II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1778 

To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to 

include the provision of diapers and diapering supplies among the activities for which funds may be employed to improve the quality of and 

access to child care. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2011 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

Act of 1990 to include the provision of diapers and 

diapering supplies among the activities for which funds 

may be employed to improve the quality of and access 

to child care. 

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 ‘‘Diaper Investment and 

5 Aid to Promote Economic Recovery Act’’ or the ‘‘DIAPER 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) access to a reliable supply of clean diapers 

4 is a medical necessity for the health and welfare of 

5 infants and toddlers, their families, and child and 

6 health care providers; 

7 (2) a supply of diapers is generally an eligibility 

8 requirement for infants and toddlers to participate 

9 in early childhood education programs; 

10 (3) providing a sufficient supply of diapers can 

11 cause economic hardship to needy families; 

12 (4) absent access to child care, parents and 

13 guardians of infants and toddlers cannot participate 

14 in the workforce, and that lack of access causes eco15 nomic harm to many families; 

16 (5) providing diapering systems to needy in17 fants and toddlers through child care programs fur18 thers the national goals of improved health and sani19 tation for families and for staff in early childhood 

20 education and child care programs; and 

21 (6) making available clean diapers to needy in22 fants and toddlers who would otherwise be prevented 

23 from participating in child care programs furthers 

24 the national goal of safe and quality child care, and 

25 therefore enables better implementation of the Child 

26 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROVISION OF DIAPERS AS CHILD CARE ASSIST2 ANCE. 

3 The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

4 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) in section 658E(c)(3)(C) (42 U.S.C. 

6 9858c(c)(3)(C)) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘Provision of diapers and diapering supplies for use 

8 by eligible children within the State who receive or 

9 are offered child care services for which financial as10 sistance is provided under this subchapter shall be 

11 considered a direct service and shall not be included 

12 in administrative costs.’’; 

13 (2) in section 658G (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Those 

15 improvement activities include the provision of dia16 pers and diapering supplies to child care providers 

17 that receive funding under this subchapter, suffi18 cient for the population of untrained children, each 

19 of whom is under the age of 3 and has a parent who 

20 receives or is offered financial assistance under this 

21 subchapter for the child involved.’’; and 

22 (3) in section 658P by inserting after para23 graph (2) the following: 

24 ‘‘(3) DIAPER-RELATED TERMS.— 

25 ‘‘(A) DIAPER.—The term ‘diaper’— 


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1 ‘‘(i) means an absorbent garment 

2 worn by infants and toddlers who are not 

3 toilet-trained or individuals who are in4 capable of controlling their bladder or 

5 bowel movements; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) refers to— 

7 ‘‘(I) a disposable diaper (as de8 fined in clause (i)); and 

9 ‘‘(II) a washable cloth diaper (as 

10 so defined) and the requisite diaper 

11 laundering and delivery services nec12 essary to provide a sufficient number 

13 of such diapers for the corresponding 

14 number of untrained children in the 

15 eligible population. 

16 ‘‘(B) DIAPERING SUPPLIES.—The term 

17 ‘diapering supplies’ means items, including dia18 per wipes, and diaper cream, necessary for safe 

19 diapering. 

20 ‘‘(C) UNTRAINED CHILD.—The term ‘un21 trained child’ means an infant, toddler, or indi22 vidual described in subparagraph (A)(i).’’. 

Æ 


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