I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2000

To establish the Child Care Provider Development and Retention Grant 

Program, the Child Care Provider Scholarship Program, and a program 

of child care provider health benefits coverage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2005

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. KILDEE, 

Ms. DELAURO, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. STARK, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. OWENS, Mrs. 

MCCARTHY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

BROWN of Ohio, and Mr. WEINER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To establish the Child Care Provider Development and Retention Grant Program, the Child Care Provider Scholarship Program, and a program of child care provider 

health benefits coverage, and for other purposes.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Focus On Committed 

3 and Underpaid Staff for Children’s Sake Act’’ or as the 

4 ‘‘FOCUS Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) Research on early brain development and 

9 early childhood demonstrates that the experiences 

10 children have and the attachments children form 

11 early in life have a decisive, long-lasting impact on 

12 their later development and learning. 

13 (2) High-quality, developmentally appropriate 

14 child care beginning in early childhood and con15 tinuing through the years that children are in school 

16 improves the scholastic success and educational at17 tainment of children, and the success and attain18 ment persist into adulthood. 

19 (3) According to a growing body of research, 

20 the single most important determinant of child care 

21 quality is the presence of consistent, sensitive, well22 trained, and well-compensated child care providers. 

23 However, child care programs nationwide experience 

24 high turnover in teaching staff, fueled by poor com25 pensation and few opportunities for advancement. 
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1 (4) The Department of Labor reports that, in 

2 2003, the average wage for a child care provider was 

3 $8.47 per hour, or $17,610 annually. For full-time, 

4 full-year work, the average annual wage for a child 

5 care provider was not much above the 2003 poverty 

6 line of $14,824 for a family consisting of a parent 

7 and 2 children. Family child care providers earned 

8 even less. The median weekly wage of a family child 

9 care provider in 2003 was $334, which equals an an10 nual wage of $17,368. 

11 (5) Despite the important role child care pro12 viders may play in early child development and 

13 learning, on average, a child care provider earns less 

14 in a year than a bus driver ($30,730), barber 

15 ($23,300), or janitor ($20,480). 

16 (6) Employer-sponsored benefits are minimal 

17 for most child care staff. Even for child care pro18 viders at child care centers, the availability of health 

19 care coverage for staff remains woefully inadequate. 

20 (7) To offer compensation that would be suffi21 cient to attract and retain qualified child care pro22 viders, child care programs would have to charge 

23 parents fees that many parents could not afford. For 

24 programs that serve low-income children whose fami25 lies qualify for Federal and State child care sub-
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1 sidies, the reimbursement rates set by the State 

2 strongly influence the level of compensation that 

3 staff receive. Current reimbursement rates for cen4 ter-based child care services and family child care 

5 services are insufficient to recruit and retain quali6 fied child care providers and to ensure high-quality 

7 services for children. 

8 (8) Teachers leaving the profession are being 

9 replaced by staff with less education and formal 

10 training in early child development. 

11 (9) As a result of low wages and limited bene12 fits, many child care providers do not work for long 

13 periods in the child care field. Approximately 30 per14 cent of all teaching staff employed at child care cen15 ters leaves employment with a child care center each 

16 year. 

17 (10) Child care providers, as well as the chil18 dren, families, and businesses that depend upon the 

19 providers, suffer the consequences of inadequate 

20 compensation. This is true, with few exceptions, for 

21 providers in all types of programs, including sub22 sidized and nonsubsidized programs, programs of23 fered by for-profit and nonprofit entities, and pro24 grams in large and small child care settings. 
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1 (11) Because of the severe nationwide shortage 

2 of qualified staff available for employment by child 

3 care programs, several States have recently initiated 

4 programs to improve the quality of child care by in5 creasing the training and compensation of child care 

6 providers. Such programs encourage the training, 

7 education, and increased retention of qualified child 

8 care providers by offering financial incentives, in9 cluding scholarships and increases in compensation, 

10 that range from $350 to $6,500 annually. 

11 (12) Family child care providers are almost 

12 twice as likely to lack health insurance as the gen13 eral population. One in four child care centers does 

14 not offer health insurance benefits to employees. 

15 Even child care providers with health insurance cov16 erage state that it is difficult to afford out-of-pocket 

17 health care expenses. 

18 (13) In a study of lower income family child 

19 care providers without health insurance, more than 

20 half had used emergency room services for their own 

21 health care in the past year. 

