I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2886 

To establish universal child care and early learning programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2021 

Mr. JONES (for himself, Mr. CARSON, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. GARCI ́A

of Illinois, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Ms. JACOBS of California, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. TAKANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BUSH, Ms. MENG, and Ms. CLARK of 

Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish universal child care and early learning programs. 

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 ‘‘Universal Child Care 

5 and Early Learning Act’’. 

6 TITLE I—CHILD CARE AND 

7 EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS 

8 SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF PURPOSES. 

9 The purposes of this title are— 


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1 (1) to provide all young children with a fair and 

2 full opportunity to reach their full potential, by es3 tablishing and expanding programs, to create uni4 versal, comprehensive child care and early learning 

5 programs that are available to all young children; 

6 (2) to ensure that families can access afford7 able, high-quality child care and early learning pro8 grams regardless of circumstance; 

9 (3) to promote the school readiness of all young 

10 children by enhancing their cognitive, social, emo11 tional, and physical development— 

12 (A) in a learning environment that sup13 ports children’s growth in language, literacy, 

14 mathematics, science, cognitive abilities, social 

15 and emotional functioning, creative arts, phys16 ical skills, and approaches to learning; and 

17 (B) through the provision to children and 

18 their families of health, educational, nutritional, 

19 social, and other services that are determined, 

20 based on family needs assessments, to be nec21 essary; 

22 (4) to recognize and build upon the experience 

23 and success gained through the Head Start pro24 gram, the military child care program, and similar 

25 efforts; 


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1 (5) to provide that decisions on the nature of 

2 such child care and early learning programs be made 

3 at the community level with the full involvement of 

4 parents, family members, and other individuals and 

5 organizations in the community; and 

6 (6) to establish the legislative framework for 

7 child care and early learning services. 

8 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

9 For purposes of this title: 

10 (1) CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING PRO11 GRAM.—The term ‘‘child care and early learning 

12 program’’ means any program that provides child 

13 care and early learning services in child care and 

14 early learning centers (including schools) or in fam15 ily child care homes. 

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

17 ‘‘child with a disability’’ means— 

18 (A) a child with a disability, as defined in 

19 section 602(3) of the Individuals with Disabil20 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)); and 

21 (B) an infant or toddler with a disability, 

22 as defined in section 632(5) of such Act (20 

23 U.S.C. 1432(5)). 

24 (3) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘community’’ 

25 means a city, county, or multicity or multicounty 


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1 unit within a State, an Indian reservation (including 

2 Indians in any nearby off-reservation area des3 ignated by an appropriate tribal government in con4 sultation with the Secretary), or a neighborhood or 

5 other area (irrespective of boundaries or political 

6 subdivisions) that provides a suitable organizational 

7 base and possesses the commonality of interest need8 ed to operate a child care and early learning pro9 gram. 

10 (4) COVERED CHILD.—The term ‘‘covered 

11 child’’ means a child who— 

12 (A) is— 

13 (i) not younger than 6 weeks of age; 

14 and 

15 (ii) not yet required to attend school, 

16 under the laws of compulsory school at17 tendance of the State in which the child re18 sides; and 

19 (B) meets the requirements of regulations 

20 issued under section 124. 

21 (5) DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNER.—The term 

22 ‘‘dual language learner’’ means a child who is ac23 quiring two or more languages at the same time, or 

24 a child who is learning a second language while con25 tinuing to develop the child’s first language, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2886.IH H2886

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1 ing a child who may also be identified by a State or 

2 locality as ‘‘bilingual’’, ‘‘an English language learn3 er’’, ‘‘limited English proficient’’, ‘‘an English learn4 er’’, or a child who speaks a ‘‘language other than 

5 English’’. 

6 (6) FAMILY LITERACY SERVICES.—The term 

7 ‘‘family literacy services’’ means services that— 

8 (A) are family literacy services, as defined 

9 in section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 9832); and 

11 (B) meet the requirements of section 641A 

12 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a). 

13 (7) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘finan14 cial assistance’’ includes assistance provided by 

15 grant, agreement, or contract, for which payments 

16 may be made in installments and in advance or by 

17 way of reimbursement with necessary adjustments 

18 on account of overpayments or underpayments. 

19 (8) FULL-WORKING-DAY.—The term ‘‘full-work20 ing-day’’ means not less than 10 hours per day. 

21 Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to re22 quire an entity to provide services to a child who has 

23 not reached the age of compulsory school attendance 

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1 mitted by State law (including regulation) for the 

2 provision of services to such a child. 

3 (9) HEALTH.—The term ‘‘health’’, when used 

4 to refer to services or care provided to children en5 rolled in a child care and early learning program, 

6 their parents, or their siblings, shall be interpreted 

7 to refer to both physical and mental health. 

8 (10) HOMELESS CHILD.—The term ‘‘homeless 

9 child’’ means an individual described in section 

10 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)). 

12 (11) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ means an in13 dividual who is— 

14 (A) a member of an Indian tribe or band, 

15 as membership is defined by the tribe or band, 

16 including— 

17 (i) any tribe or band terminated since 

18 1940; and 

19 (ii) any tribe or band recognized by 

20 the State in which the tribe or band re21 sides; 

22 (B) a descendant of an individual de23 scribed in subparagraph (A); 

24 (C) considered by the Secretary of the In25 terior to be an Indian for any purpose; 


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1 (D) an Eskimo, Aleut, or other Alaska Na2 tive; or 

3 (E) a member of an organized Indian 

4 group that received a grant under the Indian 

5 Education Act of 1988 as in effect on October 

6 19, 1994. 

7 (12) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

8 means an Indian tribe, within the meaning of part 

9 A of title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.). 

11 (13) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

12 The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

14 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

15 (14) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

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

17 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

18 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

19 (15) LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘locality’’ means 

20 any city, municipality, county, or other political sub21 division of a State having general governmental pow22 ers, or any combination of such political subdivi23 sions. 

24 (16) LOW-INCOME.—The term ‘‘low-income’’, 

25 used with respect to a child or other individual, 


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1 means an individual in a family with a family in2 come that is not more than 200 percent of the pov3 erty line. 

4 (17) MIGRANT OR SEASONAL CHILD CARE AND

5 EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘migrant or 

6 seasonal child care and early learning program’’ 

7 means— 

8 (A) with respect to services for migrant 

9 farmworkers, a child care and early learning 

10 program that serves families who are engaged 

11 in agricultural labor and who have changed 

12 their residence from one geographic location to 

13 another in the preceding 2-year period; and 

14 (B) with respect to services for seasonal 

15 farmworkers, a child care and early learning 

16 program that serves families who are engaged 

17 primarily in seasonal agricultural labor and who 

18 have not changed their residence to another ge19 ographic location in the preceding 2-year pe20 riod. 

21 (18) MILITARY CHILD CARE PROGRAM.—The 

22 term ‘‘military child care program’’ means the pro23 gram carried out under subchapter II of chapter 88 

24 of title 10, United States Code. 


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1 (19) NATIVE HAWAIIAN.—The term ‘‘Native 

2 Hawaiian’’ has the meaning given the term in sec3 tion 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517). 

5 (20) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

6 means the official poverty line (as defined by the Of7 fice of Management and Budget) based on the most 

8 recent data available from the Bureau of the Cen9 sus— 

10 (A) adjusted to reflect the percentage 

11 change in the Consumer Price Index For All 

12 Urban Consumers, issued by the Bureau of 

13 Labor Statistics, during the annual or other in14 terval immediately preceding the date on which 

15 such adjustment is made; and 

16 (B) adjusted for family size. 

17 (21) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The 

18 term ‘‘professional development’’ means the career19 pathway aligned mechanisms that contribute to en20 suring that a member of the early care and edu21 cation workforce, in any setting, has or is working 

22 towards obtaining the degrees and other credentials 

23 needed to demonstrate the necessary knowledge and 

24 competencies for quality provision of child care and 

25 early learning services. 


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1 (22) SCIENTIFICALLY VALID RESEARCH.—The 

2 term ‘‘scientifically valid research’’ includes applied 

3 research, basic research, and field-initiated research, 

4 in which the rationale, design, and interpretation are 

5 soundly developed in accordance with principles of 

6 scientific research. 

7 (23) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

8 means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

9 (24) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

10 (A) a State, as defined in section 637 of 

11 the Head Start Act; and 

12 (B) the Republic of Palau— 

13 (i) for each of fiscal years 2022 

14 through 2026; and 

15 (ii) (if legislation approving a new 

16 agreement regarding United States assist17 ance for the Republic of Palau has not 

18 been enacted by September 30, 2024), for 

19 each subsequent fiscal year for which such 

20 legislation has not been enacted. 

21 (25) TRIBAL LAND.—The term ‘‘tribal land’’ 

22 means a reservation, the land of an Indian tribe, or 

23 land designated by Hawaii as under the control of 

24 Native Hawaiians for purposes of this title. 


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1 (26) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 

2 organization’’ means— 

3 (A) the recognized governing body of any 

4 Indian tribe, and any legally established organi5 zation of Indians which is controlled, sanc6 tioned, or chartered by such governing body or 

7 which is democratically elected by the adult 

8 members of the Indian community to be served 

9 by such organization and which includes the 

10 maximum participation of Indians in all phases 

11 of its activities, except that in any case where 

12 a contract is let or grant made to an organiza13 tion to perform services benefitting more than 

14 one Indian tribe, the approval of each such In15 dian tribe shall be a prerequisite to the letting 

16 or making of such contract or grant; and 

17 (B) includes a Native Hawaiian organiza18 tion, as defined in section 6207 of the Elemen19 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 7517) and a private nonprofit organiza21 tion established for the purpose of serving 

22 youth who are Indians or Native Hawaiians. 


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1 SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; APPRO2 PRIATIONS. 

3 (a) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be 

4 appropriated and there are appropriated to carry out this 

5 title (other than the activities described in subsection (b)), 

6 including meeting the entitlement requirements of section 

7 111(b), such sums as may be necessary. 

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out activities under 

10 sections 135, 136, 137, 138, 151, 152, and such adminis11 trative activities as the Secretary determines to be nec12 essary and appropriate to carry out this title, 

13 $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2032. 

14 Subtitle A—Prime Sponsors and 

15 Providers 

16 SEC. 111. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR CHILD CARE AND 

17 EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide finan19 cial assistance for carrying out child care and early learn20 ing programs under this title to prime sponsors, to provide 

21 family-centered services to children to promote their devel22 opment and learning, pursuant to plans and applications 

23 approved in accordance with the provisions of this title. 

24 (b) ENTITLEMENT.—Each covered child shall be enti25 tled to participate in a child care and early learning proVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2886.IH H2886

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1 gram that meets the requirements of this title. The entitle2 ment shall not be a capped entitlement. 

3 SEC. 112. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS; PAYMENTS. 

4 (a) ALLOCATION TO ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary 

5 shall allocate the amounts appropriated for carrying out 

6 this title for any fiscal year after fiscal year 2021, in the 

7 following manner: 

8 (1) CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING PRO9 GRAMS.—The amount made available under section 

10 103(a) shall be used for the purpose of providing fi11 nancial assistance to carry out child care and early 

12 learning programs under this title for covered chil13 dren, other than activities described in paragraph 

14 (2). 

15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE AND ENHANCEMENT AC16 TIVITIES.—Of the amounts appropriated under sec17 tion 103(b)— 

18 (A) such portion, but not less than 50 per19 cent, shall be used for the purpose of carrying 

20 out activities under sections 135 and 136 and 

21 such administrative activities as the Secretary 

22 determines to be necessary and appropriate to 

23 carry out this title; 


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1 (B) such portion, but not less than 20 per2 cent, shall be used for the purpose of carrying 

3 out activities under section 151; and 

4 (C) the remainder of such amounts shall 

5 be used for the purpose of carrying out activi6 ties under sections 137, 138, and 152. 

7 (3) FLEXIBILITY FOR EMERGENCY SUPPLE8 MENTAL FUNDING.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

9 (2), the Secretary may, after providing appropriate 

10 notice and written justification to Congress, redirect 

11 any amounts appropriated under section 103(b) as 

12 the Secretary determines to be necessary and appro13 priate to carry out section 151 for the purpose of 

14 carrying out activities under section 151. 

15 (b) PUBLICATION.—As soon as practicable after 

16 funds are appropriated under section 103(b) for any fiscal 

17 year, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register 

18 the amounts made available for that fiscal year to carry 

19 out each of the activities described in subsection (a)(2). 

20 (c) PAYMENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 (A) AUTHORITY FOR PAYMENTS.—In ac23 cordance with this subsection, the Secretary 

24 shall pay, from the allocation under subsection 

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1 viding child care and early learning programs, 

2 in accordance with plans under sections 113 

3 and 114 that have been approved as provided in 

4 this title. 

5 (B) MANNER AND TIMING FOR PAY6 MENTS.—The Secretary may make such finan7 cial assistance as may be necessary to carry out 

8 this title. The Secretary may also withhold 

9 funds otherwise payable under this title in order 

10 to recover any amounts expended in the current 

11 or immediately prior fiscal year in violation of 

12 any provision of this title or any term or condi13 tion of financial assistance under this title. 

14 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

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

16 subparagraphs (B) through (E) and section 

17 151, the Federal share of the costs of providing 

18 child care and early learning programs for cov19 ered children shall be not more than 80 per20 cent. 

21 (B) LOW-INCOME CHILDREN.—The Fed22 eral share shall be 80 percent of the costs of 

23 providing child care and early learning pro24 grams for low-income covered children. 


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1 (C) CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT LOW-IN2 COME.—The Federal share shall be 50 percent 

3 of the costs of providing child care and early 

4 learning programs for covered children who are 

5 not low-income children. 

6 (D) CHILDREN OF MIGRANT AND SEA7 SONAL FARMWORKERS.—The Secretary shall 

8 pay for 100 percent of the costs of providing 

9 child care and early learning programs for cov10 ered children of migrant and seasonal farm11 workers under this title. 

12 (E) NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN.—The 

13 Secretary shall pay each prime sponsor des14 ignated under section 113 for 100 percent of 

15 the costs of providing child care and early 

16 learning programs for covered children in In17 dian tribes and Native Hawaiian covered chil18 dren under this title. 

19 (F) ADMINISTRATIVE AMOUNT.—When 

20 making a payment described in paragraph (1) 

21 to any prime sponsor for the Federal share of 

22 the costs of providing a child care and early 

23 learning program, the Secretary shall also make 

24 a payment to the prime sponsor of not more 

25 than 100 percent of the costs for staff and 


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1 other administrative expenses of the prime 

2 sponsor, including such costs and expenses re3 lated to quality improvement (such as con4 ducting monitoring and training) and operating 

5 the Child Care and Early Learning Council, but 

6 not to exceed an amount which is reasonable 

7 when compared with such costs and expenses 

8 for other prime sponsors. 

