II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1354 

To increase the quality and supply of child care and lower child care costs 

for families. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. KAINE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. COONS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, 

Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KING, 

Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, 

Mr. PADILLA, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. 

SMITH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WYDEN, 

and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

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

A BILL 

To increase the quality and supply of child care and lower 

child care costs for families. 

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 for Work5 ing Families Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—CHILD CARE AND 

2 EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM 

3 SEC. 101. BIRTH THROUGH FIVE CHILD CARE AND EARLY 

4 LEARNING PROGRAM. 

5 (a) CHILD CARE DEFINITIONS.—The definitions in 

6 section 658P of the Child Care and Development Block 

7 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n) shall apply to this 

8 section, except as provided in subsection (b) and as other9 wise specified. 

10 (b) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) CHILD CARE CERTIFICATE.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘child care 

13 certificate’’ means a certificate (that may be a 

14 check or other disbursement) that is issued by 

15 a State, Tribal, territorial, or local government 

16 under this section directly to a parent who shall 

17 use such certificate only as payment for child 

18 care services or as a deposit for child care serv19 ices if such a deposit is required of other chil20 dren being cared for by the provider. 

21 (B) RULE.—Nothing in this section shall 

22 preclude the use of such certificates for sec23 tarian child care services if freely chosen by the 

24 parent. For the purposes of this section, child 


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1 care certificates shall be considered indirect 

2 Federal financial assistance to the provider. 

3 (2) CHILD EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS.— 

4 The term ‘‘child experiencing homelessness’’ means 

5 an individual who is a homeless child or youth under 

6 section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist7 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 

8 (3) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

9 activity’’, with respect to a parent, shall include, at 

10 minimum, activities consisting of— 

11 (A) full-time or part-time employment; 

12 (B) self-employment; 

13 (C) job search activities; 

14 (D) job training; 

15 (E) secondary, postsecondary, or adult 

16 education, including education through a pro17 gram of high school classes, a course of study 

18 at an institution of higher education, classes to19 wards an equivalent of a high school diploma 

20 recognized by State law, or English as a second 

21 language classes; 

22 (F) health treatment (including mental 

23 health and substance use treatment) for a con24 dition that prevents the parent from partici25 pating in other eligible activities; 


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1 (G) activities to prevent child abuse and 

2 neglect, or family violence prevention or inter3 vention activities; 

4 (H) employment and training activities 

5 under the Workforce Innovation and Oppor6 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.); and 

7 (I) taking leave under the Family and 

8 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et 

9 seq.) (or equivalent provisions for Federal em10 ployees), a State or local paid or unpaid leave 

11 law, or a program of employer-provided leave. 

12 (4) ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

14 child’’ means an individual— 

15 (i) who is less than 6 years of age; 

16 (ii) who is not yet in kindergarten; 

17 and 

18 (iii) who— 

19 (I) resides with a parent or par20 ents who are participating in an eligi21 ble activity; 

22 (II) is included in a population of 

23 vulnerable children identified by the 

24 lead agency involved, which at a min25 imum shall include children with disVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 abilities, infants and toddlers with dis2 abilities, children experiencing home3 lessness, children in foster care, chil4 dren in kinship care, children in a 

5 family that is eligible for assistance 

6 through the special supplemental nu7 trition program for women, infants, 

8 and children established by section 17 

9 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 

10 (42 U.S.C. 1786), a household that is 

11 eligible to receive assistance through 

12 the supplemental nutrition assistance 

13 program established under the Food 

14 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 

15 2011 et seq.), or a family that is eligi16 ble to receive assistance through the 

17 program of block grants to States for 

18 temporary assistance for needy fami19 lies established under part A of title 

20 IV of the Social Security Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), and children who 

22 are receiving, or need to receive, child 

23 protective services; or 

24 (III) resides with— 


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1 (aa) a parent who is more 

2 than 65 years of age; 

3 (bb) a parent who is em4 ployed by an eligible child care 

5 provider; or 

6 (cc) a parent who is enrolled 

7 in high school and has not ex8 ceeded the maximum age of en9 rollment in high school. 

10 (B) LONGER-TERM PERIOD ELIGIBILITY.— 

11 An individual who is determined to be an eligi12 ble child, and is a child in foster care or a child 

13 experiencing homelessness, shall not be required 

14 to reverify eligibility for purposes of this title 

15 during the period after the determination and 

16 before the individual becomes 6 years of age or 

17 enters kindergarten, whichever occurs earlier. 

18 (5) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible child 

20 care provider’’ means a center-based child care 

21 provider, a family child care provider, or other 

22 provider of child care services for compensation 

23 that— 

24 (i) is licensed to provide child care 

25 services under State law applicable to the 


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1 child care services it provides or, in the 

2 case of an Indian Tribe or Tribal organiza3 tion, meets the rules set by the Secretary; 

4 (ii) participates in the State’s tiered 

5 system for recognizing and supporting the 

6 quality of child care services described in 

7 subsection (f)(3)(B), or, in the case of an 

8 Indian Tribe or Tribal organization, meets 

9 the rules set by the Secretary— 

10 (I) not later than 4 years after 

11 the State first receives funds under 

12 this section; and 

13 (II) for the remainder of the pe14 riod for which the provider receives 

15 funds under this section; and 

16 (iii) satisfies the State and local re17 quirements, including those requirements 

18 described in section 658E(c)(2)(I) of the 

19 Child Care and Development Block Grant 

20 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)(I)), 

21 applicable to the child care services it pro22 vides. 

23 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—A child care provider 

24 who is eligible to provide child care services in 

25 a State for children receiving assistance under 


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1 the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

2 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) on the 

3 date the State submits an application for funds 

4 under this section, and remains in compliance 

5 with any licensing or registration standards, or 

6 regulations, of the State, shall be deemed to be 

7 an eligible child care provider under this section 

8 for 3.5 years after the State first receives fund9 ing under this section. 

10 (6) FMAP.—The term ‘‘FMAP’’ has the mean11 ing given the term ‘‘Federal medical assistance per12 centage’’ in the first sentence of section 1905(b) of 

13 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(b)). 

14 (7) FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The term 

15 ‘‘family child care provider’’ means one or more indi16 viduals who provide child care services, in a private 

17 residence other than the residences of the children 

18 involved, for less than 24 hours per day per child, 

19 or for 24 hours per day per child due to the nature 

20 of the work of the parent involved. 

21 (8) INCLUSIVE CARE.—The term ‘‘inclusive’’, 

22 with respect to care (including child care), means 

23 care provided by an eligible child care provider— 

24 (A) for whom the percentage of children 

25 served by the provider who are children with 


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1 disabilities or infants or toddlers with disabil2 ities reflects the prevalence of children with dis3 abilities and infants and toddlers with disabil4 ities (whichever the provider serves) among chil5 dren within the State involved; and 

6 (B) that provides care and full participa7 tion for children with disabilities and infants 

8 and toddlers with disabilities (whichever the 

9 provider serves) alongside children who are— 

10 (i) not children with disabilities; and 

11 (ii) not infants and toddlers with dis12 abilities. 

13 (9) INFANT OR TODDLER.—The term ‘‘infant 

14 or toddler’’ means an individual who is less than 3 

15 years of age. 

16 (10) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DIS17 ABILITY.—The term ‘‘infant or toddler with a dis18 ability’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

19 632 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

20 Act (20 U.S.C. 1432). 

21 (11) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 

22 means the agency designated under subsection (e). 

23 (12) PROVIDER TYPE.—The term ‘‘provider 

24 type’’ means a type that is— 

25 (A) a center-based child care provider; 


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1 (B) a family child care provider; or 

2 (C) another non-center-based child care 

3 provider. 

4 (13) STAFFED FAMILY CHILD CARE NET5 WORK.—The term ‘‘staffed family child care net6 work’’ means a nonprofit organization— 

7 (A) that may be a component of a child 

8 care resource and referral organization; 

9 (B) that has at least one paid staff mem10 ber; and 

11 (C) that offers evidence-based professional 

12 development, quality improvement support, 

13 business support, and technical assistance, in14 cluding on achieving licensure as a child care 

15 provider, to family child care providers. 

16 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

17 the 50 States and the District of Columbia. 

18 (15) TERRITORY.—The term ‘‘territory’’ means 

19 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is20 lands of the United States, Guam, American Samoa, 

21 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is22 lands. 

23 (c) APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 (1) ENTITLEMENT.—In addition to amounts 

25 otherwise available, there is appropriated to the DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 partment of Health and Human Services, out of any 

2 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

3 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

4 years 2024 through 2029, for payments to States, 

5 territories, and Indian Tribes and Tribal organiza6 tions, and for carrying out this section (other than 

7 carrying out activities described in paragraph (2) or 

8 (3)). 

9 (2) GRANTS TO LOCALITIES; AWARDS TO HEAD

10 START AGENCIES.—In addition to amounts otherwise 

11 available, there is appropriated to the Department of 

12 Health and Human Services for fiscal year 2024, 

13 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise ap14 propriated, $20,000,000,000, to remain available 

15 until September 30, 2029, to carry out the programs 

16 of grants to localities and awards to Head Start 

17 agencies described in subsection (i). 

18 (3) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.—In addition to 

19 amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to 

20 the Department of Health and Human Services for 

21 fiscal year 2024, out of any money in the Treasury 

22 not otherwise appropriated, $1,300,000,000, to re23 main available until September 30, 2029, to carry 

24 out subsections (k) and (l). 


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1 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF BIRTH THROUGH FIVE

2 CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING ENTITLEMENT PRO3 GRAM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

5 to administer a child care and early learning entitle6 ment program under which an eligible child, in a 

7 State, territory, or Indian Tribe, or served by a 

8 Tribal organization with an approved application 

9 under subsection (f) or (g), shall be provided an op10 portunity to obtain high-quality child care services, 

11 subject to the requirements of this section. 

12 (2) ASSISTANCE FOR EVERY ELIGIBLE

13 CHILD.—Beginning on October 1, 2024, every child 

14 who applies for assistance under this section, who is 

15 in a State with an approved application under sub16 section (f), or in a territory or Indian Tribe or 

17 served by a Tribal organization with an approved 

18 application under subsection (g), and who is deter19 mined, by a lead agency (or other entity designated 

20 by a lead agency) for the State, territory, Indian 

21 Tribe, or Tribal organization involved, following 

22 standards and procedures established by the Sec23 retary by rule, to be an eligible child, shall be offered 

24 and shall be entitled to receive assistance for direct 


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1 child care services in accordance with and subject to 

2 the requirements and limitations of this section. 

3 (e) LEAD AGENCY.—The Governor of a State or the 

4 head of a territory or Indian Tribe, desiring for the State, 

5 territory, or Indian tribe or a related tribal organization 

6 to receive a payment under this section, shall designate 

7 a lead agency (such as a State agency or joint interagency 

8 office) to administer the child care program carried out 

9 under this section. 

10 (f) APPLICATIONS AND STATE PLANS.— 

11 (1) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive as12 sistance under this section, a State shall prepare 

13 and submit to the Secretary for approval an applica14 tion containing a State plan that meets the require15 ments under paragraph (3) and contains that infor16 mation. 

17 (2) PERIOD COVERED BY PLAN.—A State plan 

18 contained in the application shall be designed to be 

19 implemented during a period of not more than 3 

20 years. 

21 (3) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE PLANS.—The 

22 Secretary shall award funds under this section to 

23 States with an approved application that contains a 

24 State plan, submitted under paragraph (1), at such 

25 time, in such manner, and containing such informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 tion as the Secretary shall by rule require, including, 

2 at a minimum, the following: 

3 (A) PAYMENT RATES AND COST ESTI4 MATION.— 

5 (i) PAYMENT RATES.—The State plan 

6 shall certify that payment rates for the 

7 provision of direct child care services for 

8 which assistance is provided in accordance 

9 with this section for the period covered by 

10 the plan, within 3 years after the State 

11 first receives funds under this section— 

12 (I) will be sufficient to meet the 

13 cost of child care (including fixed 

14 costs such as rent or mortgage and 

15 salaries), and set (with pay being 

16 paid) in accordance with a cost esti17 mation model or cost study described 

18 in clause (ii) that is approved by the 

19 Secretary; and 

20 (II) will correspond to differences 

21 in quality (including improved quality) 

22 based on the State’s tiered system for 

23 recognizing and supporting the quality 

24 of child care services described in sub25 paragraph (B). 


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1 (ii) COST ESTIMATION.—Such State 

2 plan shall— 

3 (I) demonstrate that the State 

4 has, after consulting with the entities 

5 and administrators described in sub6 clause (II), developed and uses a sta7 tistically valid and reliable cost esti8 mation model or cost study for the 

9 payment rates for direct child care 

10 services in the State (that are suffi11 cient to cover providers’ fixed costs 

12 and take into account payments made 

13 through BASE grants under title II), 

14 for the cost of child care at each of 

15 the tiers of the State’s tiered system 

16 for recognizing and supporting the 

17 quality of child care services described 

18 in subparagraph (B), and for vari19 ations in the cost of direct child care 

20 services by geographic area, provider 

21 type, and age of child, and the addi22 tional costs associated with providing 

23 inclusive care; 

24 (II) certify that the entities and 

25 administrators consulted included the 


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1 State Advisory Council on Early 

2 Childhood Education and Care des3 ignated or established in section 

4 642B(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Head Start 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i)) 

6 (including State Head Start collabora7 tion office directors), administrators 

8 of local child care programs and Head 

9 Start agencies, organizations rep10 resenting child care directors, teach11 ers, and other staff, local child care 

12 resource and referral organizations, 

13 organizations representing parents of 

14 children with disabilities and parents 

15 of infants and toddlers with disabil16 ities, the State interagency coordi17 nating council established under sec18 tion 641 of the Individuals with Dis19 abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

20 1441), the State advisory panel estab21 lished under section 612(a)(21) of the 

22 Individuals with Disabilities Edu23 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(21)), 

24 and other appropriate entities; 

25 (III) certify that the State— 


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1 (aa) not later than 30 days 

2 after finalizing the cost esti3 mation model or cost study, pub4 lished a detailed report con5 taining the child care costs esti6 mated with the cost estimation 

7 model or cost study, and includ8 ing an explanation detailing how 

9 the wage requirements described 

10 in subclause (IV)(cc) were ap11 plied in the estimation of such 

12 costs; and 

13 (bb) not later than 60 days 

14 after publishing the report, estab15 lished a system to receive public 

16 comment on the report about 

17 making changes to the cost esti18 mation model or cost study, pro19 vided an opportunity for the pub20 lic to comment on the report 

21 through that system, and sub22 mitted the report to the Sec23 retary; and 

24 (IV) certify that the State’s pay25 ment rates for direct child care servVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 ices for which assistance is provided 

2 in accordance with this section— 

3 (aa) are set (with pay being 

4 paid) in accordance with the 

5 most recent estimates from the 

6 most recent cost estimation 

7 model or cost study under sub8 clause (I), so that providers at 

9 each tier of the tiered system for 

10 recognizing and supporting the 

11 quality of child care services de12 scribed in subparagraph (B) re13 ceive a payment that is sufficient 

14 to fully meet the requirements of 

15 such tier; 

16 (bb) are set so as to provide 

17 payments to providers not at the 

18 top tier of the tiered system that 

19 are sufficient to enable the pro20 viders to increase quality to meet 

21 the requirements for the next 

22 tier; 

23 (cc) ensure adequate wages 

24 for staff of child care providers 


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1 providing such direct child care 

2 services that— 

3 (AA) at a minimum, 

4 provide a living wage for all 

5 staff of such child care pro6 viders; and 

7 (BB) are equivalent to 

8 wages for elementary edu9 cators with similar creden10 tials and experience in the 

11 State; and 

12 (dd) are adjusted on an an13 nual basis for cost-of-living in14 creases to ensure those payment 

15 rates remain sufficient to meet 

16 the requirements of this section; 

17 (V) certify that the State will up18 date, not less often than once every 3 

19 years, the cost estimation model or 

20 cost study, following the process and 

21 in accordance with the requirements 

22 of this subparagraph; and 

23 (VI) certify that the State has es24 tablished a system for appeals of the 


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1 child care costs estimated with the 

2 cost estimation model or cost study. 