22 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

23 (1) to establish the Child Care Provider Devel24 opment and Retention Grant Program, the Child 
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1 Care Provider Scholarship Program, and a program 

2 of child care provider health benefits coverage; and 

3 (2) to help children receive the high quality 

4 child care and early education the children need for 

5 positive cognitive and social development, by reward6 ing and promoting the retention of committed, quali7 fied child care providers and by providing financial 

8 assistance to improve the educational qualifications 

9 of child care providers. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘child 

13 care provider’’ means an individual who provides a 

14 service directly to a child on a person-to-person basis 

15 for compensation for—

16 (A) a center-based child care provider that 

17 is licensed or regulated under State or local law 

18 and that satisfies the State and local require19 ments applicable to the child care services pro20 vided; 

21 (B) a licensed or regulated family child 

22 care provider that satisfies the State and local 

23 requirements applicable to the child care serv24 ices provided; or 
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1 (C) an out-of-school time program that is 

2 licensed or regulated under State or local law 

3 and that satisfies the State and local require4 ments applicable to the child care services pro5 vided. 

6 (2) FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The term 

7 ‘‘family child care provider’’ has the meaning given 

8 such term in section 658P of the Child Care and 

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

10 9858n). 

11 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

12 has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 

13 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

14 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

15 (4) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 

16 means the agency designated under section 658D of 

17 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 

18 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b). 

19 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

21 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

22 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

23 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of 

24 the United States, Guam, American Samoa, or the 

25 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 
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1 (7) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 

2 organization’’ has the meaning given the term in 

3 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu4 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

5 SEC. 4. FUNDS FOR CHILD CARE PROVIDER DEVELOPMENT 

6 AND RETENTION GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS, 

7 AND HEALTH BENEFITS COVERAGE. 

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

9 carry out this Act, the Secretary may allot and distribute 

10 funds to eligible States, and make payments to Indian 

11 tribes and tribal organizations, to pay for the Federal 

12 share of the cost of carrying out activities under sections 

13 7, 8, and 9 for eligible child care providers. 

14 (b) ALLOTMENTS.—The funds shall be allotted and 

15 distributed, and the payments shall be made, by the Sec16 retary in accordance with section 5, and expended by the 

17 States (directly, or at the option of the States, through 

18 units of general purpose local government), and by Indian 

19 tribes and tribal organizations, in accordance with this 

20 Act. 

21 SEC. 5. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES. 

22 (a) AMOUNTS RESERVED.—

23 (1) TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS.—The Secretary shall reserve not more than 1 24 ⁄2 of 1 percent 

25 of the funds appropriated under section 12(a), and 
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not more than 1 1 ⁄2 of 1 percent of the funds appro2 priated under section 12(b), for any fiscal year for 

3 payments to the Virgin Islands of the United States, 

4 Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 

5 the Northern Mariana Islands, to be allotted in ac6 cordance with their respective needs. 

7 (2) INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZA8 TIONS.—The Secretary shall reserve not more than 

9 3 percent of the funds appropriated under section 

10 12(a), and not more than 3 percent of the funds ap11 propriated under section 12(b), for any fiscal year 

12 for payments to Indian tribes and tribal organiza13 tions with applications approved under subsection 

14 (c). 

15 (b) ALLOTMENTS TO REMAINING STATES.—

16 (1) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—From the funds 

17 appropriated under section 12(a) for any fiscal year 

18 and remaining after the reservations made under 

19 subsection (a), and from the funds appropriated 

20 under section 12(b) for any fiscal year and remain21 ing after the reservations made under subsection (a), 

22 the Secretary shall allot to each State an amount 

23 equal to the sum of—

24 (A) an amount that bears the same ratio 

25 to 50 percent of the appropriate remainder as 
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1 the product of the young child factor of the 

2 State and the allotment percentage of the State 

3 bears to the sum of the corresponding products 

4 for all States; and 

5 (B) an amount that bears the same ratio 

6 to 50 percent of such remainder as the product 

7 of the school lunch factor of the State and the 

8 allotment percentage of the State bears to the 

9 sum of the corresponding products for all 

10 States. 

11 (2) YOUNG CHILD FACTOR.—In this subsection, 

12 the term ‘‘young child factor’’ means the ratio of the 

13 number of children under 5 years of age in the State 

14 to the number of such children in all the States, as 

15 determined according to the most recent annual esti16 mates of population in the States, as provided by the 

17 Bureau of the Census. 

18 (3) SCHOOL LUNCH FACTOR.—In this sub19 section, the term ‘‘school lunch factor’’ means the 

20 ratio of the number of children who are receiving 

21 free or reduced price lunches under the school lunch 

22 program established under the Richard B. Russell 

23 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) 

24 in the State to the number of such children in all 
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1 the States, as determined annually by the Depart2 ment of Agriculture. 