9 (3) RATE ANALYSIS.— 

10 (A) PROCESS.—The Secretary shall, on the 

11 basis of recommendations by an committee of 

12 experts outside the Department of Health and 

13 Human Services, establish and implement a 

14 process for determining the costs described in 

15 paragraph (1)(A) and ensuring that the re16 quirement of subparagraph (B) is met. 

17 (B) SUFFICIENCY REQUIREMENT.—The 

18 Secretary shall ensure that the Federal share 

19 determined under paragraph (2) is sufficient to 

20 ensure that a prime sponsor can meet all re21 quirements under this title, including the na22 tional program standards under section 121, 

23 compensation provisions under section 136(b), 

24 and provisions relating to comprehensive serv25 ices and access to services. 


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1 (4) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

2 (A) SOURCES.—The non-Federal share of 

3 the costs described in paragraph (1) may be 

4 provided through public or private funds (in5 cluding labor union or employer contributions) 

6 and may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, 

7 including facilities, goods, or services. 

8 (B) FEES FROM FAMILIES.—Fees collected 

9 for services provided pursuant to section 114(j) 

10 may be used toward the non-Federal share. 

11 Such fees collected from a family may not ex12 ceed 7 percent of the family income, regardless 

13 of the number of children served from that fam14 ily. 

15 (C) EXCESS CONTRIBUTIONS.—If, with re16 spect to any fiscal year, a prime sponsor pro17 vides a non-Federal share, for any program 

18 that exceeds its requirements for such a share, 

19 such excess may be applied toward meeting the 

20 requirements for such a share for the subse21 quent fiscal year under this title. 

22 (d) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—No State or locality 

23 shall reduce its expenditures for child care and early learn24 ing programs (including home-based child care and early 


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1 learning programs) because of financial assistance pro2 vided under this title. 

3 SEC. 113. DESIGNATION OF PRIME SPONSORS. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE.— 

5 (1) QUALIFIED ENTITIES.—In accordance with 

6 the provisions of this section, a State, locality, In7 dian tribe, tribal organization, or public or private 

8 nonprofit agency or organization, meeting the re9 quirements of this title may be designated by the 

10 Secretary as a prime sponsor for the purpose of en11 tering into arrangements to carry out child care and 

12 early learning programs under this title. 

13 (2) PRIME SPONSORSHIP PLANS.—An entity 

14 may be designated by the Secretary as a prime spon15 sor for a period of fiscal years only pursuant to an 

16 application in the form of a prime sponsorship plan 

17 which was submitted by such entity and approved by 

18 the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of 

19 this title. At a minimum, the plan shall— 

20 (A) describe the service area to be served 

21 and how the program will be delivered; 

22 (B) provide a comprehensive child care and 

23 early learning plan, as described in section 

24 114(b); and 


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1 (C) demonstrate that the entity has the 

2 authority under its charter or applicable law to 

3 receive and administer funds under this title, 

4 funds and contributions from private or public 

5 sources that may be used in support of a child 

6 care and early learning program, and funds 

7 under a Federal or State assistance program 

8 that may be so used. 

9 (3) APPROVAL.—No prime sponsorship plan, or 

10 modification of the plan, submitted by an entity 

11 under this section shall be approved by the Secretary 

12 unless the Secretary determines, in accordance with 

13 regulations which the Secretary shall prescribe, 

14 that— 

15 (A) the local educational agency for the 

16 service area and other appropriate educational 

17 and training agencies and institutions have had 

18 an opportunity to submit comments to the enti19 ty and to the Secretary; 

20 (B) appropriate officials from Indian tribes 

21 or tribal organizations have had an opportunity 

22 to submit comments to the entity and to the 

23 Secretary; and 


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1 (C) the Governor of the State has had an 

2 opportunity to submit comments to the entity 

3 and to the Secretary. 

4 (4) JOINT SUBMISSION.—In order to contribute 

5 to the effective administration of this title, the Sec6 retary shall establish appropriate procedures to per7 mit an entity described in subsection (a)(1) and a 

8 State to submit jointly a single comprehensive child 

9 care and early learning plan for the service areas the 

10 entity and State propose. If the Secretary approves 

11 such a plan, the Secretary may designate the entity 

12 as a prime sponsor, and the State as a prime spon13 sor, for the corresponding service areas. 

14 (b) ADDITIONAL APPROVAL PROCEDURES.— 

15 (1) LOCALITY OVER POPULATION THRESH16 OLD.—The Secretary shall approve a prime sponsor17 ship plan submitted by a locality if— 

18 (A) the locality meets a population thresh19 old determined by the Secretary, except that 

20 the Secretary may waive the population thresh21 old if it creates a barrier to providing child care 

22 and early learning services in a service area of 

23 a specified type, such as a rural region; 

24 (B) the plan meets the requirements of 

25 subsection (a) and includes adequate provisions 


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1 for carrying out child care and early learning 

2 programs in the area of such locality; and 

3 (C) the locality is a— 

4 (i) city; 

5 (ii) county; or 

6 (iii) other unit of general local govern7 ment, including a local educational agency, 

8 as defined in section 8101 of the Elemen9 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

10 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

11 (2) LOCALITIES WITH COMMON GEOGRAPHICAL

12 AREA.—In the event that the area under the juris13 diction of a unit of general local government de14 scribed in clause (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of paragraph 

15 (1)(C) includes any common geographical area with 

16 the geographical area covered by another such unit 

17 of general local government, the Secretary shall des18 ignate to serve such common area the unit of gen19 eral local government that— 

20 (A) the Secretary determines has the capa21 bility of more effectively carrying out the pur22 poses of this title with respect to such area; and 

23 (B) has submitted a plan which meets the 

24 requirements of subsection (a) and includes 


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1 adequate provisions for carrying out child care 

2 and early learning programs in such area. 

3 (3) LOCALITIES.— 

4 (A) SUBMISSION BY COMBINATION.—In 

5 the event that the Secretary determines that a 

6 locality does not meet the requirements for des7 ignation as a prime sponsor under this section, 

8 the Secretary shall take steps to encourage the 

9 submission of a prime sponsorship plan, cov10 ering the area of such locality, by a combination 

11 of localities which are adjoining and possess a 

12 sufficient commonality of interest. 

13 (B) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall ap14 prove a prime sponsorship plan submitted by 

15 such a combination of localities, if the Secretary 

16 determines that the plan so submitted meets 

17 the requirements of subsection (a) and includes 

18 adequate provisions for carrying out child care 

19 and early learning programs in the area covered 

20 by the combination of such localities. 

21 (4) INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZA22 TIONS.—The Secretary shall approve a prime spon23 sorship plan submitted by an Indian tribe or tribal 

24 organization if the Secretary determines that the 

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1 section (a) and includes adequate provisions for car2 rying out child care and early learning programs in 

3 the area to be served. 

4 (5) STATES.—The Secretary shall approve a 

5 prime sponsorship plan submitted by a State if the 

6 Secretary determines that the plan so submitted— 

7 (A) meets the requirements of subsection 

8 (a); 

9 (B) includes adequate provisions for car10 rying out child care and early learning pro11 grams in the area to be served; 

12 (C) contains a commitment to coordinating 

13 the State’s early childhood programs to create 

14 a cohesive system, for children from birth to 

15 entry into kindergarten, for providing child care 

16 and early learning services; 

17 (D) demonstrates that the State can de18 liver a child care and early learning program 

19 that ensures coverage of— 

20 (i) the entire State; or 

21 (ii) the portions of the State that are 

22 not proposed to be covered by other enti23 ties submitting applications under sub24 section (a)(2); and 


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1 (E) demonstrates that the State can de2 liver such a program with sufficient local ad3 ministration, governance, and input. 

4 (6) TWO PHASES OF APPLICATION REVIEW.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es6 tablish two phases of review for applications in 

7 the form of prime sponsorship plans. Entities 

8 submitting such applications for the first phase 

9 of review shall be given preference for designa10 tion under subsection (a). 

11 (B) FIRST PHASE.—States, Indian tribes, 

12 tribal organizations, entities applying to carry 

13 out migrant or seasonal child care and early 

14 learning programs, and entities and States sub15 mitting applications jointly may submit applica16 tions described in subparagraph (A) for the 

17 first phase of application review. 

18 (C) SECOND PHASE.—Localities, public or 

19 private nonprofit agencies or organizations, and 

20 entities described in subparagraph (B) may 

21 submit applications described in subparagraph 

22 (A) for the second phase of application review. 

23 (c) DISAPPROVAL; WITHDRAWAL OF APPROVAL.—A 

24 prime sponsorship plan submitted under this section may 

25 be disapproved or a prior designation of a prime sponsor 


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1 may be withdrawn only if the Secretary, in accordance 

2 with regulations which the Secretary shall prescribe, has 

3 provided— 

4 (1) written notice of intention to disapprove 

5 such plan or withdraw such designation, including a 

6 statement of the reasons; 

7 (2) a reasonable time in which to submit correc8 tive amendments to such plan or undertake other 

9 necessary corrective action; and 

10 (3) an opportunity for a public hearing upon 

11 which basis an appeal to the Secretary may be taken 

12 as of right. 

13 (d) UNSERVED AREAS.—In the event that a prime 

14 sponsorship plan has not been submitted or approved, if 

15 a prime sponsor designation has been withdrawn, or if the 

16 needs of seasonal and migrant farmworkers, minority 

17 groups, or low-income individuals are not being met, for 

18 a service area, the Secretary may enter into an agreement 

19 with an organization, such as a national nonprofit organi20 zation, to serve as the prime sponsor for such an area. 

21 The Secretary shall meet the requirements described in 

22 subsection (g) before entering into the agreement. 

23 (e) DESIGNATION RENEWAL.— 

24 (1) DESIGNATION RENEWAL.—A prime sponsor 

25 shall obtain renewal of the designation of the prime 


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1 sponsor not more frequently than every 3 years and 

2 not less frequently than every 5 years. 

3 (2) SYSTEM FOR DESIGNATION RENEWAL.— 

4 The Secretary shall develop a system for prime 

5 sponsors to renew their designation, under which the 

6 Secretary shall determine if a prime sponsor is deliv7 ering a high-quality and comprehensive child care 

8 and early learning program that meets the health, 

9 educational, nutritional, and social needs of the chil10 dren and families it serves, and meets program and 

11 financial management requirements and standards 

12 described in section 121(a), and governance and 

13 legal requirements. 

14 (f) PROHIBITION AGAINST ENTITIES OTHER THAN

15 INDIAN TRIBES OR TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVING

16 A GRANT FOR A CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING PRO17 GRAM ON INDIAN LAND.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

19 provision of law, except as provided in paragraph 

20 (2), under no condition may an entity other than an 

21 Indian tribe or tribal organization receive a grant to 

22 carry out a child care and early learning program on 

23 tribal land. 

24 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 


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1 (A) NO INDIAN TRIBE OR TRIBAL ORGANI2 ZATION AVAILABLE.—In a service area in which 

3 there is no Indian tribe or tribal organization 

4 available for designation to carry out an child 

5 care and early learning program on Indian 

6 land, an entity that is not a tribal organization 

7 may receive a grant to carry out an child care 

8 and early learning program on Indian land, but 

9 only until such time as an Indian tribe or tribal 

10 organization in such service area becomes avail11 able and is designated pursuant to this section. 

12 (B) JOINT PRIME SPONSORS.—For a serv13 ice area that consists of any non-reservation In14 dian land, if the Indian tribe or tribal organiza15 tion involved is not interested in serving or does 

16 not have the capacity to serve the entire service 

17 area, the Indian tribe or tribal organization 

18 may work with another prime sponsor to jointly 

19 serve as prime sponsors for the service area. 

20 (g) FAMILY, CHILD CARE WORKER, AND COMMU21 NITY PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary shall— 

22 (1) significantly involve parents, family mem23 bers, family child care home providers, child care 

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1 volved, in the process for designation of prime spon2 sors; and 

3 (2) ensure that the persons selected to be in4 volved in that process shall reflect the diversity of 

5 the service area, with respect to income, culture, 

6 race and ethnicity, language, and status as a mi7 grant or seasonal farmworker, Indian, or Native Ha8 waiian. 

9 SEC. 114. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF PRIME SPONSORS. 

10 (a) AUTHORITY.—If an entity has been designated as 

11 a prime sponsor under this title— 

12 (1) the entity may receive and administer funds 

13 under this title, funds and contributions from pri14 vate or local public sources that may be used in sup15 port of a child care and early learning program, and 

16 funds under a Federal or State assistance program 

17 related to the provision of child care and early learn18 ing services; 

19 (2) the entity may transfer funds so received, 

20 and delegate powers to other agencies, subject to the 

21 powers of its governing board and its overall pro22 gram responsibilities; 

23 (3) the entity’s power to transfer funds and del24 egate powers shall include the power to make trans25 fers and delegations for services in all cases where 


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1 the transfers and delegations will contribute to effi2 ciency and effectiveness or otherwise further pro3 gram objectives; and 

4 (4) the entity may set up a process to negotiate 

5 wages, benefits, hours, and working conditions of 

6 teachers and other staff in the corresponding child 

7 care and early learning program. 