3 (iii) PAYMENT PRACTICES.—Such 

4 State plan shall include an assurance that 

5 the State will implement payment practices 

6 that support the fixed costs of providing 

7 direct child care services. 

8 (B) TIERED SYSTEM FOR RECOGNIZING

9 AND SUPPORTING THE QUALITY OF CHILD CARE

10 SERVICES.—Such State plan shall certify that 

11 the State has implemented, or assure that the 

12 State will develop or revise within 3 years after 

13 first receiving funds under this section, with 

14 input (from early childhood education and de15 velopment experts, from a diverse group of child 

16 care providers of a variety of provider types, 

17 from families, and from organizations rep18 resenting child care directors, teachers, and 

19 other staff), a tiered system for recognizing and 

20 supporting the quality of child care services for 

21 which assistance is made available under this 

22 section, and that are inclusive and appropriate 

23 for such child care providers. Such tiered sys24 tem shall— 


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1 (i) include a set of standards, for de2 termining the tier of quality of a child care 

3 provider, that— 

4 (I) uses standards for a highest 

5 tier that at a minimum are equivalent 

6 to Head Start program performance 

7 standards described in section 

8 641A(a)(1)(B) of the Head Start Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 9836a(a)(1)(B)) or other 

10 equivalent evidence-based standards 

11 approved by the Secretary; 

12 (II) includes quality indicators 

13 and thresholds that are appropriate 

14 for child development for different 

15 types of provider types, including cen16 ter-based child care providers and 

17 family child care providers, and are 

18 appropriate for providers serving dif19 ferent age groups (including mixed 

20 age groups) of children; and 

21 (III) aligns standards for the 

22 lowest tier with State licensing re23 quirements for child care providers 

24 described in subparagraph (K); 


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1 (ii) include a different set of stand2 ards that includes indicators, when appro3 priate, for care during nontraditional hours 

4 of operation; and 

5 (iii) provide for sufficient resources 

6 and supports for child care providers at 

7 tiers lower than the highest tier to facili8 tate progression toward meeting higher 

9 quality standards. 

10 (C) ACHIEVING HIGH QUALITY FOR ALL

11 CHILDREN.—Such State plan shall certify the 

12 State has implemented, or will implement with13 in 3 years after first receiving funds under this 

14 section, policies and financing practices that 

15 will ensure all eligible children can choose to at16 tend child care with services at the highest 

17 quality tier within 10 years after the date of en18 actment of this Act. 

19 (D) NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF PRO20 VIDERS AT EACH TIER.—Such plan shall pro21 vide information on the number and percentage 

22 of eligible child care providers with services at 

23 each tier of the State’s tiered system for recog24 nizing and supporting the quality of child care 

25 services described in subparagraph (B), in total 


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1 and disaggregated by geographic area, by pro2 vider race and ethnicity, and by race and eth3 nicity and age of the children served, unless the 

4 disaggregation involved would reveal personally 

5 identifiable information about an individual pro6 vider or child. 

7 (E) COMPENSATION.—Such plan shall pro8 vide a certification that the State has or will 

9 have within 3 years after first receiving funds 

10 under this section, a wage ladder for staff of el11 igible child care providers receiving assistance 

12 under this section, including a certification that 

13 wages for such staff, at a minimum, will meet 

14 the requirements of subparagraph 

15 (A)(ii)(IV)(cc). 

16 (F) SLIDING FEE SCALE FOR COPAY17 MENTS.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

19 in clause (ii)(I), the State plan shall pro20 vide an assurance that the State will for 

21 the period covered by the plan use a slid22 ing fee scale, which shall gradually in23 crease copayments as a percentage of fam24 ily income for families with greater family 

25 incomes as described in clause (ii), to deVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 termine a copayment for a family receiving 

2 assistance under this section (or, for a 

3 family receiving part-time care, a reduced 

4 copayment that is the proportionate 

5 amount of the full copayment). 

6 (ii) SLIDING FEE SCALE.—A full co7 payment described in clause (i) shall be de8 termined using a sliding fee scale that pro9 vides that, for a family with a family in10 come— 

11 (I) of not more than 85 percent 

12 of State median income for a family 

13 of the same size, the family shall not 

14 pay a copayment, toward the cost of 

15 the child care involved for all eligible 

16 children in the family; 

17 (II) of more than 85 percent but 

18 not more than 100 percent of State 

19 median income for a family of the 

20 same size, the copayment shall be 

21 more than 0 but not more than 2 per22 cent of that family income, toward 

23 such cost for all such children; 

24 (III) of more than 100 percent 

25 but not more than 125 percent of 


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1 State median income for a family of 

2 the same size, the copayment shall be 

3 more than 2 but not more than 4 per4 cent of that family income, toward 

5 such cost for all such children; 

6 (IV) of more than 125 percent 

7 but not more than 150 percent of 

8 State median income for a family of 

9 the same size, the copayment shall be 

10 more than 4 but not more than 7 per11 cent of that family income, toward 

12 such cost for all such children; and 

13 (V) of more than 150 percent of 

14 the State median income for a family 

15 of the same size, the copayment shall 

16 be 7 percent of that family income, to17 ward such cost for all such children. 

18 (G) PROHIBITION ON CHARGING MORE

19 THAN COPAYMENT.—The State plan shall cer20 tify that, after the State develops and uses the 

21 cost estimation model or cost study described in 

22 subparagraph (A)(ii), the State will not permit 

23 a child care provider receiving financial assist24 ance under this section to charge, for direct 


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1 child care services for an eligible child, more 

2 than the total of— 

3 (i) the financial assistance provided 

4 for the child under this section; and 

5 (ii) any applicable copayment pursu6 ant to subparagraph (F). 

7 (H) REDUCTION OF BARRIERS.—The State 

8 plan shall assure that each child who receives 

9 assistance under this section will be considered 

10 to meet all eligibility requirements for such as11 sistance, and will receive such assistance, for 

12 not less than 12 months unless the child has 

13 aged out of the program, and the child’s eligi14 bility determination and redetermination, in15 cluding any determination based on the State’s 

16 definition of eligible activities, shall be imple17 mented in a manner that supports child well18 being and reduces barriers to enrollment, in19 cluding continuity of services. 

20 (I) POLICIES TO SUPPORT ACCESS TO

21 CHILD CARE FOR UNDERSERVED POPU22 LATIONS.—The State plan shall demonstrate 

23 that the State will prioritize increasing access 

24 to, and the quality and the supply of, child care 

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•S 1354 IS

1 cluding at a minimum, children from low-in2 come families, children in underserved areas, in3 fants and toddlers, children with disabilities and 

4 infants and toddlers with disabilities, children 

5 who are dual language learners, children experi6 encing homelessness, children in foster or kin7 ship care, children who receive care during non8 traditional hours, and vulnerable children as de9 fined by the lead agency pursuant to subsection 

10 (b)(4)(A)(iii)(II). 

11 (J) POLICIES.—The State plan shall in12 clude a certification that the State will apply, 

13 under this section, the policies and procedures 

14 described in subparagraphs (A), (B), (I), (J), 

15 (K)(i), (R), and (U) of section 658E(c)(2) of 

16 the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

17 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)), and the 

18 policies and procedures described in section 

19 658H of such Act (42 U.S.C. 9858f), to child 

20 care services provided under this section. 

21 (K) LICENSING.— 

22 (i) CONSULTATION.—The State plan 

23 shall demonstrate that the State has con24 sulted or will consult with organizations 

25 (including labor organizations and child 


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•S 1354 IS

1 care and early learning organizations) rep2 resenting eligible child care providers (in3 cluding family child care providers), child 

4 care associations, child care directors, 

5 teachers, or other staff (including direc6 tors, teachers, or staff from child care pro7 viders serving higher proportions of under8 served populations as identified under sub9 paragraph (I)), early childhood education 

10 and development experts, maternal and 

11 child health experts, and families in the de12 velopment of licensing standards described 

13 in this subparagraph, including identifying 

14 barriers to such licensing for child care 

15 providers who are exempt from such licens16 ing under the Child Care and Development 

17 Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et 

18 seq.). 

19 (ii) LICENSING STANDARDS.— 

20 (I) IN GENERAL.—The State 

21 plan shall certify that the State will 

22 develop or revise, within 2.5 years 

23 after first receiving funds under this 

24 section, licensing standards appro25 priate for child care providers of a vaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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•S 1354 IS

1 riety of provider types and provider 

2 sizes (which may, when appropriate, 

3 include a different set of licensing 

4 standards with respect to care during 

5 nontraditional hours of operation) and 

6 a pathway to licensure described in 

7 this clause that is available to and ap8 propriate for such child care pro9 viders, that will offer providers eligible 

10 under the Child Care and Develop11 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

12 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) a reasonable 

13 pathway to become eligible providers 

14 under this section, and that will as15 sure an adequate supply of child care. 

16 (II) DETERMINATION.—For pur17 poses of subclause (I), provider size 

18 shall be determined by measuring the 

19 number of children served by the pro20 vider. 

21 (iii) TIMELINE.—Such plan shall de22 scribe the timeline the State will use to en23 sure sufficient time for providers described 

24 in subsection (b)(5)(B) to comply with 

25 such licensing standards in order to remain 


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•S 1354 IS

1 eligible providers after 3.5 years after the 

2 State first receives funding under this sec3 tion. 

4 (iv) FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR PRO5 VIDERS.—Such plan shall describe how the 

6 State will use funds reserved under sub7 section (h)(3)(A) to enable a variety of 

8 provider types to achieve licensure, includ9 ing paying for the costs of required back10 ground checks, health screening, and initial 

11 and ongoing training, and other costs asso12 ciated with achieving licensure. 

13 (L) PROHIBITION ON SUSPENSIONS, EX14 PULSIONS, AND AVERSIVE BEHAVIORAL INTER15 VENTIONS.—The State plan shall provide an as16 surance that the State will— 

17 (i) provide assistance to carry out this 

18 section only to eligible child care providers 

19 that prohibit— 

20 (I) the use of suspension and ex21 pulsion of children; and 

22 (II) the use of aversive behavioral 

23 interventions; and 

24 (ii) provide training resources to eligi25 ble child care providers and information to 


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•S 1354 IS

1 families to support the prohibition of prac2 tices described in subclauses (I) and (II) of 

3 clause (i). 

4 (M) MULTITIERED SYSTEMS OF SUP5 PORT.—The State plan shall provide an assur6 ance that the State will provide assistance to el7 igible child care providers to implement multi8 tiered systems of support such as systems with 

9 positive behavioral interventions and supports, 

10 infant and early childhood mental health con11 sultation and trauma-informed care that pro12 mote positive social and emotional development 

13 and reduce challenging behaviors. 

14 (N) ENROLLMENT PRACTICES.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—The State plan 

16 shall describe how the lead agency will en17 sure that families have access to a low-bar18 rier enrollment (including re-enrollment) 

19 process that is accessible to and minimizes 

20 burdens for families with diverse character21 istics, by implementing activities such as 

22 allowing for simplified enrollment for sib23 lings, coordinating with other State agen24 cies to streamline enrollment processes 

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1 ing minimal paperwork, allowing for enroll2 ment through a State or local website, and 

3 providing flexible submission deadlines. 

4 (ii) DEFINITION.—In this subpara5 graph, the term ‘‘family with diverse char6 acteristics’’ includes families with adults 

7 with disabilities, with children with disabil8 ities, or with infants and toddlers with dis9 abilities, families experiencing homeless10 ness, families with limited access to inter11 net connectivity, families living in rural 

12 areas, families of dual language learners, 

13 and families with children in underserved 

14 populations identified under subparagraph 

15 (I). 

16 (O) IMPLEMENTATION FOR LOW-INCOME

17 FAMILIES.—The State plan shall include a cer18 tification that the applicant, not later than Oc19 tober 1, 2024, will provide assistance described 

20 in subsection (d)(2) to every child in the State 

21 who is described in that subsection, and is from 

22 a family with a family income of not more than 

23 85 percent of the State median income for a 

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1 pands the program involved to provide such as2 sistance to children from additional families. 

3 (g) PAYMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

5 2024 through 2029: 

6 (A) CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR ELIGI7 BLE CHILDREN.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

9 pay to each State with an approved appli10 cation under subsection (f), and that State 

11 shall be entitled to, an amount for each 

12 quarter equal to 90 percent of expendi13 tures (which shall be the Federal share of 

14 such expenditures) in the quarter for direct 

15 child care services described under sub16 section (h)(2) for eligible children. 

17 (ii) EXCEPTION.—Funds reserved 

18 from the total under subsection (h)(3) 

19 shall be subject to subparagraph (B). 

