II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1000 

To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to 

improve access to high-quality early learning and child care for lowincome children and working families, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2009 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mrs. LINCOLN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

Act of 1990 to improve access to high-quality early learning and child care for low-income children and working 

families, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Starting Early Start5 ing Right Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


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1 (1) Children in child care learn and develop 

2 skills they need to succeed in school and in life. 

3 Child care is also fundamental to helping families 

4 get ahead by giving parents the support and peace 

5 of mind they need to be productive at work. 

6 (2) Child care teachers and providers carry the 

7 responsibility of providing a safe, nurturing, and 

8 stimulating setting for children entrusted to them 

9 each day. 

10 (3) In 2006, the average wage for a child care 

11 worker was $9.05 per hour or $18,820 annually. For 

12 full-time, full-year work this is only slightly above 

13 the 2006 poverty guidelines of $16,600 for a mother 

14 with 2 children. 

15 (4) As a result of low wages and limited bene16 fits, many child care providers do not work for long 

17 periods in the child care field. Only 65 percent of 

18 those employed in the child care field in 2005 were 

19 still working in child care in 2006. Such high turn20 over rates deny children consistent and stable rela21 tionships with their teachers. 

22 (5) Current reimbursement rates for child care 

23 providers receiving Federal funds are insufficient to 

24 recruit and retain qualified child care providers and 


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1 to ensure high-quality early care and education serv2 ices for children. 

3 (6) Research shows that high-quality child care 

4 helps low-income children enter school ready to suc5 ceed. One study found that children who had en6 rolled in high-quality child care demonstrated great7 er mathematical ability and thinking and attention 

8 skills, and experienced fewer behavior problems than 

9 other children in second grade. Effects were particu10 larly strong for low-income children. 

11 (7) Millions of low-income children could benefit 

12 from high-quality child care. In 2007, 10,500,000 

13 children under age 6 (43 percent) lived in low-in14 come families (families with incomes below 200 per15 cent of poverty). 

16 (8) Inadequate funding has reduced the number 

17 of children with access to child care. Only about 1 

18 in 7 eligible children receives Federal child care as19 sistance. 

20 (9) Many women work in low-wage jobs and 

21 cannot cover the cost of child care. For example, 

22 two-thirds of working poor families headed by single 

23 mothers who paid for child care spent at least 40 

24 percent of their cash income on child care. 


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1 (10) Problems with child care can make it dif2 ficult for parents, particularly low-income parents, to 

3 work, causing them to lose wages, be denied a pro4 motion, or lose their jobs. 

5 (11) Research shows that single mothers and 

6 former welfare recipients who received child care as7 sistance were much more likely to remain employed 

8 after 2 years than those who did not receive child 

9 care assistance. 

10 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to im11 prove— 

12 (1) access to high-quality early learning and 

13 child care for low-income children and working fami14 lies; and 

15 (2) the quality of child care and the number of 

16 high-quality child care providers. 

17 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOP18 MENT BLOCK GRANT ACT OF 1990. 

19 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

20 658B of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

21 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended by striking ‘‘sub22 chapter’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘subchapter 

23 $4,127,181,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as 

24 may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 

25 2014.’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION AND PLAN.—Section 658E(c) of 

2 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 

3 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (E)— 

6 (i) redesignating clause (ii) as clause 

7 (iii); and 

8 (ii) by inserting after clause (i), the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(ii) SITE VISITS.—Certify that the 

11 State has in effect licensing requirements 

12 applicable to child care providers within 

13 the State that include one annual an14 nounced and one annual unannounced visit 

15 to each site at which the provider provides 

16 child care services. Nothing in the pre17 ceding sentence shall be construed to re18 quire that licensing requirements be ap19 plied to specific types of providers of child 

20 care services. 

21 ‘‘(iii) TRAINING.—Certify that the 

22 State has in effect licensing or registration 

23 requirements applicable to child care pro24 viders within the State that require, within 

25 3 years of the date of enactment of the 


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1 Starting Early Starting Right Act, that 

2 every lead teacher or aide of the provider, 

3 and each family child care provider— 

4 ‘‘(I) have at least 40 hours of ap5 propriate health, safety, and child de6 velopment training prior to their em7 ployment with or operation as a pro8 vider (as determined in accordance 

9 with guidelines to be issued by the 

10 Secretary); and 

11 ‘‘(II) have at least 24 hours of 

12 annual training in appropriate health, 

13 safety, and child development training 

14 (as determined in accordance with 

15 guidelines to be issued by the Sec16 retary). 