8 (b) COMPREHENSIVE CHILD CARE AND EARLY

9 LEARNING PLANS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Financial assistance under 

11 this title may be provided by the Secretary to an en12 tity that is a prime sponsor designated pursuant to 

13 section 113 only pursuant to an application in the 

14 form of a comprehensive child care and early learn15 ing plan which was submitted annually by such enti16 ty and approved by the Secretary in accordance with 

17 the provisions of this title. 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—Any such plan shall set forth 

19 a comprehensive proposal, for providing child care 

20 and early learning services in the service area, 

21 which— 

22 (A) assesses all child care and early learn23 ing needs and goals within the area and the ap24 plicant’s proposal for addressing those needs; 


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1 (B) describes the demographic and eco2 nomic data and other criteria the prime sponsor 

3 proposes to use to determine whether a commu4 nity is in particular need of child care; 

5 (C) identifies specific communities deter6 mined to be in particular need of child care, 

7 where such communities are located, the size 

8 and scope of such areas, and the age groups of 

9 children in need of child care in such areas; 

10 (D) describes how the prime sponsor will 

11 increase the child care supply, quality, and af12 fordability for all families in communities of 

13 particular need, which may include providing 

14 start-up funding, technical assistance, training 

15 and professional development for the child care 

16 workforce, enhanced compensation, and other 

17 activities; 

18 (E) describes how the prime sponsor will 

19 provide comprehensive health, mental health, 

20 education, parental or family member involve21 ment, nutritional, social, and other services for 

22 the children that need child care and early 

23 learning services, including appropriate screen24 ing and referrals for children with challenging 

25 behaviors and other mental health needs; 


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1 (F) provides that services are full-working2 day and full calendar year long, and ensures 

3 that the available hours of services are respon4 sive to the needs of families in the service area, 

5 including, as appropriate, nonstandard hour 

6 care; 

7 (G) describes how the prime sponsor will 

8 guarantee all children in the service area access 

9 to the child care and early learning program 

10 and use funds provided under section 112(a)(1) 

11 for child care and early learning services; 

12 (H) describes how the prime sponsor will 

13 promote children’s mental health, social and 

14 emotional well-being, and overall health, by pro15 viding supports for positive learning environ16 ments for the children, including— 

17 (i) strategies for supporting children 

18 with challenging behaviors and other so19 cial, emotional, and mental health con20 cerns; and 

21 (ii) teacher training and mental health 

22 consultations for both staff and children of 

23 the child care and early learning program; 

24 (I) includes a policy on suspension and ex25 pulsion that— 


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1 (i) prohibits or severely limits the use 

2 of suspension due to a child’s behavior and 

3 ensures suspensions are only temporary in 

4 nature; 

5 (ii) prohibits expelling or unenrolling 

6 a child from the program because of the 

7 child’s behavior; and 

8 (iii) provides that, in the case of a 

9 child exhibiting persistent and serious chal10 lenging behaviors, the program provider 

11 will— 

12 (I) explore all possible steps and 

13 document all steps taken to address 

14 such behaviors; 

15 (II) make efforts to facilitate the 

16 child’s safe participation in the pro17 gram; and 

18 (III) after taking the steps de19 scribed in subclauses (I) and (II), if 

20 the provider determines, in consulta21 tion with parents and other profes22 sionals, that the program is not the 

23 most appropriate placement for the 

24 child, work with the parents to di25 rectly facilitate the transition of the 


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1 child to a more appropriate place2 ment; 

3 (J) provides that funds received under sec4 tion 112(a)(1) will be used for a child care and 

5 early learning program for covered children; 

6 (K) describes how, in the case of a prime 

7 sponsor located within or adjacent to a metro8 politan area, the prime sponsor will coordinate 

9 activities with other prime sponsors located 

10 within such metropolitan area; 

11 (L) provides that, to the extent feasible, 

12 the child care and early learning program will 

13 include children from a range of socioeconomic 

14 backgrounds, and that children will have access 

15 to all child care and early learning service pro16 viders in the service area, with priority given to 

17 the provider preferences stated by the parents 

18 and family members of low-income children; 

19 (M) ensures that, where socioeconomic di20 versity of children among providers in the serv21 ice area cannot be achieved, the share of pro22 gram costs not covered through the Federal 

23 share or program fees does not fall on a single 

24 provider or a subset of providers within the 

25 service area; 


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1 (N) provides that services will be cul2 turally, linguistically, and developmentally ap3 propriate; 

4 (O) provides that services will take into ac5 count the unique needs of communities, fami6 lies, and children in the service area, including 

7 low-income children, children with incarcerated 

8 parents, homeless children, and children who 

9 are dual language learners; 

10 (P) describes a system for offering child 

11 care and early learning options, for facilitating 

12 the selection of such an option, and for enroll13 ment of children, which may include estab14 lishing and operating a website for families; 

15 (Q) describes how the prime sponsor will 

16 conduct outreach to all families in the service 

17 area and referrals, using the appropriate me18 dium for families who speak a language other 

19 than English; 

20 (R) provides equitably for the child care 

21 and early learning needs of all covered children 

22 within the service area, and promotes equity 

23 and addresses disparities in the provision of 

24 services, including equity and disparities related 

25 to income, culture, race and ethnicity, language, 


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1 or status as a child of a migrant or seasonal 

2 farmworker, as a child belonging to an Indian 

3 tribe, or as a Native Hawaiian child; 

4 (S) provides, insofar as possible, for co5 ordination of the child care and early learning 

6 program with other social programs; 

7 (T) provides for— 

8 (i) direct participation of parents, 

9 family members, and child care and early 

10 learning program staff, including teachers 

11 and paraprofessionals, in the conduct of 

12 overall direction of, decision-making for, 

13 and evaluation of the child care and early 

14 learning program; and 

15 (ii) sufficient support for the persons 

16 described in clause (i) to participate in the 

17 activities described in clause (i); 

18 (U) provides to the extent feasible for the 

19 employment as both professionals and para20 professionals of residents in the service area in 

21 a way that takes into account the cultural, ra22 cial and ethnic, and linguistic diversity of the 

23 families served; 

24 (V) includes to the extent feasible a career 

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1 fessional training, education, and advancement 

2 on a career ladder; 

3 (W) provides that, insofar as possible, per4 sons residing in the service area will receive 

5 jobs, including in-home and part-time jobs, and 

6 opportunities for training in programs under 

7 sections 135 and 136, with special consideration 

8 for career opportunities for low-income individ9 uals; 

10 (X) provides for the regular and frequent 

11 dissemination of information in the language of 

12 those to be served, to assure that parents, fam13 ily members, and interested persons in the serv14 ice area are fully informed of services available 

15 through the child care and early learning pro16 gram, and of the activities of the prime spon17 sor’s Child Care and Early Learning Council; 

18 (Y) provides for coordination with adminis19 trators of programs and services that are re20 lated to child care and early learning programs 

21 and services and that are not funded through 

22 this title, including programs conducted under 

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1 try, labor unions, employee or labor-manage2 ment organizations, or other community groups; 

3 (Z) as applicable, describes any arrange4 ments for the delegation, under the supervision 

5 of the Child Care and Early Learning Council, 

6 to public or private agencies or organizations, 

7 of responsibilities for the delivery of child care 

8 and early learning services for which financial 

9 assistance is provided under this title or for 

10 planning or evaluation services to be made 

11 available with respect to a child care and early 

12 learning program under this title; 

13 (AA) contains plans for regularly con14 ducting surveys and analyses of needs for the 

15 child care and early learning program in the 

16 service area and for submitting to the Secretary 

17 a comprehensive annual report and evaluation 

18 in such form and containing such information 

19 as the Secretary shall require by regulation; 

20 (BB) provides that— 

21 (i) services for children with disabil22 ities at the State, tribal, and local levels 

23 will be available, in the child care and early 

24 learning program approved under the plan; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) formal linkages are in place be2 tween the program and providers of early 

3 intervention services for infants and tod4 dlers with disabilities; 

5 (CC) provides assurances satisfactory to 

6 the Secretary that the non-Federal share re7 quirements described in section 112(c) will be 

8 met; 

9 (DD) provides for such fiscal control, fiscal 

10 staffing, and funding accounting procedures as 

11 the Secretary may prescribe to assure proper 

12 disbursement of and accounting for Federal 

13 funds paid to the prime sponsor; 

14 (EE) provides that the child care and early 

15 learning program, or services within the pro16 gram, under this title shall be provided only for 

17 children whose parents or legal guardians have 

18 requested the services; 

19 (FF) sets forth satisfactory provisions for 

20 establishing, consistent with subsection (d)(1), 

21 and maintaining a Child Care and Early Learn22 ing Council which meets the requirements of 

23 subsection (d); 

24 (GG) provides verification that the sponsor 

25 and its delegate providers— 


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1 (i) will recognize and bargain with 

2 labor unions representing family child care 

3 home providers, teachers and other staff of 

4 child care and early learning programs in 

5 order to meet the requirements set forth in 

6 section 136 and for other purposes; and 

7 (ii) will not assist in, promote, or 

8 deter labor union organizing; 

9 (HH) provides an annual technical assist10 ance and training plan; 

11 (II) provides for collection and reporting of 

12 program performance data in both an aggregate 

13 form and disaggregated by family income, cul14 ture, race and ethnicity, and primary language; 

15 (JJ) documents a written affirmation, 

16 signed by the appropriate officials from Indian 

17 tribes or tribal organizations approved by the 

18 tribes or Native Hawaiian groups, which recog19 nizes that the prime sponsor has engaged in 

20 timely and meaningful consultation with the ap21 propriate officials from Indian tribes or tribal 

22 organizations if— 

23 (i) a program is being operated on or 

24 near an Indian reservation, or if more than 

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1 gram are Indians or Native Hawaiians; 

2 and 

3 (ii) the prime sponsor is not an Indian 

4 tribe or tribal organization; 

5 (KK) provides that services will be pro6 vided with a holistic and multi-generational ap7 proach that includes promoting the well-being 

8 of pregnant women and engaging expectant 

9 parents during prenatal and early months; 

10 (LL) describes how the sponsor will ensure 

11 that key workplace protections and rights, simi12 lar to the protections and rights specified in the 

13 National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 

14 et seq.), are provided; 

15 (MM) describes how the sponsor will im16 plement a process in which, through their labor 

17 unions, family child care home providers and 

18 child care and early learning center staff par19 ticipate in a collective process to set wages, ben20 efits, hours, and minimum standards for work21 ing conditions; 

22 (NN) describes how the sponsor will ensure 

23 that family child care home providers, including 

24 teachers and other staff of family child care 

25 home providers, and teachers and other staff at 


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1 a child care and early learning center (including 

2 employees of a delegate provider) are paid com3 pensation that meets the requirements of sec4 tion 136(b); 

5 (OO) provides that the sponsor will provide 

6 teachers and other staff with supports that are 

7 high-quality, research-based, and rooted in 

8 adult learning theory; 

9 (PP) provides that the program will be ac10 cessible to, and that staff will receive training 

11 on working with, children with disabilities and 

12 parents with disabilities; and 

13 (QQ) meets any other requirements or pro14 vides any information the Secretary requires by 

15 regulation. 

16 (c) USES.—The Secretary shall provide the financial 

17 assistance to a prime sponsor, for the planning, conduct, 

18 administration, and evaluation of a child care and early 

19 learning program that delivers services in accordance with 

20 the requirements of the comprehensive child care and early 

21 learning plan specified under subsection (b), and for im22 plementing the following activities: 

23 (1)(A) Provide for family member and commu24 nity involvement, including the involvement of par25 ents, family members, community residents, current 


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1 or future staff of a child care and early learning pro2 gram, and local businesses, in the design and imple3 mentation of the program. 

4 (B) The prime sponsor shall— 

5 (i) provide for the involvement in a manner 

6 that recognizes parents and family members as 

7 their children’s primary teachers and nurturers; 

8 and 

9 (ii) implement intentional strategies to en10 gage parents and family members in their chil11 dren’s learning and development and support 

12 parent-child relationships. 

13 (2) Provide for implementing additional activi14 ties, other than the activities described in paragraph 

15 (1), that the Secretary determines to be appropriate 

16 by regulation, which additional activities may in17 clude— 

18 (A) activities to support family well-being 

19 related to family safety, health, and economic 

20 stability, including substance abuse counseling 

21 (either directly or through referral to local enti22 ties), which may include providing information 

23 on the effect of prenatal exposure to drugs and 

24 alcohol; and 


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1 (B) other activities designed to facilitate a 

2 partnership in the program with parents in sup3 porting the development and early learning of 

4 their child, including providing— 

5 (i) training in basic child care and 

6 early learning (including cognitive, social, 

7 and emotional development); 

8 (ii) assistance in developing adult or 

9 family literacy and communication skills; 

10 (iii) opportunities to share experiences 

11 with other parents (including parent-men12 tor relationships); 

13 (iv) health services, including informa14 tion on maternal depression and mental 

15 health; 

16 (v) regular in-home or virtual visita17 tion; or 

18 (vi) family literacy services. 

19 (3) Provide, with respect to each participating 

20 family, a family needs assessment that includes con21 sultation with the parents (including, in this para22 graph, foster parents, grandparents, and kinship 

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1 tunity to share personal information in an environ2 ment in which the parents feel safe. 

3 (4) Provide to parents of dual language learners 

4 outreach and information, in an understandable and 

5 uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a 

6 language that the parents can understand. 

7 (5) Promote the continued partnership in the 

8 program of the parents (including, in this para9 graph, foster parents, grandparents, and kinship 

10 caregivers, as appropriate) of children that partici11 pate in child care and early learning programs in the 

12 education of their children upon transition of their 

13 children to school, by working with the local edu14 cational agency— 

15 (A) to implement strategies and activities, 

16 including providing information and training to 

17 the parents— 

18 (i) to help parents advocate for and 

19 promote successful transitions to kinder20 garten for their children, including helping 

21 parents continue to be involved in the edu22 cation and development of their child, and 

23 to help parents understand and prepare to 

24 exercise their rights and responsibilities 

25 concerning the education of their children; 


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1 (ii) in the case of parents with chil2 dren who receive services under section 

3 619 or part C of the Individuals with Dis4 abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 

5 1431 et seq.), to collaborate with the par6 ents, and the local agency responsible for 

7 providing such services, to support the 

8 children and parents in transitioning to a 

9 new setting in elementary school; and 

10 (iii) to prepare parents— 

11 (I) to understand and work with 

12 schools in order to communicate with 

13 teachers and other school personnel; 

14 (II) to continue to support their 

15 children’s learning, in an elementary 

16 school setting; and 

17 (III) to participate as appro18 priate in decisions relating to the edu19 cation of their children and advocate 

20 for their children’s needs; and 

21 (B) to advocate for the local educational 

22 agency to ensure that schools have a process in 

23 place to take other actions, as appropriate and 

24 feasible, to support the active involvement of 


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1 the parents with schools, school personnel, and 

2 school-related organizations. 

3 (6) Establish effective procedures for timely re4 ferral of children with disabilities to the State or 

5 local agency providing services under section 619 or 

6 part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

7 Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.), and collabora8 tion with that agency. 

9 (7) Establish effective procedures— 

10 (A) for providing necessary early interven11 tion services and special education and related 

12 services to children with developmental delays 

13 and disabilities prior to an eligibility determina14 tion by the State or local agency responsible for 

15 providing services under section 619 or part C 

16 of such Act; and 

17 (B) in the case of a child for whom an 

18 evaluation determines that the child is not eligi19 ble for early intervention services or special 

20 education and related services under the Indi21 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

22 U.S.C. 1400), but who has a documented sig23 nificant delay, for partnering with parents to 

24 help the parents access services and supports to 


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1 help address the child’s identified needs through 

2 health insurance or other means. 