20 (iii) PROHIBITION.—Activities de21 scribed in subparagraph (B) or (C) may 

22 not be included in the cost of direct child 

23 care services described in this subpara24 graph. 


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•S 1354 IS

1 (B) ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY

2 AND SUPPLY OF CHILD CARE SERVICES.—The 

3 Secretary shall pay to each State with such an 

4 approved application, and that State shall be 

5 entitled to, the FMAP of expenditures (which 

6 shall be the Federal share of such expenditures) 

7 to carry out activities to improve the quality 

8 and supply of child care services under sub9 section (h)(3) subject to the limit specified in 

10 subparagraph (A) of such subsection. 

11 (C) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 

12 shall pay to each State with such an approved 

13 application, and that State shall be entitled to, 

14 an amount equal to 50 percent of expenditures 

15 (which shall be the Federal share of such ex16 penditures) for the costs of administration in17 curred by the State— 

18 (i) which shall include costs incurred 

19 by the State in carrying out the child care 

20 program established in this section; and 

21 (ii) which may include, at the option 

22 of the State, costs associated with carrying 

23 out requirements, policies, and procedures 

24 described in section 658H of the Child 


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•S 1354 IS

1 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 

2 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858f). 

3 (2) ADVANCE PAYMENT; RETROSPECTIVE AD4 JUSTMENT.—For each of fiscal years 2024 through 

5 2029, the Secretary shall make payments under this 

6 subsection for a period on the basis of advance esti7 mates of expenditures submitted by the State and 

8 such other investigation as the Secretary may find 

9 necessary, and shall reduce or increase the payments 

10 as necessary to adjust for any overpayment or un11 derpayment for previous periods. No interest shall 

12 be charged or paid on any amount due because of 

13 an overpayment or underpayment for previous peri14 ods. 

15 (3) TERRITORIES AND TRIBES.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

17 2024 through 2029, from amounts appropriated 

18 under subsection (c)(1) the Secretary shall 

19 make payments to territories, and Indian 

20 Tribes and Tribal organizations, as the case 

21 may be, with applications submitted as de22 scribed in subparagraph (B), and approved by 

23 the Secretary for the purpose of carrying out 

24 the child care program described in this section, 

25 consistent, to the extent practicable as deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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•S 1354 IS

1 mined by the Secretary (subject to subsection 

2 (d)(2)), with the requirements applicable to 

3 States. 

4 (B) APPLICATIONS.— 

5 (i) TRIBAL APPLICATIONS.—An In6 dian Tribe or Tribal organization seeking a 

7 payment under this paragraph shall submit 

8 an application to the Secretary at such 

9 time, in such manner, and containing such 

10 information as the Secretary may specify, 

11 including— 

12 (I) a certification described in 

13 subsection (f)(3)(O), except that each 

14 reference in the subsection to ‘‘child 

15 in the State’’ shall be considered to be 

16 a reference to ‘‘child served by the In17 dian Tribe or Tribal organization, as 

18 the case may be,’’; and 

19 (II) an agreement to collect data 

20 and provide reports under subsection 

21 (n). 

22 (ii) TERRITORIAL APPLICATIONS.—A 

23 territory seeking a payment under this 

24 paragraph shall submit an application to 

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•S 1354 IS

1 ner, and containing such information as 

2 the Secretary may specify, including— 

3 (I) a certification described in 

4 subsection (f)(3)(O), except that each 

5 reference in the subsection to ‘‘child 

6 in the State’’ shall be considered to be 

7 a reference to ‘‘child in the territory’’; 

8 and 

9 (II) an agreement to collect data 

10 and provide reports under subsection 

11 (n). 

12 (C) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall make 

13 the payments to the territories, Indian Tribes, 

14 and Tribal organizations described in subpara15 graph (A) on the basis of their relative need. 

16 Each entity that is such a territory, Indian 

17 Tribe, or Tribal organization shall be entitled to 

18 such a payment as may be necessary to carry 

19 out the activities described in subsection (h), 

20 and to pay for the costs of administration in21 curred by the entity, which shall include costs 

22 incurred by the entity in carrying out the child 

23 care program, and which may include, at the 

24 option of the entity, costs associated with car25 rying out requirements, policies, and procedures 


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•S 1354 IS

1 described in section 658H of the Child Care 

2 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. 

3 (h) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Starting on October 1, 

5 2024, a State shall use amounts provided to the 

6 State under subsection (g) for direct child care serv7 ices (provided on a sliding fee scale basis), activities 

8 to improve the quality and supply of child care serv9 ices consistent with paragraph (3), and State admin10 istration consistent with subsection (g)(1)(C). 

11 (2) CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR ELIGIBLE

12 CHILDREN.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

14 2024 through 2029, from payments made to 

15 the State under subsection (g) for that par16 ticular fiscal year, the State shall ensure that 

17 parents of eligible children can access direct 

18 child care services provided by an eligible child 

19 care provider under this section through a 

20 grant or contract as described in subparagraph 

21 (B) or a certificate as described in subpara22 graph (C). 

23 (B) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—The State 

24 shall award grants or contracts to eligible child 

25 care providers, consistent with the requirements 


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•S 1354 IS

1 under this section, for the provision of child 

2 care services for eligible children under this sec3 tion that, at a minimum, support providers’ op4 erating expenses to meet and sustain health, 

5 safety, quality, and wage standards required 

6 under this section. 

7 (C) CERTIFICATES.—The State shall issue 

8 a child care certificate directly to a parent who 

9 shall use such certificate only as payment for 

10 direct child care services or as a deposit for di11 rect child care services if such a deposit is re12 quired of other children being cared for by the 

13 provider, consistent with the requirements 

14 under this section. 

15 (3) ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND

16 SUPPLY OF CHILD CARE SERVICES.— 

17 (A) QUALITY CHILD CARE ACTIVITIES.— 

18 (i) AMOUNT.—For each of fiscal years 

19 2024 through 2029, from the total of the 

20 payments made to the State for a par21 ticular fiscal year, the State shall reserve 

22 and use a quality child care amount equal 

23 to not less than 5 percent and not more 

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•S 1354 IS

1 able to the State through such payments 

2 for the previous fiscal year. 

3 (ii) USE OF QUALITY CHILD CARE

4 AMOUNT.—Each State shall use the quality 

5 child care amount described in clause (i) to 

6 implement activities described in this para7 graph to improve the quality and supply of 

8 child care services by eligible child care 

9 providers, and increase the number of 

10 available slots in the State for child care 

11 services funded under this section, 

12 prioritizing assistance for child care pro13 viders who are in underserved communities 

14 and who are providing, or are seeking to 

15 provide, child care services for underserved 

16 populations identified under subsection 

17 (f)(3)(I). 

18 (iii) ADMINISTRATION.—Activities 

19 funded under this paragraph may be ad20 ministered— 

21 (I) directly by the lead agency; or 

22 (II) through other State govern23 ment agencies, local or regional child 

24 care resource and referral organiza25 tions, community development finanVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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•S 1354 IS

1 cial institutions, other intermediaries 

2 with experience supporting child care 

3 providers, or other appropriate enti4 ties that enter into a contract with the 

5 State to provide such assistance. 

6 (B) QUALITY AND SUPPLY ACTIVITIES.— 

7 Activities funded under the quality child care 

8 amount described in subparagraph (A) shall in9 clude each of the following: 

10 (i) STARTUP GRANTS AND SUPPLY EX11 PANSION GRANTS.— 

12 (I) IN GENERAL.—From a por13 tion of the quality child care amount, 

14 a State shall make startup and supply 

15 expansion grants to support child care 

16 providers who are providing, or seek17 ing to provide, child care services to 

18 children receiving assistance under 

19 this section, with priority for pro20 viders providing or seeking to provide 

21 child care in underserved communities 

22 and for underserved populations iden23 tified under subsection (f)(3)(I), to— 

24 (aa) support startup and ex25 pansion costs; and 


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•S 1354 IS

1 (bb) assist such providers in 

2 meeting health and safety re3 quirements, achieving licensure, 

4 conducting background checks, 

5 and meeting requirements in the 

6 State’s tiered system for recog7 nizing and supporting the quality 

8 of child care services described in 

9 subsection (f)(3)(B). 

10 (II) REQUIREMENT.—As a condi11 tion of receiving a startup or supply 

12 expansion grant under this clause, a 

13 child care provider shall commit to 

14 meeting the requirements of an eligi15 ble provider under this section, and 

16 providing child care services to chil17 dren receiving assistance under this 

18 section on an ongoing basis. 

19 (ii) QUALITY GRANTS.—From a por20 tion of the quality child care amount, a 

21 State shall provide quality grants to sup22 port eligible child care providers in pro23 viding child care services to children receiv24 ing assistance under this section to imVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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•S 1354 IS

1 prove the quality of such providers, includ2 ing— 

3 (I) supporting such providers in 

4 meeting or making progress toward 

5 the requirements for the highest tier 

6 of the State’s tiered system for recog7 nizing and supporting the quality of 

8 child care services described in sub9 section (f)(3)(B); and 

10 (II) supporting such providers in 

11 sustaining child care quality, including 

12 supporting increased wages for staff 

13 and supporting payment of fixed 

14 costs. 

15 (iii) FACILITIES GRANTS.—From a 

16 portion of the quality child care amount, a 

17 State shall provide support, including 

18 through awarding facilities grants, for an 

19 activity (referred to in this subparagraph 

20 as a ‘‘covered activity’’) consisting of re21 modeling, renovation, or repair of a build22 ing or facility, or for construction, perma23 nent improvement, or major renovation of 

24 a building or facility primarily used for 


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•S 1354 IS

1 providing direct child care services, in ac2 cordance with the following: 

3 (I) RECIPIENTS.—The facilities 

4 grants shall be awarded to eligible 

5 child care providers with submitted or 

6 approved applications under sub7 section (f) or (g) or to intermediaries 

8 with experience supporting child care 

9 providers in order to enable the inter10 mediaries to assist such eligible child 

11 care providers with covered activities. 

12 (II) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible 

13 to receive funds through a facilities 

14 grant under this clause, a child care 

15 provider shall enter into an agreement 

16 with the State in which the provider 

17 commits to use the funds only after 

18 obtaining approval of an application 

19 under subsection (f) or (g) and com20 mits to provide child care services to 

21 children receiving assistance under 

22 this section on an ongoing basis. 

23 (III) FEDERAL INTEREST APPLI24 CATION.—Provisions of Federal law 

25 relating to a Federal interest in a 


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•S 1354 IS

1 building or facility shall not apply to 

2 a covered activity for privately owned 

3 family child care homes under this 

4 clause. 

5 (IV) FEDERAL INTEREST DURA6 TION.—The Secretary shall not retain 

7 a Federal interest after a period of 10 

8 years in any building, or facility, at 

9 which a covered activity was carried 

10 out with funds awarded under this 

11 clause. 

12 (V) RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS AND

13 FACILITIES.—Eligible child care pro14 viders may not use funds for buildings 

15 or facilities that are used primarily 

16 for sectarian instruction or religious 

17 worship. 

18 (VI) FAMILY CHILD CARE

19 HOMES.—The Secretary shall develop 

20 parameters on the use of funds under 

21 this clause for family child care 

22 homes. 

23 (iv) STATE ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE

24 THE QUALITY OF CHILD CARE SERVICES.— 

25 A State shall use a portion of the quality 


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•S 1354 IS

1 child care amount to improve the quality of 

2 child care services available under this sec3 tion, which shall include— 

4 (I) supporting the training and 

5 professional development of the early 

6 childhood workforce, including sup7 porting degree attainment and 

8 credentialing for early childhood edu9 cators; 

10 (II) developing, implementing, or 

11 revising the State’s tiered system for 

12 recognizing and supporting the quality 

13 of child care services described in sub14 section (f)(3)(B); 

15 (III) improving the supply and 

16 quality of developmentally appropriate 

17 and inclusive child care programs and 

18 services for underserved populations 

19 identified under subsection (f)(3)(I); 

20 (IV) improving access to child 

21 care services for vulnerable children 

22 as defined by the lead agency pursu23 ant to subsection (b)(4)(A)(iii)(II); 


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•S 1354 IS

1 (V) providing outreach and en2 rollment support for families of eligi3 ble children; 

4 (VI) supporting eligible child care 

5 providers to eliminate use of suspen6 sions, expulsions, and aversive behav7 ioral interventions, including through 

8 adaptations and interventions by spe9 cial educators, mental health consult10 ants, and other community resource 

11 personnel, such as behavior coaches, 

12 psychologists, and other appropriate 

13 specialists, and through the provision 

14 of mental health services for the pro15 viders; 

16 (VII) promoting multitiered sys17 tems of support such as systems with 

18 positive behavioral interventions and 

19 supports and trauma-informed care 

20 that promote positive social and emo21 tional development and reduce chal22 lenging behaviors; 

23 (VIII) offering training, coach24 ing, or professional development op25 portunities for eligible child care proVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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•S 1354 IS

1 viders that relate to the use of evi2 dence-based, developmentally appro3 priate and age-appropriate strategies 

4 to promote the social, emotional, 

5 physical, adaptive, communication, 

6 and cognitive development of children; 

7 (IX) improving coordination be8 tween States and local governments 

9 with respect to licensing and other 

10 regulatory requirements for eligible 

11 child care providers; 

12 (X) increasing interrater reli13 ability concerning licensing inspections 

14 or other evaluations of eligible child 

15 care providers by training licensing in16 spectors of the providers and pro17 viding such inspectors with additional 

18 professional development; 

19 (XI) identifying and eliminating 

20 barriers to licensure of eligible child 

21 care providers, such as through reduc22 ing fees for background checks, trans23 lating licensing regulations into lan24 guages other than English, and colVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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•S 1354 IS

1 laborating with housing agencies or 

2 local governments; and 

3 (XII) establishing or supporting 

4 a system of local or regional child care 

5 resource and referral organizations 

6 that is coordinated, to the extent de7 termined appropriate by the State, by 

8 a statewide public or private non9 profit, community-based or regionally 

10 based, lead child care resource and re11 ferral organization, as described in 

12 section 658E(c)(3)(B)(iii) of the Child 

13 Care and Development Block Grant 

14 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

15 9858c(c)(3)(B)(iii)). 

