IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7909 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

AN ACT 

To facilitate access to child care services safely and securely 

during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Children and 

3 Child Care Workers Are Safe Act of 2020’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Child care is an essential service that sup7 ports children’s early development and allows par8 ents to work. 

9 (2) At least 1 out of 2 child care providers 

10 closed at some point during the COVID–19 pan11 demic, and 2 out of 5 face the possibility of perma12 nent closure. 

13 (3) The lack of access to child care services can 

14 prevent parents from returning to work and can pre15 vent children from accessing critical services, includ16 ing meals. 

17 (4) Ensuring the safe re-opening and operation 

18 of child care service settings during periods of com19 munity transmission of COVID–19 will require child 

20 care providers to adopt new measures and practices 

21 in order to reduce the likelihood of COVID–19 

22 transmission. 

23 (5) Such measures and practices must ensure 

24 the safety of children as well as child care workers, 

25 who may be at high risk of infection. 


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1 (6) Ensuring that working families have access 

2 to safe child care service options is critical to sup3 porting young children’s development and to return4 ing the economy back to its pre-pandemic levels. 

5 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON THE SAFE PROVISION 

6 OF CHILD CARE SERVICES. 

7 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services (in this Act referred to as the Sec10 retary), in consultation with the Director of the Cen11 ters for Disease Control and Prevention, shall pro12 vide technical assistance to States, Indian Tribes, 

13 and tribal organizations related to the safe provision 

14 of child care services while there is community 

15 transmission of COVID–19. Such technical assist16 ance shall include information about— 

17 (A) the prevention of COVID–19 trans18 mission in child care provider settings, includ19 ing the use of face masks and other personal 

20 protective equipment in such settings; 

21 (B) training and professional development 

22 on health and safety practices related to the 

23 prevention of COVID–19 transmission in child 

24 care provider settings; 


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1 (C) the acquisition and use of personal 

2 protective equipment; and 

3 (D) modifications of child care provider 

4 settings and services to prevent COVID–19 

5 transmission, such as optimal staff-to-child ra6 tios across such settings and the use of mental 

7 health supports. 

8 (2) MATERIALS.—As part of such technical as9 sistance efforts, the Secretary shall— 

10 (A) publish educational materials related 

11 to the prevention of COVID–19 transmission in 

12 child care provider settings, including by post13 ing such materials on a website; 

14 (B) update any such materials as nec15 essary to reflect advancements in the science of 

16 COVID–19; and 

17 (C) provide a mechanism through which 

18 States may exchange best practices relating to 

19 the safe operation of child care providers. 

20 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO CHILD CARE PRO21 VIDERS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 

23 grants to lead agencies designated under section 

24 658D(a) of the Child Care and Development Block 

25 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b(a)) to provide 


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1 guidance, technical assistance, and support to child 

2 care providers, either directly or through resource 

3 and referral agencies or staffed family child care 

4 networks, regarding the safe operation of child care 

5 providers while there is community transmission of 

6 COVID–19. 

7 (2) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve 

8 2.75 percent of funds appropriated to carry out this 

9 section to make payments to Indian Tribes, Tribal 

10 organizations, or consortia of Indian Tribes and 

11 Tribal organizations. 

12 (3) ALLOTMENTS.—From amounts appro13 priated to carry out this section and not reserved 

14 under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall allot to 

15 Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the 

16 United States, and the Commonwealth of the North17 ern Mariana Islands and to the remaining States 

18 amounts in accordance with subsections (a)(1) and 

19 subsection (b) of section 658O of the Child Care and 

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

21 9858m), except that none of such remaining States 

22 shall receive an allotment of less than $10,000. 

23 (4) REQUIREMENTS.—Each lead agency that 

24 receives a grant under this section shall ensure 

25 that— 


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1 (A) guidance, technical assistance, and 

2 support are available to child care providers re3 gardless of such providers’ settings, sizes, or 

4 administrative capacities; and 

5 (B) guidance, technical assistance, and 

6 support are available in the languages most 

7 commonly spoken in the State, Indian Tribe, or 

8 Tribal organization. 

9 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 days 

10 after funds are appropriated to carry out this Act, the Sec11 retary shall provide to the Committee on Education and 

12 Labor of the House of Representatives and to the Com13 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

14 Senate a report that includes— 

15 (1) recommendations for how to ensure the safe 

16 provision of child care services while there is commu17 nity transmission of COVID–19, including rec18 ommendations that address each of the issues de19 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of sub20 section (a)(1); 

21 (2) recommendations for how to ensure the sup22 ply of child care services meets demand during peri23 ods when providers implement the recommendations 

24 described in paragraph (1), including whether it will 

25 be necessary to expand the number of child care proVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:42 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7909.RFS H7909

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1 viders to meet such demand and, if so, recommenda2 tions for how to expand the number of child care 

3 providers; and 

4 (3) the estimated cost of implementing the rec5 ommendations described in paragraphs (1) and (2). 

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

7 The terms ‘‘State’’, ‘‘Indian Tribe’’, and ‘‘Tribal or8 ganization’’ have the meanings given such terms in section 

9 658P of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

10 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 

11 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

13 this Act, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. Funds appro14 priated to carry out this Act shall remain available until 

15 expended. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 16, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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