3 (4) ALLOTMENT PERCENTAGE.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), for purposes of this sub6 section, the allotment percentage for a State 

7 shall be determined by dividing the per capita 

8 income of all individuals in the United States, 

9 by the per capita income of all individuals in 

10 the State. 

11 (B) LIMITATIONS.—For purposes of this 

12 subsection, if an allotment percentage deter13 mined under subparagraph (A)—

14 (i) is more than 1.2 percent, the allot15 ment percentage of that State shall be con16 sidered to be 1.2 percent; and 

17 (ii) is less than 0.8 percent, the allot18 ment percentage of the State shall be con19 sidered to be 0.8 percent. 

20 (C) PER CAPITA INCOME.—For purposes 

21 of subparagraph (A), per capita income shall 

22 be—

23 (i) determined at 2-year intervals; 

24 (ii) applied for the 2-year period be25 ginning on October 1 of the first fiscal 
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1 year beginning after the date such deter2 mination is made; and 

3 (iii) equal to the average of the an4 nual per capita incomes for the most re5 cent period of 3 consecutive years for 

6 which satisfactory data are available from 

7 the Department of Commerce at the time 

8 such determination is made. 

9 (c) PAYMENTS TO INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL OR10 GANIZATIONS.—

11 (1) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From amounts 

12 reserved under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary may 

13 make grants to or enter into contracts with Indian 

14 tribes and tribal organizations that submit applica15 tions under this subsection, to plan and carry out 

16 programs and activities—

17 (A) to encourage child care providers to 

18 improve their qualifications; 

19 (B) to retain qualified child care providers 

20 in the child care field; and 

21 (C) to provide health benefits coverage for 

22 child care providers. 

23 (2) APPLICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS.—To 

24 be eligible to receive a grant or contract under this 

25 subsection, an Indian tribe or tribal organization 
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1 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

2 time, in such manner, and containing such informa3 tion as the Secretary may require. The application 

4 shall provide that the applicant—

5 (A) will coordinate the programs and ac6 tivities involved, to the maximum extent prac7 ticable, with the lead agency in each State in 

8 which the applicant will carry out such pro9 grams and activities; and 

10 (B) will make such reports on, and conduct 

11 such audits of the funds made available through 

12 the grant or contract for, programs and activi13 ties under this Act as the Secretary may re14 quire. 

15 (d) DATA AND INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall 

16 obtain from each appropriate Federal agency, the most re17 cent data and information necessary to determine the al18 lotments provided for in subsection (b). 

19 (e) REALLOTMENTS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any portion of an allotment 

21 under subsection (b) to a State for a fiscal year that 

22 the Secretary determines will not be distributed to 

23 the State for such fiscal year shall be reallotted by 

24 the Secretary to other States in proportion to the 
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1 original corresponding allotments made under such 

2 subsection to such States for such fiscal year. 

3 (2) LIMITATIONS.—

4 (A) REDUCTION.—The amount of any re5 allotment to which a State is entitled under this 

6 subsection shall be reduced to the extent that 

7 such amount exceeds the amount that the Sec8 retary estimates will be distributed to the State 

9 to carry out corresponding activities under this 

10 Act. 

11 (B) REALLOTMENTS.—The amount of 

12 such reduction shall be reallotted to States for 

13 which no reduction in a corresponding allot14 ment, or in a corresponding reallotment, is re15 quired by this subsection, in proportion to the 

16 original corresponding allotments made under 

17 subsection (b) to such States for such fiscal 

18 year. 

19 (3) AMOUNTS REALLOTTED.—For purposes of 

20 this Act (other than this subsection and subsection 

21 (b)), any amount reallotted to a State under this 

22 subsection shall be considered to be part of the cor23 responding allotment made under subsection (b) to 

24 the State. 
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1 (4) INDIAN TRIBES OR TRIBAL ORGANIZA2 TIONS.—Any portion of a grant or contract made to 

3 an Indian tribe or tribal organization under sub4 section (c) that the Secretary determines is not 

5 being used in a manner consistent with the provision 

6 of this subchapter in the period for which the grant 

7 or contract is made available, shall be used by the 

8 Secretary to make payments to other tribes or orga9 nizations that have submitted applications under 

10 subsection (c) in accordance with their respective 

11 needs. 