16 (v) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—From a 

17 portion of the quality child care amount 

18 described in subparagraph (A), the State, 

19 in coordination with local governments and 

20 staffed family child care networks as ap21 propriate, shall provide technical assistance 

22 to increase the supply of eligible child care 

23 providers in the State, such as— 

24 (I) providing business startup 

25 support; 


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•S 1354 IS

1 (II) conducting outreach to re2 cruit new child care providers and in3 form such providers about the oppor4 tunities provided under this title, in5 cluding support for participation in 

6 the tiered system for recognizing and 

7 supporting the quality of child care 

8 services described in subsection 

9 (f)(3)(B); 

10 (III) providing support to enable 

11 providers to achieve licensure (includ12 ing providing support for child care 

13 providers operating legally without a 

14 child care license to obtain such li15 cense, such as providing, for individ16 uals seeking a child care license, pre17 licensing orientation and technical as18 sistance throughout the child care li19 censing process); 

20 (IV) offering orientations for new 

21 child care providers including orienta22 tions explaining support under pro23 grams such as the child and adult 

24 care food program established under 

25 section 17 of the Richard B. Russell 


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•S 1354 IS

1 National School Lunch Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 1766); and 

3 (V) supporting the development 

4 of shared service models for child care 

5 programs. 

6 (i) GRANTS TO LOCALITIES AND AWARDS TO HEAD

7 START PROGRAMS.— 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE LOCALITY DEFINED.—In this 

9 subsection, the term ‘‘eligible locality’’ means a city, 

10 county, or other unit of general local government. 

11 (2) GRANTS TO LOCALITIES.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

13 funds appropriated under subsection (c)(2) to 

14 award local Birth Through Five Child Care and 

15 Early Learning Grants, as determined by the 

16 Secretary, to eligible localities located in States 

17 that have not received payments under sub18 section (g). The Secretary shall award the 

19 grants to eligible localities in such a State from 

20 the allotment made for that State under sub21 paragraph (B). 

22 (B) ALLOTMENTS.— 

23 (i) POVERTY LINE DEFINED.—In this 

24 subparagraph, the term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

25 means the poverty line defined and revised 


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•S 1354 IS

1 as described in section 673 of the Commu2 nity Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 9902). 

4 (ii) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—For each 

5 State described in subparagraph (A), the 

6 Secretary shall allot for the State for a fis7 cal year an amount that bears the same re8 lationship to the funds appropriated under 

9 subsection (c)(2) and available to carry out 

10 this paragraph for the fiscal year as the 

11 number of children from families with fam12 ily incomes that are at or below 200 per13 cent of the poverty line, and who are under 

14 the age of 6, in the State bears to the total 

15 number of all such children in all States 

16 described in subparagraph (A). 

17 (C) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant 

18 from the corresponding State allotment under 

19 subparagraph (B), an eligible locality shall sub20 mit an application to the Secretary at such 

21 time, in such manner, and containing such in22 formation as the Secretary may require. The re23 quirements for the application shall, to the 

24 greatest extent practicable, be consistent with 


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1 the State plan requirements applicable to States 

2 under subsection (f). 

3 (D) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall 

4 specify the requirements for an eligible locality 

5 to provide access to child care, which child care 

6 requirements shall, to the greatest extent prac7 ticable, be consistent with the requirements ap8 plicable to States under this section. 

9 (E) RECOUPMENT OF UNUSED FUNDS.— 

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec11 tion, for each of fiscal years 2025 through 

12 2029, the Secretary shall have the authority to 

13 recoup any unused funds allotted under sub14 paragraph (B) for awards under paragraph 

15 (3)(A) to Head Start agencies in accordance 

16 with paragraph (3). 

17 (3) HEAD START EXPANSION IN NONPARTICI18 PATING STATES.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

20 funds appropriated under subsection (c)(2) or 

21 recouped under paragraph (2) to make awards 

22 to Head Start agencies in a State described in 

23 paragraph (2)(A) to carry out the purposes of 

24 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) in 

25 such State. 


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1 (B) RULE.—For purposes of carrying out 

2 the Head Start Act in circumstances not involv3 ing awards under this paragraph, funds award4 ed under subparagraph (A) shall not be in5 cluded in the calculation of a ‘‘base grant’’ as 

6 such term is defined in section 640(a)(7)(A) of 

7 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)(7)(A)). 

8 (C) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

9 term ‘‘Head Start agency’’ means an entity des10 ignated or eligible to be designated as a Head 

11 Start agency under section 641(a)(1) of the 

12 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836(a)(1)) or as 

13 an Early Head Start agency (by receiving a 

14 grant) under section 645A(a) of such Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 9840a). 

16 (4) PRIORITY FOR SERVING UNDERSERVED

17 POPULATIONS.—In making determinations to award 

18 a grant or make an award under this subsection, the 

19 Secretary shall give priority to entities serving a 

20 high percentage of individuals from underserved 

21 populations identified under subsection (f)(3)(I). 

22 (j) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 (1) NONDISCRIMINATION.—The following provi24 sions of law shall apply to any program or activity 

25 that receives funds provided under this section: 


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1 (A) Title IX of the Education Amendments 

2 of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.). 

3 (B) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

4 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 

5 (C) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 

6 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 

7 (D) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 

8 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

9 (2) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY

10 REQUIREMENTS.—No individual shall be determined, 

11 by the Secretary, a State, or another recipient of 

12 funds under this section, to be ineligible for child 

13 care services provided under this section, except on 

14 the basis of eligibility requirements specified in or 

15 under this section. 

16 (3) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives 

18 payments under this section for a fiscal year, in 

19 using the funds made available through the 

20 payments, shall maintain the expenditures of 

21 the State for child care services at the average 

22 level of such expenditures by the State for the 

23 3 preceding fiscal years. 

24 (B) COUNTING RULE.—State expenditures 

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1 ment in subparagraph (A) may also be counted 

2 for purposes of meeting the requirement to pro3 vide a non-Federal share under subparagraph 

4 (A), (B), or (C), as appropriate, of subsection 

5 (g)(1). 

6 (4) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds re7 ceived under this section shall be used to supplement 

8 and not supplant other Federal, State, and local 

9 public funds expended to provide child care services 

10 in the State on the date of enactment of this Act, 

11 calculated as the average amount of such Federal, 

12 State, and local public funds expended for fiscal 

13 years 2021, 2022, and 2023. 

14 (5) ALLOWABLE SOURCES OF NON-FEDERAL

15 SHARE.—For purposes of providing the non-Federal 

16 share required under subsection (g)(1), a State’s 

17 non-Federal share— 

18 (A) for direct child care services described 

19 in subsection (g)(1)(A)— 

20 (i) shall not include contributions 

21 being used as a non-Federal share or 

22 match for another Federal award; and 

23 (ii) shall be provided from State or 

24 local sources, contributions from philan25 thropy or other private organizations, or a 


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1 combination of such sources and contribu2 tions; and 

3 (B) for activities to improve the quality 

4 and supply of child care services described in 

5 subsection (g)(1)(B), and administration de6 scribed in subsection (g)(1)(C)— 

7 (i) shall not include contributions 

8 being used as a non-Federal share or 

9 match for another Federal award; 

10 (ii) shall be provided from State or 

11 local sources, contributions from philan12 thropy or other private organizations, or a 

13 combination of such sources and contribu14 tions; and 

15 (iii) may be in cash or in kind, fairly 

16 evaluated, including facilities or property, 

17 equipment, or services. 

18 (k) MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT.— 

19 (1) REVIEW OF COMPLIANCE WITH REQUIRE20 MENTS AND STATE PLAN.—The Secretary shall re21 view and monitor compliance of States, territories, 

22 Tribal entities, and local entities with this section 

23 and State compliance with the State plan described 

24 in subsection (f)(3). 


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1 (2) ISSUANCE OF RULE.—The Secretary shall 

2 establish by rule procedures for— 

3 (A) receiving, processing, and determining 

4 the validity of complaints or findings concerning 

5 any failure of a State to comply with the State 

6 plan or any other requirement of this section; 

7 (B) notifying a State when the Secretary 

8 has determined there has been a failure by the 

9 State to comply with a requirement of this sec10 tion; and 

11 (C) imposing sanctions under this sub12 section for such a failure. 

13 (l) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.—Using funds appro14 priated under subsection (c)(3), the Secretary shall carry 

15 out administration of this section, shall provide (including 

16 through the use of grants or cooperative agreements) tech17 nical assistance to States, territories, Indian Tribes, and 

18 Tribal organizations, and shall carry out research and 

19 evaluations related to this section. 

20 (m) NONPOSTSECONDARY EDUCATION PROGRAM.— 

21 For purposes of section 401 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act 

22 to provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 201(a)(1) 

23 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 

24 1997’’, approved August 22, 1996, the program carried 


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1 out under this section shall be considered to be a program 

2 of nonpostsecondary education. 

3 (n) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION BY

5 STATES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives 

7 funds to carry out this section shall collect the 

8 information described in subparagraph (B) on a 

9 monthly basis. 

10 (B) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The infor11 mation required to be collected under this sub12 paragraph shall consist of, with respect to a 

13 family receiving assistance under this section, 

14 information concerning— 

15 (i) family income; 

16 (ii) county (or comparable local juris17 diction) of residence; 

18 (iii) the gender, race and ethnicity, 

19 and age of each child receiving such assist20 ance; 

21 (iv) whether the head of the family is 

22 a single parent; 

23 (v) the number of months the family 

24 has received such assistance; 


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1 (vi) the provider type with which the 

2 child was enrolled; 

3 (vii) the amount of the copayment 

4 paid for child care provided under this sec5 tion; 

6 (viii) the average hours per month of 

7 such care, during the period for which such 

8 information is required to be submitted; 

9 and 

10 (ix) whether the children receiving as11 sistance under this section are either chil12 dren with disabilities or infants and tod13 dlers with disabilities. 

14 (C) SUBMISSION TO THE SECRETARY.—A 

15 State described in subparagraph (A) shall, on a 

16 quarterly basis, submit the information required 

17 to be collected under subparagraph (B) to the 

18 Secretary. 

19 (D) USE OF SAMPLES.— 

20 (i) AUTHORITY.—A State may comply 

21 with the requirement to collect the infor22 mation described in subparagraph (B) 

23 through the use of disaggregated case 

24 record information for a sample of families 

25 selected through the use of scientifically 


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1 acceptable sampling methods approved by 

2 the Secretary. 

3 (ii) SAMPLING AND OTHER METH4 ODS.—The Secretary shall provide the 

5 States with such case record sampling 

6 plans and data collection procedures as the 

7 Secretary determines to be necessary to 

8 produce statistically valid samples of the 

9 information described in subparagraph 

10 (B). The Secretary may develop and imple11 ment procedures for verifying the quality 

12 of the data submitted by the States. 

13 (E) PROHIBITION.—Reports submitted to 

14 the Secretary under subparagraph (C) shall not 

15 contain personally identifiable information. 

16 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 

17 after the date of enactment of the Child Care for 

18 Working Families Act, and annually thereafter, a 

19 State shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a 

20 report containing such information as the Secretary 

21 may require, that includes at a minimum, the de22 scription and analysis described in paragraph (3) 

23 and aggregate data concerning— 

24 (A) the number of child care providers that 

25 received funding under this section and licensed 


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1 capacity of such providers, and such data 

2 disaggregated by provider type, by the quality 

3 rating on the State’s tiered system for recog4 nizing and supporting the quality of child care 

5 services described in subsection (f)(3)(B) (re6 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘‘quality rat7 ing’’) of such providers, and by the geographic 

8 area of such providers; 

9 (B)(i) the total number of children, and 

10 families with children, receiving child care serv11 ices funded under this section; 

12 (ii) the percentage of children, and families 

13 with children, receiving child care services fund14 ed under this section, among all children less 

15 than 6 years of age, and all families with such 

16 children, respectively, in all States; and 

17 (iii) the data described in clause (i), and 

18 the data described in clause (ii), disaggregated 

19 for children, and families with children, by— 

20 (I) race and ethnicity of the child in21 volved; 

22 (II) family income of the child’s fam23 ily; 

24 (III) age of the child; 


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1 (IV) the child’s status as an infant or 

2 toddler with a disability or child with a dis3 ability; 

4 (V) the child’s status as a child expe5 riencing homelessness; 

6 (VI) the child’s status as a child in 

7 foster care; and 

8 (VII) the child’s status (to the extent 

9 the status is known) as a dual language 

10 learner; 

11 (C) the monthly child care subsidy pay12 ment rate paid to eligible child care providers 

13 for child care services funded under this sec14 tion, as determined by the State’s cost esti15 mation model or cost study described in sub16 section (f)(3)(A)(i), including any variation in 

17 the rate by geographic area, provider type, age 

18 of child, and costs associated with providing in19 clusive care; 

20 (D) the amount of the copayment paid by 

21 families for such child care services, and such 

22 data disaggregated by family income; 

23 (E) the number and percentage of pay24 ments made by the State for such services to el25 igible child care providers through certificates, 


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1 grants, and contracts, and such data 

2 disaggregated by provider type; 

3 (F) the manner in which consumer edu4 cation information was provided to parents and 

5 the number of parents to whom such informa6 tion was provided under this section; 

7 (G) the number of child fatalities occurring 

8 among children while in the care or facility of 

9 child care providers funded under this section, 

10 and such data disaggregated by provider type; 

11 (H) the geographic area of child care pro12 viders funded under this section; 

13 (I) the quality features of child care serv14 ices provided by providers funded under this 

15 section, compared to the quality features of 

16 child care services provided by other child care 

17 providers, to the extent possible, including data 

18 on quality features such as— 

19 (i) amount of staff wages and other 

20 compensation (including benefits); 

21 (ii) length of staff retention; 

22 (iii) presence of coaching and profes23 sional development activities; 

24 (iv) number of providers remaining 

25 open through the year covered; 


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1 (v) measured parent satisfaction; and 

2 (vi) presence of provision of informa3 tion in languages other than English; 

4 (J) the quality features of child care serv5 ices received by children and funded under this 

6 section, and such data disaggregated by the 

7 children’s— 

8 (i) race and ethnicity; 

9 (ii) family income; 

10 (iii) age; 

11 (iv) status as an infant or toddler 

12 with a disability or child with a disability; 

13 (v) status as a child experiencing 

14 homelessness; 

15 (vi) status as a child in foster care; 

16 and 

17 (vii) status (to the extent the status is 

18 known) as a dual language learner; 

19 (K) the number of child care providers, 

20 listed by provider type, geographic area, and 

21 provider quality rating, that received— 

22 (i) a startup or supply expansion 

23 grant under subsection (h)(3)(B)(i); 

24 (ii) a quality grant under subsection 

25 (h)(3)(B)(ii); or 


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1 (iii) a facilities grant under subsection 

2 (h)(3)(B)(iii); and 

3 (L) the average wages (including salaries), 

4 or other compensation for staff of eligible child 

5 care providers funded under this section, and 

6 such data disaggregated by provider type, job 

7 position type, and to the extent possible, staff 

8 race and ethnicity. 

