I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1410 

To provide emergency child care in the Gulf Coast Region, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2007 

Mr. JEFFERSON (for himself, Mr. TAYLOR, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ELLISON, and 

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide emergency child care in the Gulf Coast Region, 

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 ‘‘Emergency Child Care 

5 for the Gulf Coast Region Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Studies have stated that reopening child 

9 care facilities was crucial for helping parents get 

10 back to work and businesses to recover. 

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1 (2) Studies have shown that without available 

2 and affordable child care economic recovery will be 

3 greatly impeded and lead to a reduction in worker 

4 productivity. 

5 (3) In New Orleans before Hurricanes Katrina 

6 and Rita, the city had 1,912 day-care slots at 266 

7 licensed centers, but now 80 percent of those centers 

8 and 75 percent of those slots are gone. 

9 (4) The National Association of Child Care Re10 source and Referral Agencies reported in a study 

11 published by the Mississippi State University Early 

12 Childhood Institute that between 62 to 94 percent of 

13 the licensed child care slots in the three coastal 

14 counties hardest hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita 

15 in Mississippi were lost. 

16 (5) In Jackson County, Mississippi, initial as17 sessment found that one-fourth of the county’s li18 censed centers were damaged beyond repair, rep19 resenting 11 percent of the county’s licensed child 

20 care capacity. Another 39 percent of centers needed 

21 repairs. 

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1 TITLE I—EMERGENCY CHILD 

2 CARE BUSINESS INCENTIVE 

3 GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE 

4 GULF COAST REGION 

5 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT. 

6 The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 

7 establish a program to make grants to— 

8 (1) businesses and consortia in the Gulf Coast 

9 Region— 

10 (A) to pay start-up costs incurred to pro11 vide child care services; or 

12 (B) to provide additional child care serv13 ices needed by the employees of such busi14 nesses; and 

15 (2) nonprofit business organizations in the Gulf 

16 Coast Region to provide technical information and 

17 assistance to enable businesses to provide child care 

18 services. 

19 SEC. 102. ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE GRANTS. 

20 To be eligible to receive a grant under section 101, 

21 a business, nonprofit business organization, or consortium 

22 shall submit to the Secretary an application in accordance 

23 with section 103. 

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1 SEC. 103. APPLICATION. 

2 The application required by section 102 shall be sub3 mitted by a business, nonprofit business organization, or 

4 consortium at such time, in such form, and containing 

5 such information as the Secretary may require by rule, 

6 except that such application shall contain— 

7 (1) an assurance that the applicant shall ex8 pend, for the purpose for which such grant is made, 

9 an amount not less than 10 percent of the amount 

10 of such grant; 

11 (2) an assurance that such applicant will ex12 pend such grant for the use specified in paragraph 

13 (1) or (2) of section 101, as the case may be; 

14 (3) an assurance that such applicant will em15 ploy strategies to ensure that child care services pro16 vided by such applicant, or provided with the tech17 nical information and assistance made available by 

18 such applicant, are provided at affordable rates, and 

19 on an equitable basis, to low- and moderate-income 

20 employees; 

21 (4) an assurance that such applicant— 

22 (A) in the case of a business or consor23 tium, will comply with all State and local licens24 ing requirements applicable to such business or 

25 consortium concerning the provision of child 

26 care services; or 

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1 (B) in the case of a nonprofit business or2 ganization, will employ procedures to ensure 

3 that technical information and assistance pro4 vided under this title by such business organiza5 tion will be provided only to businesses that 

6 provide child care services in compliance with 

7 all State and local licensing requirements appli8 cable to child care providers in such State; and 

9 (5) in the case of a business or consortium, an 

10 assurance that if the employees of such applicant do 

11 not require all the child care services for which such 

12 grant and the funds required by paragraph (1) are 

13 to be expended by such applicant, the excess of such 

14 child care services shall be made available to families 

15 in the community in which such applicant is located. 

16 SEC. 104. SELECTION OF GRANTEES. 

17 For purposes of selecting applicants to receive grants 

18 under this title, the Secretary shall give priority to busi19 nesses that have fewer than 200 full-time employees. To 

20 the extent practicable, the Secretary shall— 

21 (1) make grants equitably under this title to 

22 applicants located in all geographical regions of the 

23 United States; and 

24 (2) give priority to applicants for grants under 

25 section 101(1). 

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1 SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS. 

2 As used in this title: 

3 (1) BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘business’’ means a 

4 person engaged in commerce whose primary activity 

5 is not providing child care services. 

6 (2) CHILD CARE SERVICES.—The term ‘‘child 

7 care services’’ means care for a child that is— 

8 (A) provided on the site at which a parent 

9 of such child is employed or at a site nearby in 

10 the community; and 

11 (B) subsidized at least in part by the busi12 ness that employs such parent. 

13 (3) CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘consortium’’ 

14 means 4 or more businesses acting jointly. A consor15 tium may also include a nonprofit private organiza16 tion. 

17 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

19 (5) GULF COAST REGION.—The term ‘‘Gulf 

20 Coast Region’’ means the area for which the Presi21 dent has declared the existence of a major disaster, 

22 in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. 

23 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), as a consequence of Hurri25 canes Katrina and Rita. 

