I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8409 

To assist parents in locating and utilizing child care that meets individual 

family needs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2024 

Mr. NICKEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To assist parents in locating and utilizing child care that 

meets individual family needs. 

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 ‘‘Helping Our Parents 

5 Enroll (HOPE) in Child Care Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CHILD CARE NAVIGATOR GRANTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XX of the Social Security 

8 Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8409 IH

1 ‘‘Subtitle D—National Child Care 

2 Navigator Grant Program 

3 ‘‘SEC. 2071. GRANTS. 

4 ‘‘The Secretary may make grants to eligible local 

5 partners for the purpose of providing free access to infor6 mation, counseling, and assistance with respect to locat7 ing, enrolling in, and paying for child care, including 

8 through programs funded under section 418 of this Act 

9 or the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990, 

10 and through the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code 

11 of 1986 under which child care expenditures may be sub12 sidized. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 2072. GRANT APPLICATION AND PLAN REQUIRE14 MENTS. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant under 

16 this subtitle, an eligible local partner shall submit an ap17 plication to the Secretary, at such time and in such man18 ner as the Secretary may provide, that includes a plan 

19 to establish a program to provide free access to the infor20 mation, counseling, and assistance referred to in section 

21 2071. As a condition of the grant, the eligible local partner 

22 must demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Secretary— 

23 ‘‘(1) an ability to adequately provide the infor24 mation, counseling, and assistance; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8409 IH

1 ‘‘(2) commitment to operating a program that 

2 satisfies the requirements of subsection (d). 

3 ‘‘(b) DURATION.—Each grant under this subtitle 

4 shall be awarded for a period of 5 years, except that the 

5 grantee may reapply for another 5-year period at the end 

6 of each grant period, and the Secretary may terminate 

7 such a grant for noncompliance with data reporting re8 quirements or failure to provide promised services or com9 ply with any grant condition. 

10 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall determine the 

11 amount of any grant under this subtitle so as to maximize 

12 the number of parents with access to navigators referred 

13 to in subsection (d)(1). 

14 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—A program satis15 fies the requirements of this subsection if the program— 

16 ‘‘(1) establishes a system of staff members, in17 cluding navigators, to provide information on— 

18 ‘‘(A) navigating child care systems, includ19 ing information on— 

20 ‘‘(i) applying for subsidized child care; 

21 ‘‘(ii) consumer education and informa22 tion about types of child care settings; 

23 ‘‘(iii) navigating the child care re24 source and referral system funded under 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8409 IH

1 the Child Care and Development Block 

2 Grant Act of 1990; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) center-based and home based 

4 child care; 

5 ‘‘(B) accessing such systems in languages 

6 other than English and protections against non7 discrimination on the basis of limited English 

8 proficiency under title VI of the Civil Rights 

9 Act, accommodations and protections against 

10 non-discrimination under the Americans with 

11 Disabilities Act and section 504 of the Rehabili12 tation Act of 1973, and protections against 

13 non-discrimination under other Federal civil 

14 rights laws in child care settings; and 

15 ‘‘(C) any other information specified by the 

16 Secretary; 

17 ‘‘(2) in conjunction with the system established 

18 under paragraph (1), establishes a system of referral 

19 to appropriate departments or agencies within the 

20 State in which the eligible local partner is located 

21 and, when appropriate, the Federal Government, for 

22 other issues related to obtaining assistance (includ23 ing legal aid), as determined by the Secretary; and 

24 ‘‘(3) establishes a community-based system of 

25 education and outreach to raise public awareness of 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8409 IH

1 and increase access to the resources described in sec2 tion 2071 and the availability of information, coun3 seling, and assistance provided by the system of 

4 staff members described in paragraph (1) and the 

5 system of referrals described in paragraph (2), in6 cluding by— 

7 ‘‘(A) engaging in a robust program of cul8 turally and linguistically competent education 

9 and outreach; 

10 ‘‘(B) creating visual and written content 

11 using clear and plain language; 

12 ‘‘(C) tailoring materials to members of un13 derserved areas or populations; 