9 (3) DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS.—The State 

10 shall include in each report described in paragraph 

11 (2)— 

12 (A) a description of whether there are in13 equities in how child care providers with quality 

14 features described in paragraph (2)(I) are dis15 tributed among children served under this sec16 tion; and 

17 (B) an analysis of the State’s child care 

18 supply, including an analysis of the number of 

19 child care slots with licensed child care pro20 viders that were added or lost by the State in 

21 the covered year, and trends in such addition or 

22 loss by provider type and quality rating of child 

23 care provider. 

24 (4) RULE ON DISAGGREGATION.—Nothing in 

25 this paragraph shall require disaggregation of data 


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•S 1354 IS

1 if the disaggregation involved would reveal person2 ally identifiable information about an individual pro3 vider or child. 

4 (o) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall— 

5 (1) submit an annual report to the Committee 

6 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the 

7 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

8 Committee on Education and the Workforce and the 

9 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep10 resentatives, summarizing the findings from the re11 ports received under subsection (n)(2); and 

12 (2) make such report publicly available on the 

13 website of the Department of Health and Human 

14 Services. 

15 (p) TRANSITION PROVISIONS.— 

16 (1) TREATMENT OF CHILD CARE AND DEVEL17 OPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDS.—For each of fiscal 

18 years 2024 through 2029, a State receiving assist19 ance under this section shall not use more than 15 

20 percent of any funds received under the Child Care 

21 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

22 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) to provide assistance for direct 

23 child care services to children who are under the age 

24 of 6, are not yet in kindergarten, and are eligible 

25 under that Act. 


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1 (2) SPECIAL RULES REGARDING ELIGIBILITY.— 

2 Any child who is less than 6 years of age, is not yet 

3 in kindergarten, and is receiving assistance under 

4 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 

5 1990 on the date funding is first allocated to the 

6 lead agency for the State, territory, Indian Tribe, or 

7 Tribal organization involved under this section— 

8 (A) shall be deemed immediately eligible to 

9 receive assistance under this section; and 

10 (B) may continue to use the child care pro11 vider of the family’s choice. 

12 (3) TRANSITION PROCEDURES.—The Secretary 

13 is authorized to institute procedures for imple14 menting this section, including issuing guidance for 

15 States receiving funds under subsection (g). 

16 TITLE II—BUILDING AN AFFORD17 ABLE SYSTEM FOR EARLY 

18 EDUCATION GRANTS 

19 SEC. 201. PURPOSES. 

20 The purposes of this title are to make child care serv21 ices more accessible for families and to support the sta22 bility and quality of eligible child care providers by— 

23 (1) promoting the stability of the child care sec24 tor by providing a source of stable funding to eligible 


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1 child care providers to help offset their operating ex2 penses; 

3 (2) supporting sustained and increased wages 

4 for early childhood educators or other staff of eligi5 ble child care providers, in order to stabilize and 

6 grow the child care workforce; 

7 (3) expanding the supply and capacity of eligi8 ble child care providers to ensure working families 

9 have a range of high-quality, affordable child care 

10 options, in a variety of settings, that meet their 

11 unique needs; and 

12 (4) supporting access to child care services for 

13 communities facing a particular shortage of child 

14 care options, including child care services for infants 

15 and toddlers, child care services during nontradi16 tional or extended hours, and inclusive child care 

17 services for children with disabilities. 

18 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this title: 

20 (1) CCDBG TERMS.—The terms ‘‘child care 

21 certificate’’, ‘‘child with a disability’’, ‘‘family child 

22 care provider’’, ‘‘lead agency’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and 

23 ‘‘State’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec24 tion 658P of the Child Care and Development Block 

25 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). The terms 


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1 ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal organization’’ have the 

2 meanings given the terms ‘‘Indian tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal 

3 organization’’ in section 658P of that Act. 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The 

5 term ‘‘eligible child care provider’’ means— 

6 (A) an eligible child care provider as de7 fined in section 658P of the Child Care and De8 velopment Block Grant Act of 1990; and 

9 (B) an eligible child care provider as de10 fined in title I. 

11 (3) INFANT OR TODDLER.—The term ‘‘infant 

12 or toddler’’ means an individual who is less than 3 

13 years of age. 

14 (4) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DIS15 ABILITY.—The term ‘‘infant or toddler with a dis16 ability’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

17 101(b). 

18 (5) PROVIDER TYPE.—The term ‘‘provider 

19 type’’ means a type that is— 

20 (A) a center-based child care provider; 

21 (B) a family child care provider; or 

22 (C) another non-center-based child care 

23 provider. 


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1 SEC. 203. SECRETARIAL RESERVATION. 

2 From the funds appropriated to carry out this title, 

3 the Secretary shall reserve not more than 3 percent for 

4 the Federal administration of grants described in section 

5 204, which may include providing technical assistance to 

6 the lead agencies. 

7 SEC. 204. GRANTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

9 to carry out this title that remain after the Secretary 

10 makes the reservation required under section 203, and 

11 under the authority of section 658O of the Child Care and 

12 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m) 

13 and this section, the Secretary shall award to each lead 

14 agency a BASE Grant, without regard to the requirements 

15 in subparagraphs (C) and (E) of section 658E(c)(3), and 

16 in section 658G, of that Act (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(3), 

17 9858e). Such grant shall be made from an amount allotted 

18 in accordance with section 658O of that Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 9858m), excluding paragraphs (3) through (5) of sub20 section (a) of that section. 

21 (b) PAYMENTS FOR INDIAN CHILDREN.—In accord22 ance with section 658O of that Act, the Secretary may 

23 make BASE Grants to Indian Tribes or Tribal organiza24 tions for the planning and carrying out of programs or 

25 activities consistent with the objectives of this title. 


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1 SEC. 205. STATE APPLICATION. 

2 To be eligible to receive a grant under section 204, 

3 a lead agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 

4 at such time, in such manner, and including such informa5 tion as the Secretary may reasonably require, including— 

6 (1) a description of the process the lead agency 

7 will establish to award subgrant funds to eligible 

8 child care providers under this title; 

9 (2) a description of how the lead agency will, in 

10 determining the subgrant amount for an eligible 

11 child care provider under this title— 

12 (A) ensure such subgrant is sufficient to 

13 support the ongoing operations and long-term 

14 sustainability of the eligible child care provider; 

15 (B) account for the cost of providing high16 quality child care services, including— 

17 (i) variations in the cost of child care 

18 services related to geographic area, pro19 vider type, size of provider, and age of 

20 child served; 

21 (ii) costs associated with providing 

22 care during nontraditional or extended 

23 hours; 

24 (iii) costs associated with serving chil25 dren with disabilities, including infants and 

26 toddlers with disabilities; and 


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1 (iv) costs associated with meeting 

2 group sizes and ratios necessary to support 

3 high-quality and inclusive child care serv4 ices, including for infants and toddlers; 

5 (C) account for the cost of attracting, 

6 training, and retaining a qualified and skilled 

7 workforce, which shall include at a minimum, 

8 supporting increased wages for all staff of the 

9 provider, as described in section 209(5); and 

10 (D) if the lead agency uses a formula for 

11 awarding such a subgrant that is based on gen12 eral cost estimates, base such estimates on the 

13 provider’s enrollment capacity rather than at14 tendance; 

15 (3) a description of how the lead agency will 

16 work with the eligible child care providers to improve 

17 the quality of child care services, which may include 

18 improving the State’s tiered system for recognizing 

19 and supporting the quality of child care services de20 scribed in section 101(f)(3)(B); and 

21 (4) a description of how the lead agency will 

22 use funds reserved under section 207(a)(1) to con23 duct widespread outreach and provide technical as24 sistance to eligible child care providers (including 

25 family child care providers, providers with limited 


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1 administrative capacity, and providers whose pri2 mary language is not English), either directly or 

3 through child care resource and referral organiza4 tions, staffed family child care networks, or local 

5 governments, to ensure such providers are aware of 

6 the subgrants available under this title and are able 

7 to apply for and manage the resources provided 

8 through such subgrants. 

9 SEC. 206. ADMINISTRATION. 

10 Activities funded under a grant made for a State 

11 under section 204 may be administered— 

12 (1) directly by the State’s lead agency; or 

13 (2) under a grant or contract to provide such 

14 administration, through another State government 

15 agency, a local or regional child care resource and 

16 referral organization, a community development fi17 nancial institution, another nonprofit intermediary 

18 with experience supporting child care providers, or 

19 another appropriate entity. 

20 SEC. 207. STATE ACTIVITIES AND SUBGRANTS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—A lead agency for a State that 

22 receives a BASE Grant pursuant to section 204 shall— 

23 (1) reserve not more than 10 percent of the 

24 grant funds to administer subgrants, provide tech25 nical assistance and support to enable all provider 


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1 types to apply for, access, and manage the resources 

2 provided through such subgrants and other sources 

3 of public financial assistance available for the objec4 tives of this title, publicize the availability of the 

5 subgrants, and carry out activities to increase the 

6 supply of child care services, under this title; and 

7 (2) with the remaining grant funds, make sub8 grants to eligible child care providers to carry out 

9 the activities described in section 210. 

10 (b) SUBGRANT PERIOD.—The lead agency shall make 

11 the subgrants for a period of 5 years. 

12 (c) PAYMENT PRACTICES.—The lead agency shall 

13 make the subgrant payments in advance, with necessary 

14 adjustments on account of overpayments or underpay15 ments. 

16 SEC. 208. PRIORITY FOR SUBGRANTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—In making subgrants under this 

18 title, the lead agency shall give priority to eligible child 

19 care providers that— 

20 (1) provide child care services during nontradi21 tional or extended hours; 

22 (2) provide child care services to infants and 

23 toddlers; 

24 (3) provide child care services to dual language 

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1 encing homelessness, children in foster care, or chil2 dren from low-income families; 

3 (4) provide child care services to children whose 

4 families received subsidies under the Child Care and 

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

6 9857 et seq.) or under title I, as applicable, for the 

7 child care services; 

8 (5) operate in communities, including commu9 nities with a high proportion of children in house10 holds with incomes below the poverty line and rural 

11 communities, with a low supply of child care serv12 ices; or 

13 (6) are small business concerns, as defined in 

14 section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

15 632), or nonprofit organizations that are described 

16 in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

17 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 

18 501(a) of such Code. 

19 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘poverty 

20 line’’ means the poverty line defined and revised as de21 scribed in section 673 of the Community Services Block 

22 Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902). 

23 SEC. 209. ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER APPLICATION. 

24 To be qualified to receive a subgrant under this title, 

25 an eligible child care provider shall submit to the corVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 responding lead agency, at such time and in such manner 

2 as the lead agency may reasonably require, an application 

3 containing each of the following: 

4 (1) A description of how the eligible child care 

5 provider meets the priority requirements in section 

6 208, if applicable. 

7 (2) An assurance that the eligible child care 

8 provider accepts child care subsidies in the form of 

9 certificates, grants, or contracts as authorized under 

10 the Child Care Development Block Grant Act of 

11 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.), or child care sub12 sidies in the form of certificates, grants, or contracts 

13 under title I, as an acceptable form of payment, re14 gardless of whether children who are the bene15 ficiaries of the child care subsidies are actually en16 rolled. 

17 (3) An assurance that the eligible child care 

18 provider, for the duration of the period of the grant 

19 under section 204, will be open and available to 

20 serve children unless temporarily closed due to or for 

21 a building safety issue or maintenance as a result of 

22 a building safety issue, widespread illness or a staff 

23 shortage, a routine closure or break due to a holiday 

24 or scheduled staff professional development session, 

25 or a state of emergency, major disaster, or emerVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 gency within the meaning of section 658E(c)(2)(U) 

2 of the Child Care Development Block Grant Act of 

3 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)(U)). 

4 (4) A description of how the eligible child care 

5 provider will use funds provided under the subgrant 

6 to improve the quality of child care services and op7 erations, such as through participation in a State’s 

8 tiered system for recognizing and supporting the 

9 quality of child care services. 

10 (5) A description of how the eligible child care 

11 provider will pay staff increased wages over the 

12 course of the grant period including, at a minimum, 

13 providing— 

14 (A) annual cost-of-living adjustments; and 

15 (B) graduated pay increases based on a 

16 staff member’s credentials, experience, and job 

17 responsibilities, including, for a provider with 

18 15 or more staff, a wage ladder based on the 

19 credentials, experience, and responsibilities. 

20 SEC. 210. USE OF FUNDS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible child care provider 

22 that receives a subgrant under this title— 

23 (1) shall use at least 70 percent of subgrant 

24 funds for child care personnel costs, including— 


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1 (A) wages (including salaries) or similar 

2 compensation for a person who is a staff mem3 ber or any sole proprietor or independent con4 tractor, aligned with wage standards; and 

5 (B)(i) annual cost-of-living adjustments for 

6 staff; and 

7 (ii) graduated pay increases based on a 

8 staff member’s credentials, experience, and job 

9 responsibilities, including, for a provider with 

10 15 or more staff, a wage ladder based on the 

11 credentials, experience, and responsibilities; and 

12 (2) may use the subgrant funds for costs of ac13 tivities related to the provider’s program, consisting 

14 of— 

15 (A) professional development and instruc16 tional coaching for staff involved in the direct 

17 education and care of children, and providing 

18 support for planning and instruction; 

19 (B) providing recruitment and retention 

20 bonuses for staff; 

21 (C) providing staff benefits, such as health 

22 insurance, paid leave (including parental, fam23 ily, medical, sick, and bereavement leave, and 

24 including personal leave or vacation), and funds 

25 for retirement accounts; 


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1 (D) hiring staff, including conducting 

2 background checks, and including hiring staff 

3 to reduce staff-to-child ratios or substitute staff 

4 to support use of paid leave; 

5 (E) paying for occupancy, including mak6 ing payments for— 

7 (i) rent (including rent under a lease), 

8 or on any mortgage obligation; and 

9 (ii) insurance, utilities, and mainte10 nance; 

11 (F) obtaining equipment, repairs, supplies, 

12 services, and training necessary to ensure com13 pliance with applicable health, safety, edu14 cational, and quality requirements and to sup15 port high-quality, developmentally appropriate 

16 child care services, and achieving licensure as a 

17 child care provider; 

18 (G) providing comprehensive services to 

19 support the health, including mental health, 

20 and well-being, of children and families from 

21 underserved populations, as described in section 

22 101(f)(3)(I); 

23 (H) improving the quality of child care 

24 services in a way that is appropriate for child 


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1 development by provider type involved, and for 

2 the age group of the children served; and 

3 (I) providing inclusive and developmentally 

4 appropriate care for children with disabilities, 

5 including implementing reasonable accommoda6 tions, making space more accessible, and pro7 viding additional staffing and coordinating early 

8 intervention services provided through the pro9 vider’s program with early intervention services 

10 provided through other early childhood pro11 grams. 

