I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1390

To establish a child care provider scholarship program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To establish a child care provider scholarship program.

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 Worker

5 Incentive Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CHILD CARE PROVIDER SCHOLARSHIP

7 PROGRAM.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Section 658G

9 of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of

10 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended—

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

12 ‘‘A State’’; and
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1 (2) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(b) CHILD CARE PROVIDER SCHOLARSHIP PRO3 GRAM.—

4 ‘‘(1) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—In order to

5 be eligible for funds under section 658J(a)(2), a

6 State shall include in its plan under section 658E a

7 child care provider scholarship program plan, meet8 ing the requirements of this subsection, designed to

9 further the goals of child care provider recruitment,

10 training, credentialing, and retention.

11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SCHOLARSHIP

12 APPLICANTS.—The State plan shall provide that, in

13 order for an individual to be eligible for a scholar14 ship grant under this subsection, the following re15 quirements shall be met:

16 ‘‘(A) DEMONSTRATED COMMITMENT TO

17 CHILD CARE CAREER.—The individual—

18 ‘‘(i) shall be a child care worker who

19 is (or is employed by) a licensed or reg20 istered child care provider, or has a com21 mitment for employment from a licensed or

22 registered child care provider; and

23 ‘‘(ii) shall agree in writing to continue

24 to be employed in the field of child care for
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1 at least one year after receiving the train2 ing for which assistance is provided.

3 ‘‘(B) COST SHARING BY APPLICANT.—

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The individual (ei5 ther as provided in clause (ii) or otherwise)

6 shall provide for payment, in cash or in

7 kind, of a share of the cost of the edu8 cation or training.

9 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATION FOR PELL

10 GRANTS.—In the case of an application for

11 a scholarship intended for use in an edu12 cational institution participating in the

13 Pell Grant program under title IV of the

14 Higher Education Act, the individual shall

15 apply for a grant under such program for

16 which the individual is eligible.

17 ‘‘(C) EMPLOYER REQUIREMENTS.—In the

18 case of an individual employed by (or who has

19 a commitment for employment from) a licensed

20 or registered child care provider the individual’s

21 employer shall—

22 ‘‘(i) pay a share of the cost of the

23 education or training; and

24 ‘‘(ii) agree to provide increased finan25 cial incentives to the individual, such as a
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1 salary increase or bonus, when the indi2 vidual completes the education or training.

3 ‘‘(3) QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL INSTITU4 TIONS.—The State plan shall specify the types of

5 educational and training programs for which schol6 arships granted under the State program may be

7 used, which shall be limited to (but may include any

8 or all) programs that—

9 ‘‘(A) are administered by institutions of

10 higher education that are eligible to participate

11 in student financial assistance programs under

12 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965;

13 and

14 ‘‘(B) lead to a State or national credential

15 in child care or early childhood or early child16 hood special education, or to an associate or

17 bachelor’s degree in child development or early

18 childhood education.

19 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL MAXIMUM SCHOLARSHIP GRANT

20 AMOUNT.—The maximum amount of a scholarship

21 awarded to an eligible individual under this section

22 may not exceed $1,500 per year.

23 ‘‘(5) SUPPLEMENTATION OF OTHER FUND24 ING.—The State plan shall contain assurances that

25 Federal funds provided to the State under this sub-
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1 section will not be used to supplant Federal or non2 Federal funds for existing services and activities

3 that promote the purposes of this subsection.’’.

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

5 658B of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act

6 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

8 ‘‘There’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(b) CHILD CARE PROVIDER SCHOLARSHIP PRO11 GRAM.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry

12 out section 658G(b) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years

13 2002 through 2006.’’.

14 (c) ALLOTMENT.—Section 658O of the Child Care

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

16 9858m) is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a)—

18 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘this sub19 chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘each subsection of sec20 tion 658B’’; and

21 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘section

22 658B’’ and inserting ‘‘section 658B(a)’’;

23 (2) in subsection (b)(1) in the matter preceding

24 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘each subsection of’’

25 before ‘‘section 658B’’; and
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1 (3) in subsection (e)(1) by striking ‘‘the allot2 ment under subsection (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘an allot3 ment under subsection (b)’’.

4 (d) PAYMENTS.—Section 658J(a) of the Child Care

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

6 9858h) is amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Subject’’; and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(2) A State described in paragraph (1) whose plan

10 under section 658E provides for a child care scholarship

11 program under section 658G(b) shall be entitled to pay12 ment under this section in an amount equal to the lesser

13 of its allotment under section 658O or 80 percent of ex14 penditures by the State for such program.’’.

15 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 658K(a)(2) of the

16 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42

17 U.S.C. 9858i) is amended—

18 (1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘and’’ at

19 the end;

20 (2) in subparagraph (E) by adding ‘‘and’’ at

21 the end; and

22 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol23 lowing:

24 ‘‘(F) the child care scholarship program,

25 including—
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1 ‘‘(i) the number of child care workers

2 receiving scholarship grants;

3 ‘‘(ii) the amount of each scholarship

4 grant;

5 ‘‘(iii) the number of course credits or

6 credentials completed by individuals receiv7 ing scholarships;

8 ‘‘(iv) the number and percentage of

9 child care workers receiving scholarship

10 grants in the previous year who fulfilled

11 their 1-year commitment; and

12 ‘‘(v) such other data as the Secretary

13 may require.’’.

14 SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

15 The amendments made by this Act shall not apply

16 with respect to fiscal years beginning before the date of

17 the enactment of this Act.

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