14 ‘‘(D) working with employers and child 

15 care providers to promote the awareness and 

16 distribution of information to employees and 

17 parents in the community; and 

18 ‘‘(E) partnering with governmental and 

19 non-governmental organizations serving working 

20 parents or child care providers; 

21 ‘‘(4) provides for a sufficient number of staff 

22 positions (which may include but may not consist en23 tirely of volunteer positions) necessary to provide the 

24 services of the program; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8409 IH

1 ‘‘(5) provides for training programs for staff 

2 members (including volunteer staff members) and al3 lows for continuous improvement processes for com4 munity-based strategies to ensure maximum out5 reach and engagement with underserved areas or 

6 populations; 

7 ‘‘(6) provides for the collection and dissemina8 tion of timely, impartial, and accurate programmatic 

9 information to staff members (including volunteer 

10 staff members); 

11 ‘‘(7) maintains confidentiality of all personal in12 formation provided to navigators or program staff 

13 (including volunteer staff), including by following 

14 procedures set by the Secretary for destroying per15 sonally identifiable information and preventing it 

16 from being shared with any other government entity; 

17 ‘‘(8) collects non-personally identifiable data to 

18 measure equitable access to the program, as de19 scribed in section 2073(2); and 

20 ‘‘(9) provides data to the Secretary, upon re21 quest, regarding how individuals are being served by 

22 the program, including— 

23 ‘‘(A) data and details on the number of in24 dividuals served, as well as the type and num25 ber of services such individuals are receiving; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 8409 IH

1 ‘‘(B) data and details on the problems that 

2 individuals may encounter, including a lack of 

3 timely payment of benefits or child care avail4 ability; and 

5 ‘‘(C) data and details on improvements 

6 that could be made at the State or Federal level 

7 to promote equitable access to child care. 

8 ‘‘(e) GUARANTEED NUMBER OF GRANTEES PER

9 STATE.—For each grant cycle, the Secretary shall award 

10 a grant under this subtitle to at least 2 eligible local part11 ners in each State that is not Puerto Rico, Guam, the Vir12 gin Islands, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana 

13 Islands, to the extent there are a sufficient number of ap14 plications submitted by the entities that meet the require15 ments applicable with respect to the grant. 

16 ‘‘(f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Funds awarded to 

17 a State or county under this subtitle shall be used to sup18 plement, not supplant, State and Federal funds, and may 

19 not be used to replace any personnel selected on a merit 

20 basis. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 2073. CRITERIA FOR MAKING GRANTS. 

22 ‘‘In determining whether to make a grant under this 

23 subtitle to an eligible local partner, the Secretary shall 

24 consider the commitment of the eligible local partner to— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 8409 IH

1 ‘‘(1) carrying out the program described in sec2 tion 2072; and 

3 ‘‘(2) promoting equitable access to the program 

4 in the State in which the eligible local partner is lo5 cated, including as the equitable access pertains to— 

6 ‘‘(A) race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual 

7 orientation, disability, economic status, religion, 

8 citizenship, or age; 

9 ‘‘(B) geographic area; and 

10 ‘‘(C) other factors as determined by the 

11 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

12 the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 2074. LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO14 PRIATIONS. 

15 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—For grants under this subtitle, there 

16 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more 

17 than $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 

18 2029. 

19 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.—For the provision 

20 of administrative support and technical assistance for 

21 grants awarded under this subtitle, there is authorized to 

22 be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2025 through 

23 2029 $5,000,000 to the Secretary of Health and Human 

24 Services. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 8409 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 2075. DEFINITIONS. 

2 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

3 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE LOCAL PARTNER.—The term ‘el4 igible local partner’ means a State, county, Indian 

5 tribe, tribal organization, or non-profit organization 

6 (including a labor organization) with a presence 

7 within a State, a history of knowledge of the re8 sources described in section 2071, and a dem9 onstrated commitment to helping workers and fami10 lies. 

11 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

12 The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ 

13 have the meanings give the terms in section 4 of the 

14 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

15 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

16 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 50 

17 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 

18 Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the 

19 Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 2024. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS