shall be available only 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 7027 RFS if the President subsequently so designates such amount 1 and transmits such designation to the Congress. 2 CHILD CARE STABILIZATION FUND 3 SEC. 1. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) CCDBG TERMS.—The terms ‘‘eligible child 5 care provider’’, ‘‘Indian tribe’’, ‘‘lead agency’’, ‘‘trib- 6 al organization’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the 7 meanings given the terms in section 658P of the 8 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 9 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n) except as otherwise pro- 10 vided in this section. 11 (2) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 12 The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ 13 means the public health emergency declared by the 14 Secretary of Health and Human Services under sec- 15 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 16 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to 17 COVID–19, including any renewal of the declara- 18 tion. 19 (b) GRANTS.—From the amounts appropriated to 20 carry out this section and under the authority of section 21 658O of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 22 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m) and this section, the Secretary 23 shall award child care stabilization grants to the lead 24 agency of each State (as defined in that section 658O), 25 territory described in subsection (a)(1) of such section, In- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 7027 RFS dian tribe, and tribal organization from allotments and 1 payments made under subsection (c)(2), not later than 30 2 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 3 (c) SECRETARIAL RESERVATION AND ALLOT- 4 MENTS.— 5 (1) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve 6 not more than 1 percent of the funds appropriated 7 to carry out this section for the Federal administra- 8 tion of grants described in subsection (b). 9 (2) ALLOTMENTS.—The Secretary shall use the 10 remainder of the funds appropriated to carry out 11 this section to award allotments to States, as defined 12 in section 658O of the Child Care Development 13 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m), and 14 payments to territories, Indian tribes, and tribal or- 15 ganizations in accordance with paragraphs (1) and 16 (2) of subsection (a), and subsection (b), of section 17 658O of the Child Care and Development Block 18 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m). 19 (d) STATE RESERVATIONS AND SUBGRANTS.— 20 (1) RESERVATION.—A lead agency for a State 21 that receives a child care stabilization grant pursu- 22 ant to subsection (b) shall reserve not more than 10 23 percent of such grant funds— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 7027 RFS (A) to administer subgrants made to quali- 1 fied child care providers under paragraph (2), 2 including to carry out data systems building 3 and other activities that enable the disburse- 4 ment of payments of such subgrants; 5 (B) to provide technical assistance and 6 support in applying for and accessing the 7 subgrant opportunity under paragraph (2), to 8 eligible child care providers (including to family 9 child care providers, group home child care pro- 10 viders, and other non-center-based child care 11 providers and providers with limited administra- 12 tive capacity), either directly or through re- 13 source and referral agencies or staffed family 14 child care networks; 15 (C) to publicize the availability of sub- 16 grants under this section and conduct wide- 17 spread outreach to eligible child care providers, 18 including family child care providers, group 19 home child care providers, and other non-cen- 20 ter-based child care providers and providers 21 with limited administrative capacity, either di- 22 rectly or through resource and referral agencies 23 or staffed family child care networks, to ensure 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 7027 RFS eligible child care providers are aware of the 1 subgrants available under this section; 2 (D) to carry out the reporting require- 3 ments described in subsection (f); and 4 (E) to carry out activities to improve the 5 supply and quality of child care during and 6 after the COVID–19 public health emergency, 7 such as conducting community needs assess- 8 ments, carrying out child care cost modeling, 9 making improvements to child care facilities, in- 10 creasing access to licensure or participation in 11 the State’s tiered quality rating system, and 12 carrying out other activities described in section 13 658G(b) of the Child Care and Development 14 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e(b)), 15 to the extent that the lead agency can carry out 16 activities described in this subparagraph with- 17 out preventing the lead agency from fully con- 18 ducting the activities described in subpara- 19 graphs (A) through (D). 20 (2) SUBGRANTS TO QUALIFIED CHILD CARE 21 PROVIDERS.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall 23 use the remainder of the grant funds awarded 24 pursuant to subsection (b) to make subgrants 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 7027 RFS to qualified child care providers described in 1 subparagraph (B), to support the stability of 2 the child care sector during and after the 3 COVID–19 public health emergency. The lead 4 agency shall provide the subgrant funds in ad- 5 vance of provider expenditures for costs de- 6 scribed in subsection (e), except as provided in 7 subsection (e)(2). 8 (B) QUALIFIED CHILD CARE PROVIDER.— 9 To be qualified to receive a subgrant under this 10 paragraph, a provider shall be an eligible child 11 care provider that— 12 (i) was providing child care services 13 on or before March 1, 2020; and 14 (ii) on the date of submission of an 15 application for the subgrant, was either— 16 (I) open and available to provide 17 child care services; or 18 (II) closed due to the COVID–19 19 public health emergency. 