12 (f) COST-SHARING.—

13 (1) CHILD CARE PROVIDER DEVELOPMENT AND

14 RETENTION GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS.—

15 (A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share 

16 of the cost of carrying out activities under sec17 tions 7 and 8, with funds allotted under this 

18 section and distributed by the Secretary to a 

19 State, shall be—

20 (i) not more than 90 percent of the 

21 cost of each grant made under such sec22 tions, in the first fiscal year for which the 

23 State receives such funds; 

24 (ii) not more than 85 percent of the 

25 cost of each grant made under such sec-
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1 tions, in the second fiscal year for which 

2 the State receives such funds; 

3 (iii) not more than 80 percent of the 

4 cost of each grant made under such sec5 tions, in the third fiscal year for which the 

6 State receives such funds; and 

7 (iv) not more than 75 percent of the 

8 cost of each grant made under such sec9 tions, in any subsequent fiscal year for 

10 which the State receives such funds. 

11 (B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—The State may pro13 vide the non-Federal share of the cost in 

14 cash or in the form of an in-kind contribu15 tion, fairly evaluated by the Secretary. 

16 (ii) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTION.—In this 

17 subparagraph, the term ‘‘in-kind contribu18 tion’’ means payment of the costs of par19 ticipation of eligible child care providers in 

20 health insurance programs or retirement 

21 programs. 

22 (2) CHILD CARE PROVIDER HEALTH BENEFITS

23 COVERAGE.—

24 (A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share 

25 of the cost of carrying out activities under sec-
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1 tion 9, with funds allotted under this section 

2 and distributed by the Secretary to a State, 

3 shall be not more than 50 percent of such cost. 

4 (B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The State 

5 may provide the non-Federal share of the cost 

6 in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated by the Sec7 retary, including plant, equipment, or services. 

8 The State shall provide the non-Federal share 

9 directly or through donations from public or 

10 private entities. Amounts provided by the Fed11 eral Government, or services assisted or sub12 sidized to any significant extent by the Federal 

13 Government, may not be included in deter14 mining the amount of such share. 

15 (g) AVAILABILITY OF ALLOTTED FUNDS DISTRIB16 UTED TO STATES.—Of the funds allotted under this sec17 tion for activities described in sections 7 and 8 and distrib18 uted by the Secretary to a State for a fiscal year—

19 (1) not less than 67.5 percent shall be available 

20 to the State for grants under section 7; 

21 (2) not less than 22.5 percent shall be available 

22 to the State for grants under section 8; and 

23 (3) not more than 10 percent shall be available 

24 to pay administrative costs incurred by the State to 

25 carry out activities described in sections 7 and 8. 
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1 (h) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of subsections 

2 (a) through (e), the term ‘‘State’’ includes only the 50 

3 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth 

4 of Puerto Rico. 

5 SEC. 6. APPLICATION AND PLAN. 

6 (a) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a dis7 tribution of funds allotted under section 5, a State shall 

8 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in 

9 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec10 retary may require by rule and shall include in such appli11 cation—

12 (1) a State plan that satisfies the requirements 

13 of subsection (b); and 

14 (2) assurances of compliance satisfactory to the 

15 Secretary with respect to the requirements of section 

16 9. 

17 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF PLAN.—

18 (1) LEAD AGENCY.—The State plan shall iden19 tify the lead agency to make grants under this Act 

20 for the State. 

21 (2) RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF CHILD

22 CARE PROVIDERS.—The State plan shall describe 

23 how the lead agency will encourage both the recruit24 ment of qualified child care providers who are new 

25 to the child care field and the retention of qualified 
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1 child care providers who have a demonstrated com2 mitment to the child care field. 

3 (3) NOTIFICATION OF AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS

4 AND BENEFITS.—The State plan shall describe how 

5 the lead agency will identify all eligible child care 

6 providers in the State and notify the providers of the 

7 availability of grants and benefits under this Act. 