3 (8) Ensure that each family with a covered 

4 child who requests a placement receives one in the 

5 service area and, in making the placement, recognize 

6 and take into account the family’s needs regarding 

7 setting (such as a family child care home or center8 based setting), cultural and linguistic preferences, 

9 operating schedule, and preferences on location. 

10 (9) Provide both center-based and family child 

11 care home options for child care and early learning 

12 services to families. 

13 (d) PROGRAM GOVERNANCE.— 

14 (1) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—Upon receiving des15 ignation as a prime sponsor, the prime sponsor shall 

16 establish a Child Care and Early Learning Advisory 

17 Council (referred to in this section as a ‘‘Council’’ 

18 and maintain the Council to advise the prime spon19 sor and assist in the coordination of program serv20 ices and implementation. 

21 (2) STATE COUNCIL.—In the event that the 

22 prime sponsor is a State, the Council shall coordi23 nate activities with the State Advisory Council on 

24 Early Childhood Education and Care designated or 


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1 established under section 642B(b) in the Head Start 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)). 

3 (3) OVERALL COMPOSITION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es5 tablish the composition requirements for the 

6 Council ensuring that the Council has represen7 tation of— 

8 (i) parents or family members of chil9 dren served by child care and early learn10 ing programs; 

11 (ii) staff and providers of child care 

12 and early learning programs, or their rep13 resentatives; and 

14 (iii) other relevant stakeholders. 

15 (B) REPRESENTATION.—Members of the 

16 Council shall reflect the population served by 

17 the prime sponsor, with respect to income, cul18 ture, race and ethnicity, language, and status 

19 as a migrant or seasonal farmworker, Indian, or 

20 Native Hawaiian. 

21 (4) CHAIRPERSON.—Each Council shall select 

22 its own chairperson, from among the members of the 

23 Council. 

24 (5) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Council 

2 shall— 

3 (i) not have a financial conflict of in4 terest with the prime sponsor; 

5 (ii) not receive compensation for serv6 ing on the Council or for providing services 

7 to the prime sponsor; 

8 (iii) not be employed, nor shall mem9 bers of their immediate family be em10 ployed, by a prime sponsor in the service 

11 area; and 

12 (iv) as a Council, operate as an entity 

13 independent of staff employed by the prime 

14 sponsor. 

15 (B) EXCEPTION.—If an individual holds a 

16 position as a result of public election or political 

17 appointment, and such position carries with it 

18 a concurrent appointment to serve as a member 

19 of a Council, and such individual has any con20 flict of interest described in clause (ii) or (iii) 

21 of subparagraph (A)— 

22 (i) such individual shall not be prohib23 ited from serving on such body and the 

24 Council shall report such conflict to the 

25 Secretary; and 


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1 (ii) if the position held as a result of 

2 public election or political appointment 

3 provides compensation, such individual 

4 shall not be prohibited from receiving such 

5 compensation. 

6 (6) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Council shall pro7 vide regular advice and guidance to the prime spon8 sor on the basic goals, policies, actions, and proce9 dures, at a basic level, for the prime sponsor relating 

10 to the child care and early learning program in11 volved, including policies with respect to planning, 

12 general supervision and oversight, overall coordina13 tion, personnel, budgeting, funding, and monitoring 

14 and evaluation, of the programs. 

15 (e) PROGRAM GOVERNANCE ADMINISTRATION.— 

16 (1) IMPASSE POLICIES.—The Secretary shall 

17 develop policies, procedures, and guidance for prime 

18 sponsors concerning the resolution of internal dis19 putes, including any impasse in the governance of 

20 child care and early learning programs. 

21 (2) CONDUCT OF RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each 

22 prime sponsor shall ensure the sharing of accurate 

23 and regular information for use by the Council, 

24 about program planning, policies, and operations. 


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1 (3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

2 Appropriate training and technical assistance shall 

3 be provided to the members of the Council to ensure 

4 that the members understand the information the 

5 members receive and can effectively oversee and par6 ticipate in the child care and early learning program 

7 of the prime sponsor. 

8 (f) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—On re9 ceiving designation as a prime sponsor, the prime sponsor 

10 shall ensure that the child care and early learning program 

11 is implemented in a way that promotes collaboration and 

12 coordination with public and private entities, to the max13 imum extent practicable, to improve the availability and 

14 quality of services to children and families, including im15 plementing each of the following activities: 

16 (1) Conduct outreach to schools in which chil17 dren participating in the child care and early learn18 ing program will enroll following the program, local 

19 educational agencies, the local business community, 

20 community-based organizations, faith-based organi21 zations, museums, health care providers, and librar22 ies to generate support and leverage the resources of 

23 the entire local community in order to improve 

24 school readiness. 


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1 (2) Coordinate activities and collaborate with 

2 entities (including providers) carrying out programs 

3 under the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

4 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.), section 106 

5 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 5106a), parts B and E of title IV of the 

7 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 670 et 

8 seq.), subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento 

9 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), 

10 section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Dis11 abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et 

12 seq.), or the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et 

13 seq.), and other entities providing early childhood 

14 education and development programs or services. 

15 (3) Take steps to coordinate activities with the 

16 local educational agency serving the service area in17 volved and with schools in which children partici18 pating in the child care and early learning program 

19 will enroll following the program, including— 

20 (A) collaborating on the shared use of 

21 transportation and facilities, in appropriate 

22 cases; 

23 (B) collaborating to reduce the duplication 

24 and enhance the efficiency of services while in25 creasing the program participation; and 


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1 (C) exchanging information on the provi2 sion of noneducational services. 

3 (4) If there is a public preschool program in the 

4 service area that is not a prime sponsor nor a partic5 ipant in the child care and early learning program, 

6 enter into a memorandum of understanding with the 

7 local entity responsible for managing the preschool 

8 program, not later than 1 year after the date of en9 actment of this Act, that shall— 

10 (A)(i) provide for a review of each of the 

11 activities described in clause (ii); and 

12 (ii) include plans to coordinate, as appro13 priate, activities regarding— 

14 (I) educational activities, curricular 

15 objectives, and instruction; 

16 (II) public information dissemination 

17 and access to programs for families con18 tacting the child care and early learning 

19 program or the preschool program; 

20 (III) selection priorities for eligible 

21 children to be served by the child care and 

22 early learning program or any of the pre23 school programs; 

24 (IV) service areas; 


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1 (V) staff training, including opportu2 nities for joint staff training on topics such 

3 as academic content standards, instruc4 tional methods, curricula, and social and 

5 emotional development; 

6 (VI) program technical assistance; 

7 (VII) provision of additional services 

8 to meet the needs of parents or family 

9 members, as applicable; 

10 (VIII) communications and outreach 

11 to parents and family members for smooth 

12 transitions to kindergarten as required in 

13 paragraphs (3) and (6) of section 122(a); 

14 (IX) provision and use of facilities, 

15 transportation, and other program ele16 ments; and 

17 (X) other elements mutually agreed to 

18 by the parties to such memorandum; 

19 (B) be submitted to the Secretary and the 

20 State Director of Child Care and Early Learn21 ing Program Collaboration not later than 30 

22 days after the parties enter into such memo23 randum; and 


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1 (C) be revised periodically and renewed bi2 ennially by the parties to such memorandum, in 

3 alignment with the beginning of the school year. 

4 The requirements of the preceding sentence shall not 

5 apply where the local entity responsible for man6 aging the public preschool program is unable or un7 willing to enter into such a memorandum, and the 

8 prime sponsor shall inform the Secretary and the 

9 State Director of Child Care and Early Learning 

10 Program Collaboration of such inability or unwilling11 ness. 

12 (g) STANDARDS, CURRICULA, AND ASSESSMENT.— 

13 On receiving designation as a prime sponsor, the prime 

14 sponsor shall ensure that the child care and early learning 

15 program will— 

16 (1) take steps to ensure, to the maximum ex17 tent practicable, that children maintain the develop18 mental and educational gains achieved and build 

19 upon such gains in further schooling; 

20 (2) meet the national program standards set 

21 forth in section 121(a); 

22 (3) implement a research-based early childhood 

23 curriculum that— 


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1 (A) promotes young children’s school read2 iness in the areas listed in section 

3 121(a)(4)(A)(ii); 

4 (B) is based on scientifically valid research 

5 and has standardized training procedures and 

6 curriculum materials to support implementa7 tion; 

8 (C) is comprehensive and linked to an on9 going assessment and aligned with State early 

10 learning standards, within the meaning of sec11 tion 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 9832), which is conducted not more than twice 

13 a year, with developmental and learning goals 

14 and measurable objectives; and 

15 (D) is focused on improving the learning 

16 environment, teaching practices, parent and 

17 family member involvement, and child outcomes 

18 across all areas of development; 

19 (4) implement effective interventions and sup20 port services that help promote the school readiness 

21 of children participating in the child care and early 

22 learning program involved; 

23 (5) use research-based assessment methods, in24 cluding such methods that provide proven results re25 gardless of culture, race or ethnicity, or language 


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1 spoken at home, in order to support the educational 

2 instruction and school readiness of children in the 

3 program; 

4 (6) use research-based developmental screening 

5 tools that have been demonstrated to be— 

6 (A) standardized, reliable, valid, and accu7 rate for the child being assessed, to the max8 imum extent practicable; and 

9 (B) age, developmentally, culturally, and 

10 linguistically appropriate, for the child and, if 

11 relevant, appropriate for children with disabil12 ities; 

13 (7) adopt, in consultation with experts in child 

14 care and early learning and with classroom teachers, 

15 a non-punitive evaluation to assess classroom teach16 ers and to inform professional development plans, as 

17 appropriate, that leads to improved teacher effective18 ness; 

19 (8) establish goals and measurable objectives 

20 for the provision of health, educational, nutritional, 

21 social services, and other services provided under 

22 this title and related to the program mission and to 

23 promoting school readiness; 


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1 (9) develop procedures for identifying and pro2 moting the language knowledge and skills of dual 

3 language learner children; and 

4 (10) not use funds to develop or implement an 

5 assessment for children that— 

6 (A) will be used as the sole basis for a 

7 child care and early learning provider being de8 termined to be ineligible to participate in the 

9 program carried out under this title; 

10 (B) will be used as the primary or sole 

11 basis for providing a reward or sanction for an 

12 individual provider; 

13 (C) will be used as the primary or sole 

14 basis for assessing program effectiveness; or 

15 (D) will be used to deny children eligibility 

16 to participate in the program carried out under 

17 this title. 

18 (h) EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in this title shall pre19 clude a State from using a single assessment (as deter20 mined by the State) for children for— 

21 (1) supporting learning or improving a class22 room environment; 

23 (2) targeting professional development to a pro24 vider; 


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1 (3) determining the need for health, mental 

2 health, disability, developmental delay, or family 

3 support services; 

4 (4) obtaining information for the quality im5 provement process at the State level; or 

6 (5) conducting a program evaluation for the 

7 purposes of improving the program and providing in8 formation to parents. 

9 (i) FUNDED ENROLLMENT.—Each prime sponsor 

10 shall enroll 100 percent of its funded enrollment, with on11 going outreach to the community and activities to identify 

12 underserved populations. 

13 (j) SLIDING FEE SCALE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to child care 

15 and early learning services provided through the pro16 gram, a prime sponsor— 

17 (A) shall not charge a fee with respect to 

18 any low-income child; and 

19 (B) may charge a fee with respect to any 

20 child who is not a low-income child, in accord21 ance with the sliding fee scale described in 

22 paragraph (2) and subject to paragraph (3). 

23 (2) SLIDING FEE SCALE.—A fee under this sub24 section shall be charged based on a sliding fee scale 

25 as follows: 


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1 (A) With respect to a child who is in a 

2 family with a family income that is more than 

3 200 percent of the poverty line but not more 

4 than 250 percent of the poverty line, the fee 

5 under this subsection shall not exceed 1 percent 

6 of the family income. 

7 (B) With respect to a child who is in a 

8 family with a family income that is more than 

9 250 percent of the poverty line but not more 

10 than 300 percent of the poverty line, the fee 

11 under this subsection shall not exceed 2 percent 

12 of the family income. 

13 (C) With respect to a child who is in a 

14 family with a family income that is more than 

15 300 percent of the poverty line but not more 

16 than 350 percent of the poverty line, the fee 

17 under this subsection shall not exceed 3 percent 

18 of the family income. 

19 (D) With respect to a child who is in a 

20 family with a family income that is more than 

21 350 percent of the poverty line but not more 

22 than 400 percent of the poverty line, the fee 

23 under this subsection shall not exceed 4 percent 

24 of the family income. 


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1 (E) With respect to a child who is in a 

2 family with a family income that is more than 

3 400 percent of the poverty line but not more 

4 than 450 percent of the poverty line, the fee 

5 under this subsection shall not exceed 5 percent 

6 of the family income. 

7 (F) With respect to a child who is in a 

8 family with a family income that is more than 

9 450 percent of the poverty line but not more 

10 than 500 percent of the poverty line, the fee 

11 under this subsection shall not exceed 6 percent 

12 of the family income. 

13 (G) With respect to a child who is in a 

14 family with a family income that is more than 

15 500 percent of the poverty line, the fee under 

16 this subsection shall not exceed 7 percent of the 

17 family income. 

18 (3) FEE PERCENTAGE APPLICABLE REGARD19 LESS OF NUMBER OF CHILDREN SERVED.—The total 

20 fee for a family that is subject to the fee under this 

21 subsection and has more than 1 child served through 

22 the program— 

23 (A) may increase as the family enters the 

24 second or a further child in the program; but 


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1 (B) may not be greater than the fee al2 lowed under paragraph (2). 

3 (k) PARENT BOARDS.—The prime sponsor shall re4 quire the establishment, at each child care and early learn5 ing center, of a board of parents, to be composed of par6 ents and family members of children attending the center. 

7 The board shall meet periodically with staff of the center 

8 for the purpose of discussing problems and concerns. 

9 (l) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 

10 shall be construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights, 

11 remedies, and procedures afforded to staff of child care 

12 and early learning programs or delegate providers, or em13 ployees of public schools, or local educational agencies, 

14 under Federal, State, tribal, or local laws (including appli15 cable regulations or court orders) or under the terms of 

16 collective bargaining agreements, memoranda of under17 standing, or other agreements between such staff or em18 ployees, and the corresponding program, provider, school, 

19 or agency. 

