II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2565 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to provide child care assistance to veterans receiving certain 

training or vocational rehabilitation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2018 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. NELSON) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide child care assistance 

to veterans receiving certain training or vocational rehabilitation, 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 ‘‘Veteran Employment 

5 and Child Care Access Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR VETERANS RECEIV2 ING CERTAIN TRAINING OR VOCATIONAL RE3 HABILITATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 31 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 3123. Child care assistance for veterans receiving 

8 training or vocational rehabilitation 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Except as provided in para10 graph (2), the Secretary shall provide child care assistance 

11 to an eligible veteran for any period that the veteran— 

12 ‘‘(A) receives any training or vocational reha13 bilitation under this chapter, chapter 41, or section 

14 1718, 2021, or 2021A of this title; and 

15 ‘‘(B) is required to travel to and return from a 

16 facility for the receipt of such training or vocational 

17 rehabilitation. 

18 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 

19 Secretary may only provide child care assistance under 

20 paragraph (1)— 

21 ‘‘(i) once for a child; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) for a period shorter than six months. 

23 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may waive the limitations of sub24 paragraph (A) as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

25 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—For purposes of this 

26 section, an eligible veteran is any veteran— 


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1 ‘‘(1) who— 

2 ‘‘(A) is the primary caretaker of a child or 

3 children; and 

4 ‘‘(B) is— 

5 ‘‘(i) receiving training or vocational 

6 rehabilitation described in subsection 

7 (a)(1) on a full-time basis; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) in need of such training or voca9 tional rehabilitation on a full-time basis, 

10 and but for lack of child care services, 

11 would receive such training or vocational 

12 rehabilitation on a full-time basis; and 

13 ‘‘(2) whose family’s adjusted gross income does 

14 not exceed 85 percent of the median adjusted gross 

15 income of the State in which the veteran resides. 

16 ‘‘(c) CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE.—(1) Child care as17 sistance provided under this section may include any of 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) A stipend for the payment of child care of20 fered by a licensed child care center (either directly 

21 or through a voucher program). 

22 ‘‘(B) Direct provision of child care at an on-site 

23 facility of the Department or the Department of 

24 Labor. 


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1 ‘‘(C) A collaboration with a facility or program 

2 of another Federal department or agency. 

3 ‘‘(D) Such other form of assistance as the Sec4 retary considers appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(2) In the case that child care assistance under this 

6 section is provided as a stipend under paragraph (1)(A), 

7 such stipend— 

8 ‘‘(A) shall cover the full cost of such child care 

9 and associated fees, including application fees and 

10 full day, full week, and full month requirements of 

11 the child care provider; and 

12 ‘‘(B) such stipend shall be paid to the eligible 

13 veteran. 

14 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION.—Whenever practicable, the 

15 Secretary shall coordinate with the heads of other Federal 

16 agencies and with States and local entities in carrying out 

17 this section to ensure accessibility and continuity of care. 

18 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec19 tion shall be construed to require any provider of child 

20 care to change the provider’s standard eligibility require21 ments or practices. 

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) Notwithstanding section 101 of this title, 

24 the term ‘child’ means— 

25 ‘‘(A) a person— 


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1 ‘‘(i) who is under the age of 13 years; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(ii)(I) who is under the age of 18 

4 years; 

5 ‘‘(II) who is 13 years of age or older; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(III) who is physically or mentally 

8 incapable of caring for themselves; or 

9 ‘‘(B) such other person as the Secretary 

10 considers appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘licensed child care center’ 

12 means a center-based child care provider, a family 

13 child care provider, or another provider of child care 

14 services for compensation on a regular basis, that is 

15 licensed, regulated, or registered under Federal or 

16 State law. 

17 ‘‘(3) The term ‘primary caretaker’, with respect 

18 to a child, means— 

19 ‘‘(A) the parent of the child; or 

20 ‘‘(B) such other individual as the Secretary 

21 considers appropriate.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

23 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

24 after the item relating to section 3122 the following new 

25 item: 


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‘‘3123. Child care assistance for veterans receiving training or vocational rehabilitation.’’. 

Æ 


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