II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 976 

To establish and expand child care programs for parents who work 

nontraditional hours, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2023 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish and expand child care programs for parents 

who work nontraditional hours, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘After Hours Child 

5 Care Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION 

7 FUND. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Child Care and Develop9 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) 

10 is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 658P as section 

2 658T, and moving that section 658T to follow sec3 tion 658S; and 

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

5 ‘‘SEC. 658U. CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION 

6 FUND. 

7 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to— 

8 ‘‘(1) improve child care access for parents 

9 working hours outside of traditional 9 to 5 work 

10 hours, such as parents working an evening, night, or 

11 weekend shift; and 

12 ‘‘(2) address the needs of working parents with 

13 young children, so that the parents are able to stay 

14 attached to the workforce, attain eligibility for pro15 motions and salary increases, and amass savings. 

16 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) CHILD CARE PROGRAM.—The term ‘child 

18 care program’ means the child care activities of an 

19 eligible child care provider. 

20 ‘‘(2) NONTRADITIONAL WORK HOURS.—The 

21 term ‘nontraditional work hours’ means work hours 

22 at least 25 percent of which— 

23 ‘‘(A) are before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on 

24 a weekday; 

25 ‘‘(B) are on a Saturday or Sunday; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) are scheduled within 7 days before re2 quired attendance at work for those work 

3 hours. 

4 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

5 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

6 ‘‘(4) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; LOCAL

7 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘State edu8 cational agency’ and ‘local educational agency’ have 

9 the meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the 

10 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

11 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.). 

12 ‘‘(c) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—Not later than 90 days after 

14 the date of enactment of the After Hours Child Care 

15 Act, the Secretary shall establish a pilot program, 

16 through which the Secretary shall award grants on 

17 a competitive basis to eligible entities to pay for the 

18 Federal share of the cost of— 

19 ‘‘(A) expanding capacity for an existing (as 

20 of January 1, 2024) child care program, includ21 ing such a program of a family child care pro22 vider to serve families in which a parent is 

23 working nontraditional work hours; 

24 ‘‘(B) entering into an enrollment-based 

25 contract with— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an eligible child care provider to 

2 serve such families; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) a fiscal intermediary such as a 

4 staffed network of family child care pro5 viders, child care resource and referral or6 ganization, or entity operating a child care 

7 facilities fund for the services of multiple 

8 eligible child care providers to serve such 

9 families; 

10 ‘‘(C) planning activities, including con11 ducting a needs assessment and outreach to ex12 isting eligible child care providers (existing on 

13 the date of the outreach); 

14 ‘‘(D) establishing an onsite child care pro15 gram at a workplace to serve such families; 

16 ‘‘(E) expanding capacity for an onsite child 

17 care program at a workplace to serve such fam18 ilies; or 

19 ‘‘(F) establishing a child care program, in20 cluding a program of a family child care pro21 vider with the primary goal of serving such 

22 families. 

23 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award 

24 the grant for a period of 5 years. A grant awarded 

25 under this section may not be renewed. 


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1 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall award the 

2 grant in an amount of not less than $25,000 and 

3 not more than $500,000. 

4 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive 

5 a grant under this section, an entity shall be— 

6 ‘‘(1) an eligible child care provider; or 

7 ‘‘(2) a partnership of— 

8 ‘‘(A) an eligible child care provider; and 

9 ‘‘(B) a lead agency, business, child care re10 source and referral organization, community de11 velopment financial institution, staffed network 

12 of family child care providers, another inter13 mediary with experience supporting child care 

14 providers, or another appropriate entity. 

15 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

16 under this section, an entity shall submit an application 

17 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con18 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

19 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a grant 

20 under this section may use the grant funds for activities 

21 that may include— 

22 ‘‘(1) staffing the child care program involved; 

23 ‘‘(2) improving the child care facility and re24 lated equipment; 


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1 ‘‘(3) establishing or improving the curriculum 

2 of the child care program; 

3 ‘‘(4) assisting eligible child care providers in 

4 meeting health and safety requirements, achieving li5 censure or registration as a child care provider, or 

6 improving quality; 

7 ‘‘(5) acquiring other items needed for the child 

8 care program; and 

9 ‘‘(6) providing training in the prevention of 

10 sudden infant death syndrome and safe sleep prac11 tices. 

12 ‘‘(g) MATCH.—The non-Federal share of the cost de13 scribed in subsection (c)(1) shall be 25 percent. 

14 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not less often than every 2 years, the 

15 Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress a report 

16 that includes information on the number of children served 

17 under this section, the employment status of their parents, 

18 general information to demonstrate the impact of activities 

19 carried out under grants under this section on child care 

20 availability, and other information relevant to the grants 

21 made under this section. 

22 ‘‘(i) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 None of the requirements of this subchapter, other than 

24 section 658T, shall apply to this section. No reference in 


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1 this subchapter to ‘this subchapter’ shall be considered to 

2 include this section. 

3 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap4 propriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for the 

5 period of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

7 (1) APPLICATION PROVISIONS.—Section 

8 658E(c)(2) of the Child Care and Development 

9 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(II), by striking 

12 ‘‘658P(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘658T(2)’’; and 

13 (B) in subparagraph (K)(i)(IV), by strik14 ing ‘‘658P(6)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘658T(6)(B)’’. 

15 (2) REPORT PROVISIONS.—Section 658K(a)(2) 

16 of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

17 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i(a)(2)) is amended— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

19 ‘‘658P(6)’’ and inserting ‘‘658T(6)’’; and 

20 (B) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

21 ‘‘658P(6)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘658T(6)(B)’’. 

Æ 


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