12 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES PARTICIPATING IN

13 TITLE I PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) and 

14 subject to the approval of the Secretary, a lead agency 

15 of a State participating in the program established in title 

16 I may make alternative uses of the funds received through 

17 a grant made under section 204, if such funds support— 

18 (1) the provision of high-quality, affordable 

19 child care services, in accordance with title I; 

20 (2) compensation for early childhood educators 

21 and staff of child care programs, of eligible child 

22 care providers, that meet the requirements of title I; 

23 or 

24 (3) initiatives to expand the supply of eligible 

25 child care providers or improve the quality of child 


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1 care services provided by eligible child care pro2 viders. 

3 (c) RULE.—For purposes of subsection (a), the terms 

4 ‘‘staff’’ and ‘‘staff member’’ include a person described in 

5 subsection (a)(1)(A). 

6 SEC. 211. REPORTING. 

7 (a) LEAD AGENCY REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after a lead agency has received a grant under section 204 

9 and annually thereafter, the lead agency shall submit to 

10 the Secretary, in such manner and containing such infor11 mation as the Secretary may require, a report that in12 cludes, at a minimum— 

13 (1) the total number of eligible child care pro14 viders who applied for a subgrant under this title 

15 relative to the total number of eligible child care pro16 viders in the State, disaggregated by provider type, 

17 race and ethnicity of provider, and geographic area; 

18 (2) the total number of eligible child care pro19 viders that received such a subgrant relative to the 

20 total number of eligible child care providers in the 

21 State, disaggregated by provider type, race and eth22 nicity of provider, and geographic area; 

23 (3) information stating the lead agency’s meth24 odology for determining the amounts of subgrants 

25 under section 207(a)(2); 


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1 (4) the average and range of the subgrant 

2 amounts made available by the lead agency, 

3 disaggregated by provider type, race and ethnicity of 

4 provider, and geographic area; 

5 (5) the percentages, of the eligible child care 

6 providers that received such a subgrant, that— 

7 (A) provided child care services during 

8 nontraditional or extended hours; 

9 (B) served dual language learners, children 

10 with disabilities, children experiencing homeless11 ness, children in foster care, children from low12 income families, or infants and toddlers; 

13 (C) served children whose families received 

14 subsidies under the Child Care and Develop15 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 

16 et seq.) or under title I, as applicable, for the 

17 child care services; 

18 (D) operated in communities described in 

19 section 208(a)(5); and 

20 (E) are concerns or organizations de21 scribed in section 208(a)(6); 

22 (6) the enrollment capacity of and average 

23 monthly attendance of children (by age) served by 

24 the eligible child care providers that received a 

25 subgrant; 


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1 (7) the average family tuition for an eligible 

2 child care provider that received such a subgrant, 

3 disaggregated by— 

4 (A) age of the child served; and 

5 (B) provider type; 

6 (8) the average wages (including salaries), or 

7 similar compensation specified in section 

8 210(a)(1)(A) of staff of eligible child care providers 

9 that received such a subgrant, disaggregated by pro10 vider type; 

11 (9) the percentages, of the eligible child care 

12 providers that received such a subgrant, for each of 

13 the provider types; 

14 (10) information about how the eligible child 

15 care providers used the funds received under such a 

16 subgrant, including how funds were used for child 

17 care personnel costs; 

18 (11) information about how the lead agency 

19 used funds reserved under section 207(a)(1); and 

20 (12) a description of how the lead agency pub21 licized the availability of the subgrants, including 

22 through making applications and materials available 

23 in multiple languages, and provided technical assist24 ance and support to ensure all provider types were 

25 able to apply for and access the subgrants. 


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1 (b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall— 

2 (1) submit an annual report to the Committee 

3 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the 

4 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

5 Committee on Education and the Workforce and the 

6 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep7 resentatives, summarizing the findings from the re8 ports received under subsection (a); and 

9 (2) make such report publicly available on the 

10 website of the Department of Health and Human 

11 Services. 

12 SEC. 212. SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT. 

13 Amounts made available to carry out this title shall 

14 be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, 

15 State, and local public funds expended to provide child 

16 care services for eligible individuals. 

17 SEC. 213. APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is 

19 appropriated to the Department of Health and Human 

20 Services, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

21 appropriated to carry out this title, $9,000,000,000 for 

22 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029. 


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1 TITLE III—UNIVERSAL 

2 PRESCHOOL 

3 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this section: 

5 (1) CHILD EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS.— 

6 The term ‘‘child experiencing homelessness’’ means 

7 an individual who is a homeless child or youth under 

8 section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist9 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 

10 (2) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

11 ‘‘child with a disability’’ has the meaning given the 

12 term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil13 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 

14 (3) COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES.—The term 

15 ‘‘comprehensive services’’ means services that are 

16 provided to children and their families, and that are 

17 health, educational, nutritional, social, and other 

18 services that are determined, based on family needs 

19 assessments, to be necessary, within the meaning of 

20 section 636 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831). 

21 (4) DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNER.—The term 

22 ‘‘dual language learner’’ means a child who is learn23 ing 2 or more languages at the same time, or a child 

24 who is learning a second language while continuing 

25 to develop the child’s first language. 


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1 (5) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 child’’ means a child who is age 3 or 4, on the date 

3 established by the applicable local educational agen4 cy for kindergarten entry. 

5 (6) ELIGIBLE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘eligible 

6 provider’’ means— 

7 (A) a local educational agency, acting 

8 alone or in a consortium or in collaboration 

9 with an educational service agency (as defined 

10 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec11 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 7801)), that is licensed by the State or meets 

13 comparable health and safety standards; 

14 (B) a Head Start agency or delegate agen15 cy funded under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 9831 et seq.); 

17 (C) a licensed center-based child care pro18 vider, licensed family child care provider, or 

19 network of licensed family child care providers; 

20 or 

21 (D) a consortium of entities described in 

22 any of subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C). 

23 (7) HEAD START AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Head 

24 Start agency’’, as used in paragraph (6)(B), or sec25 tion 303(e)(4) or 306(a), means an entity designated 


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1 as a Head Start agency under section 641(a)(1) of 

2 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836(a)(1)) or as an 

3 Early Head Start agency (by receiving a grant) 

4 under section 645A(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 9840a(a)). 

6 (8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

7 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

8 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

9 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

10 (9) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

11 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

12 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec13 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

14 (10) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

15 means the poverty line defined and revised as de16 scribed in section 673 of the Community Services 

17 Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902). 

18 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

19 means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

20 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

21 the several States and the District of Columbia. 

22 (13) TERRITORY.—The term ‘‘territory’’ means 

23 each of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

24 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 


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1 Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

2 Mariana Islands. 

3 (14) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Trib4 al organization’’ has the meaning given the term 

5 ‘‘tribal organization’’ in section 658P of the Child 

6 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

7 U.S.C. 9858n). 

8 SEC. 302. UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL. 

9 (a) APPROPRIATIONS FOR STATES.—In addition to 

10 amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the 

11 Department of Health and Human Services, out of any 

12 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such 

13 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2024 

14 through 2029, for payments to States, for carrying out 

15 this title (except provisions and activities covered by sub16 section (b)). 

17 (b) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS.—In addition to 

18 amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the 

19 Department of Health and Human Services for fiscal year 

20 2024, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise ap21 propriated— 

22 (1) $2,500,000,000, to remain available until 

23 September 30, 2029, for carrying out payments to 

24 Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations for activities 

25 described in this title; 


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1 (2) $1,250,000,000, to remain available until 

2 September 30, 2029, for carrying out payments to 

3 the territories, to be distributed among the terri4 tories on the basis of their relative need, as deter5 mined by the Secretary in accordance with the objec6 tives of this title, for activities described in this title; 

7 (3) $300,000,000, to remain available until 

8 September 30, 2029, for carrying out payments to 

9 eligible local entities that serve children in families 

10 who are engaged in migrant or seasonal agricultural 

11 labor, for activities described in this title; 

12 (4) $995,000,000, to remain available until 

13 September 30, 2029, for carrying out Federal activi14 ties to support the activities funded under this title, 

15 including administration, monitoring, technical as16 sistance, and research, in fiscal years 2024 through 

17 2029; and 

18 (5) $20,000,000,000, to remain available until 

19 September 30, 2029, to carry out the program of 

20 grants to localities described in subsections (b) and 

21 (c) of section 306. 

22 SEC. 303. PAYMENTS FOR STATE UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL 

23 SERVICES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State that has submitted, and 

25 had approved by the Secretary in collaboration with the 


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1 Secretary of Education, the State plan described in sub2 section (e) is entitled to a payment under this section. 

3 (b) PAYMENTS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2024 THROUGH

4 2029.— 

5 (1) PRESCHOOL SERVICES.—For each of fiscal 

6 years 2024 through 2029, the Secretary shall pay to 

7 each State with an approved State plan under sub8 section (e), an amount for that year equal to— 

9 (A) 90 percent of the State’s expenditures 

10 in the year for preschool services provided 

11 under section 304, for fiscal year 2024; 

12 (B) 90 percent of the State’s expenditures 

13 in the year for such preschool services, for fiscal 

14 year 2025; 

15 (C) 80 percent of the State’s expenditures 

16 in the year for such preschool services, for fiscal 

17 year 2026; 

18 (D) 75 percent of the State’s expenditures 

19 in the year for such preschool services, for fiscal 

20 year 2027; 

21 (E) 65 percent of the State’s expenditures 

22 in the year for such preschool services, for fiscal 

23 year 2028; and 


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1 (F) 60 percent of the State’s expenditures 

2 in the year for such preschool services, for fiscal 

3 year 2029. 

4 (2) STATE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall 

5 pay to each State with an approved State plan under 

6 subsection (e) an amount for a fiscal year equal to 

7 50 percent of the amount of the State’s expenditures 

8 for the activities described in subsection (c), and sys9 tem-wide activities similar to those described in sub10 section (c) for the State’s entire birth through 5 

11 year old early childhood system, except that in no 

12 case shall a payment for a fiscal year under this 

13 paragraph exceed the amount equal to 10 percent of 

14 the State’s expenditures described in paragraph (1) 

15 for such fiscal year. 

16 (3) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The remainder of 

17 the cost paid by the State for preschool services, 

18 that is not provided under paragraph (1), shall be 

19 considered the non-Federal share of the cost of those 

20 services. The remainder of the cost paid by the State 

21 for State activities, that is not provided under para22 graph (2), shall be considered the non-Federal share 

23 of the cost of those activities. 

24 (4) ADVANCE PAYMENT; RETROSPECTIVE AD25 JUSTMENT.—The Secretary shall make a payment 


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1 under paragraph (1) or (2) for a year on the basis 

2 of advance estimates of expenditures submitted by 

3 the State and such other investigation as the Sec4 retary may find necessary, and shall reduce or in5 crease the payment as necessary to adjust for any 

6 overpayment or underpayment for a previous year. 

7 (c) STATE ACTIVITIES.—A State that receives a pay8 ment under subsection (b) shall carry out all of the fol9 lowing activities: 

10 (1) State administration of the State preschool 

11 program described in this section. 

12 (2) Supporting a continuous quality improve13 ment system for providers of preschool services par14 ticipating, or seeking to participate, in the State pre15 school program, through the use of data, research, 

16 monitoring, training, technical assistance, profes17 sional development, and coaching. 

18 (3) Providing outreach and enrollment support 

19 for families of eligible children. 

20 (4) Supporting data systems building. 

21 (5) Supporting staff of eligible providers 

22 through professional development and coaching, and 

23 supporting staff in pursuing credentials and degrees, 

24 including baccalaureate degrees. 


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1 (6) Supporting activities that ensure access to 

2 inclusive preschool programs for children with dis3 abilities. 

4 (7) Providing age-appropriate transportation 

5 services for children, which at a minimum shall in6 clude transportation services for children experi7 encing homelessness and children in foster care. 

8 (8) Conducting or updating a statewide needs 

9 assessment of access to high-quality preschool serv10 ices. 

