II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 472

To consolidate and expand Federal child care services to promote self

sufficiency and support working families, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 23 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1995

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To consolidate and expand Federal child care services to

promote self sufficiency and support working families,

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 ‘‘Child Care Consolida5 tion and Investment Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) fragmentation of the Federal Government’s

2 major child care assistance programs has left gaps

3 for many parents moving from welfare to work;

4 (2) child care problems have prevented 34 per5 cent of poor mothers between the ages 21 and 29

6 from working;

(3) 2 7 ⁄3 of all families receiving assistance under

8 the Aid to Families with Dependent Children pro9 gram have at least one preschool age child and need

10 child care in order to work;

11 (4) there already exists an unmet need for child

12 care assistance—37 States now have waiting lists

13 that can run as high as 35,000 individuals;

14 (5) child care directly affects an individual’s

15 ability to stay in the work force;

16 (6) welfare reform that places work at its cen17 ter will increase the demand for child care and re18 quire an additional investment of resources;

19 (7) child care consumes $260 per month or

20 about 27 percent of income for average working poor

21 families, leaving them with less income than families

22 eligible for assistance under the Aid to Families with

23 Dependent Children program;

24 (8) quality must be a central feature of the

25 child care policy of the United States;
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1 (9) only 1 in 7 day care centers offer good qual2 ity care;

3 (10) 40 percent of day care centers serving in4 fants and toddlers do not meet basic sanitary condi5 tions, have safety problems, and do not encourage

6 learning; and

7 (11) only 9 percent of family and relative day

8 care is considered good quality care.

9 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

10 It is the purpose of this Act to—

11 (1) eliminate program fragmentation and create

12 a seamless system of high quality child care that al13 lows for continuity of care for children as parents

14 move from welfare to job training to work;

15 (2) provide for parental choice among high

16 quality child care programs; and

17 (3) increase the availability of high quality af18 fordable child care in order to promote self suffi19 ciency and support working families.

20 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT

21 BLOCK GRANT ACT OF 1990.

22 (a) APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 658B of the Child

23 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42

24 U.S.C. 9858) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 658B. APPROPRIATION.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of providing

3 child care services for eligible children through the award4 ing of grants to States under this subchapter, the Sec5 retary of Health and Human Services shall pay, from

6 funds in Treasury not otherwise appropriated,

7 $2,302,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, $2,790,000,000 for

8 fiscal year 1997, $3,040,000,000 for fiscal year 1998,

9 $3,460,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, and $4,030,000,000

10 for fiscal year 2000.

11 ‘‘(b) ADJUSTMENTS.—If the amounts appropriated

12 under subsection (a) are not sufficient to provide services

13 to each child whose parent is required to undertake edu14 cation, job training, job search, or employment as a condi15 tion of eligibility for benefits under part A of title IV of

16 the Social Security Act, the Secretary shall pay, from

17 funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such

18 sums as may be necessary to ensure the implementation

19 of section 658E(c)(3)(E) with respect to each such child.’’.

20 (b) AWARDING OF GRANTS.—Section 658C of the

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

22 U.S.C. 9858a) is amended by striking ‘‘is authorized to’’

23 and inserting ‘‘shall’’.

24 (c) SUPPLEMENTATION.—Section 658E(c)(2)(J) of

25 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990
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1 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)(J)) is amended by inserting ‘‘in

2 fiscal year 1995’’ before the period.

3 (d) SET-ASIDES FOR QUALITY AND WORKING FAMI4 LIES, AND CHILD CARE GUARANTEE.—Section

5 658E(c)(3) of the Child Care and Development Block

6 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(3))—

7 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘25 per8 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘20 percent’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

10 new subparagraphs:

11 ‘‘(D) ASSISTANCE FOR LOW-INCOME

12 WORKING FAMILIES.—The State shall reserve

13 not less than 50 percent of the amount provided

14 to the State and available for providing services

15 under this subchapter, to carry out child care

16 activities to support low-income working fami17 lies residing in the State.

18 ‘‘(E) CHILD CARE GUARANTEE.—The

19 State plan shall provide assurances that the

20 availability of child care under the grant will be

21 coordinated in an appropriate manner (as de22 termined by the Secretary) with the require23 ments of part A of title IV of the Social Secu24 rity Act. Such coordination shall ensure that

25 the parent of a dependent child is not required
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1 to undertake an education, job training, job

2 search, or employment requirement unless child

3 care assistance in an appropriate child care pro4 gram is made available.’’.

5 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Section 658E(c) of

6 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990

7 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended by adding at the end

8 thereof the following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(6) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—With respect

10 to amounts made available to a State in each fiscal

11 year beginning with fiscal year 1996, that exceed the

12 aggregate amounts received by the State for child

13 care services in fiscal year 1995, the State plan shall

14 provide that, with respect to the costs to be incurred

15 by the State in carrying out the activities for which

16 a grant under this subchapter is awarded, the State

17 will make available (directly or through in-kind do18 nations from public or private entities) non-Federal

19 contributions in an amount equal to not less than $1

20 for every $4 of Federal funds provided under the

21 grant.’’.

