Working Families Child Care Act of 1997

Summary: Working Families Child Care Act of 1997 - Amends the Child Care Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to authorize appropriations for grants to States for child care for:  (1) low-income working families; and (2) areas with child care shortages. 
Requires States to use certain of such funds to provide child care services for:  (1) families who have left the State program of assistance under title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)) of the Social Security Act because of employment; (2) families that are at risk of becoming dependent on such assistance program; and (3) low-income working families meeting specified criteria. 
Requires States to use certain of such funds for child care activities in areas of the State that have child care supply shortages. Includes among such child care activities programs for: (1) infant care; (2) before- and after-school; (3) resources and referrals; (4) nontraditional work hours; (5) extending the hours of pre-kindergarten programs to provide full-day services; and (6) any other program the Secretary deems appropriate. 
Requires State reports to include information on access to child care by low-income working families.  Requires reports of the Secretary to place particular emphasis on such access.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Working Families 
Child Care Act of 1997''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Authorization of appropriations for child care for low-income 
                            working families and for child care supply 
                            shortages.
Sec. 4. Expenditures for child care service for low-income working 
                            families and for child care supply 
                            shortages.
Sec. 5. Report on access to child care by low-income working families.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Availability and affordability of quality child care is 
        a major obstacle for working parents who struggle to remain 
        self-sufficient.
                    (A) Compared to all other income groups, the 
                working poor are the least likely to receive assistance 
                with their child care costs.
                    (B) Low-income families spend 24 percent of their 
                household income on child care, whereas middle-income 
                families spend 6 percent of their household income on 
                child care.
                    (C) 38 States have waiting lists for child care for 
                the working poor. Among those States, Georgia has 
                41,000 individuals on its waiting list, Texas has 
                36,000 individuals on its waiting list, and Illinois 
                and Alabama each have 20,000 individuals on their 
                waiting lists.
                    (D) One survey of low-income families on a waiting 
                list for subsidized child care found that of those 
                families paying for child care out of their own funds, 
                71 percent faced serious debt or bankruptcy.
                    (E) Half of the States and the District of 
                Columbia, even before the enactment of the Personal 
                Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 
                of 1996 (Public Law 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105) during the 
                104th Congress, increased the proportion of child care 
                slots or dollars going to families on welfare, rather 
                than to working poor families.
            (2) The Congressional Budget Office estimates that there 
        will be $1,400,000,000 less expenditures of child care funds 
        for working poor families as a result of the States 
        implementing the work requirements imposed under the Personal 
        Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 
        (Public Law 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105).
            (3) Important types of child care are not available in 
        certain States including infant care, school-age care, care for 
        children with disabilities and special health care needs, and 
        child care for parents with unconventional or shifting work 
        hours.
                    (A) A 1995 State study by the Comptroller General 
                of the United States found a shortage of child care for 
                infants and children with special needs in inner 
                cities, and a shortage of all types of child care in 
                rural areas.
                    (B) Only one-third of the schools in low-income 
                neighborhoods offer school-age child care, compared 
                with 52 percent of schools in more affluent areas 
                offering such care.
                    (C) Eighth-graders who are left home alone for 11 
                or more hours a week report significantly greater use 
                of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana than eighth-
                graders who are not left home alone.
                    (D) Existing child care arrangements do not 
                accommodate the work schedules of many working women. 
                According to a 1995 statistic published by the 
                Department of Labor, 14,300,000 workers, nearly 1 in 5 
                full-time workers work nonstandard hours, and more than 
                1 in 3 of those workers are women.
                    (E) Only 10 percent of child care centers and 6 
                percent of family day care providers offer child care 
                on weekends. Yet one-third of working mothers with 
                annual incomes below the poverty level and one-quarter 
                of mothers with annual incomes above the poverty level 
                but below $25,000 work on weekends.
                    (F) Less than 30 percent of Head Start programs 
                operate on a full-time, full-year basis.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR CHILD CARE FOR LOW-INCOME 
              WORKING FAMILIES AND FOR CHILD CARE SUPPLY SHORTAGES.

    Section 658B of the Child Care Development Block Grant Act of 1990 
(42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(excluding subparagraphs (E) and (F) of 
        section 658E(c)(3))'' after ``subchapter'',
            (2) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``There'', and
            (3) and by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) There is authorized to be appropriated to provide child care 
services under this chapter to satisfy the requirement specified in 
section 658E(c)(3)(E) $1,400,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1997 
through 2002.
    ``(c) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out child 
care activities under this chapter to satisfy the requirement specified 
in section 658E(c)(3)(F) $500,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1997 
through 2002.''.

SEC. 4. EXPENDITURES FOR CHILD SERVICES CARE FOR LOW-INCOME WORKING 
              FAMILIES AND FOR CHILD CARE SUPPLY SHORTAGES.

    (a) Required State Expenditures.--Section 658E(c)(3) of the Child 
Care Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(3)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) Child care for certain low-income working 
                families.--A State shall ensure that 100 percent of 
                amounts paid to the State out of funds appropriated 
                under section 658B(b) with respect to each of the 
                fiscal years 1997 through 2002 shall be used to provide 
                child care services for families who have left the 
                State program of assistance under part A of title IV of 
                the Social Security Act because of employment, families 
                that are at risk of becoming dependent on such 
                assistance program, and low-income working families 
                described in section subparagraph (D).
                    ``(F) Child care supply shortages.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A State shall ensure 
                        that 100 percent of amounts paid to the State 
                        out of funds appropriated under section 658B(c) 
                        with respect to each of the fiscal years 1997 
                        through 2002 shall be used to carry out child 
                        care activities described in clause (ii) in 
                        geographic areas within the State that have a 
                        shortage, as determined by the State, in 
                        consultation with localities, of child care 
                        services.
                            ``(ii) Child care activities described.--
                        The child care activities described in this 
                        clause include the following:
                                    ``(I) Infant care programs.
                                    ``(II) Before- and after-school 
                                child care programs.
                                    ``(III) Resource and referral 
                                programs.
                                    ``(IV) Nontraditional work hours 
                                child care programs.
                                    ``(V) Extending the hours of 
                                prekindergarten programs to provide 
                                full-day services.
                                    ``(VI) Any other child care 
                                programs that the Secretary determines 
                                are appropriate.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 658E(c)(3)(A) of the Child Care 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(3)(A)) is 
amended by striking ``(D)'' and inserting ``(F)''.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON ACCESS TO CHILD CARE BY LOW-INCOME WORKING FAMILIES.

    (a) State Reporting Requirement.--Section 658K(a)(2) of the Child 
Care Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i(a)(2)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``and'' at the end; 
        and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (E), the following:
                    ``(F) the total number of families described in 
                section 658B(b) that were eligible for but did not 
                receive assistance under this subchapter or under 
                section 418 of the Social Security Act and a 
                description of the obstacles to providing such 
                assistance; and
                    ``(G) the total number of families described in 
                section 658B(b) that received assistance provided under 
                this subchapter or under section 418 of the Social 
                Security Act and a description of the manner in which 
                that assistance was provided;''.
    (b) Secretarial Reporting Requirement.--Section 658L of the Child 
Care Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858j) is amended 
by inserting ``, with particular emphasis on access of low-income 
working families,'' after ``public''.