8 (4) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—The State 

9 plan shall describe how the lead agency will make 

10 grants under sections 7 and 8 to eligible child care 

11 providers in selected geographical areas in the State 

12 in compliance with the following requirements: 

13 (A) SELECTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL

14 AREAS.—For the purpose of making such 

15 grants for a fiscal year, the State shall—

16 (i) select a variety of geographical 

17 areas, determined by the State, that, col18 lectively—

19 (I) include urban areas, suburban 

20 areas, and rural areas; and 

21 (II) are areas whose residents 

22 have diverse income levels; and 

23 (ii) give special consideration to geo24 graphical areas selected under this sub25 paragraph for the preceding fiscal year. 
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1 (B) SELECTION OF CHILD CARE PRO2 VIDERS TO RECEIVE GRANTS.—In making 

3 grants under section 7, the State may make 

4 grants only to eligible child care providers in 

5 geographical areas selected under subparagraph 

6 (A), but may give special consideration in such 

7 areas to eligible child care providers—

8 (i) who have attained a higher rel9 evant educational credential; 

10 (ii) who provide a specific kind of 

11 child care services; 

12 (iii) who provide child care services to 

13 populations who meet specific economic 

14 characteristics; or 

15 (iv) who meet such other criteria as 

16 the State may establish. 

17 (C) LIMITATION.—The State shall describe 

18 how the State will ensure that grants made 

19 under section 7 to child care providers will not 

20 be used to offset reductions in the compensation 

21 of such providers. 

22 (D) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—With re23 spect to each particular geographical area se24 lected under subparagraph (A), the State shall 

25 provide an assurance that the State will, for 
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1 each fiscal year for which such State receives a 

2 grant under section 7—

3 (i) include in the report required by 

4 section 10, detailed information regard5 ing—

6 (I) the continuity of employment 

7 of the grant recipients as child care 

8 providers with the same employer; 

9 (II) with respect to each em10 ployer that employed such a grant re11 cipient, whether such employer was 

12 accredited by a recognized national or 

13 State accrediting body during the pe14 riod of employment; and 

15 (III) to the extent practicable 

16 and available to the State, the rate 

17 and frequency of employment turnover 

18 of qualified child care providers 

19 throughout such area, 

20 during the 2-year period ending on the 

21 deadline for submission of applications for 

22 grants under section 7 for that fiscal year; 

23 and 

24 (ii) provide a follow-up report, not 

25 later than 90 days after the end of the suc-
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1 ceeding fiscal year that includes informa2 tion regarding—

3 (I) the continuity of employment 

4 of the grant recipients as child care 

5 providers with the same employer; 

6 (II) with respect to each em7 ployer that employed such a grant re8 cipient, whether such employer was 

9 accredited by a recognized national or 

10 State accrediting body during the pe11 riod of employment; and 

12 (III) to the extent practicable 

13 and available to the State, detailed in14 formation regarding the rate and fre15 quency of employment turnover of 

16 qualified child care providers through17 out such area, 

18 during the 1-year period beginning on the 

19 date on which the grant to the State was 

20 made under section 7. 

21 (5) CHILD CARE PROVIDER DEVELOPMENT AND

22 RETENTION GRANT PROGRAM.—The State plan shall 

23 describe how the lead agency will determine the 

24 amounts of grants to be made under section 7 in ac25 cordance with the following requirements: 
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1 (A) SUFFICIENT AMOUNTS.—The State 

2 shall demonstrate that the amounts of indi3 vidual grants to be made under section 7 will 

4 be sufficient—

5 (i) to encourage child care providers 

6 to improve their qualifications; and 

7 (ii) to retain qualified child care pro8 viders in the child care field. 

9 (B) AMOUNTS TO CREDENTIALED PRO10 VIDERS.—Such grants made to eligible child 

11 care providers who have a child development as12 sociate credential (or equivalent) and who are 

13 employed full-time to provide child care services 

14 shall be in an amount that is not less than 

15 $1,000 per year. 

16 (C) AMOUNTS TO PROVIDERS WITH HIGH17 ER LEVELS OF EDUCATION.—The State shall 

18 make such grants in amounts greater than 

19 $1,000 per year to eligible child care providers 

20 who have higher levels of education than the 

21 education required for a credential such as a 

22 child development associate credential (or equiv23 alent), according to the following requirements: 

24 (i) PROVIDERS WITH BACCALAUREATE

25 DEGREES IN RELEVANT FIELDS.—An eligi-
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1 ble child care provider who has a bacca2 laureate degree in the area of child devel3 opment or early child education shall re4 ceive a grant under section 7 in an amount 

5 that is not less than twice the amount of 

6 the grant that is made under section 7 to 

7 an eligible child care provider who has an 

8 associate of the arts degree in the area of 

9 child development or early child education. 