17 ‘‘(iv) OTHER TRAINING.—Certify that 

18 the State has a plan to implement, within 

19 3 years of the date of enactment of the 

20 Starting Early Starting Right Act, pre21 and in-service training requirements appli22 cable to child care providers that provide 

23 services for which assistance is made avail24 able under this subchapter. 


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1 ‘‘(v) TRAINING FOR LIMITED ENGLISH

2 PROFICIENT (LEP) PROVIDERS.—Certify 

3 that the State has a plan to provide for the 

4 training of child care service providers with 

5 limited-English-proficiency to provide high6 quality child care services.’’; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (H)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘Demonstrate the man9 ner’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Demonstrate the 

11 manner’’; and 

12 (ii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(iii) SPECIFIC NEEDS.—Demonstrate 

15 the manner in which the State will meet 

16 the specific child care needs of low-income 

17 and working families, including— 

18 ‘‘(I) the outreach strategies to be 

19 used to reach hard-to-serve children, 

20 including low-income children, English 

21 language learners, children with spe22 cial needs, and children in rural areas; 

23 ‘‘(II) the use of contracts with 

24 child care centers, family child care 

25 homes, and organizations that manage 


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1 and support family child care net2 works to reach hard-to-serve children 

3 and underserved communities; 

4 ‘‘(III) the use of pilot or dem5 onstration projects to increase the 

6 supply of high-quality child care in 

7 underserved communities; 

8 ‘‘(IV) the use of pilot or dem9 onstration projects that demonstrate 

10 effective techniques and approaches of 

11 specialized training for child care 

12 service providers with limited-English13 proficiency to improve their ability to 

14 provide high-quality child care serv15 ices; and 

16 ‘‘(V) the use of pilot or dem17 onstration projects that demonstrate 

18 effective techniques and approaches of 

19 specialized training for child care pro20 viders working with children with de21 velopmental disabilities.’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(I) CONTINUOUS CARE.—Demonstrate 

24 how the State is implementing practices and 

25 procedures to help ensure that children receive 


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1 continuous care from the same provider, includ2 ing through— 

3 ‘‘(i) the use of contracts with child 

4 care centers, family child care homes, and 

5 organizations that manage and support 

6 family child care networks for underserved 

7 populations; 

8 ‘‘(ii) extending periods of redetermina9 tion for all families to 1 year; 

10 ‘‘(iii) extending periods of job search 

11 eligibility; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) informing families and providers 

13 that eligibility is ending in a timely man14 ner and in multiple formats.’’; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

16 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

17 subparagraph (D); and 

18 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A), 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—The State plan shall 

21 provide information demonstrating that the 

22 State is ensuring that payment rates for the 

23 provision of child care services for which assist24 ance is provided under this subchapter are 

25 equal to or exceed the 75th percentile of the 


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1 current market rate for all types of child care, 

2 based on a research-based market rate survey 

3 that includes variations for geography, age of 

4 children, and provider type. 

5 ‘‘(C) CHILD CARE FOR SPECIAL POPU6 LATIONS.—The State plan shall describe efforts 

7 to address the need for child care for special 

8 populations, including care in low-income and 

9 rural areas, care for infants and toddlers, care 

10 for children with special needs, care for other 

11 populations, and care during nonstandard 

12 hours, such as paying rates for the provision of 

13 child care services for which assistance is pro14 vided under this subchapter that exceed the 

15 75th percentile of a current market rate for all 

16 types of care (based on the survey under sub17 paragraph (B).’’. 

18 (c) ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CHILD

19 CARE.—Section 658G of the Child Care and Development 

20 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended 

21 to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 658G. ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF 

23 CHILD CARE. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funding to 

25 carry out this subchapter for a fiscal year, shall use not 


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1 less than 15 percent of the amount of such funds for ac2 tivities that are designed to improve the quality of child 

3 care, including the implementation of 1 or more of the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(1) Developing and implementing a Quality 

6 Rating and Improvement System (referred to in this 

7 section as the ‘QRIS’) for child care centers and 

8 family child care homes, including criteria appro9 priate for each age group eligible for assistance 

10 under this subchapter with levels that lead to nation11 ally recognized high standards. 

