A bill to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to ensure access to high-quality child care for homeless children and families, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Access to Child Care for 
Homeless Families Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Child and youth homelessness has increased by 38 
        percent during the period since 2006, and Head Start programs 
        have registered a 44 percent increase in the number of homeless 
        children served over that same period.
            (2) Among homeless children living in shelters supported by 
        the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 50 percent are 
        under 5 years old.
            (3) A 2010 study by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National 
        Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that 
        children who had received high-quality care in the first few 
        years of life scored higher on measures of academic and 
        cognitive achievement when the children were 19 years old, and 
        were less likely to misbehave, than children who had been 
        enrolled in low-quality care in those years.
            (4) Homelessness has a negative impact on child development 
        that surpasses the harmful impacts of poverty. A Head Start 
        demonstration project serving homeless families indicated that 
        the homeless children served had more instances of 
        developmental delay, learning disabilities, and physical or 
        mental health problems, compared with their low-income peers in 
        stable housing.
            (5) For homeless families, residential instability, high 
        mobility, documentation requirements, and lack of 
        transportation are significant obstacles to accessing and 
        retaining child care services.
            (6) According to a study by the Institute for Children, 
        Poverty, and Homelessness, homeless families are less likely to 
        receive government financial assistance for child care than 
        families that are not homeless.
            (7) Without child care, homeless parents of young children 
        struggle to search for employment, maintain employment, and 
        enter job training programs.
            (8) Many parents who are domestic violence survivors who 
        flee their homes try to find employment, but the parents are 
        often limited by a lack of child care. In a survey of nearly 
        1,500 domestic violence survivors in domestic violence 
        shelters, 29 percent indicated that they needed help with child 
        care.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1)(A) Congress has enacted successful policies to increase 
        homeless children's access to and stability in public 
        elementary and secondary schools and Head Start programs; and
            (B) in order to increase homeless families' access to and 
        continuity in child care, similar policies should be applied to 
        Federal child care programs; and
            (2) such policies will assist homeless parents in 
        maintaining employment and regaining housing, and will provide 
        critical interventions to support that vulnerable population of 
        children.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to ensure access to high-quality child 
care for homeless children and families.

SEC. 4. CHILD CARE FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN.

    (a) Lead Agency Duties.--Section 658D(b)(1)(D) of the Child Care 
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b(b)(1)(D)) is 
amended by striking ``Federal, State and local child care and early 
childhood development programs.'' and inserting ``Federal, State, and 
local child care, early childhood development, and social service 
programs that shall include--
            ``(1) Head Start and Early Head Start programs under the 
        Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.);
            ``(2) programs, and services of partners, that serve 
        vulnerable populations, including programs serving homeless 
        children and services of local educational agency liaisons for 
        homeless children and youths designated under subsection 
        (g)(1)(J)(ii) of section 722 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432); and
            ``(3) programs, and services of entities receiving grants, 
        to provide to homeless veterans services authorized under 
        chapter 20 of title 38, United States Code, consisting of 
        housing, employment-related services (such as services under 
        section 2021 or 2021A of such title), or supportive services 
        (such as services authorized under section 2044 of such 
        title).''.
    (b) Plan Requirements.--Section 658E(c) of the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``, Head 
                Start and Early Head Start agencies under the Head 
                Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), State Coordinators 
                designated under subsection (d)(3), and local 
                educational agency liaisons for homeless children and 
                youths designated under subsection (g)(1)(J)(ii), of 
                section 722 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 
                Act (42 U.S.C. 11432), local educational agencies and 
                providers of early intervention services under the 
                Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
                1400 et seq.),'' after ``children'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (F)(i), by striking the 
                semicolon and inserting ``and the establishment of a 
                grace period that allows homeless children to receive 
                services under this subchapter while their families are 
                taking any necessary action to comply with immunization 
                and other health and safety requirements;''; and
                    (C) in subparagraph (H)--
                            (i) by striking ``and families'' and 
                        inserting ``families''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``, and families of 
                        homeless children'' before the period;
            (2) in paragraph (3)(B)--
                    (A) by inserting ``activities that improve access 
                to such services (including transportation to child 
                care services, procedures to permit immediate 
                enrollment of homeless children while required 
                documentation is obtained, training and technical 
                assistance on identifying and serving homeless children 
                and their families, and specific outreach to families 
                described in paragraph (2)(H)),'' after ``availability 
                of such services,''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, to homeless children,'' after 
                ``family size)''; and
            (3) in paragraph (5), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``Each sliding fee scale shall be applied using measures to 
        ensure that cost sharing is not a barrier to the enrollment of 
        families of homeless children.''.
    (c) Access and Outreach to Families of Homeless Children.--Section 
658G of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 9858e) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(such as resource and referral 
        services)'' after ``and activities''; and
            (2) by striking ``(such as resource and referral 
        services).'' and inserting ``, including developing strategies 
        and partnerships to provide transportation to child care 
        services and specific outreach to families described in section 
        658E(c)(2)(H)).'' after ``availability of child care''.
    (d) Reports.--Section 658K(a)(1)(B) of the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i(a)(1)(B)) is 
amended--
            (1) in clause (ix), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (x), by adding ``and'' at the end; and
            (3) by inserting after clause (x) the following:
                            ``(xi) whether the children receiving 
                        assistance under this subchapter are homeless 
                        children;''.

SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) Redesignation.--Section 658L of the Child Care and Development 
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858j) is amended--
            (1) by striking the section heading;
            (2) by inserting ``(c) Report by Secretary.--'' before 
        ``Not later'';
            (3) by striking ``section 658K'' and inserting ``this 
        section''; and
            (4) by moving subsection (c) (as redesignated by paragraph 
        (2)) to the end of section 658K.
    (b) Establishment of Program.--The Child Care and Development Block 
Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 658K (42 U.S.C. 9858i), as amended by subsection (a), the 
following:

``SEC. 658L. PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a pilot program to 
identify and implement best practices for increasing access to and 
continuity of child care for homeless children.
    ``(b) Grants.--In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary 
shall award to States not more than 5 grants of not more than 
$5,000,000 per grant. Each grant shall be for a period of not more than 
3 years, beginning not later than March 31, 2013.
    ``(c) Application.--In order to be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, a State shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information 
as the Secretary shall require.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--A State that receives a grant under this 
section shall use the funds made available under the grant--
            ``(1) to establish a pilot project for--
                    ``(A) implementing promising practices for 
                increasing access to and continuity of child care for 
                homeless children; and
                    ``(B) identifying the best practices; and
            ``(2) to carry out subsection (e)(1).
    ``(e) Assessments and Reports.--
            ``(1) State responsibilities.--
                    ``(A) Assessment.--A State that receives a grant 
                under this section shall carry out data collection for 
                and an assessment of its pilot project described in 
                subsection (d)(1).
                    ``(B) Report to the secretary.--Not later than 42 
                months after the first day of the grant period for a 
                pilot project described in subsection (d)(1), the State 
                carrying out the pilot project shall submit to the 
                Secretary a report containing a summary of the results 
                of the assessment described in subparagraph (A), 
                including a description of the best practices 
                identified.
            ``(2) Secretarial responsibilities.--Not later than 4 years 
        after the first day of the latest grant period for a pilot 
        project, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
        containing a summary of the reports received under paragraph 
        (1) and a recommendation concerning whether and how to expand 
        the pilot projects carried out with best practices.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary 
for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2015, which shall remain 
available through fiscal year 2017.''.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 658P of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 
1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4)(C)--
                    (A) in clause (i), by striking ``or'' at the end;
                    (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) is a homeless child.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) Homeless child.--The term `homeless child' means a 
        homeless child or youth, as defined under section 725 of the 
        McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a).''.

Summary: Improving Access to Child Care for Homeless Families Act of 2012 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) Congress has enacted successful policies to increase homeless children's access to and stability in public elementary and secondary schools and Head Start Programs. (2) in order to increase homeless families' access to and continuity in care, similar policies should be applied to federal child care programs. And (3) such policies will assist homeless parents in maintaining employment and regaining housing, and will provide critical interventions to support that vulnerable population of children. Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require the lead agency to coordinate the provision of services under such Act with social services programs that include: (1) Head Start and Early Head Start programs under the Head Start Act, (2) programs and services of partners that serve vulnerable populations. And (3) programs and services of entities receiving grants to provide homeless veterans with housing, employment-related services, or supportive services. Revises state plan requirements to require consideration of homeless children in the use of funds for child care services and activities. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to carry out a pilot program of grants to states to identify and implement best practices for increasing access to and continuity of child care for homeless children.