10 (ii) PROVIDERS WITH ASSOCIATE DE11 GREES.—An eligible child care provider 

12 who has an associate of the arts degree in 

13 the area of child development or early child 

14 education shall receive a grant under sec15 tion 7 in an amount that is not less than 

16 150 percent of the amount of the grant 

17 that is made under section 7 to an eligible 

18 child care provider who has a child devel19 opment associate credential (or equivalent) 

20 and is employed full-time to provide child 

21 care services. 

22 (iii) OTHER PROVIDERS WITH BACCA23 LAUREATE DEGREES.—

24 (I) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro25 vided in subclause (II), an eligible 
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1 child care provider who has a bacca2 laureate degree in a field other than 

3 child development or early child edu4 cation shall receive a grant under sec5 tion 7 in an amount equal to the 

6 amount of the grant that is made 

7 under section 7 to an eligible child 

8 care provider who has an associate of 

9 the arts degree in the area of child de10 velopment or early child education. 

11 (II) EXCEPTION.—If an eligible 

12 child care provider who has such a 

13 baccalaureate degree obtains addi14 tional educational training in the area 

15 of child development or early child 

16 education, as specified by the State, 

17 such provider shall receive a grant 

18 under section 7 in an amount equal to 

19 the amount of the grant that is made 

20 under section 7 to an eligible child 

21 care provider who has a baccalaureate 

22 degree specified in clause (i). 

23 (D) AMOUNTS TO FULL-TIME PRO24 VIDERS.—The State shall make a grant under 

25 section 7 to an eligible child care provider who 
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1 works full-time in a greater amount than the 

2 amount of the grant that is made under section 

3 7 to an eligible child care provider who works 

4 part-time, based on the State definitions of full5 time and part-time work. 

6 (E) AMOUNTS TO EXPERIENCED PRO7 VIDERS.—The State shall make grants under 

8 section 7 in progressively larger amounts to eli9 gible child care providers to reflect the number 

10 of years worked as child care providers. 

11 (6) DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD CARE PROVIDER

12 SCHOLARSHIPS.—The State plan shall describe how 

13 the lead agency will make grants for scholarships in 

14 compliance with section 8 and shall specify the types 

15 of educational and training programs for which the 

16 scholarship grants made under such section may be 

17 used, including only programs that—

18 (A) are administered by institutions of 

19 higher education that are eligible to participate 

20 in student financial assistance programs under 

21 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

22 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); and 

23 (B) lead to a State or nationally recog24 nized credential in the area of child develop25 ment or early child education, an associate of 
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1 the arts degree in the area of child development 

2 or early child education, or a baccalaureate de3 gree in the area of child development or early 

4 child education. 

5 (7) EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION.—The State 

6 plan shall describe how the lead agency will encour7 age employers of child care providers to contribute 

8 to the attainment of education goals by eligible child 

9 care providers who receive grants under section 8. 

10 (8) SUPPLEMENTATION.—The State plan shall 

11 provide assurances that amounts received by the 

12 State to carry out sections 7, 8, and 9 will be used 

13 only to supplement, and not to supplant, Federal, 

14 State, and local funds otherwise available to support 

15 existing services and activities (as of the date the 

16 amounts are used) that—

17 (A) encourage child care providers to im18 prove their qualifications and that promote the 

19 retention of qualified child care providers in the 

20 child care field; or 

21 (B) provide health benefits coverage for 

22 child care providers. 
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1 SEC. 7. CHILD CARE PROVIDER DEVELOPMENT AND RE2 TENTION GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds allot4 ted under section 5 and made available to carry out this 

5 section shall expend such funds to pay for the Federal 

6 share of the cost of making grants to eligible child care 

7 providers in accordance with this section, to improve the 

8 qualifications and promote the retention of qualified child 

9 care providers. 

10 (b) ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE GRANTS.—To be eligi11 ble to receive a grant under this section, a child care pro12 vider shall—

13 (1) have a child development associate creden14 tial (or equivalent), an associate of the arts degree 

15 in the area of child development or early child edu16 cation, a baccalaureate degree in the area of child 

17 development or early child education, or a bacca18 laureate degree in an unrelated field; and 

19 (2) be employed as a child care provider for not 

20 less than 1 calendar year, or (if the provider is em21 ployed on the date of the eligibility determination in 

22 a child care program that operates for less than a 

23 full calendar year) the program equivalent of 1 cal24 endar year, ending on the date of the application for 

25 such grant, except that not more than 3 months of 

26 education related to child development or to early 
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1 child education obtained during the corresponding 

2 calendar year may be treated as employment that 

3 satisfies the requirements of this paragraph. 