12 ‘‘(2) Providing assistance for education, train13 ing, and compensation initiatives to assist child care 

14 providers in meeting and maintaining the criteria for 

15 achieving progressively higher rating levels under the 

16 QRIS. 

17 ‘‘(3) Providing grants and other types of assist18 ance, including mentoring, to assist child care pro19 viders in meeting and maintaining the criteria for 

20 achieving progressively higher rating levels under the 

21 QRIS. 

22 ‘‘(4) Maintaining a Statewide network of child 

23 care resource and referral programs. 

24 ‘‘(5) Inspecting and monitoring child care pro25 grams. 


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1 ‘‘(6) Providing grants to assist child care pro2 viders, including those who are limited-English-pro3 ficient, in becoming licensed or regulated and in 

4 meeting pre-service and ongoing training require5 ments. 

6 ‘‘(7) Offering other assistance to child care pro7 viders to strengthen the quality of child care, includ8 ing support for education and training initiatives 

9 tied to compensation. 

10 ‘‘(8) Providing grants to assist child care pro11 viders who are not required to be licensed or reg12 istered in receiving appropriate training and sup13 port. 

14 ‘‘(9) Developing and implementing technological 

15 resources to assist low-income families in applying 

16 for child care assistance as well as to educate fami17 lies concerning the range of and quality ratings of 

18 various child care providers. 

19 ‘‘(b) EXTENSION FOR FULL-DAY CARE.—A State 

20 that receives funding to carry out this subchapter for a 

21 fiscal year, shall use not less than 5 percent of the amount 

22 of such funds for activities that are designed to fund ac23 tivities to extend the day or year for those children who 

24 are eligible for child care services and attend part day or 

25 year programs. 


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1 ‘‘(c) HIGH-QUALITY CARE FOR INFANTS AND TOD2 DLERS.—A State that receives funding to carry out this 

3 subchapter for a fiscal year shall use not less than 30 per4 cent of the amount of such funds for activities that are 

5 designed to fund initiatives to improve the quality and ex6 pand the availability of high-quality care for infants and 

7 toddlers.’’. 

8 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 658K(a) 

9 of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 

10 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i(a)) is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) BIANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than De13 cember 31, 2009, and every 2 years thereafter, a 

14 State that operates a Quality Rating and Improve15 ment System (referred to in this section as the 

16 ‘QRIS’) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a 

17 report that includes aggregate data concerning— 

18 ‘‘(A) the number of licensed centers and 

19 family child care providers in the State; 

20 ‘‘(B) the number of child care providers in 

21 each level of the State QRIS, listed by type, 

22 race and ethnicity, geographic area of the State, 

23 and number of children that each such provider 

24 is licensed to serve; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the disaggregated number and per2 centages of children receiving child care assist3 ance under this subchapter in each level of the 

4 State QRIS; 

5 ‘‘(D) whether any change occurred in the 

6 number and percentage of child care providers 

7 in each level of the State QRIS, listed by type, 

8 geographic area of the State, and number of 

9 children each such provider is licensed to serve; 

10 ‘‘(E) the disaggregated number and per11 centage of children receiving child care assist12 ance under this subchapter who are receiving 

13 care from child care providers in a higher-qual14 ity level (as determined under the State QRIS) 

15 as compared to the previous 12-month period; 

16 ‘‘(F) the disaggregated number of child 

17 care providers in low-income communities who 

18 have moved up to a higher-quality level of child 

19 care (as determined under the State QRIS) as 

20 compared to the previous 12-month period; and 

21 ‘‘(G) the average child care reimbursement 

22 rate under this subchapter at each level of the 

23 State QRIS, listed by provider type, race and 

24 ethnicity, and geographic area of the State. 


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1 ‘‘(4) 5-YEAR REPORT.—Not later than Decem2 ber 31, 2014, and every 5 years thereafter, a State 

3 described in paragraph (1)(A) shall prepare and sub4 mit to the Secretary a report that includes aggregate 

5 data concerning the average individual compensation 

6 paid for each of the following in all licensed child 

7 care programs, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, cre8 dentials, and program type in the State: 

9 ‘‘(A) Lead teacher. 

10 ‘‘(B) Classroom assistant or aide. 

11 ‘‘(C) Family child care provider. 

12 ‘‘(D) Family child care assistant.’’. 

Æ 


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