20 SEC. 115. DELEGATE PROVIDERS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—A prime sponsor may use finan22 cial assistance made available under section 112(a)(1) to 

23 enter into an agreement with a delegate provider to carry 

24 out services as part of the child care and early learning 

25 program. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.—To be able to receive financial as2 sistance under subsection (a) for a fiscal year as a delegate 

3 provider to carry out services as part of the child care and 

4 early learning program, a public or private agency or orga5 nization shall submit a delegate provider application to a 

6 prime sponsor, at such time and in such manner as the 

7 prime sponsor may require, that provides— 

8 (1) that the delegate provider applicant is an 

9 entity that is a locality, local educational agency, 

10 faith-based organization, public or private nonprofit 

11 or for-profit agency or organization, family child 

12 care network or association, employer or business or13 ganization, labor union, employee or labor-manage14 ment organization, home-based child care provider, 

15 or public or private educational agency or institu16 tion; and 

17 (2) that the entity will provide for such fiscal 

18 control and fund accounting procedures as the Sec19 retary shall prescribe to assure proper disbursement 

20 of and accounting for Federal funds. 

21 (c) APPROVAL.—A delegate provider application may 

22 be approved by a prime sponsor upon its determination 

23 that such application meets the requirements of this sec24 tion and that the services to be provided will otherwise 

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1 sions of the prime sponsor’s child care and early learning 

2 plan as approved pursuant to section 114. On approval 

3 of the application, the entity shall be considered to be a 

4 delegate provider, for purposes of this title. 

5 (d) FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.— 

6 Prime sponsors shall involve parents, family members, and 

7 community members in the selection process of delegate 

8 providers. 

9 Subtitle B—Standards 

10 SEC. 121. NATIONAL PROGRAM STANDARDS, MONITORING 

11 OF CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING PRO12 GRAMS. 

13 (a) STANDARDS FOR CHILD CARE AND EARLY

14 LEARNING SERVICES.— 

15 (1) ISSUANCE.— 

16 (A) NATIONAL PROGRAM STANDARDS.— 

17 Within 18 months after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, the Secretary shall, after consulta19 tion with other Federal agencies, and on the 

20 basis of the recommendations of the Committee 

21 established pursuant to paragraph (3), issue a 

22 common set of national program standards 

23 which shall be applicable to all prime sponsors, 

24 with respect to their child care and early learn25 ing programs providing child care and early 


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1 learning services with financial assistance under 

2 this title, to be known as the ‘‘Federal Stand3 ards for Child Care and Early Learning Serv4 ices’’. 

5 (B) BASELINE FOR KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, 

6 AND COMPETENCIES.—The standards shall es7 tablish a baseline threshold for knowledge, 

8 skills, and competencies for child care and early 

9 learning teachers and staff that— 

10 (i) shall be aligned with compensation 

11 levels; 

12 (ii) shall be phased in; and 

13 (iii) shall be determined by the Sec14 retary to be in alignment with the knowl15 edge, skills, and competency expectations 

16 of the child care and early learning, or 

17 early childhood education, profession. 

18 (2) COMPREHENSIVENESS.—As appropriate 

19 and practicable, the Secretary shall make efforts to 

20 ensure that the Federal Standards for Child Care 

21 and Early Learning Services are as comprehensive 

22 as the Head Start program performance standards 

23 in section 641A(a) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

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1 viders and programs issued under the military child 

2 care program. 

3 (3) SPECIAL COMMITTEE.— 

4 (A) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary shall, 

5 within 60 days after the date of enactment of 

6 this Act, appoint a Special Committee on Fed7 eral Standards for Child Care and Early Learn8 ing Services. 

9 (B) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall 

10 include— 

11 (i) parents or legal guardians of chil12 dren participating in child care and early 

13 learning programs; 

14 (ii) representatives of prime sponsors 

15 carrying out child care and early learning 

16 programs; 

17 (iii) representatives of staff of child 

18 care and early learning programs, includ19 ing teachers; 

20 (iv) representatives of tribes and trib21 al organizations carrying out child care 

22 and early learning programs on Indian 

23 land; 

24 (v) representatives of family child care 

25 home providers, staff and employers for 


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1 center-based child care and early learning 

2 programs, and family child care home pro3 viders in child care and early learning pro4 grams; and 

5 (vi) specialists covering the areas of 

6 child care and early learning quality, work7 force preparation, working conditions, and 

8 wages, and early childhood development. 

9 (C) DIVERSITY.—The Secretary shall en10 sure that the membership of the Committee is 

11 diverse with regard to culture, race and eth12 nicity, and language. 

13 (D) DUTIES.—Such Committee shall rec14 ommend Federal Standards for Child Care and 

15 Early Learning Services and modifications of 

16 such standards as provided in paragraph (1). 

17 (4) CONTENT OF STANDARDS.—The standards 

18 shall include— 

19 (A) performance standards with respect to 

20 services required to be provided, including 

21 health, nutritional, and social services, and 

22 other services, including parental and family 

23 member involvement services and transition ac24 tivities described in section 122; 


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1 (B) scientifically-based and develop2 mentally appropriate early development and 

3 learning performance standards related to 

4 school readiness to ensure that the children 

5 participating in the child care and early learn6 ing program, at a minimum, develop and dem7 onstrate— 

8 (i) language knowledge and skills, in9 cluding oral language and listening com10 prehension; 

11 (ii) literacy knowledge and skills, in12 cluding phonological awareness, print 

13 awareness and skills, and alphabetic knowl14 edge; 

15 (iii) mathematics knowledge and 

16 skills; 

17 (iv) science knowledge and skills; 

18 (v) cognitive abilities that support 

19 academic achievement and child care and 

20 early learning; 

21 (vi) approaches to learning related to 

22 child care and early learning; 

23 (vii) social and emotional development 

24 sufficient to be a foundation for early 


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1 learning, school success, and social prob2 lem-solving; 

3 (viii) creative arts expression; 

4 (ix) physical development; and 

5 (x) in the case of dual language learn6 er children, progress toward language 

7 knowledge and development, including 

8 progress made through the use of cul9 turally and linguistically appropriate in10 structional services; 

11 (C) administrative and financial manage12 ment standards; 

13 (D) standards relating to the condition and 

14 location of facilities (including indoor air qual15 ity assessment standards, where appropriate) 

16 for such prime sponsors, including regulations 

17 that require that the facilities used for child 

18 care and early learning programs for regularly 

19 scheduled center-based and combination pro20 gram option classroom activities— 

21 (i) shall meet or exceed State and 

22 local requirements concerning licensing for 

23 such facilities; and 

24 (ii) shall be accessible by State and 

25 local authorities for purposes of monitoring 


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1 and ensuring compliance, unless State or 

2 local laws prohibit such access; 

3 (E) standards related to the work environ4 ment, including standards for the health and 

5 safety, and well-being, of teachers and other 

6 staff in the child care and early learning pro7 grams; and 

8 (F) such other standards as the Secretary 

9 finds to be appropriate. 

10 (5) CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING STAND11 ARDS.—In developing standards required under 

12 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

13 (A) consult with experts in the fields of 

14 child care and early learning, early childhood 

15 education, child health care, family services (in16 cluding linguistically and culturally appropriate 

17 services to dual language learner children and 

18 their families), administration, and financial 

19 management, and with persons with experience 

20 in the operation of child care and early learning 

21 programs; 

22 (B) take into consideration— 

23 (i) past experience with use of the 

24 standards in effect under the Head Start 

25 Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) on the date 


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1 of enactment of the Improving Head Start 

2 for School Readiness Act of 2007; 

3 (ii) developments concerning research4 based practices with respect to early child5 hood education and development, children 

6 with disabilities, homeless children, chil7 dren in foster care, and family services, 

8 and best practices with respect to program 

9 administration and financial management; 

10 (iii) appropriateness of standards for 

11 prime sponsors with respect to their pro12 grams, recognizing differences in types of 

13 settings (including center-based and home14 based settings), geography of the service 

15 area, and the culture, language, and age 

16 distribution of the children served; 

17 (iv) projected needs of expanding child 

18 care and early learning programs; 

19 (v) guidelines and standards that pro20 mote child health and physical develop21 ment, including participation in outdoor 

22 activity that supports children’s motor de23 velopment and overall health and nutrition; 

24 (vi) changes in the characteristics of 

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1 ing child care and early learning programs, 

2 including country of origin, language back3 ground, and family structure of such chil4 dren, and changes in the population and 

5 number of such children who are in foster 

6 care or are homeless children; 

7 (vii) mechanisms to ensure that chil8 dren participating in child care and early 

9 learning programs make a successful tran10 sition to the schools that the children will 

11 be attending; 

12 (viii) the need for prime sponsors to 

13 maintain regular communications with par14 ents and family members, including con15 ducting periodic meetings to discuss the 

16 progress of individual children in child care 

17 and early learning programs; 

18 (ix) the unique challenges faced by in19 dividual programs, including those pro20 grams that are seasonal or short-term and 

21 those programs that serve rural popu22 lations; 

23 (x) the degree to which standards are 

24 streamlined and minimize administrative 


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1 burdens on child care and early learning 

2 program providers; 

3 (xi) the depth of demonstrated skills, 

4 experiences, and linguistic, cultural, and 

5 racial and ethnic, diversity of providers for 

6 child care and early learning programs; 

7 and 

8 (xii) the input of parents and family 

9 members; 

10 (C)(i) review and revise as necessary the 

11 standards in effect under this subsection; and 

12 (ii) ensure that any such revisions in the 

13 standards will not result in the elimination of or 

14 any reduction in quality, scope, or types of 

15 health, educational, nutritional, social, or other 

16 services, including parental and family member 

17 involvement services, required to be provided 

18 under such standards as in effect on the date 

19 of enactment of this Act; and 

20 (D) consult with appropriate officials from 

21 Indian tribes and tribal organizations, experts 

22 in Indian or Native Hawaiian early childhood 

23 education and development, linguists, and asso24 ciations related to child care and early learning 

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1 ing to Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian chil2 dren, on the review and promulgation of stand3 ards under paragraph (1) (including standards 

4 for Indian or Native Hawaiian, as the case may 

5 be, language acquisition and school readiness). 

6 (6) ADEQUATE TIME TO MEET STANDARDS.— 

7 The Secretary shall establish an effective date for 

8 the standards that allows adequate time for prime 

9 sponsors to meet the standards after they have been 

10 issued. 

11 (b) UNIFORM CODE FOR FACILITIES.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL COM13 MITTEE.—The Secretary shall, within 60 days after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, appoint a special 

15 committee to develop and recommend a uniform 

16 code for facilities, to be used as described in para17 graph (4). The standards in the code shall deal prin18 cipally with those aspects of facilities that are essen19 tial to the health, safety, and physical comfort of the 

20 children involved and the aspects of facilities that 

21 are related to the Federal Standards for Child Care 

22 and Early Learning Services under subsection 

23 (a)(1). In recommending the provisions of the code, 

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1 ferences between child care centers and family child 

2 care homes. 

3 (2) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE.—The special 

4 committee appointed under this subsection shall in5 clude parents or family members of children partici6 pating in child care and early learning programs and 

7 representatives of State and local facility licensing 

8 agencies, of public health officials, of fire prevention 

9 officials, of the construction industry and labor 

10 unions, of prime sponsors, of center-based providers 

11 and family child care home providers, and of na12 tional agencies or organizations interested in the de13 velopment of children. Not less than one-half of the 

14 membership of the committee shall consist of par15 ents or family members of children participating in 

16 child care and early learning programs conducted 

17 under this title. 

18 (3) PROPOSED CODE.—Within 1 year after its 

19 appointment, the special committee— 

20 (A) shall develop standards for a proposed 

21 uniform code for facilities in which child care 

22 and early learning services are provided; and 

23 (B) shall hold public hearings on the pro24 posed code prior to submitting its final rec25 ommendation to the Secretary for approval. 


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1 (4) PROMULGATION.—After considering the 

2 recommendations submitted by the special com3 mittee in accordance with paragraph (3), the Sec4 retary shall promulgate standards for a uniform 

5 code described in paragraph (3)(A), which shall be 

6 applicable to all facilities receiving Federal financial 

7 assistance under this title. If the Secretary dis8 approves the committee’s recommendations, the Sec9 retary shall state the reasons for the disapproval. 

10 The Secretary shall also distribute such standards 

11 and urge their adoption by States and local govern12 ments for facilities in which child care and early 

13 learning services are provided. The Secretary may 

14 from time to time modify the uniform code for facili15 ties in accordance with procedures set forth in this 

16 subsection. 

17 (5) ADEQUATE TIME TO MEET FACILITIES

18 CODE.—The Secretary shall establish an effective 

19 date for the code that allows adequate time for 

20 prime sponsors to meet the code after it has been 

21 promulgated. 

22 (6) STATE CODE FOR FACILITIES.—Paragraphs 

23 (1) through (5) shall not apply in a State for which 

24 the Secretary, after consultation with the special 

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1 termination that the State’s uniform code for facili2 ties or a similar facilities code or set of standards 

3 that applies to centers and family child care homes 

4 that participate in a child care and early learning 

5 program under this title, is sufficient to meet the 

6 health, safety, and physical comfort goals of this 

7 subsection. 

8 (c) MEASURES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta10 tion with representatives of child care and early 

11 learning programs, Indian tribes and tribal organiza12 tions, parents and family members of children in 

13 such programs, and teachers and other staff in such 

14 programs, and with experts in the fields of early 

15 childhood education and development, family serv16 ices, and program management, shall use the study 

17 on Developmental Outcomes and Assessments for 

18 Young Children by the National Academy of 

19 Sciences, consistent with section 649(j) of the Head 

20 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9844(j)), and other relevant 

21 research to establish, inform, revise, and provide 

22 guidance to prime sponsors for utilizing, scientif23 ically-based measures that support, as appropriate— 

24 (A) classroom instructional practices and, 

25 for infants and toddlers, responsive caregiving 


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1 practices that support early learning and devel2 opment; 

3 (B) identification of children with special 

4 needs; 

5 (C) program evaluation; and 

6 (D) administrative and financial manage7 ment practices. 

8 (2) CHARACTERISTICS OF MEASURES.—The 

9 measures under this subsection shall— 

10 (A) be developmentally, linguistically, and 

11 culturally appropriate for the population served; 

12 (B) be reviewed periodically, based on ad13 vances in the science of early childhood develop14 ment; 

15 (C) be consistent with relevant, nationally 

16 recognized professional and technical standards 

17 related to the assessment of young children; 

18 (D) be valid and reliable in the language in 

19 which the measures are administered; 

20 (E) be administered by staff with appro21 priate training for such administration; 

22 (F) provide for appropriate accommoda23 tions for children with disabilities and dual lan24 guage learner children; 


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1 (G) be high-quality research-based meas2 ures that have been demonstrated to assist with 

3 the purposes for which the measures were de4 vised; and 

5 (H) be adaptable, as appropriate, for use 

6 in the self-assessment of prime sponsors, in7 cluding in the evaluation of administrative and 

8 financial management practices. 

9 (3) USE OF MEASURES; LIMITATIONS ON

10 USE.— 

11 (A) USE.—The measures shall be de12 signed, as appropriate, for the purpose of— 

13 (i) helping to develop the skills, 

14 knowledge, abilities, and development de15 scribed in subsection (a)(4)(A)(ii) of chil16 dren participating in child care and early 

17 learning programs, with an emphasis on 

18 measuring skills that scientifically valid re19 search has demonstrated are related to 

20 children’s school readiness and later suc21 cess in school; 

22 (ii) improving classroom practices, in23 cluding reviewing children’s strengths and 

24 weaknesses and individualizing instruction 

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1 volved and, for infants and toddlers, ensur2 ing the opportunity for one-on-one inter3 action that facilitates early learning and 

4 development; 

5 (iii) identifying the special needs of 

6 children; and 

7 (iv) improving overall program per8 formance in order to help prime sponsors 

9 identify problem areas that may require 

10 additional training and technical assistance 

11 resources. 

12 (B) LIMITATIONS.—Such measures shall 

13 not be used for an assessment for children 

14 that— 

15 (i) will be used as the sole basis for a 

16 child care and early learning provider 

17 being determined to be ineligible to partici18 pate in the program carried out under this 

19 title; 

20 (ii) will be used as the primary or sole 

21 basis for providing a reward or sanction 

22 for an individual provider; 

23 (iii) will be used as the primary or 

24 sole basis for assessing program effective25 ness; or 


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1 (iv) will be used to deny children eligi2 bility to participate in the program carried 

3 out under this title. 

4 (C) EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in this sub5 chapter shall preclude a State from using a sin6 gle assessment (as determined by the State) for 

7 children for— 

8 (i) supporting learning or improving a 

9 classroom environment; 

10 (ii) targeting professional development 

11 to a provider; 

12 (iii) determining the need for health, 

13 mental health, disability, developmental 

14 delay, or family support services; 

15 (iv) obtaining information for the 

16 quality improvement process at the State 

17 level; or 

18 (v) conducting a program evaluation 

19 for the purposes of improving the program 

20 and providing information to parents. 

21 (4) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, through 

23 regulation, shall ensure the confidentiality of 

24 any personally identifiable data, information, 

25 and records collected or maintained under this 


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1 title by the Secretary and any prime sponsors. 

2 Such regulations shall provide the policies, pro3 tections, and rights equivalent to those provided 

4 to a parent, student, and educational agency or 

5 institution, as the case may be, under section 

6 444 of the General Education Provisions Act 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1232g). 

8 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION ON NATION9 WIDE DATABASE.—Nothing in this subsection 

10 shall be construed to authorize the development 

11 of a nationwide database of personally identifi12 able data, information, or records on children 

13 resulting from the use of measures under this 

14 subsection. 

15 (5) SPECIAL RULE.— 

16 (A) PROHIBITION.—The use of assessment 

17 items and data on any assessment authorized 

18 under this title by any agent of the Federal 

19 Government is prohibited for the purposes of— 

20 (i) ranking, comparing, or otherwise 

21 evaluating individual children for purposes 

22 other than research, training, or technical 

23 assistance; and 

24 (ii) providing rewards or sanctions for 

25 individual children or teachers. 


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1 (B) RESULTS.—The Secretary shall not 

2 use the results of a single such assessment as 

3 the sole method for assessing program effective4 ness or making agency funding determinations 

5 at the national, regional, or local level under 

6 this title. 

7 (d) MONITORING OF LOCAL PRIME SPONSORS AND

8 CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS.—The 

9 Secretary, in consultation with representatives of child 

10 care and early learning programs, Indian tribes and tribal 

11 organizations, parents and family members of children in 

12 such programs, teachers and other staff in such programs, 

13 and with experts in the fields of early childhood education 

14 and development, family services, and program manage15 ment, shall establish and implement monitoring proce16 dures for prime sponsors and their child care and early 

17 learning programs (which may be based on the Head Start 

18 program monitoring procedures described in section 

19 641A(c) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a(c)), and 

20 the monitoring procedures being implemented for the mili21 tary child care program)— 

22 (1) to determine whether prime sponsors meet 

23 standards described in subsection (a)(1) established 

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1 tive, financial management, and other requirements; 

2 and 

3 (2) in order to help the prime sponsors identify 

4 areas for improvement and areas of strength as part 

5 of their ongoing self-assessment process. 

6 (e) CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR PRIME SPONSORS.— 

7 (1) DETERMINATION.—If the Secretary deter8 mines, on the basis of a review pursuant to sub9 section (d), that a prime sponsor designated pursu10 ant to this title fails to meet the standards described 

11 in subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall— 

12 (A) inform the prime sponsor of the defi13 ciencies that shall be corrected and identify the 

14 assistance to be provided consistent with para15 graph (3); 

16 (B) with respect to each identified defi17 ciency, require the prime sponsor— 

18 (i) to correct the deficiency imme19 diately, if the Secretary finds that the defi20 ciency threatens the health or safety of 

21 staff or program participants or poses a 

22 threat to the integrity of Federal funds; 

23 (ii) to correct the deficiency not later 

24 than 90 days after the identification of the 

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1 cretion of the Secretary, that such a 90- 

2 day period is reasonable, in light of the na3 ture and magnitude of the deficiency; or 

4 (iii) in the discretion of the Secretary 

5 (taking into consideration the seriousness 

6 of the deficiency and the time reasonably 

7 required to correct the deficiency), to com8 ply with the requirements of paragraph (2) 

9 concerning a quality improvement plan; 

10 and 

11 (C) initiate proceedings to terminate the 

12 designation of the prime sponsor unless the 

13 prime sponsor corrects the deficiency. 

14 (2) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN.— 

15 (A) PRIME SPONSOR AND PROGRAM RE16 SPONSIBILITIES.—To retain a designation as a 

17 prime sponsor under this title, a prime sponsor 

18 that is the subject of a determination described 

19 in paragraph (1) (excluding a prime sponsor re20 quired to correct a deficiency immediately or 

21 during a 90-day period under clause (i) or (ii) 

22 of paragraph (1)(B)) shall— 

23 (i) develop in a timely manner, a qual24 ity improvement plan that shall be subject 


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1 to the approval of the Secretary, and that 

2 shall specify— 

3 (I) the deficiencies to be cor4 rected; 

5 (II) the actions to be taken to 

6 correct such deficiencies; and 

7 (III) the timetable for accom8 plishment of the corrective actions 

9 specified; and 

10 (ii) correct each deficiency identified, 

11 not later than the date for correction of 

12 such deficiency specified in such plan 

13 (which shall not be later than 1 year after 

14 the date the prime sponsor that is deter15 mined to have a deficiency received notice 

16 of the determination and of the specific de17 ficiency to be corrected). 

18 (B) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Not 

19 later than 30 days after receiving from a prime 

20 sponsor a proposed quality improvement plan 

21 pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

22 shall either approve such proposed plan or 

23 specify the reasons why the proposed plan can24 not be approved. 


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1 (3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

2 The Secretary shall provide training and technical 

3 assistance to the prime sponsor with respect to the 

4 development or implementation of such quality im5 provement plans to the extent the Secretary finds 

6 such provision to be feasible and appropriate given 

7 available funding and other statutory responsibil8 ities. 

9 (f) SUMMARIES OF MONITORING OUTCOMES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

11 after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

12 publish a summary report on the findings of reviews 

13 conducted under subsection (d) and on the outcomes 

14 of quality improvement plans implemented under 

15 subsection (e), during such fiscal year. 

16 (2) REPORT AVAILABILITY.—Such report shall 

17 be made widely available to— 

18 (A) parents and family members with chil19 dren receiving assistance under this title— 

20 (i) in an understandable and uniform 

21 format; and 

22 (ii) to the extent practicable, in a lan23 guage that the parents and family mem24 bers understand; 

25 (B) the public through means such as— 


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1 (i) distribution through public agen2 cies; and 

3 (ii) posting such information on the 

4 Internet; and 

5 (C) Indian tribes and tribal organizations. 

6 (3) REPORT INFORMATION.—Such report shall 

7 contain detailed data— 

8 (A) on compliance with specific standards 

9 and measures; and 

10 (B) sufficient to allow prime sponsors to 

11 use such data to improve the quality of their 

12 programs. 

13 (g) SELF-ASSESSMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

15 once each program year, with the consultation and 

16 participation of the Child Care and Early Learning 

17 Council and, as appropriate, other interested persons 

18 in the service area, each prime sponsor that receives 

19 financial assistance under this title shall conduct a 

20 comprehensive self-assessment of its effectiveness 

21 and progress in meeting program goals and objec22 tives and in implementing and complying with stand23 ards described in subsection (a)(1). 

24 (2) ONGOING MONITORING.—Each prime spon25 sor shall establish and implement procedures for the 


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1 ongoing monitoring of its child care and early learn2 ing program, to ensure that the operations of the 

3 program work toward meeting program goals and 

4 objectives and implementing and complying with 

5 standards described in subsection (a)(1). 

6 (h) ACCREDITATION.—The Secretary shall require 

7 that each child care and early learning center meet, not 

8 later than 6 years after receiving financial assistance 

9 under this title, standards of operation necessary for ac10 creditation by an appropriate national early childhood pro11 grams accreditation body that was in existence on the date 

12 of enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 122. PRIME SPONSOR ALIGNMENT WITH K-12 EDU14 CATION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each prime sponsor shall take 

16 steps to coordinate with the local educational agency serv17 ing the service area and with schools in which children 

18 participating in a child care and early learning program 

19 will enroll following such program to promote continuity 

20 of services and effective transitions, including— 

21 (1) developing and implementing a systematic 

22 procedure for transferring, with parental consent, 

23 child care and early learning program records for 

24 each participating child to the school in which such 

25 child will enroll; 


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1 (2) establishing ongoing channels of commu2 nication between child care and early learning pro3 gram staff and their counterparts in the schools (in4 cluding teachers, social workers, local educational 

5 agency liaisons designated under section 

6 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

7 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)), and 

8 health staff) to facilitate coordination of programs; 

9 (3) establishing ongoing communications be10 tween the prime sponsor and local educational agen11 cy for developing continuity of developmentally ap12 propriate curricular objectives and for shared expec13 tations for children’s learning and development as 

14 the children transition to school; 

15 (4) organizing and participating in joint train16 ing, including transition-related training for school 

17 staff and child care and early learning program 

18 staff; 

19 (5) establishing comprehensive transition poli20 cies and procedures that support children 

21 transitioning to school, including by engaging the 

22 local educational agency in the establishment of such 

23 policies; 

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1 cuss the educational, developmental, and other needs 

2 of individual children; 

3 (7) helping parents of dual language learner 

4 children understand— 

5 (A) the instructional and other services 

6 provided by the school in which such child will 

7 enroll after participation in the child care and 

8 early learning program; and 

9 (B) as appropriate, the information pro10 vided to parents of dual language learners 

11 under section 1112(e)(3) of the Elementary and 

12 Secondary Education Act of the 1965 (20 

13 U.S.C. 6312(e)(3)); 

14 (8) developing and implementing a family out15 reach and support program, in cooperation with en16 tities carrying out parent and family engagement ef17 forts under title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), 

19 and family outreach and support efforts under sub20 title B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

21 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), taking 

22 into consideration the language needs of parents of 

23 dual language learner children; 

24 (9) assisting families, administrators, and 

25 teachers in enhancing educational and developmental 


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1 continuity and continuity of parental involvement in 

2 activities between child care and early learning serv3 ices and elementary school classes; 

4 (10) linking the services provided in such child 

5 care and early learning program with educational 

6 services, including services relating to language, lit7 eracy, and numeracy, provided by such local edu8 cational agency; 

9 (11) helping parents (including in this para10 graph grandparents and kinship caregivers, as ap11 propriate) to understand the importance of parental 

12 involvement in a child’s academic success while 

13 teaching the parents strategies for maintaining pa14 rental involvement as their child moves from a child 

15 care and early learning program to elementary 

16 school; 

17 (12) helping parents understand the instruc18 tional and other services provided by the school in 

19 which their child will enroll after participation in the 

20 child care and early learning program; and 

21 (13) developing and implementing a system to 

22 increase child care and early learning program par23 ticipation of underserved populations of eligible chil24 dren. 


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1 (b) DISSEMINATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

2 The Secretary shall— 

3 (1) disseminate to prime sponsors information 

4 on effective policies and activities relating to the 

5 transition of children from child care and early 

6 learning programs to public schools; and 

7 (2) provide technical assistance to such prime 

8 sponsors to promote and assist such prime sponsors 

9 to adopt and implement such effective policies and 

10 activities. 

11 SEC. 123. ADEQUATE NUTRITION SERVICES. 

12 In accordance with the purposes of this title, the Sec13 retary shall establish procedures to assure that adequate 

14 nutrition services will be provided in child care and early 

15 learning programs under this title. In assuring the provi16 sion of those services, the Secretary may enter into an ar17 rangement with the Secretary of Agriculture to make use 

18 of the summer food service program and the child and 

19 adult care food program carried out under sections 13 and 

20 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

21 (42 U.S.C. 1761, 1766) and relevant programs under the 

22 Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.), to 

23 the fullest extent appropriate and consistent with the pro24 visions of such Acts. 


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1 SEC. 124. PARTICIPATION IN CHILD CARE AND EARLY 

2 LEARNING PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by regulation 

4 prescribe eligibility for the participation of persons in child 

5 care and early learning programs assisted under this title. 

6 (b) ELIGIBLE AGES.—Such regulation shall provide 

7 that all children who are not younger than the age of 6 

8 weeks and are younger than the age of compulsory school 

9 attendance shall be eligible regardless of family income, 

10 disability status, citizenship status, employment of a fam11 ily member, or circumstance. 

12 (c) PRIME SPONSOR ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION

13 RESPONSIBILITIES.—A prime sponsor shall— 

14 (1) determine eligibility under this title based 

15 on standards prescribed by the Secretary under sub16 section (a); 

17 (2) not establish more stringent or exclusive re18 quirements for eligibility under this title than the 

19 eligibility standards prescribed by the Secretary; and 

20 (3) serve all families that request child care and 

21 early learning services through the prime sponsor’s 

22 program. 

23 Subtitle C—Administration 

24 SEC. 131. THE OFFICE OF CHILD CARE. 

25 (a) PRINCIPAL AGENCY.—The Office of Child Care 

26 of the Department of Health and Human Services shall 


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1 be the principal agency of the Department for the admin2 istration of this title and for the coordination of child care 

3 and early learning programs and other activities relating 

4 to child care and early learning. 