4 (c) PRESERVATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—A State shall 

5 not take into consideration whether a child care provider 

6 is receiving, may receive, or may be eligible to receive any 

7 funds or benefits under any other provision of this Act 

8 for purposes of selecting eligible child care providers to 

9 receive grants under this section. 

10 SEC. 8. CHILD CARE PROVIDER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds allot12 ted under section 5 and made available to carry out this 

13 section shall expend such funds to pay for the Federal 

14 share of the cost of making scholarship grants to eligible 

15 child care providers in accordance with this section, to im16 prove their educational qualifications to provide child care 

17 services. 

18 (b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT FOR SCHOLARSHIP

19 GRANTS.—To be eligible to receive a scholarship grant 

20 under this section, a child care provider shall be employed 

21 as a child care provider for not less than 1 calendar year, 

22 or (if the provider is employed on the date of the eligibility 

23 determination in a child care program that operates for 

24 less than a full calendar year) the program equivalent of 
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1 1 calendar year, ending on the date of the application for 

2 such grant. 

3 (c) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.—For purposes of se4 lecting eligible child care providers to receive scholarship 

5 grants under this section and determining the amounts of 

6 such grants, a State shall not—

7 (1) take into consideration whether a child care 

8 provider is receiving, may receive, or may be eligible 

9 to receive any funds or benefits under any other pro10 vision of this Act, or under any other Federal or 

11 State law that provides funds for educational pur12 poses; or 

13 (2) consider as resources of such provider any 

14 funds such provider is receiving, may receive, or may 

15 be eligible to receive under any other provision of 

16 this Act, under any other Federal or State law that 

17 provides funds for educational purposes, or from a 

18 private entity. 

19 (d) COST-SHARING REQUIRED.—The amount of a 

20 scholarship grant made under this section to an eligible 

21 child care provider shall be less than the cost of the edu22 cational or training program for which such grant is made. 

23 (e) ANNUAL MAXIMUM SCHOLARSHIP GRANT

24 AMOUNT.—The maximum aggregate dollar amount of a 
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1 scholarship grant made by a State to an eligible child care 

2 provider under this section in a fiscal year shall be $1,500. 

3 SEC. 9. CHILD CARE PROVIDER HEALTH BENEFITS COV4 ERAGE. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Healthy Early Education Workforce Grant Program 

7 Act’’ . 

8 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘‘depend9 ent’’, ‘‘domestic partner’’, and ‘‘spouse’’, used with respect 

10 to a State, have the meanings given the terms by the 

11 State. 

12 (c) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—A State that receives 

13 funds allotted under section 5 and made available to carry 

14 out this section shall expend such funds to pay for the 

15 Federal share of the cost of providing access to affordable 

16 health benefits coverage for—

17 (1) eligible child care providers; and 

18 (2) at the discretion of the State involved, the 

19 spouses, domestic partners, and dependents of such 

20 providers. 

21 (d) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub22 section (c), the State may expend such funds for any of 

23 the following: 

24 (1) To reimburse an employer of an eligible 

25 child care provider, or the provider, for the employ-
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1 er’s or provider’s share (or a portion of the share) 

2 of the premiums or other costs for coverage under 

3 group or individual health plans. 

4 (2) To offset the cost of enrolling eligible child 

5 care providers in public health benefits plans, such 

6 as the medicaid program under title XIX of the So7 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the State 

8 children’s health insurance program under title XXI 

9 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.), or public 

10 employee health benefit plans. 

11 (3) To otherwise subsidize the cost of health 

12 benefits coverage for eligible child care providers. 

13 (e) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR HEALTH BENEFITS

14 COVERAGE.—The State may establish criteria to limit the 

15 child care providers who may receive benefits through the 

16 allotment. 

