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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 846

To establish a child care provider scholarship program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1999

Mr. WEYGAND (for himself, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. WATERS, Mr.

NEAL of Massachusetts, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce

A BILL

To establish a child care provider scholarship program.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Care Worker

5 Incentive Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CHILD CARE PROVIDER SCHOLARSHIP

7 PROGRAM.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Section 658G

9 of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of

10 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended—
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

2 ‘‘A State’’; and

3 (2) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(b) CHILD CARE PROVIDER SCHOLARSHIP PRO5 GRAM.—

6 ‘‘(1) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—In order to

7 be eligible for funds under section 658J(a)(2), a

8 State shall include in its plan under section 658E a

9 child care provider scholarship program plan, meet10 ing the requirements of this subsection, designed to

11 further the goals of child care provider recruitment,

12 training, credentialing, and retention.

13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SCHOLARSHIP

14 APPLICANTS.—The State plan shall provide that, in

15 order for an individual to be eligible for a scholar16 ship grant under this subsection, the following re17 quirements shall be met:

18 ‘‘(A) DEMONSTRATED COMMITMENT TO

19 CHILD CARE CAREER.—The individual—

20 ‘‘(i) shall be a child care worker who

21 is (or is employed by) a licensed or reg22 istered child care provider, or has a com23 mitment for employment from a licensed or

24 registered child care provider; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) shall agree in writing to continue

2 to be employed in the field of child care for

3 at least one year after receiving the train4 ing for which assistance is provided.

5 ‘‘(B) COST SHARING BY APPLICANT.—

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The individual (ei7 ther as provided in clause (ii) or otherwise)

8 shall provide for payment, in cash or in

9 kind, of a share of the cost of the edu10 cation or training.

11 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATION FOR PELL

12 GRANTS.—In the case of an application for

13 a scholarship intended for use in an edu14 cational institution participating in the

15 Pell Grant program under title IV of the

16 Higher Education Act, the individual shall

17 apply for a grant under such program for

18 which the individual is eligible.

19 ‘‘(C) EMPLOYER REQUIREMENTS.—In the

20 case of an individual employed by (or who has

21 a commitment for employment from) a licensed

22 or registered child care provider the individual’s

23 employer shall—

24 ‘‘(i) pay a share of the cost of the

25 education or training; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) agree to provide increased finan2 cial incentives to the individual, such as a

3 salary increase or bonus, when the individ4 ual completes the education or training.

5 ‘‘(3) QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL INSTITU6 TIONS.—The State plan shall specify the types of

7 educational and training programs for which schol8 arships granted under the State program may be

9 used, which shall be limited to (but may include any

10 or all) programs that—

11 ‘‘(A) are administered by institutions of

12 higher education that are eligible to participate

13 in student financial assistance programs under

14 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965;

15 and

16 ‘‘(B) lead to a State or national credential

17 in child care or early childhood or early child18 hood special education, or to an associate or

19 bachelor’s degree in child development or early

20 childhood education.

21 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL MAXIMUM SCHOLARSHIP GRANT

22 AMOUNT.—The maximum amount of a scholarship

23 awarded to an eligible individual under this section

24 may not exceed $1,500 per year.
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1 ‘‘(5) SUPPLEMENTATION OF OTHER FUND2 ING.—The State plan shall contain assurances that

3 Federal funds provided to the State under this sub4 section will not be used to supplant Federal or non5 Federal funds for existing services and activities

6 that promote the purposes of this subsection.’’.

7 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

8 658B of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act

9 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

11 ‘‘There’’; and

12 (2) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(b) CHILD CARE PROVIDER SCHOLARSHIP PRO14 GRAM.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry

15 out section 658G(b) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years

16 2000 through 2004.’’.

17 (c) ALLOTMENT.—Section 658O of the Child Care

18 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.

19 9858m) is amended—

20 (1) in subsection (a)—

21 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘this sub22 chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘each subsection of sec23 tion 658B’’; and

24 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘section

25 658B’’ and inserting ‘‘section 658B(a)’’;
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1 (2) in subsection (b)(1) in the matter preceding

2 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘each subsection of’’

3 before ‘‘section 658B’’; and

4 (3) in subsection (e)(1) by striking ‘‘the allot5 ment under subsection (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘an allot6 ment under subsection (b)’’.

7 (d) PAYMENTS.—Section 658J(a) of the Child Care

8 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.

9 9858h) is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Subject’’; and

11 (2) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(2) A State described in paragraph (1) whose plan

13 under section 658E provides for a child care scholarship

14 program under section 658G(b) shall be entitled to pay15 ment under this section in an amount equal to the lesser

16 of its allotment under section 658O or 80 percent of ex17 penditures by the State for such program.’’.

18 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 658K(a)(2) of the

19 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42

20 U.S.C. 9858i) is amended—

21 (1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘and’’ at

22 the end;

23 (2) in subparagraph (E) by adding ‘‘and’’ at

24 the end; and
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1 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘(F) the child care scholarship program,

4 including—

5 ‘‘(i) the number of child care workers

6 receiving scholarship grants;

7 ‘‘(ii) the amount of each scholarship

8 grant;

9 ‘‘(iii) the number of course credits or

10 credentials completed by individuals receiv11 ing scholarships;

12 ‘‘(iv) the number and percentage of

13 child care workers receiving scholarship

14 grants in the previous year who fulfilled

15 their 1-year commitment; and

16 ‘‘(v) such other data as the Secretary

17 may require.’’.

18 SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

19 The amendments made by this Act shall not apply

20 with respect to fiscal years beginning before the date of

21 the enactment of this Act.

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