5 (b) COORDINATION OF CHILD CARE PROGRAMS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (A) DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

8 HUMAN SERVICES.—The Secretary shall take all 

9 necessary action to coordinate child care and 

10 early learning programs under the Secretary’s 

11 jurisdiction, including with the Office of Head 

12 Start. 

13 (B) DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.—The 

14 Secretary shall take all necessary action to co15 ordinate such programs with the Department of 

16 Education. 

17 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro18 mulgate regulations to assure that entities that are 

19 funded by the Department of Health and Human 

20 Services to carry out activities relating to child care 

21 and early learning will coordinate the activities with 

22 the programs carried out under this title. 

23 (3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

24 shall ensure that joint technical assistance efforts 


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1 will result in the development of coordinated ef2 forts— 

3 (A) between the offices within the Depart4 ment of Health and Human Services; and 

5 (B) between the Department of Health and 

6 Human Services and other Federal agencies, in7 cluding the Department of Education, that 

8 carry out those activities. 

9 (c) PROCEDURES, POLICIES, REGULATIONS.—The 

10 Secretary may establish such procedures, policies, and reg11 ulations as may be necessary to carry out this title. 

12 SEC. 132. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND STAND13 ARDS. 

14 (a) REQUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

16 administrative requirements and standards con17 sistent with the requirements and standards de18 scribed in subsections (a) through (f), and (h), of 

19 section 644 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9839). 

20 The established requirements and standards shall 

21 apply to the child care and early learning programs 

22 carried out under this title, and the prime sponsors 

23 carrying out such programs, as the case may be. 

24 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Secretary may make 

25 such adjustments to the requirements, standards, 


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1 qualifications, development activities, and limitations 

2 specified in paragraph (1) and sections 133(a), 134, 

3 136(a), 139, and 141, as may be necessary to ensure 

4 effective administration of this title. 

5 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS.—The Sec6 retary shall prescribe regulations to assure that pro7 grams under this title have adequate internal admin8 istrative controls, accounting requirements, per9 sonnel standards, evaluation procedures, and other 

10 policies as may be necessary to promote the effective 

11 use of funds. 

12 (b) FACILITIES.— 

13 (1) OWNED OR LEASED BY FEDERAL AGEN14 CIES.—The Secretary, after consultation with other 

15 appropriate officials of the Federal Government, 

16 shall within 16 months after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act prepare and submit to Congress a report 

18 that— 

19 (A) describes the extent to which facilities 

20 owned or leased by Federal agencies (including 

21 departments) could be made available to prime 

22 sponsors, through appropriate arrangements, 

23 for use as facilities for child care and early 

24 learning programs under this title during times 

25 and periods when the owned or leased facilities 


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1 are not utilized fully for their usual purposes; 

2 and 

3 (B) the Secretary’s recommendations (in4 cluding recommendations for changes through 

5 legislation) or proposed actions for such use. 

6 (2) OWNED OR LEASED IN SERVICE AREA.— 

7 The Secretary shall require, as a condition for the 

8 receipt of financial assistance under this title, that 

9 any prime sponsor under this title agree to conduct 

10 a review and prepare and submit to the Secretary a 

11 report that— 

12 (A) describes the extent to which facilities 

13 owned or leased by such prime sponsor, or by 

14 other organizations in the service area, could be 

15 made available, through appropriate arrange16 ments, for use as facilities for child care and 

17 early learning programs under this title during 

18 times and periods when the owned or leased fa19 cilities are not utilized fully for their usual pur20 poses; and 

21 (B) the prime sponsor’s proposed actions 

22 for such use. 

23 (c) CAPITAL EXPENDITURES.— 

24 (1) CONSTRUCTION.—Upon a determination by 

25 the Secretary that suitable facilities (including public 


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1 school facilities) are not otherwise available to prime 

2 sponsors to carry out child care and early learning 

3 programs, that the lack of suitable facilities will in4 hibit the operation of such programs, and that con5 struction of such facilities is more cost effective than 

6 purchase of available facilities or renovation, the 

7 Secretary, in the discretion of the Secretary, may 

8 authorize the use of financial assistance under this 

9 title to make payments for capital expenditures re10 lated to construction of facilities that will be used to 

11 carry out such programs. The Secretary shall estab12 lish uniform procedures for prime sponsors to re13 quest approval for such payments, and shall pro14 mote, to the extent practicable, the collocation of 

15 child care and early learning programs with other 

16 programs serving children and families. 

17 (2) CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, VEHICLE

18 PURCHASE.—Such payments may be used for capital 

19 expenditures (including paying the cost of amor20 tizing the principal, and paying interest on, loans) 

21 such as expenditures for— 

22 (A) construction of facilities that are not 

23 in existence on the date of the determination, if 

24 such construction is more cost effective than 

25 purchase or renovation; 


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1 (B) major renovation of facilities in exist2 ence on such date, if major renovation is more 

3 cost effective than purchase, construction, or 

4 minor renovation; and 

5 (C) purchase of vehicles used for programs 

6 conducted at child care and early learning pro7 gram facilities eligible for a payment under this 

8 subsection. 

9 (3) WAGES FOR CONSTRUCTION OR RENOVA10 TION.—All laborers and mechanics employed by con11 tractors or subcontractors in the construction or ren12 ovation of facilities to be used to carry out child care 

13 and early learning programs under this title shall be 

14 paid wages that are not less than the wages pre15 vailing on similar construction or renovation in the 

16 service area, as determined by the Secretary of 

17 Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 

18 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly known 

19 as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’). 

20 SEC. 133. APPEALS, NOTICE, AND HEARING. 

21 (a) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall establish ap22 peals, notice, hearing, and other procedures consistent (ex23 cept as otherwise provided in this section) with the proce24 dures described in section 646 of the Head Start Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 9841). The established procedures shall apply to 


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1 the child care and early learning programs carried out 

2 under this title, and the prime sponsors carrying out such 

3 programs, as the case may be. 

4 (b) WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall take the 

6 action described in paragraph (2) whenever the Sec7 retary, after reasonable notice and opportunity for a 

8 hearing for any prime sponsor (including a delegate 

9 provider), finds— 

10 (A) that the prime sponsor has failed to 

11 comply substantially with any requirement set 

12 forth in the plan of the prime sponsor approved 

13 under section 113 or 114; 

14 (B) that the delegate provider has failed to 

15 comply substantially with any requirement set 

16 forth in the application of the provider ap17 proved pursuant to section 115(c); or 

18 (C) that in the operation of any program 

19 (or services) carried out by any such prime 

20 sponsor (or delegate provider) under this title 

21 the prime sponsor (or delegate provider) has 

22 failed to comply substantially with any applica23 ble provision of this title, including a regulation 

24 promulgated under this title. 


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1 (2) ACTION.—On making a finding under para2 graph (1), the Secretary shall notify the prime spon3 sor or delegate provider involved of the findings and 

4 that no further payments may be made to such 

5 prime sponsor or delegate provider under this title 

6 (or in the Secretary’s discretion that any such prime 

7 sponsor shall not make further payments under this 

8 title to specified delegate providers affected by the 

9 failure) until the Secretary is satisfied that there is 

10 no longer any such failure to comply, or the non11 compliance will be promptly corrected. The Secretary 

12 may authorize the continuation of payments with re13 spect to any program or service assisted under this 

14 title which is being carried out pursuant to the cor15 responding plan or application referred to in para16 graph (1) and which is not involved in the non17 compliance. 

18 SEC. 134. RECORDS AND AUDITS. 

19 The Secretary shall establish record and audit re20 quirements consistent with the requirements described in 

21 section 647 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9842). The 

22 established requirements shall apply to the child care and 

23 early learning programs carried out under this title, and 

24 the prime sponsors carrying out such programs, as the 

25 case may be. 


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1 SEC. 135. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

2 (a) PRESERVICE AND INSERVICE TRAINING.—The 

3 Secretary is authorized to make payments to provide fi4 nancial assistance to enable individuals employed or pre5 paring for employment in child care and early learning 

6 programs assisted under this title, including volunteers, 

7 to participate in programs of preservice or inservice train8 ing for professional or nonprofessional personnel, to be 

9 conducted by any prime sponsor carrying out a child care 

10 and early learning program, or any institution of higher 

11 education, including a community college, or by any com12 bination of those prime sponsors or institutions. The fi13 nancial assistance shall include scholarships and funding 

14 for books, transportation, and other comprehensive needs. 

15 (b) PRIME SPONSOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND

16 PLANNING.—The Secretary is authorized to, directly or 

17 through grant or contract, make technical assistance avail18 able to entities who are eligible and seek to become prime 

19 sponsors, and to prime sponsors, to assist the entities and 

20 prime sponsors in planning, developing, and carrying out 

21 child care and early learning programs. 

22 (c) PRIME SPONSOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Prime sponsors shall carry 

24 out training and quality improvement activities, in25 cluding— 


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1 (A) activities that support child care and 

2 early learning programs (including providers) in 

3 meeting national program standards; and 

4 (B) supporting staff in meeting qualifica5 tions described in section 136, including pro6 viding paid release time to staff, to engage in 

7 activities that enable the staff to meet the 

8 qualifications. 

9 (2) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary is 

10 authorized to make financial assistance available to 

11 prime sponsors to carry out such training and qual12 ity improvement activities. 

13 (d) STAFF TRAINING.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

14 regulations implementing a training program for staff of 

15 child care and early learning programs assisted under this 

16 title, based on the training program of the military child 

17 care program. Satisfactory completion of the training pro18 gram shall be a condition of employment of any person 

19 as a member of the staff of such a child care and early 

20 learning program. The training program established under 

21 this subsection shall cover, at a minimum, training in each 

22 of the following: 

23 (1) Early childhood development. 

24 (2) Activities and disciplinary techniques appro25 priate for children of different ages. 


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1 (3) Child abuse prevention and detection. 

2 (4) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other 

3 emergency medical procedures. 

4 (e) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSITY.— 

5 (1) OUTREACH PROGRAM.—From amounts allo6 cated under section 103(b), the Secretary shall de7 velop and implement a program of outreach to re8 cruit and train professionals from diverse back9 grounds to become teachers in child care and early 

10 learning programs. 

11 (2) GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU12 CATION.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—From amounts allo14 cated under section 103(b), the Secretary is au15 thorized to award grants, for a period of not 

16 less than 5 years, to institutions of higher edu17 cation, with priority for part B institutions, 

18 Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribal Col19 leges and Universities (as the 3 types of institu20 tions are defined in clauses (i) through (iii) of 

21 section 241(1)(A) of the Higher Education Act 

22 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1033(1)(A))). 

23 (B) USE OF FUNDS.—An institution that 

24 receives such a grant may— 

25 (i) use the grant funds— 


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1 (I) to improve the child care and 

2 early learning workforce; 

3 (II) to recruit child care and 

4 early learning teachers and other staff 

5 who want to obtain additional creden6 tials related to child care and early 

7 learning; 

8 (III) to recruit and train profes9 sionals from diverse backgrounds to 

10 become teachers in child care and 

11 early learning programs; 

12 (IV) to promote access and af13 fordability through direct student sup14 port, grants, scholarships, and other 

15 forms of student financial aid to stu16 dents pursuing early childhood 

17 coursework and degrees in order to re18 duce or eliminate the need for such 

19 students to take out loans for the re20 lated costs of attendance; 

21 (V) to create seamless, articu22 lated, teacher preparation pathways; 

23 and 

24 (VI) to develop institutional poli25 cies that award credit for students’ 


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1 previous postsecondary early child2 hood coursework and degrees as well 

3 as for demonstrated competency 

4 through— 

5 (aa) prior work experience; 

6 and 

7 (bb) apprenticeships that 

8 lead to credentials, or associate 

9 or baccalaureate degrees; and 

10 (ii) make a portion of the grant funds 

11 available for students training to become 

12 staff of child care and early learning pro13 grams, to cover the corresponding tuition 

14 and other costs of attendance. 

15 SEC. 136. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT. 

16 (a) QUALIFICATION AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, after con18 sultation with other Federal agencies and on the 

19 basis of the recommendations of the Committee es20 tablished pursuant to section 121(a)(3), shall estab21 lish staff qualification and development requirements 

22 based on such requirements described in section 

23 648A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843a), 

24 based on such requirements being implemented by 

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1 cation of family child care home providers), and in2 cluding a requirement to satisfactorily complete 

3 training under section 135(d). The established re4 quirements shall include the requirements described 

5 in subsection (b) (relating to compensation). The es6 tablished requirements shall apply to the child care 

7 and early learning programs carried out under this 

8 title, and the prime sponsors carrying out such pro9 grams, as the case may be. 

10 (2) OBJECTIVES.—The established require11 ments shall be designed to— 

12 (A)(i) lead to high-quality child care and 

13 early learning service delivery, including the use 

14 of targeted strategies and resources provided by 

15 prime sponsors to ensure the diverse, incumbent 

16 child care and early learning workforce retains 

17 access to employment in such programs; and 

18 (ii) take into account workforce recruit19 ment challenges and the need for a diverse 

20 workforce; 

21 (B) create a pathway for members of the 

22 child care and early learning service workforce 

23 to build on their credentials; and 

24 (C) provide enough time (which shall be 

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1 tablishment) for staff to meet any educational 

2 requirements in the established requirements. 

3 (b) PAY.— 

4 (1) COMPETITIVE RATES OF COMPENSATION.— 

5 For the purpose of providing child care and early 

6 learning programs with a qualified and stable work7 force, each prime sponsor shall ensure that employ8 ees (including employees of a delegate provider) at 

9 a child care and early learning center and family 

10 child care home providers, including teachers and 

11 other staff of family child care home providers, shall 

12 be paid under a pay scale that provides for rates of 

13 compensation that— 

14 (A)(i) except as provided in clause (ii), are 

15 comparable with the rates of compensation paid 

16 to employees of the corresponding local edu17 cational agency with similar training, seniority, 

18 and experience; or 

19 (ii) for a position not typically found at the 

20 corresponding local educational agency, are the 

21 rates specified in the pay scale for the military 

22 child care program; and 

23 (B) are not less than a living wage, as de24 termined by the Secretary. 


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1 (2) PERIODIC REVIEWS.—In recommending and 

2 establishing requirements under subsection (a) and 

3 this subsection, the Committee established pursuant 

4 to section 121(a)(3) and the Secretary, respectively, 

5 shall periodically conduct reviews of the rates of 

6 compensation for employers, teachers, and staff de7 scribed in paragraph (1). The Committee and Sec8 retary shall determine whether the rates are increas9 ing at a pace that is not less than the rate of the 

10 Consumer Price Index-All Urban Consumers, and 

11 shall adjust the rates to ensure such an increase. 

