I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 840 

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

Affairs to provide child care assistance to veterans receiving certain 

medical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2019 

Ms. BROWNLEY of California (for herself and Mr. HIGGINS of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

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

to veterans receiving certain medical services provided 

by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

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 ‘‘Veterans’ Access to 

5 Child Care Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR VETERANS RECEIV2 ING MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND OTHER IN3 TENSIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES PROVIDED 

4 BY THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF5 FAIRS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 17 of 

7 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 1730D. Child care assistance for veterans receiving 

10 mental health care and other intensive 

11 health care services 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide child 

13 care assistance to an eligible veteran for any period that 

14 the veteran— 

15 ‘‘(1) receives covered health care services at a 

16 facility of the Department; and 

17 ‘‘(2) is required travel to and return from such 

18 facility for the receipt of such health care services. 

19 ‘‘(b) CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE.—(1) Child care as20 sistance provided under this section may include any of 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) A stipend for the payment of child care of23 fered by a licensed child care center (either directly 

24 or through a voucher program) which shall be, to 

25 the extent practicable, modeled after the DepartVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jan 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H840.IH H840

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1 ment of Veterans Affairs Child Care Subsidy Pro2 gram established pursuant to section 590 of title 40. 

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

4 facility of the Department. 

5 ‘‘(C) A payment made directly to a private child 

6 care agency. 

7 ‘‘(D) A collaboration with a facility or program 

8 of another Federal department or agency. 

9 ‘‘(E) Such other form of assistance as the Sec10 retary considers appropriate. 

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

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

13 such stipend shall cover the full cost of such child care. 

14 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible veteran’ means a vet16 eran who— 

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

18 children; and 

19 ‘‘(B) is— 

20 ‘‘(i) receiving covered health care serv21 ices from the Department; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) in need of covered health care 

23 services, and but for lack of child care 

24 services, would receive such covered health 

25 care services from the Department. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered health care services’ 

2 means— 

3 ‘‘(A) regular mental health care services; 

4 ‘‘(B) intensive mental health care services; 

5 or 

6 ‘‘(C) such other intensive health care serv7 ices that the Secretary determines that provi8 sion of assistance to the veteran to obtain child 

9 care would improve access to such health care 

10 services by the veteran.’’. 

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

12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

13 after the item relating to section 1730C the following new 

14 item: 

‘‘1730D. Child care assistance for veterans receiving mental health care and 

other intensive health care services.’’. 

Æ 


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