20 (C) SUBGRANT AMOUNT.—The lead agency 21 shall make subgrants, from amounts awarded 22 pursuant to subsection (b), to qualified child 23 care providers, and the amount of such a 24 subgrant to such a provider shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 7027 RFS (i) be based on the provider’s stated 1 average operating expenses during the pe- 2 riod (of not longer than 6 months) before 3 March 1, 2020, or before the provider’s 4 last day of operation for a provider that 5 operates seasonally, and at minimum cover 6 such operating expenses for the intended 7 length of the subgrant; 8 (ii) account for increased costs of pro- 9 viding or preparing to provide child care as 10 a result of the COVID–19 public health 11 emergency, such as provider and employee 12 compensation and existing benefits (exist- 13 ing as of March 1, 2020) and the imple- 14 mentation of new practices related to sani- 15 tization, group size limits, and social 16 distancing; 17 (iii) be adjusted for payments or reim- 18 bursements made to an eligible child care 19 provider to carry out the Child Care and 20 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 21 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) or the Head Start 22 Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.); and 23 (iv) be adjusted for payments or reim- 24 bursements made to an eligible child care 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 7027 RFS provider through the Paycheck Protection 1 Program set forth in section 7(a)(36) of 2 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 3 636(a)(36)), as added by section 1102 of 4 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 5 Security Act (Public Law 116–136). 6 (D) APPLICATION.— 7 (i) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to re- 8 ceive a subgrant under this paragraph, a 9 child care provider shall submit an applica- 10 tion to a lead agency at such time and in 11 such manner as the lead agency may re- 12 quire. Such application shall include— 13 (I) a good-faith certification that 14 the ongoing operations of the child 15 care provider have been impacted as a 16 result of the COVID–19 public health 17 emergency; 18 (II) for a provider described in 19 subparagraph (B)(ii)(I), an assurance 20 that, for the duration of the COVID– 21 19 public health emergency— 22 (aa) the provider will give 23 priority for available slots (in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 7027 RFS cluding slots that are only tempo- 1 rarily available) to— 2 (AA) children of essen- 3 tial workers (such as health 4 care sector employees, emer- 5 gency responders, sanitation 6 workers, farmworkers, child 7 care employees, and other 8 workers determined to be es- 9 sential during the response 10 to coronavirus by public offi- 11 cials), children of workers 12 whose places of employment 13 require their attendance, 14 children experiencing home- 15 lessness, children with dis- 16 abilities, children at risk of 17 child abuse or neglect, and 18 children in foster care, in 19 States, tribal communities, 20 or localities where stay-at- 21 home or related orders are 22 in effect; or 23 (BB) children of work- 24 ers whose places of employ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 7027 RFS ment require their attend- 1 ance, children experiencing 2 homelessness, children with 3 disabilities, children at risk 4 of child abuse or neglect, 5 children in foster care, and 6 children whose parents are 7 in school or a training pro- 8 gram, in States, tribal com- 9 munities, or localities where 10 stay-at-home or related or- 11 ders are not in effect; 12 (bb) the provider will imple- 13 ment policies in line with guid- 14 ance from the Centers for Dis- 15 ease Control and Prevention and 16 the corresponding State, tribal, 17 and local authorities, and in ac- 18 cordance with State, tribal, and 19 local orders, for child care pro- 20 viders that remain open, includ- 21 ing guidance on sanitization 22 practices, group size limits, and 23 social distancing; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 HR 7027 RFS (cc) for each employee, the 1 provider will pay the full com- 2 pensation described in subsection 3 (e)(1)(C), including any benefits, 4 that was provided to the em- 5 ployee as of March 1, 2020 (re- 6 ferred to in this clause as ‘‘full 7 compensation’’), and will not take 8 any action that reduces the week- 9 ly amount of the employee’s com- 10 pensation below the weekly 11 amount of full compensation, or 12 that reduces the employee’s rate 13 of compensation below the rate of 14 full compensation; and 15 (dd) the provider will pro- 16 vide relief from copayments and 17 tuition payments for the families 18 enrolled in the provider’s pro- 19 gram and prioritize such relief 20 for families struggling to make 21 either type of payments; 22 (III) for a provider described in 23 subparagraph (B)(ii)(II), an assur- 24 ance that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7027.RFS H7027 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 HR 7027 RFS (aa) for the duration of the 1 provider’s closure due to the 2 COVID–19 public health emer- 3 gency, for each employee, the 4 provider will pay full compensa- 5 tion, and will not take any action 6 that reduces the weekly amount 7 of the employee’s compensation 8 below the weekly amount of full 9 compensation, or that reduces 10 the employee’s rate of compensa- 11 tion below the rate of full com- 12 pensation; 13 (bb) children enrolled as of 14 March 1, 2020, will maintain 15 their slots, unless their families 16 choose to disenroll the children; 17 (cc) for the duration of the 18 provider’s closure due to the 19 COVID–19 public health emer- 20 gency, the provider will provide 21 relief from copayments and tui- 22 tion payments for the families 23 enrolled in the provider’s pro- 24 gram and prioritize such relief 25 VerDate Se [Text truncated for display. 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