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1 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this title $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

4 TITLE II—EMERGENCY DEVEL5 OPMENT OF A CHILD CARE 

6 TRAINING INFRASTRUCTURE 

7 IN THE GULF COAST REGION 

8 SEC. 201. GRANTS. 

9 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Health and 

10 Human Services shall award grants to eligible entities to 

11 develop distance learning child care training technology in12 frastructures in the Gulf Coast Region and to develop 

13 model technology-based training courses for child care 

14 providers and child care workers in the Gulf Coast Region, 

15 to be provided through distance learning programs made 

16 available through the infrastructure. The Secretary shall, 

17 to the maximum extent possible, ensure that such grants 

18 are awarded in those areas of the Gulf Coast Region with 

19 the fewest training opportunities for child care providers. 

20 (b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to 

21 receive a grant under subsection (a), an entity shall— 

22 (1) develop the technological and logistical as23 pects of the infrastructure described in this section 

24 and have the capability of implementing and main25 taining the infrastructure; 

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1 (2) to the maximum extent possible, develop 

2 partnerships with secondary schools, institutions of 

3 higher education, State and local government agen4 cies, and private child care organizations for the 

5 purpose of sharing equipment, technical assistance, 

6 and other technological resources, including— 

7 (A) developing sites from which individuals 

8 may access the training; 

9 (B) converting standard child care training 

10 courses to programs for distance learning; and 

11 (C) promoting ongoing networking among 

12 program participants; and 

13 (3) develop a mechanism for participants to— 

14 (A) evaluate the effectiveness of the infra15 structure, including the availability and afford16 ability of the infrastructure, and the training 

17 offered through the infrastructure; and 

18 (B) make recommendations for improve19 ments to the infrastructure. 

20 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

21 under subsection (a), an entity shall submit an application 

22 to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as the 

23 Secretary may require, and that includes— 

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1 (1) a description of the partnership organiza2 tions through which the distance learning programs 

3 will be made available; 

4 (2) the capacity of the infrastructure in terms 

5 of the number and type of distance learning pro6 grams that will be made available; 

7 (3) the expected number of individuals to par8 ticipate in the distance learning programs; and 

9 (4) such additional information as the Secretary 

10 may require. 

11 (d) LIMITATION ON FEES.—No entity receiving a 

12 grant under this section may collect fees from an indi13 vidual for participation in a distance learning program 

14 funded in whole or in part under this section that exceed 

15 the pro rata share of the amount expended by the entity 

16 to provide materials for the program and to develop, im17 plement, and maintain the infrastructure (minus the 

18 amount of the grant awarded under this section). 

19 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec20 tion shall be construed as requiring a child care provider 

21 to subscribe to or complete a distance learning program 

22 made available under this section. 

23 SEC. 202. DEFINITION. 

24 In this title, the term ‘‘Gulf Coast Region’’ means 

25 the area for which the President has declared the existence 

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1 of a major disaster, in accordance with section 401 of the 

2 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist3 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), as a consequence of Hurri4 canes Katrina and Rita. 

5 SEC. 203. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

7 this title $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

8 TITLE III—EMERGENCY CHILD 

9 CARE PROVIDER DEVELOP10 MENT AND RETENTION 

11 GRANT PROGRAM IN THE 

12 GULF COAST REGION 

13 SEC. 301. GRANTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

15 Human Services shall make grants available to eligible 

16 child care providers in the Gulf Coast Region in accord17 ance with this section, to improve the qualifications and 

18 promote the retention of qualified child care providers. 

19 (b) ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE GRANTS.—To be eligi20 ble to receive a grant under this section, a child care pro21 vider shall— 

22 (1) have a child development associate creden23 tial (or equivalent), an associate of the arts degree 

24 in the area of child development or early child edu25 cation, a baccalaureate degree in the area of child 

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1 development or early child education, or a bacca2 laureate degree in an unrelated field; and 

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

4 less than 1 calendar year, or (if the provider is em5 ployed on the date of the eligibility determination in 

6 a child care program that operates for less than a 

7 full calendar year) the program equivalent of 1 cal8 endar year, ending on the date of the application for 

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

10 education related to child development or to early 

11 child education obtained during the corresponding 

12 calendar year may be treated as employment that 

13 satisfies the requirements of this paragraph. 

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

15 not take into consideration whether a child care provider 

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

17 funds or benefits under any other provision of this Act 

18 for purposes of selecting eligible child care providers to 

19 receive grants under this section. 

20 TITLE IV—CHILD CARE PRO21 VIDER SCHOLARSHIP PRO22 GRAM 

23 SEC. 401. SCHOLARSHIP GRANTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

25 Human Services shall make scholarship grants available 

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1 to eligible child care providers in accordance with this sec2 tion to improve their educational qualifications to provide 

3 child care services. 

4 (b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT FOR SCHOLARSHIP

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

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

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

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

9 determination in a child care program that operates for 

10 less than a full calendar year) the program equivalent of 

11 1 calendar year, ending on the date of the application for 

12 such grant. 

13 (c) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.—For purposes of se14 lecting eligible child care providers to receive scholarship 

15 grants under this section and determining the amounts of 

16 such grants, a State shall not— 

17 (1) take into consideration whether a child care 

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

19 to receive any funds or benefits under any other pro20 vision of this Act, or under any other Federal or 

21 State law that provides funds for educational pur22 poses; or 

23 (2) consider as resources of such provider any 

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

25 be eligible to receive under any other provision of 

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

2 provides funds for educational purposes, or from a 

3 private entity. 

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

5 scholarship grant made under this section to an eligible 

6 child care provider shall be equal to or less than the cost 

7 of the educational or training program for which such 

8 grant is made. 

9 (e) ANNUAL MAXIMUM SCHOLARSHIP GRANT

10 AMOUNT.—The maximum aggregate dollar amount of a 

11 scholarship grant made to an eligible child care provider 

12 under this section in a fiscal year shall be $7,500. 

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