17 (f) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.—For purposes of se18 lecting eligible child care providers to receive benefits 

19 under this section for a fiscal year, a State shall give—

20 (1) highest priority to—

21 (A) providers that meet any applicable cri22 teria established in accordance with subsection 

23 (e) and received such assistance during the pre24 vious fiscal year; and 
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1 (B) at the State’s discretion, the spouses, 

2 domestic partners, and dependents of such pro3 viders; and 

4 (2) second highest priority to—

5 (A) providers that meet any applicable cri6 teria established in accordance with subsection 

7 (e) and are accredited by the National Associa8 tion for the Education of Young Children or the 

9 National Association for Family Child Care; 

10 and 

11 (B) at the State’s discretion, the spouses, 

12 domestic partners, and dependents of such pro13 viders. 

14 SEC. 10. ANNUAL REPORT. 

15 A State that receives funds appropriated to carry out 

16 this Act for a fiscal year shall submit to the Secretary, 

17 not later than 90 days after the end of such fiscal year, 

18 a report—

19 (1) specifying the uses for which the State ex20 pended such funds, and the aggregate amount of 

21 funds (including State funds) expended for each of 

22 such uses; 

23 (2) containing available data relating to grants 

24 made and benefits provided with such funds, includ25 ing—
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1 (A) the number of eligible child care pro2 viders who received such grants and benefits; 

3 (B) the amounts of such grants and bene4 fits; 

5 (C) any other information that describes or 

6 evaluates the effectiveness of this Act; 

7 (D) the particular geographical areas se8 lected under section 6 for the purpose of mak9 ing such grants; 

10 (E) with respect to grants made under sec11 tion 7—

12 (i) the number of years grant recipi13 ents have been employed as child care pro14 viders; 

15 (ii) the level of training and education 

16 of grant recipients; 

17 (iii) to the extent practicable and 

18 available to the State, detailed information 

19 regarding the salaries and other compensa20 tion received by grant recipients to provide 

21 child care services before, during, and after 

22 receiving such grants; 

23 (iv) the number of children who re24 ceived child care services provided by grant 

25 recipients; 
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1 (v) information on family demo2 graphics of such children; 

3 (vi) the types of settings described in 

4 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 

5 3(1) in which grant recipients are em6 ployed; and 

7 (vii) the ages of the children who re8 ceived child care services provided by grant 

9 recipients; 

10 (F) with respect to grants made under sec11 tion 8—

12 (i) the number of years grant recipi13 ents have been employed as child care pro14 viders; 

15 (ii) the level of training and education 

16 of grant recipients; 

17 (iii) to the extent practicable and 

18 available to the State, detailed information 

19 regarding the salaries and other compensa20 tion received by grant recipients to provide 

21 child care services before, during, and after 

22 receiving such grants; 

23 (iv) the types of settings described in 

24 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 
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1 3(1) in which grant recipients are em2 ployed; 

3 (v) the ages of the children who re4 ceived child care services provided by grant 

5 recipients; 

6 (vi) the number of course credits or 

7 credentials obtained by grant recipients; 

8 and 

9 (vii) the amount of time taken for 

10 completion of the educational and training 

11 programs for which such grants were 

12 made; and 

13 (G) such other information as the Sec14 retary may require by rule. 

15 SEC. 11. EVALUATION OF HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAMS BY 

16 SECRETARY. 

17 (a) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall conduct an 

18 evaluation of several State programs carried out with 

19 grants made under section 9, representing various ap20 proaches to raising the rate of child care providers with 

21 health benefits coverage. 

22 (b) ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS.—In evaluating State 

23 programs under subsection (a), the Secretary may con24 sider any information appropriate to measure the success 
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1 of the programs, and shall assess the impact of the pro2 grams on the following: 

3 (1) The rate of child care providers with health 

4 benefits coverage. 

5 (2) The take-up rate by eligible child care pro6 viders. 

7 (3) The turnover rate in the child care field. 

8 (4) The average wages paid to a child care pro9 vider. 

10 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and 

12 submit a report to Congress containing the results of the 

13 evaluation conducted under subsection (a), together with 

14 recommendations for strengthening programs carried out 

15 with grants made under section 9. 

16 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 (a) CHILD CARE PROVIDER DEVELOPMENT, RETEN18 TION, AND SCHOLARSHIPS.—There are authorized to be 

19 appropriated to carry out the activities described in sec20 tions 7 and 8 $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and such 

21 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2007 

22 through 2010. 

23 (b) CHILD CARE PROVIDER HEALTH BENEFITS COV24 ERAGE.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry 

25 out the activities described in section 9 $200,000,000 for 
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1 fiscal year 2006 and such sums as may be necessary for 

2 each of fiscal years 2007 through 2010.

Æ