22 (f) IMPROVING QUALITY.—

23 (1) INCREASE IN REQUIRED FUNDING.—Section

24 658G of the Child Care and Development Block

25 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended by
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1 striking ‘‘not less than 20 percent’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘50 percent’’.

3 (2) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INCENTIVE INITIA4 TIVE.—Section 658G of the Child Care and Develop5 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e)

6 is amended—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘A State’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State’’; and

9 (B) by adding at the end thereof the fol10 lowing new subsection:

11 ‘‘(b) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INCENTIVE INITIA12 TIVE.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab14 lish a child care quality improvement incentive ini15 tiative to make funds available to States that dem16 onstrate progress in the implementation of—

17 ‘‘(A) innovative teacher training programs

18 such as the Department of Defense staff devel19 opment and compensation program for child

20 care personnel; or

21 ‘‘(B) enhanced child care quality standards

22 and licensing and monitoring procedures.

23 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—From the amounts made

24 available for each fiscal year under subsection (a),

25 the Secretary shall reserve not to exceed
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1 $50,000,000 in each such fiscal year to carry out

2 this subsection.’’.

3 (g) BEFORE- AND AFTER-SCHOOL SERVICES.—Sec4 tion 658H(a) of the Child Care and Development Block

5 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858f(a)) is amended by

6 striking ‘‘not less than 75 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘50 per7 cent’’.

8 (h) PAYMENTS.—Section 658J(a) of the Child Care

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

10 9858h) is amended by striking ‘‘Subject to the availability

11 of appropriation, a’’ and inserting ‘‘A’’.

12 (i) ALLOTMENTS.—Section 658O(b) of the Child

13 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42

14 U.S.C. 9858m(b)) is amended by adding at the end there15 of the following new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(5) ALLOTMENT.—

17 ‘‘(A) BASE ALLOTMENT.—Effective begin18 ning with fiscal year 1996, the amount allotted

19 to a State under this section shall include the

20 base amount that the State received under this

21 Act, and under the provisions repealed under

22 section 5 of the Child Care Consolidation and

23 Investment Act of 1995, in fiscal year 1995.

24 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—Effective

25 beginning with fiscal year 1996, any amounts
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1 appropriated under section 658B for a fiscal

2 year and remaining after the requirement of

3 subparagraph (A) is complied with, shall be al4 lotted to States pursuant to the formula de5 scribed in paragraph (1).’’.

6 SEC. 5. PROGRAM REPEALS.

7 (a) AFDC JOBS AND TRANSITIONAL CHILD

8 CARE.—

9 (1) REPEAL.—Paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5),

10 (6), and (7) of section 402(g) of the Social Security

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 602(g)) are repealed.

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Part A of

13 title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601

14 et seq.) is amended—

15 (A) in section 402(a)(19) (42 U.S.C.

16 602(a)(19))—

17 (i) in subparagraph (B)(i)(I), by strik18 ing ‘‘section 402(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘the

19 Child Care Development Block Grant Act

20 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.)’’;

21 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii)(II), by

22 striking ‘‘section 402(g)’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘the Child Care Development Block Grant

24 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.)’’;
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1 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking

2 ‘‘section 402(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘the Child

3 Care Development Block Grant Act of

4 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.)’’; and

5 (iv) in subparagraph (F)(iv), by strik6 ing ‘‘section 402(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section

7 402(g)(2) and the Child Care Development

8 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858

9 et seq.)’’;

10 (B) in section 402(g)(2) (42 U.S.C.

11 602(g)(2)), by striking ‘‘(in addition to guaran12 teeing child care under paragraph (1))’’; and

13 (C) in section 403(l)(1)(A) (42 U.S.C.

14 603(l)(1)(A)), by striking ‘‘(including expendi15 tures for child care under section

16 402(g)(1)(A)(i), but only in the case of a State

17 with respect to which section 1108 applies)’’.

18 (b) AT-RISK CHILD CARE.—Sections 402(i) and

19 403(n) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602(i),

20 603(n)) are repealed.

21 (c) STATE DEPENDENT CARE GRANTS.—Subchapter

22 E of chapter 8 of subtitle A of title VI of the Omnibus

23 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9871 et

24 seq.) is repealed.
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1 (d) CHILD DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE SCHOLARSHIP

2 ASSISTANCE ACT.—The Child Development Associate

3 Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985 (42 U.S.C. 10901 et

4 seq.) is repealed.

5 (e) SECRETARIAL SUBMISSION OF LEGISLATIVE PRO6 POSAL FOR TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND7 MENTS.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services

8 shall, within 90 days after the date of the enactment of

9 this Act, submit to the appropriate committees of the Con10 gress, a legislative proposal providing for such technical

11 and conforming amendments in the law as are required

12 by the provisions of subsections (a) and (c).

Æ