11 (d) LEAD AGENCY.—The Governor of a State desir12 ing for the State to receive a payment under this section 

13 shall designate a lead agency (such as a State agency or 

14 joint interagency office) for the administration of the 

15 State’s preschool program under this section. 

16 (e) STATE PLAN.—In order to be eligible for pay17 ments under this section, the Governor of a State shall 

18 submit a State plan to the Secretary for approval by the 

19 Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Edu20 cation, at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

21 information as the Secretary shall by rule require, that 

22 includes a plan for achieving universal, high-quality, free, 

23 inclusive, and mixed-delivery preschool services. Such plan 

24 shall include, at a minimum, each of the following: 

25 (1) A certification that— 


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1 (A) the State has in place, or will have in 

2 place no later than 1 year after the State first 

3 receives funding under this section, develop4 mentally appropriate, evidence-based preschool 

5 education standards that, at a minimum, are as 

6 rigorous as the standards specified in subpara7 graph (B) of section 641A(a)(1) of the Head 

8 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a(a)(1)) and include 

9 program standards for class sizes and ratios; 

10 and 

11 (B) the State will coordinate such stand12 ards with other early learning standards in the 

13 State. 

14 (2) An assurance that the State will ensure— 

15 (A) all preschool services in the State 

16 funded under this section will— 

17 (i) be universally available to all chil18 dren in the State without any additional 

19 eligibility requirements; and 

20 (ii) be high-quality, free, and inclu21 sive; and 

22 (B) that the local preschool programs in 

23 the State funded under this section will— 

24 (i) by not later than 18 months after 

25 the program receives such funding, meet 


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1 the State’s preschool education standards 

2 described in paragraph (1); 

3 (ii) offer programming that meets the 

4 duration requirements of at least 1,020 an5 nual hours; 

6 (iii) adopt policies and practices to 

7 conduct outreach and provide expedited en8 rollment, including prioritization, to— 

9 (I) children experiencing home10 lessness (which, in the case of a child 

11 attending a program provided by an 

12 eligible provider described in section 

13 301(6)(A), shall include immediate 

14 enrollment for the child); 

15 (II) children in foster care or 

16 kinship care; 

17 (III) children in families who are 

18 engaged in migrant or seasonal agri19 cultural labor; 

20 (IV) children with disabilities, in21 cluding eligible children who are 

22 served under part C of the Individuals 

23 with Disabilities Education Act (20 

24 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.); and 

25 (V) dual language learners; 


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1 (iv) provide for salaries, and set 

2 schedules for salaries, for staff of providers 

3 in the State preschool program, including 

4 staff serving infants and toddlers employed 

5 by the same provider, that are equivalent 

6 to salaries of elementary school staff with 

7 similar credentials and experience; 

8 (v) at a minimum, provide a living 

9 wage for all staff of such providers; and 

10 (vi) require educational qualifications 

11 for teachers in the preschool program in12 cluding, at a minimum, requiring that lead 

13 teachers in the preschool program have a 

14 baccalaureate degree in early childhood 

15 education or a related field by not later 

16 than 6 years after the date on which the 

17 State first receives funds under this sec18 tion, except that— 

19 (I) subject to subclause (II), the 

20 requirements under this clause shall 

21 not apply to individuals who were em22 ployed by an eligible provider or early 

23 education program for a cumulative 3 

24 of the 5 years immediately preceding 

25 the date of enactment of this Act and 


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1 have the necessary content knowledge 

2 and teaching skills for early childhood 

3 educators, as demonstrated through 

4 measures determined by the State; 

5 and 

6 (II) nothing in this section shall 

7 require the State to lessen State re8 quirements for educational qualifica9 tions, in existence on the date of en10 actment of this Act, to serve as a 

11 teacher in a State preschool program. 

12 (3) For States with existing publicly funded 

13 State preschool programs (as of the date of submis14 sion of the State plan), a description of how the 

15 State plans to use funding provided under this sec16 tion to ensure that such existing programs in the 

17 State meet the requirements of this title for a State 

18 preschool program. 

19 (4) A description of how the State, in estab20 lishing and operating the State preschool program 

21 supported under this section, will— 

22 (A) support a mixed-delivery system for 

23 any new slots funded under this section, includ24 ing by facilitating the participation of Head 


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1 Start programs and programs offered by li2 censed child care providers; 

3 (B) ensure the State preschool program 

4 does not disrupt the stability of infant and tod5 dler child care throughout the State; 

6 (C) ensure adequate consultation with the 

7 State Advisory Council on Early Childhood 

8 Education and Care designated or established 

9 in section 642B(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Head Start 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i)) in the devel11 opment of its plan, including consultation in 

12 how the State intends to distribute slots under 

13 subparagraph (E); 

14 (D) partner with Head Start agencies to 

15 ensure the full utilization of Head Start pro16 grams within the State; and 

17 (E) distribute new preschool slots and re18 sources equitably among child care (including 

19 family child care) providers, Head Start agen20 cies, and schools within the State. 

21 (5) A certification that the State, in operating 

22 the program described in this section for a fiscal 

23 year— 

24 (A) will not reduce the total preschool slots 

25 provided in State-funded preschool programs 


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1 from the number of such slots in the previous 

2 fiscal year; or 

3 (B) if the number of eligible children iden4 tified in the State declines from the previous 

5 fiscal year, will maintain at least the previous 

6 year’s ratio of the total preschool slots de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) to eligible children 

8 so identified. 

9 (6) An assurance that the State will use fund10 ing provided under this section to ensure children 

11 with disabilities have access to and participate in in12 clusive preschool programs consistent with provisions 

13 in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

14 (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), and a description of how 

15 the State will collaborate with entities carrying out 

16 programs under section 619 or part C of the Indi17 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

18 1419, 1431 et seq.), to support inclusive preschool 

19 programs. 

20 (7) An assurance that the State will provide as21 sistance under this section only to eligible providers 

22 that prohibit the use of suspension, expulsion, and 

23 aversive behavioral interventions in the State pre24 school program described in this section. 


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1 (8) An assurance that the State will coordinate 

2 services provided under this title with services and 

3 supports provided under the Child Care and Devel4 opment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 

5 et seq.), section 619 and part C of the Individuals 

6 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 

7 1431 et seq.), the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 

8 et seq.), the Preschool Development Grants program 

9 under section 9212 of the Every Student Succeeds 

10 Act (Public Law 114–95), the Elementary and Sec11 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 

12 seq.), the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.), and the maternal, infant, 

14 and early childhood home visiting programs under 

15 section 511 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 711). 

17 (9) A certification that the State will support 

18 the continuous quality improvement of programs 

19 providing preschool services under this title, includ20 ing support through technical assistance, moni21 toring, and research. 

22 (10) A certification that the State will ensure a 

23 highly qualified early childhood workforce to support 

24 the requirements of this title. 


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1 (11) An assurance that the State will meet the 

2 requirements of clauses (ii) and (iii) of section 

3 658E(c)(2)(T) of the Child Care and Development 

4 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

5 9858c(c)(2)(T)), with respect to funding and assess6 ments under this title. 

7 (12) A certification that subgrant and contract 

8 amounts provided as described in section 304 will be 

9 sufficient to enable eligible providers to meet the re10 quirements of this title, and will provide for in11 creased payment amounts based on the criteria de12 scribed in clauses (iv) and (v) of paragraph (2)(B). 

13 (13) An agreement to provide to the Secretary 

14 such periodic reports, providing a detailed account15 ing of the uses of funding received under this sec16 tion, as the Secretary may require for the adminis17 tration of this section. 

18 (f) DURATION OF THE PLAN.—Each State plan shall 

19 remain in effect for a period of not more than 3 years. 

20 Amendments to the State plan shall remain in effect for 

21 the duration of the plan. 

22 SEC. 304. SUBGRANTS AND CONTRACTS FOR LOCAL PRE23 SCHOOL PROGRAMS. 

24 (a) SUBGRANTS AND CONTRACTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a pay2 ment under section 303(b) for a fiscal year shall use 

3 amounts provided through the payment to pay the 

4 costs of subgrants to, or contracts with, eligible pro5 viders to operate universal, high-quality, free, and 

6 inclusive preschool programs (which State-funded 

7 programs may be referred to in this section as ‘‘local 

8 preschool programs’’) through the State preschool 

9 program in accordance with subsection (c). A State 

10 shall reduce or increase the amounts provided under 

11 such subgrants or contracts if needed to adjust for 

12 any overpayment or underpayment described in sec13 tion 303(b)(4). 

14 (2) AMOUNT.—A State shall award a subgrant 

15 or contract under this section in a sufficient amount 

16 to enable the eligible provider to operate a local pre17 school program that meets the requirements of sec18 tion 303(e)(2), which amount shall reflect variations 

19 in the cost of preschool services by geographic area, 

20 type of provider, and age of child, and the additional 

21 costs associated with providing inclusive preschool 

22 services for children with disabilities. 

23 (3) DURATION.—The State shall award a 

24 subgrant or contract under this section for a period 

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1 tract is terminated or suspended, or the subgrant 

2 period is reduced, for cause. 

3 (b) ENHANCED PAYMENTS FOR COMPREHENSIVE

4 SERVICES.—In awarding subgrants or contracts under 

5 this subsection and in addition to meeting the require6 ments of subsection (a)(2), the State shall award sub7 grants or contracts with enhanced payments to eligible 

8 providers that offer local preschool programs funded under 

9 this section to a high percentage of low-income children 

10 to support comprehensive services. 

11 (c) ESTABLISHING AND EXPANDING UNIVERSAL

12 PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS.— 

13 (1) ESTABLISHING AND EXPANDING UNIVERSAL

14 PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS IN HIGH-NEED COMMU15 NITIES.—In awarding subgrants or contracts under 

16 this section, the State shall first prioritize estab17 lishing and expanding universal local preschool pro18 grams within and across high-need communities by 

19 awarding subgrants or contracts to eligible providers 

20 operating within and across, or with capacity to op21 erate within and across, such high-need commu22 nities. The State shall— 

23 (A) use a research-based methodology ap24 proved by the Secretary to identify such high25 need communities, as determined by— 


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1 (i) the rate of poverty in the commu2 nity; 

3 (ii) rates of access to high-quality pre4 school within the community; and 

5 (iii) other indicators of community 

6 need as required by the Secretary; and 

7 (B) distribute funding for preschool serv8 ices under this section within such a high-need 

9 community so that a majority of children in the 

10 community are offered such preschool services 

11 before the State establishes and expands pre12 school services in communities with lower levels 

13 of need. 

14 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—Subgrants or contracts 

15 awarded under paragraph (1) shall be used to enroll 

16 and serve children in such a local preschool program 

17 involved, including by paying the costs— 

18 (A) of personnel (including classroom and 

19 administrative personnel), including compensa20 tion and benefits; 

21 (B) associated with implementing the 

22 State’s preschool standards, providing cur23 riculum supports, and meeting early learning 

24 and development standards; 


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1 (C) of professional development, teacher 

2 supports, and training; 

3 (D) of implementing and meeting develop4 mentally appropriate health and safety stand5 ards (including licensure, where applicable), 

6 teacher to child ratios, and group size maxi7 mums; 

8 (E) of materials, equipment, and supplies; 

9 and 

10 (F) of rent or a mortgage, utilities, build11 ing security, indoor and outdoor maintenance, 

12 and insurance. 

13 (d) ESTABLISHING AND EXPANDING UNIVERSAL

14 PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS IN ADDITIONAL COMMUNITIES.— 

15 Once a State that receives a payment under section 303(b) 

16 meets the requirements of subsection (c) with respect to 

17 establishing and expanding local preschool programs with18 in and across high-need communities, the State shall use 

19 funds from such payment to enroll and serve children in 

20 local preschool programs, as described in such subsection, 

21 in additional communities in accordance with the metrics 

22 described in subsection (c)(1)(A). Such funds shall be used 

23 for the activities described in subparagraphs (A) through 

24 (F) of subsection (c)(2). 


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1 SEC. 305. PAYMENTS FOR UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL SERV2 ICES TO INDIAN TRIBES AND TERRITORIES. 

3 (a) INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

5 2024 through 2029, from the amount appropriated 

6 for Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations under 

7 section 302(b)(1), the Secretary shall make pay8 ments to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations 

9 with an application approved under paragraph (2), 

10 and the Tribes and Tribal organizations shall be en11 titled to such payments for the purpose of carrying 

12 out the preschool program described in this title, 

13 consistent, to the extent practicable as determined 

14 by the Secretary, with the requirements applicable to 

15 States. 

16 (2) APPLICATIONS.—An Indian Tribe or Tribal 

17 organization seeking a payment under this sub18 section shall submit an application to the Secretary 

19 at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

20 information as the Secretary may specify. 

21 (b) TERRITORIES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

23 2024 through 2029, from the amount appropriated 

24 for territories under section 302(b)(2), the Secretary 

25 shall make payments to the territories with an appli26 cation approved under paragraph (2), and the terriVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00107 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 tories shall be entitled to such payments, for the 

2 purpose of carrying out the preschool program de3 scribed in this title, consistent, to the extent prac4 ticable as determined by the Secretary, with the re5 quirements applicable to States. 

6 (2) APPLICATIONS.—A territory seeking a pay7 ment under this subsection shall submit an applica8 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

9 and containing such information as the Secretary 

10 may specify. 

11 (c) LEAD AGENCY.—The head of an Indian Tribe or 

12 territory desiring for the Indian Tribe or a related Tribal 

13 organization, or territory, to receive a payment under this 

14 section shall designate a lead agency (such as a tribal or 

15 territorial agency or joint interagency office) for the ad16 ministration of the preschool program of the Indian Tribe 

17 or territory, under this section. 

18 SEC. 306. GRANTS TO LOCALITIES AND HEAD START EX19 PANSION IN NONPARTICIPATING STATES. 

20 (a) ELIGIBLE LOCALITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

21 the term ‘‘eligible locality’’ means a city, county, or other 

22 unit of general local government, a local educational agen23 cy, or a Head Start agency. 

24 (b) GRANTS TO LOCALITIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta2 tion with the Secretary of Education, shall use funds 

3 reserved in section 302(b)(5) to award local uni4 versal preschool grants, as determined by the Sec5 retary of Health and Human Services, to eligible lo6 calities located in States that have not received pay7 ments under section 303. The Secretary shall award 

8 the grants to eligible localities in a State from the 

9 allotment made for that State under paragraph (2). 

10 The Secretary shall specify the requirements for an 

11 eligible locality to conduct a preschool program 

12 under this section which shall, to the greatest extent 

13 practicable, be consistent with the requirements ap14 plicable to States under this title, for a universal, 

15 high-quality, free, and inclusive preschool program. 

16 (2) ALLOTMENTS.—For each State described in 

17 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall allot for the State 

18 for a fiscal year an amount that bears the same rela19 tionship to the funds appropriated under section 

20 302(b)(5) for the fiscal year as the number of chil21 dren from families with family incomes at or below 

22 200 percent of the poverty line, and who are under 

23 the age of 6, in the State bears to the total number 

24 of all such children in all States described in para25 graph (1). 


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1 (3) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant from the 

2 corresponding State allotment under this section, an 

3 eligible locality shall submit an application to the 

4 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con5 taining such information as the Secretary may re6 quire. The requirements for the application shall, to 

7 the greatest extent practicable, be consistent with 

8 the State plan requirements applicable to States 

9 under this title. 

10 (c) HEAD START EXPANSION IN NONPARTICIPATING

11 STATES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

13 funds appropriated under section 302(b)(5), to make 

14 awards to Head Start agencies in a State described 

15 in subsection (b)(1) to carry out the purposes of the 

16 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) in such 

17 State. 

18 (2) RULE.—For purposes of carrying out the 

19 Head Start Act in circumstances not involving 

20 awards under this subsection, funds awarded under 

21 paragraph (1) shall not be included in the calcula22 tion of a ‘‘base grant’’ as such term is defined in 

23 section 640(a)(7)(A) of the Head Start Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 9835(a)(7)(A)). 


