Child Care for Working Families Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2976 To increase the quality and supply of child care and lower child care costs for families. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Ms. WILD, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. JOHN- SON of Georgia, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LANDSMAN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. COHEN, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. KEATING, Ms. TITUS, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mr. KILMER, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. ALLRED, and Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and the Workforce A BILL To increase the quality and supply of child care and lower child care costs for families. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2976 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Care for Work- 2 ing Families Act’’. 3 TITLE I—CHILD CARE AND 4 EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM 5 SEC. 101. BIRTH THROUGH FIVE CHILD CARE AND EARLY 6 LEARNING PROGRAM. 7 (a) CHILD CARE DEFINITIONS.—The definitions in 8 section 658P of the Child Care and Development Block 9 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n) shall apply to this 10 section, except as provided in subsection (b) and as other- 11 wise specified. 12 (b) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 13 (1) CHILD CARE CERTIFICATE.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘child care 15 certificate’’ means a certificate (that may be a 16 check or other disbursement) that is issued by 17 a State, Tribal, territorial, or local government 18 under this section directly to a parent who shall 19 use such certificate only as payment for child 20 care services or as a deposit for child care serv- 21 ices if such a deposit is required of other chil- 22 dren being cared for by the provider. 23 (B) RULE.—Nothing in this section shall 24 preclude the use of such certificates for sec- 25 tarian child care services if freely chosen by the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2976 IH parent. For the purposes of this section, child 1 care certificates shall be considered indirect 2 Federal financial assistance to the provider. 3 (2) CHILD EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS.— 4 The term ‘‘child experiencing homelessness’’ means 5 an individual who is a homeless child or youth under 6 section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist- 7 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 8 (3) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘eligible 9 activity’’, with respect to a parent, shall include, at 10 minimum, activities consisting of— 11 (A) full-time or part-time employment; 12 (B) self-employment; 13 (C) job search activities; 14 (D) job training; 15 (E) secondary, postsecondary, or adult 16 education, including education through a pro- 17 gram of high school classes, a course of study 18 at an institution of higher education, classes to- 19 wards an equivalent of a high school diploma 20 recognized by State law, or English as a second 21 language classes; 22 (F) health treatment (including mental 23 health and substance use treatment) for a con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2976 IH dition that prevents the parent from partici- 1 pating in other eligible activities; 2 (G) activities to prevent child abuse and 3 neglect, or family violence prevention or inter- 4 vention activities; 5 (H) employment and training activities 6 under the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 7 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.); and 8 (I) taking leave under the Family and 9 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et 10 seq.) (or equivalent provisions for Federal em- 11 ployees), a State or local paid or unpaid leave 12 law, or a program of employer-provided leave. 13 (4) ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 15 child’’ means an individual— 16 (i) who is less than 6 years of age; 17 (ii) who is not yet in kindergarten; 18 and 19 (iii) who— 20 (I) resides with a parent or par- 21 ents who are participating in an eligi- 22 ble activity; 23 (II) is included in a population of 24 vulnerable children identified by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2976 IH lead agency involved, which at a min- 1 imum shall include children with dis- 2 abilities, infants and toddlers with dis- 3 abilities, children experiencing home- 4 lessness, children in foster care, chil- 5 dren in kinship care, children in a 6 family that is eligible for assistance 7 through the special supplemental nu- 8 trition program for women, infants, 9 and children established by section 17 10 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 11 (42 U.S.C. 1786), a household that is 12 eligible to receive assistance through 13 the supplemental nutrition assistance 14 program established under the Food 15 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 16 2011 et seq.), or a family that is eligi- 17 ble to receive assistance through the 18 program of block grants to States for 19 temporary assistance for needy fami- 20 lies established under part A of title 21 IV of the Social Security Act (42 22 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), and children who 23 are receiving, or need to receive, child 24 protective services; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2976 IH (III) resides with— 1 (aa) a parent who is more 2 than 65 years of age; 3 (bb) a parent who is em- 4 ployed by an eligible child care 5 provider; or 6 (cc) a parent who is enrolled 7 in high school and has not ex- 8 ceeded the maximum age of en- 9 rollment in high school. 10 (B) LONGER-TERM PERIOD ELIGIBILITY.— 11 An individual who is determined to be an eligi- 12 ble child, and is a child in foster care or a child 13 experiencing homelessness, shall not be required 14 to reverify eligibility for purposes of this title 15 during the period after the determination and 16 before the individual becomes 6 years of age or 17 enters kindergarten, whichever occurs earlier. 18 (5) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible child 20 care provider’’ means a center-based child care 21 provider, a family child care provider, or other 22 provider of child care services for compensation 23 that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2976 IH (i) is licensed to provide child care 1 services under State law applicable to the 2 child care services it provides or, in the 3 case of an Indian Tribe or Tribal organiza- 4 tion, meets the rules set by the Secretary; 5 (ii) participates in the State’s tiered 6 system for recognizing and supporting the 7 quality of child care services described in 8 subsection (f)(3)(B), or, in the case of an 9 Indian Tribe or Tribal organization, meets 10 the rules set by the Secretary— 11 (I) not later than 4 years after 12 the State first receives funds under 13 this section; and 14 (II) for the remainder of the pe- 15 riod for which the provider receives 16 funds under this section; and 17 (iii) satisfies the State and local re- 18 quirements, including those requirements 19 described in section 658E(c)(2)(I) of the 20 Child Care and Development Block Grant 21 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)(I)), 22 applicable to the child care services it pro- 23 vides. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2976 IH (B) SPECIAL RULE.—A child care provider 1 who is eligible to provide child care services in 2 a State for children receiving assistance under 3 the Child Care and Development Block Grant 4 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) on the 5 date the State submits an application for funds 6 under this section, and remains in compliance 7 with any licensing or registration standards, or 8 regulations, of the State, shall be deemed to be 9 an eligible child care provider under this section 10 for 3.5 years after the State first receives fund- 11 ing under this section. 12 (6) FMAP.—The term ‘‘FMAP’’ has the mean- 13 ing given the term ‘‘Federal medical assistance per- 14 centage’’ in the first sentence of section 1905(b) of 15 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(b)). 16 (7) FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The term 17 ‘‘family child care provider’’ means one or more indi- 18 viduals who provide child care services, in a private 19 residence other than the residences of the children 20 involved, for less than 24 hours per day per child, 21 or for 24 hours per day per child due to the nature 22 of the work of the parent involved. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2976 IH (8) INCLUSIVE CARE.—The term ‘‘inclusive’’, 1 with respect to care (including child care), means 2 care provided by an eligible child care provider— 3 (A) for whom the percentage of children 4 served by the provider who are children with 5 disabilities or infants or toddlers with disabil- 6 ities reflects the prevalence of children with dis- 7 abilities and infants and toddlers with disabil- 8 ities (whichever the provider serves) among chil- 9 dren within the State involved; and 10 (B) that provides care and full participa- 11 tion for children with disabilities and infants 12 and toddlers with disabilities (whichever the 13 provider serves) alongside children who are— 14 (i) not children with disabilities; and 15 (ii) not infants and toddlers with dis- 16 abilities. 17 (9) INFANT OR TODDLER.—The term ‘‘infant 18 or toddler’’ means an individual who is less than 3 19 years of age. 20 (10) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DIS- 21 ABILITY.—The term ‘‘infant or toddler with a dis- 22 ability’’ has the meaning given the term in section 23 632 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 24 Act (20 U.S.C. 1432). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2976 IH (11) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 1 means the agency designated under subsection (e). 2 (12) PROVIDER TYPE.—The term ‘‘provider 3 type’’ means a type that is— 4 (A) a center-based child care provider; 5 (B) a family child care provider; or 6 (C) another non-center-based child care 7 provider. 8 (13) STAFFED FAMILY CHILD CARE NET- 9 WORK.—The term ‘‘staffed family child care net- 10 work’’ means a nonprofit organization— 11 (A) that may be a component of a child 12 care resource and referral organization; 13 (B) that has at least one paid staff mem- 14 ber; and 15 (C) that offers evidence-based professional 16 development, quality improvement support, 17 business support, and technical assistance, in- 18 cluding on achieving licensure as a child care 19 provider, to family child care providers. 20 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 21 the 50 States and the District of Columbia. 22 (15) TERRITORY.—The term ‘‘territory’’ means 23 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is- 24 lands of the United States, Guam, American Samoa, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2976 IH and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 1 lands. 2 (c) APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 (1) ENTITLEMENT.—In addition to amounts 4 otherwise available, there is appropriated to the De- 5 partment of Health and Human Services, out of any 6 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 7 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 8 years 2024 through 2029, for payments to States, 9 territories, and Indian Tribes and Tribal organiza- 10 tions, and for carrying out this section (other than 11 carrying out activities described in paragraph (2) or 12 (3)). 13 (2) GRANTS TO LOCALITIES; AWARDS TO HEAD 14 START AGENCIES.—In addition to amounts otherwise 15 available, there is appropriated to the Department of 16 Health and Human Services for fiscal year 2024, 17 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise ap- 18 propriated, $20,000,000,000, to remain available 19 until September 30, 2029, to carry out the programs 20 of grants to localities and awards to Head Start 21 agencies described in subsection (i). 22 (3) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.—In addition to 23 amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to 24 the Department of Health and Human Services for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2976.IH H2976 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2976 IH fiscal year 2024, out of any money in the Treasury 1 not otherwise appropriated, $1,300,000,000, to re- 2 main available until September 30, 2029, to carry 3 out subsections (k) and (l). 4 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF BIRTH THROUGH FIVE 5 CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING ENTITLEMENT PRO- 6 GRAM.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 8 to administer a child care and early learning entitle- 9 ment program under which an eligible child, in a 10 State, territory, or Indian Tribe, or served by a 11 Tribal organization with an approved application 12 under subsection (f) or (g), shall be provided an op- 13 portunity to obtain high-quality child care services, 14 subject to the requirements of this section. 15 (2) ASSISTANCE FOR EVERY ELIGIBLE 16 CHILD.—Beginning on October 1, 2024, every child 17 who applies for assistance under this section, who is 18 in a State with an approved application under sub- 19 section (f), or in a territory or Indian Tribe or 20 served by a Tribal organization with an approved 21 application under subsection (g), and who is deter- 22 mined, by a lead agency (or other entity designated 23 by a lead agency) for the State, territory, Indian [Text truncated for display. 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