Back to Work Child Care Grants Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4221 To provide for grants to support the provision of child care by reopening and maintaining the operation of child care programs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 20, 2020 Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. TILLIS, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. DAINES, Mr. GARDNER, and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide for grants to support the provision of child care by reopening and maintaining the operation of child care 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 ‘‘Back to Work Child 4 Care Grants Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. BACK TO WORK CHILD CARE GRANTS. 6 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to sup- 7 port the recovery of the United States economy by pro- 8 viding assistance to aid in reopening child care programs, 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4221 IS and maintaining the availability of child care in the United 1 States, so that parents can access safe care and return 2 to work. 3 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 5 The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ 6 means the public health emergency declared by the 7 Secretary of Health and Human Services under sec- 8 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 9 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to 10 COVID–19, including any renewal of such declara- 11 tion. 12 (2) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The 13 term ‘‘eligible child care provider’’ means— 14 (A) an eligible child care provider as de- 15 fined in section 658P(6)(A) of the Child Care 16 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 17 U.S.C. 9858n(6)(A)); and 18 (B) a child care provider that— 19 (i) is license-exempt and operating le- 20 gally in the State; 21 (ii) is not providing child care services 22 to relatives; and 23 (iii) satisfies State and local require- 24 ments, including those referenced in sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4221 IS tion 658E(c)(2)(I) of the Child Care and 1 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 2 ((42 U.S.C. 9858c)(c)(2)(I)). 3 (3) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 4 The terms ‘‘Indian tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal organization’’ 5 have the meanings given the terms in section 658P 6 of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 7 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 8 (4) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 9 has the meaning given the term in section 658P of 10 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 11 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 12 (5) QUALIFIED CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The 13 term ‘‘qualified child care provider’’ means an eligi- 14 ble child care provider with an application approved 15 under subsection (g) for the program involved. 16 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 18 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 19 ing given the term in section 658P of the Child Care 20 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 21 U.S.C. 9858n). 22 (c) GRANTS FOR CHILD CARE PROGRAMS.—From 23 the funds appropriated to carry out this section, the Sec- 24 retary shall make Back to Work Child Care grants to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4221 IS States, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations, that submit 1 notices of intent to provide assurances under subsection 2 (d)(2). The grants shall provide for subgrants to qualified 3 child care providers, for a transition period of not more 4 than 9 months to assist in paying for fixed costs and in- 5 creased operating expenses due to COVID–19, and to re- 6 enroll children in an environment that supports the health 7 and safety of children and staff. 8 (d) PROCESS FOR ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 9 (1) ALLOCATION.—Any funds that are appro- 10 priated to carry out this section shall be distributed 11 by the Secretary to the Administration for Children 12 and Families for distribution under the Child Care 13 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 14 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) in accordance with subsection 15 (e)(2) of this Act. 16 (2) NOTICE.—Not later than 7 days after funds 17 are appropriated to carry out this section, the Sec- 18 retary shall provide to States, Indian tribes, and 19 tribal organizations a notice of funding availability, 20 for Back to Work Child Care grants under sub- 21 section (c) from allotments and payments under sub- 22 section (e)(2). The Secretary shall issue a notice of 23 the funding allocations for each State, Indian tribe, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4221 IS and tribal organization not later than 14 days after 1 funds are appropriated to carry out this section. 2 (3) NOTICE OF INTENT.—Not later than 14 3 days after issuance of a notice of funding allocations 4 under paragraph (1), a State, Indian tribe, or tribal 5 organization that seeks such a grant shall submit to 6 the Secretary a notice of intent to provide assur- 7 ances for such grant. The notice of intent shall in- 8 clude a certification that the State, Indian tribe, or 9 tribal organization will repay the grant funds if such 10 State, Indian tribe, or tribal organization fails to 11 provide assurances that meet the requirements of 12 subsection (f) or to comply with such an assurance. 13 (4) GRANTS TO LEAD AGENCIES.—The Sec- 14 retary may make grants under subsection (c) to the 15 lead agency of each State, Indian tribe, or tribal or- 16 ganization, upon receipt of the notice of intent to 17 provide assurances for such grant. 18 (5) PROVISION OF ASSURANCES.—Not later 19 than 15 days after receiving the grant, the State, In- 20 dian tribe, or tribal organization shall provide assur- 21 ances that meet the requirements of subsection (f). 22 (e) FEDERAL RESERVATION; ALLOTMENTS AND PAY- 23 MENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4221 IS (1) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve 1 not more than 1 percent of the amount appropriated 2 to carry out this section to pay for the costs of the 3 Federal administration of this section. The amount 4 appropriated to carry out this section and reserved 5 under this paragraph shall remain available through 6 fiscal year 2021. 7 (2) ALLOTMENTS AND PAYMENTS.—The Sec- 8 retary shall use the remaining portion of such 9 amount to make allotments and payments, to States, 10 Indian tribes, and tribal organizations that submit 11 such a notice of intent to provide assurances, in ac- 12 cordance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 13 (a), and subsection (b), of section 658O of the Child 14 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 15 U.S.C. 9858m), for the grants described in sub- 16 section (c). 17 (f) ASSURANCES.