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1 (3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

2 ‘‘Head Start agency’’ means an entity designated or 

3 eligible to be designated as a Head Start agency 

4 under section 641(a)(1) of the Head Start Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 9836(a)(1)) or as an Early Head Start agen6 cy (by receiving a grant) under section 645A(a) of 

7 such Act (42 U.S.C. 9840a(a)). 

8 (d) PRIORITY FOR SERVING UNDERSERVED COMMU9 NITIES.—In making determinations to award a grant or 

10 make an award under this section, the Secretary shall give 

11 priority to entities serving communities with a high per12 centage of children from families with family incomes at 

13 or below 200 percent of the poverty line. 

14 SEC. 307. ALLOWABLE SOURCES OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE. 

15 For purposes of calculating the amount of the non16 Federal share, as determined under section 303(b)(3), re17 lating to a payment under section 303(b), a State’s non18 Federal share— 

19 (1) may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, 

20 including facilities or property, equipment, or serv21 ices; 

22 (2) shall include any increase in amounts spent 

23 by the State to expand half-day kindergarten pro24 grams in the State, as of the day before the date of 


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1 enactment of this Act, into full day kindergarten 

2 programs; 

3 (3) shall not include contributions being used as 

4 a non-Federal share or match for another Federal 

5 award; 

6 (4) shall be provided from State or local 

7 sources, contributions from philanthropy or other 

8 private organizations, or a combination of such 

9 sources and contributions; and 

10 (5) shall count not more than 100 percent of 

11 the State’s current spending on prekindergarten pro12 grams, calculated as the average amount of such 

13 spending by the State for fiscal years 2021, 2022, 

14 and 2023, toward the State’s non-Federal share. 

15 SEC. 308. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—If a State reduces its combined 

17 fiscal effort per child for the State preschool program 

18 (whether a publicly funded preschool program or a pro19 gram under this title) or through State supplemental as20 sistance funds for Head Start programs assisted under the 

21 Head Start Act, or through any State spending on early 

22 childhood programs or preschool services for any fiscal 

23 year that a State receives payments under section 303(b) 

24 (referred to in this paragraph as the ‘‘reduction fiscal 

25 year’’) relative to the previous fiscal year, the Secretary, 


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1 in collaboration with the Secretary of Education, shall re2 duce support for such State under such subsection by the 

3 same amount as the total reduction in that State fiscal 

4 effort for such reduction fiscal year. 

5 (b) WAIVER.—The Secretary, in collaboration with 

6 the Secretary of Education, may waive the requirements 

7 of subsection (a) if— 

8 (1) the Secretaries determine that a waiver 

9 would be appropriate due to a precipitous decline in 

10 the financial resources of a State as a result of un11 foreseen economic hardship, or a natural disaster, 

12 that has necessitated across-the-board reductions in 

13 State services during the 5-year period preceding the 

14 date of the determination, including for early child15 hood education programs; or 

16 (2) due to the circumstance of a State requiring 

17 reductions in specific programs, including early 

18 childhood education programs, the State presents to 

19 the Secretaries a justification and demonstration 

20 why other programs could not be reduced and how 

21 early childhood education programs in the State will 

22 not be disproportionately harmed by such State re23 ductions. 


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1 SEC. 309. SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT. 

2 Funds received under this title shall be used to sup3 plement and not supplant other Federal, State, and local 

4 public funds expended on prekindergarten programs in the 

5 State on the date of enactment of this Act, calculated as 

6 the average amount of such Federal, State, and local pub7 lic funds expended for fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023. 

8 SEC. 310. NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISIONS. 

9 The following provisions of law shall apply to any pro10 gram or activity that receives funds provided under this 

11 title: 

12 (1) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 

13 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.). 

14 (2) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

15 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 

16 (3) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

17 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 

18 (4) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 

19 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

20 SEC. 311. MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT. 

21 (a) REVIEW OF COMPLIANCE WITH REQUIREMENTS

22 AND STATE PLAN.—The Secretary shall review and mon23 itor compliance of States, territories, Tribal entities, and 

24 local entities with this title and State compliance with the 

25 State plan described in section 303(e), including a process 


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1 for progress updates on the requirements described in sec2 tion 303(e)(1). 

3 (b) ISSUANCE OF RULE.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish by rule procedures for— 

5 (1) receiving, processing, and determining the 

6 validity of complaints or findings concerning any 

7 failure of a State to comply with the State plan or 

8 any other requirement of this title; 

9 (2) notifying a State when the Secretary has 

10 determined there has been a failure by the State to 

11 comply with a requirement of this title; and 

12 (3) imposing sanctions under this section for 

13 such a failure. 

14 SEC. 312. REPORTING. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State that receives a pay16 ment under section 303 shall prepare an annual report, 

17 in such manner and containing such information as the 

18 Secretary of Health and Human Services may reasonably 

19 require. 

20 (b) CONTENTS.—A report prepared under subpara21 graph (a) shall contain, at a minimum— 

22 (1) a description of the manner in which the 

23 State has used the funds made available through the 

24 payment and a report of the expenditures made with 

25 the funds; 


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1 (2) a summary of the State’s progress toward 

2 providing access to high-quality preschool programs 

3 for eligible children; 

4 (3) the number and percentage of children in 

5 the State participating in eligible preschool pro6 grams, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, family in7 come, child age, disability, and whether the children 

8 are homeless children, children in foster care, or 

9 dual language learners; 

10 (4) data on the number and percentage of chil11 dren in the State participating in public kinder12 garten programs, disaggregated by race, family in13 come, child age, disability, and whether the children 

14 are homeless children, children in foster care, or 

15 dual language learners, with information on whether 

16 such programs are offered— 

17 (A) for a full day; and 

18 (B) at no cost to families; 

19 (5) data on the kindergarten readiness of chil20 dren across the State; 

21 (6) data on recruitment and retention of early 

22 childhood staff disaggregated by provider type, and 

23 age of children served; and 

24 (7) data regarding coordination efforts with 

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1 grams, including those funded under the Head Start 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). 

3 TITLE IV—HEAD START 

4 EXTENDED DURATION 

5 SEC. 401. EXTENDED DURATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 9801 et seq.) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating section 657C (42 U.S.C. 

9 9852c) as section 657D; and 

10 (2) by inserting after section 657B (42 U.S.C. 

11 9852b) the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 657C. EXTENDED DURATION. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants 

14 to Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agen15 cies) funded under this subchapter to enable such agen16 cies— 

17 ‘‘(1) to provide access to a full school year and 

18 a full school day of services; 

19 ‘‘(2) in the case of a migrant and seasonal 

20 Head Start agency, to provide access to additional 

21 service hours to ensure continuous Head Start serv22 ices as determined by the Secretary; or 

23 ‘‘(3) in the case of a Head Start agency (in24 cluding an Early Head Start agency) that already 

25 meets the full-day, full-year services needs within its 


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1 community, to enhance the quality of Head Start 

2 services (including Early Head Start services) pro3 vided to children served by such agency. 

4 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

6 grant under this section, a Head Start agency shall 

7 submit an application at such time and in such man8 ner as the Secretary may require. Such application 

9 shall include— 

10 ‘‘(A) evidence of— 

11 ‘‘(i) the number and percentage of 

12 slots— 

13 ‘‘(I) in the agency’s Head Start 

14 center-based programs (that are not 

15 Early Head Start programs)— 

16 ‘‘(aa) that are currently 

17 funded (as of the date of submis18 sion of the application); and 

19 ‘‘(bb) in which services are 

20 provided for at least the equiva21 lent of 1,020 hours per year; and 

22 ‘‘(II) in the agency’s Early Head 

23 Start center-based programs— 

24 ‘‘(aa) that are currently 

25 funded (as of that date); and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) in which services are 

2 provided for at least the equiva3 lent of 1,380 hours per year; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the number and percentage of 

5 slots, in the agency’s Head Start family 

6 child care programs— 

7 ‘‘(I) that are currently funded 

8 (as of that date); and 

9 ‘‘(II) in which services are pro10 vided for at least the equivalent of 

11 1380 hours per year; 

12 ‘‘(B) a description of an approach, using 

13 the current community-wide strategic planning 

14 and needs assessment described in section 

15 640(g)(1)(C) and current program schedule 

16 (current as of the date of submission of the ap17 plication), that transitions all of the agency’s 

18 Head Start programs to a full school day, full 

19 school year program schedule; and 

20 ‘‘(C) a budget justification that estimates 

21 the supplemental funding necessary to provide 

22 for incremental ongoing operating costs for the 

23 extended hours of service under such a program 

24 schedule for the current enrollment in the agen25 cy’s Head Start programs. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD

3 START.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A migrant and 

5 seasonal Head Start agency may apply for 

6 a grant described in subsection (a) without 

7 meeting the requirements specified in para8 graph (1) to ensure continuous Head Start 

9 services are provided to children enrolled in 

10 a migrant and seasonal Head Start pro11 gram. To be eligible to receive the grant, 

12 the agency shall submit an application at 

13 such time and in such manner as the Sec14 retary may require. 

15 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY.—In making grants to 

16 applicants described in clause (i), the Sec17 retary shall give priority to a migrant and 

18 seasonal Head Start agency operating for 

19 fewer than 8 months per year. 

20 ‘‘(B) FULL-DAY, FULL-YEAR HEAD START

21 AGENCIES.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A Head Start 

23 agency (including an Early Head Start 

24 agency) that certifies to the Secretary that 

25 it is meeting the full-day, full-year need 


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1 within its community may apply for a 

2 grant to enhance the quality of services 

3 provided to children enrolled in its Head 

4 Start program (including its Early Head 

5 Start program) in accordance with sub6 section (c)(2). 

7 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATION.—A Head Start 

8 agency (including Early Head Start agen9 cy) that meets the requirements of clause 

10 (i) shall submit an application, which shall 

11 include— 

12 ‘‘(I) the proposed uses of funds 

13 in accordance with subsection (c)(2); 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(II) how such uses of funds re16 late to the community-wide strategic 

17 planning and needs assessment de18 scribed under section 640(g)(1)(C). 

19 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) EXTENDED DURATION.—A Head Start 

21 agency that meets the requirements of paragraph 

22 (1) or (2) of subsection (a) receiving a grant under 

23 this section shall use the grant funds to cover the 

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1 ice for the current enrollment, such as additional 

2 costs for— 

3 ‘‘(A) the purchase, rental, renovation, and 

4 maintenance of additional facilities; 

5 ‘‘(B) ongoing purchases of classroom sup6 plies; 

7 ‘‘(C) staff providing services during the ex8 tended hours; and 

9 ‘‘(D) professional development to staff 

10 transitioning to providing services during the 

11 extended hours. 

12 ‘‘(2) ENHANCING PROGRAM QUALITY.—A Head 

13 Start agency (including an Early Head Start agen14 cy) that meets the requirements of subsection (a)(3) 

15 shall use funds for the activities authorized under 

16 section 640(a)(5)(B). 

17 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—The Head Start agency 

18 shall not use the grant funds to expand the number 

19 of children served in the Head Start program (in20 cluding the Early Head Start program) of the agen21 cy. 

22 ‘‘(d) RESERVATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES.—From the total amount ap24 propriated to carry out this section, the Secretary 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) for making grants for the activities 

2 described in subsection (c)(1)(A), reserve 

3 $4,000,000,000 of the funds appropriated for 

4 fiscal year 2024; and 

5 ‘‘(B) for making grants for the activities 

6 described in any of subparagraphs (B) through 

7 (D) of subsection (c)(1), reserve— 

8 ‘‘(i) $833,000,000 of the funds appro9 priated for fiscal year 2024; 

10 ‘‘(ii) $852,000,000 of the funds ap11 propriated for fiscal year 2025; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) $872,000,000 of the funds ap13 propriated for fiscal year 2026. 

14 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize 

15 Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start 

16 agencies) that are applying to use funds to carry out 

17 the activities described in subsection (a)(1). 

18 ‘‘(3) MIGRANT OR SEASONAL HEAD START PRO19 GRAMS.—From the amount appropriated to carry 

20 out this section for a fiscal year and reserved under 

21 paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary shall reserve 4.5 

22 percent for migrant or seasonal Head Start pro23 grams. 


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1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec3 tion— 

4 ‘‘(1) $4,833,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

5 ‘‘(2) $852,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

6 ‘‘(3) $872,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 

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

8 ‘‘(1) FULL SCHOOL DAY; FULL SCHOOL

9 YEAR.—The terms ‘full school day’ and ‘full school 

10 year’ mean such a day and year, respectively, within 

11 the meaning of the Head Start Program Perform12 ance standards issued under section 641A(a). 

13 ‘‘(2) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START

14 AGENCY.—The term ‘migrant and seasonal Head 

15 Start agency’ means an agency that is funded under 

16 this subchapter to provide a migrant and seasonal 

17 Head Start program.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 640 of the 

19 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ‘‘appro21 priated under this subchapter’’ each place it appears 

22 and inserting ‘‘appropriated under section 639’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (g)(3)(A)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘amount appropriated’’ 

2 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘amount 

3 appropriated under section 639’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘services provided under 

5 this subchapter’’ and inserting ‘‘services pro6 vided under this subchapter (other than section 

7 657C)’’; and 

8 (C) by striking ‘‘agency under this sub9 chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘agency under this sub10 chapter (other than section 657C)’’. 

11 SEC. 402. APPROPRIATION FOR WAGES. 

12 (a) APPROPRIATION.—There is authorized to be ap13 propriated, and there is appropriated, out of any funds 

14 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

15 $2,700,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each subsequent 

16 fiscal year, to carry out subsection (b). 

17 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Using funds made available 

18 under subsection (a), the Secretary of Health and Human 

19 Services shall assist Head Start agencies (including Early 

20 Head Start agencies) funded under the Head Start Act 

21 (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), to the extent needed to ensure 

22 that their teachers and staff— 

23 (1) receive wages that are comparable to wages 

24 for elementary educators with similar credentials 

25 and experience in the State; or 


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1 (2) at a minimum, receive a living wage. 

2 (c) APPLICATION.—In carrying out subsection (b), 

3 the Secretary shall apply the Head Start Act, except to 

4 the extent that subsection (b) is inconsistent with that 

5 Act. 

Æ 


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