—A State, Indian tribe, or tribal or- 18 ganization that receives a grant under subsection (c) shall 19 provide to the Secretary assurances that the lead agency 20 will— 21 (1) require as a condition of subgrant funding 22 under subsection (g) that each eligible child care 23 provider applying for a subgrant from the lead agen- 24 cy— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4221 IS (A) has been an eligible child care provider 1 in continuous operation and serving children 2 through a child care program immediately prior 3 to March 1, 2020; 4 (B) agree to follow all applicable State, 5 local, and tribal health and safety requirements 6 and, if applicable, enhanced protocols for child 7 care services and related to COVID–19 or an- 8 other health or safety condition; 9 (C) agree to comply with the documenta- 10 tion and reporting requirements under sub- 11 section (h); and 12 (D) certify in good faith that the child care 13 program of the provider will remain open for 14 not less than 1 year after receiving such a 15 subgrant, unless such program is closed due to 16 extraordinary circumstances, including a state 17 of emergency declared by the Governor or a 18 major disaster or emergency declared by the 19 President under section 401 or 501, respec- 20 tively, of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 21 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 22 5170, 5191); 23 (2) ensure eligible child care providers in urban, 24 suburban, and rural areas can readily apply for and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4221 IS access funding under this section, which shall in- 1 clude the provision of technical assistance either di- 2 rectly or through resource and referral agencies or 3 staffed family child care provider networks; 4 (3) ensure that subgrant funds are made avail- 5 able to eligible child care providers regardless of 6 whether the eligible child care provider is providing 7 services for which assistance is made available under 8 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 9 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) at the time of appli- 10 cation for a subgrant; 11 (4) through at least December 31, 2020, con- 12 tinue to expend funds provided under the Child Care 13 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 14 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) for the purpose of continuing 15 payments and assistance to qualified child care pro- 16 viders on the basis of applicable reimbursements 17 prior to March 2020; 18 (5) undertake a review of burdensome State, 19 local, and tribal regulations and requirements that 20 hinder the opening of new licensed child care pro- 21 grams to meet the needs of the working families in 22 the State or tribal community, as applicable; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4221 IS (6) make available to the public, which shall in- 1 clude, at a minimum, posting to an internet website 2 of the lead agency— 3 (A) notice of funding availability through 4 subgrants for qualified child care providers 5 under this section; and 6 (B) the criteria for awarding subgrants for 7 qualified child care providers, including the 8 methodology the lead agency used to determine 9 and disburse funds in accordance with subpara- 10 graphs (D) and (E) of subsection (g)(4); and 11 (7) ensure the maintenance of a delivery system 12 of child care services throughout the State that pro- 13 vides for child care in a variety of settings, including 14 the settings of family child care providers. 15 (g) LEAD AGENCY USE OF FUNDS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—A lead agency that receives 17 a Back to Work Child Care grant under this sec- 18 tion— 19 (A) shall use a portion that is not less 20 than 94 percent of the grant funds to award 21 subgrants to qualified child care providers as 22 described in the lead agency’s assurances pur- 23 suant to subsection (f); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4221 IS (B) shall reserve not more than 6 percent 1 of the funds to— 2 (i) use not less than 1 percent of the 3 funds to provide technical assistance and 4 support in applying for and accessing 5 funding through such subgrants to eligible 6 child care providers, including to rural pro- 7 viders, family child care providers, and 8 providers with limited administrative ca- 9 pacity; and 10 (ii) use the remainder of the reserved 11 funds to— 12 (I) administer subgrants to quali- 13 fied child care providers under para- 14 graph (4), which shall include moni- 15 toring the compliance of qualified 16 child care providers with applicable 17 State, local, and tribal health and 18 safety requirements; and 19 (II) comply with the reporting 20 and documentation requirements de- 21 scribed in subsection (h); and 22 (C)(i) shall not make more than 1 23 subgrant under paragraph (4) to a child care 24 provider, except as described in clause (ii); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4221 IS (ii) may make multiple subgrants to a 1 qualified child care provider, if the lead agency 2 makes each subgrant individually for 1 child 3 care program operated by the provider and the 4 funds from the multiple subgrants are not 5 pooled for use for more than 1 of the programs. 6 (2) ROLE OF THIRD PARTY.—The lead agency 7 may designate a third party, such as a child care re- 8 source and referral agency, to carry out the respon- 9 sibilities of the lead agency, and oversee the activi- 10 ties conducted by qualified child care providers 11 under this subsection. 12 (3) OBLIGATION AND RETURN OF FUNDS.— 13 (A) OBLIGATION.— 14 (i) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency 15 shall obligate at least 50 percent of the 16 grant funds in the portion described in 17 paragraph (1)(A) for subgrants to quali- 18 fied child care providers by the day that is 19 6 months after the date of enactment of 20 this Act. 21 (ii) WAIVERS.—At the request of a 22 State, Indian tribe, or tribal organization, 23 and for good cause shown, the Secretary 24 may waive the requirement under clause (i) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4221.IS S4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4221 IS for the State, Indian tribe, or tribal orga- 1 nization. 2 (B) RETURN OF FUNDS.—Not later than 3 the date that is 12 months after a grant is 4 awarded to a lead agency in accordance with 5 this section, the lead agency shall return to the 6 Secretary any of the grant funds that are not 7 obligated by the lead agency by such date. The 8 Secretary shall return any funds received under 9 this subparagraph to the Treasury of the 10 United States. 11 (4) SUBGRANTS.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—A lead agency that re- 13 ceives a grant under subsection (c) shall make 14 subgrants to qualified child care providers to 15 assist in paying for fixed costs and increased 16 operating expenses, for a transition period of 17 not more [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]