12 (3) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

13 provision of law, no Federal funds may be used to 

14 pay any part of the compensation of an employee, 

15 teacher, or staff member described in paragraph (1) 

16 to carry out a child care and early learning program, 

17 if such compensation, including non-Federal funds, 

18 exceeds a rate equal to the rate payable for level II 

19 of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 

20 5, United States Code. 

21 (4) COMPENSATION.—In this subsection, the 

22 term ‘‘compensation’’— 

23 (A) includes salary, bonuses, periodic pay24 ments, severance pay, the value of any vacation 

25 time, the value of a compensatory or paid leave 


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1 benefit, and the fair market value of any em2 ployee perquisite or benefit; and 

3 (B) includes any prime sponsor expendi4 ture for a health, medical, life insurance, dis5 ability, retirement, or any other employee wel6 fare or pension benefit. 

7 (c) CURRICULUM SUPPORT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Prime sponsors shall estab9 lish and implement a plan to ensure all teachers in 

10 a child care and early learning program, including 

11 family child care home providers, have curriculum 

12 support. 

13 (2) CURRICULUM SUPPORT.—That curriculum 

14 support— 

15 (A) may include the use of curriculum spe16 cialists, as in the military child care program; 

17 and 

18 (B) shall include— 

19 (i) special teaching activities at loca20 tions that are easily accessible by the 

21 teachers; 

22 (ii) daily oversight and instruction of 

23 employees providing child care and early 

24 learning services; 


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1 (iii) daily assistance in the prepara2 tion of lesson plans, provided through indi3 vidual specialists or resources for staff that 

4 allow teachers to engage in professional re5 sponsibilities such as daily lesson planning; 

6 (iv) assistance with child abuse pre7 vention and detection; 

8 (v) assistance with activities to pro9 mote children’s cognitive development, be10 havior management, and mental health; 

11 and 

12 (vi) assistance with improving the de13 livery of instruction and with measuring 

14 and tracking children’s outcomes. 

15 SEC. 137. RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EVALUA16 TION. 

17 (a) GENERAL OBJECTIVES.—The Secretary shall 

18 carry out a continuing program of research, demonstra19 tion, and evaluation activities, in order to— 

20 (1) focus national research efforts to attain a 

21 fuller understanding of the processes of child devel22 opment and early learning outcomes and the effects 

23 of programs on those processes and outcomes; 

24 (2) foster continuous improvement in the qual25 ity of the child care and early learning programs 


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1 carried out under this title and in their effectiveness 

2 in enabling participating children and their families 

3 to succeed in school and otherwise; 

4 (3) ensure that the results of research and re5 lated development efforts are reflected in the con6 duct of programs affecting children through the im7 provement and expansion of child care and early 

8 learning programs; and 

9 (4) develop, test, and disseminate information 

10 on new ideas for addressing the needs of low-income 

11 and underserved children (including children with 

12 disabilities, homeless children, children who have 

13 been abused or neglected, and children in foster 

14 care) and their families and communities, and fur15 thering in other ways the purposes of this title. 

16 (b) SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES.—The research, dem17 onstration, and evaluation activities under this title shall 

18 include components designed to— 

19 (1) permit ongoing assessment of the quality 

20 and effectiveness of the child care and early learning 

21 programs under this title; 

22 (2) contribute to developing knowledge con23 cerning factors associated with the quality and effec24 tiveness of child care and early learning programs 


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1 and in identifying ways in which services provided 

2 under this title may be improved; 

3 (3) assist in developing knowledge concerning 

4 the factors that promote or inhibit healthy develop5 ment and effective functioning of children and their 

6 families, including physical, mental, vision, and oral 

7 health, both during and following participation in a 

8 child care and early learning program; 

9 (4) permit comparisons of children and families 

10 participating in child care and early learning pro11 grams— 

12 (A) with children and families receiving 

13 other child care, or early childhood education 

14 and development, services or programs; and 

15 (B) with other appropriate control groups; 

16 (5) contribute to understanding the characteris17 tics and needs of population groups eligible for serv18 ices provided under this title and the impact of such 

19 services on the individuals served and the service 

20 areas in which such services are provided; 

21 (6) provide for disseminating and promoting the 

22 use of the findings from such research, demonstra23 tion, and evaluation activities; 


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1 (7) promote exploration of areas in which 

2 knowledge is insufficient, and that will otherwise 

3 contribute to fulfilling the purposes of this title; 

4 (8)(A) contribute to understanding the impact 

5 of child care and early learning services delivered in 

6 classrooms that include both children with disabil7 ities and children who are not children with disabil8 ities, on both types of children; and 

9 (B) disseminate promising practices for increas10 ing the availability and quality of child care and 

11 early learning services that are so delivered and 

12 classrooms described in subparagraph (A); 

13 (9) contribute to understanding the impact of 

14 different child care and early learning models, in15 cluding those with varying teacher compensation, 

16 preparation, and workplace supports, in addressing 

17 educational disparities and inequalities, including 

18 disparities and inequalities based on income, and 

19 disparities and inequalities based on culture, and 

20 race and ethnicity; 

21 (10) contribute to the understanding of pro22 viding effective child care and early learning pro23 grams to dual language learner children, children 

24 with disabilities, culturally diverse families, racially 

25 and ethnically diverse families, children belonging to 


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1 an Indian tribe, Native Hawaiian children, and chil2 dren of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and to 

3 service areas with many low-income children; and 

4 (11) carry out— 

5 (A) research to determine the nature of 

6 child development processes and the impact of 

7 various influences upon those processes, includ8 ing workplace conditions and supports, to de9 velop techniques to measure and evaluate child 

10 development, to develop standards to evaluate 

11 professional and paraprofessional child develop12 ment personnel, and to determine how child 

13 care and early learning and related programs 

14 conducted in either family child care homes or 

15 centers affect child development processes; 

16 (B) research to test alternative methods of 

17 providing child development and related serv18 ices, and to develop and test innovative ap19 proaches to achieve maximum development of 

20 children; 

21 (C) evaluation of findings from research 

22 conducted under this paragraph and the devel23 opment of and effective application of those 

24 findings; 


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1 (D) dissemination and application of re2 sults from research and related development ef3 forts and demonstration projects to child care 

4 and early learning programs, related programs, 

5 and early childhood education; 

6 (E) production of informational systems 

7 and other resources necessary to support the 

8 activities authorized under this paragraph; and 

9 (F) integration of national child develop10 ment research efforts under this title into a fo11 cused national research program, including the 

12 coordination of research and development con13 ducted by entities under this section with re14 search and development conducted by other 

15 agencies, organizations, and individuals. 

16 (c) CONDUCT OF RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATION, AND

17 EVALUATION ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary, in order to 

18 conduct research, demonstration, and evaluation activities 

19 under this section— 

20 (1) may carry out such activities directly, or 

21 through grants to, or contracts or cooperative agree22 ments with, public or private entities; 

23 (2) shall, to the extent appropriate, undertake 

24 such activities in collaboration with Federal agencies 

25 (other than the Department of Health and Human 


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1 Services), and with non-Federal agencies, Indian 

2 tribes, and tribal organizations, conducting similar 

3 activities; 

4 (3) shall ensure that evaluation of such activi5 ties in a specific program is conducted by persons 

6 not directly involved in the operation of such pro7 gram; 

8 (4) may require prime sponsors to provide for 

9 independent evaluations; 

10 (5) may approve, in appropriate cases, commu11 nity-based cooperative research and evaluation ef12 forts to enable prime sponsors to collaborate with 

13 qualified researchers not directly involved in pro14 gram administration or operation of a program 

15 funded under this title; and 

16 (6) may collaborate with organizations with ex17 pertise in inclusive educational strategies for pre18 schoolers who are children with disabilities. 

19 (d) COORDINATION OF RESEARCH.— 

20 (1) TRANSFERS.—Funds available to any Fed21 eral agency (including a department) for the pur22 poses stated in subsection (a) or the activities stated 

23 in subsection (b) shall be available for transfer, with 

24 the approval of the head of the agency involved, in 

25 whole or in part, to the Secretary for such use as 


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1 is consistent with the purposes for which such funds 

2 were appropriated, and the funds so transferred 

3 shall be expendable by the Secretary for the pur4 poses for which the transfer was made. 

5 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out activities 

6 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

7 (A) coordinate, through the Office of Child 

8 Care and Early Learning, established under 

9 section 131, all child development research, 

10 training, and related development efforts con11 ducted by the Department of Health and 

12 Human Services and, to the extent feasible, by 

13 other agencies, organizations, and individuals; 

14 (B) consult with— 

15 (i) individuals from relevant academic 

16 disciplines; 

17 (ii) individuals who are involved in the 

18 operation of child care and early learning 

19 programs and individuals who are involved 

20 in the operation of other child and family 

21 service programs; 

22 (iii) appropriate officials from Indian 

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1 lated to, children and families, ensuring 

2 that the individuals consulted under this 

3 subparagraph reflect the multicultural na4 ture of the children and families served by 

5 the child care and early learning programs 

6 and the multidisciplinary nature of the 

7 programs; 

8 (C) whenever feasible and appropriate, ob9 tain the views of persons participating in and 

10 served by programs assisted under this title 

11 with respect to activities under this section; and 

12 (D) establish, to the extent appropriate, 

13 working relationships with faculty members of 

14 institutions of higher education, as defined in 

15 section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 

16 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), located in the area in 

17 which any evaluation under this section is being 

18 conducted, to participate in such evaluation, un19 less there is no such institution of higher edu20 cation willing and able to participate in such 

21 evaluation. 

22 (3) COUNCIL.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—There is established a 

24 Child Development Research Council, consisting 

25 of— 


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1 (i) a representative of the Office of 

2 Child Care and Early Learning (who shall 

3 serve as chairperson); and 

4 (ii) a representative from each of the 

5 Federal agencies and offices determined to 

6 be appropriate by the Secretary. 

7 (B) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet 

8 at least annually and at such more frequent 

9 times as the Council may determine to be nec10 essary. 

11 (C) DUTIES.—The Council shall assure co12 ordination of child care and early learning serv13 ices under the jurisdiction of the agencies and 

14 offices represented on the Council and carry out 

15 the provisions of this section so as to assure— 

16 (i) maximum utilization of available 

17 resources through the prevention of dupli18 cation of activities; 

19 (ii) a division of labor, insofar as is 

20 compatible with the purposes of each of 

21 the agencies or offices represented on the 

22 Council, among those agencies and offices 

23 to assure maximum progress toward the 

24 achievement of the purposes of this sec25 tion; and 


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1 (iii) recommendation of priorities for 

2 federally funded research and related de3 velopment that are related to the purposes 

4 of this section and those stated in section 

5 101. 

6 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall make an 

7 annual report to Congress— 

8 (1) summarizing— 

9 (A) the Secretary’s activities and accom10 plishments during the preceding year under this 

11 section; and 

12 (B) the grants, contracts, or other ar13 rangements entered into during the preceding 

14 year under this section; and 

15 (2) making such recommendations as the Sec16 retary may determine to be appropriate. 

17 (f) PLAN.—The Secretary shall develop, and periodi18 cally update, a plan governing the research, demonstra19 tion, and evaluation activities under this section. 

20 (g) OWNERSHIP OF RESULTS.—The Secretary shall 

21 take necessary steps to ensure that all studies, reports, 

22 proposals, and data produced or developed with Federal 

23 funds under this title shall become the property of the 

24 United States. 


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1 SEC. 138. REPORTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—At least once during every 2-year 

3 period, the Secretary shall prepare a report concerning the 

4 status of children (including low-income children, children 

5 with disabilities, dual language learner children, homeless 

6 children, children in foster care, children participating in 

7 child care and early learning programs on Indian land, 

8 and children participating in migrant or seasonal child 

9 care and early learning programs) participating in child 

10 care and early learning programs, including the number 

11 of participating children and the services being provided 

12 to such children. 

13 (b) CONTENTS.—Such report shall include— 

14 (1) a statement for the then most recently con15 cluded fiscal year specifying— 

16 (A) the amount of funds received, by prime 

17 sponsors that are designated under section 113, 

18 to provide child care and early learning services 

19 in a period before such fiscal year; and 

20 (B) the amount of funds received, by prime 

21 sponsors that are newly designated under sec22 tion 113, to provide such services in such fiscal 

23 year; 

24 (2) a description of the distribution of child 

25 care and early learning services relative to the dis26 tribution of children who are in need of child care 


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1 and early learning programs, including geographic 

2 distribution within States, and information on the 

3 number of children receiving those services; 

4 (3) a statement identifying how funds made 

5 available under section 112(a)(1) were distributed 

6 and used at national, regional, and local levels; 

7 (4) a statement specifying the amount of funds 

8 provided as the non-Federal share of the costs of 

9 child care and early learning programs, and the 

10 source of such funding; 

11 (5) the cost per child of carrying out child care 

12 and early learning programs, and how such cost var13 ies by region; 

14 (6) a description of the level and nature of par15 ticipation of parents and family members in child 

16 care and early learning programs as volunteers and 

17 in other capacities; 

18 (7) information concerning child care and early 

19 learning center staff, including salaries, education, 

20 training, experience, and staff turnover; 

21 (8) information concerning children partici22 pating in child care and early learning programs, in23 cluding information on family income, cultural back24 ground, racial and ethnic background, homelessness, 

25 whether such a child is in foster care or was referred 


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1 by a child welfare agency, disability, and whether the 

2 child’s family receives benefits under part A of title 

3 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et 

4 seq.); 

5 (9) using data from the monitoring conducted 

6 under section 121— 

7 (A) a description of the extent to which 

8 programs funded under this title comply with 

9 program standards and regulations in effect 

10 under this title; 

11 (B) a description of the types and condi12 tion of facilities in which such programs are lo13 cated; and 

14 (C) the types of organizations that receive 

15 funds under this title through such programs; 

16 (10) a description of the types of services pro17 vided through the programs to children and their 

18 families, both on site and through referrals, includ19 ing services related to health, mental health, dental 

20 care, vision care, parenting education, physical fit21 ness, and literacy training; 

22 (11) information from a study of the delivery of 

23 child care and early learning programs to Indian 

24 children, to Native Hawaiian children, and to chil25 dren of migrant or seasonal farmworker families; 


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1 (12) information on the delivery of disability-re2 lated services in order to— 

3 (A) determine whether child care and early 

4 learning programs are making timely referrals 

5 to the State or local agency responsible for pro6 viding services under section 619 or part C of 

7 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); 

9 (B) identify barriers to timely evaluations 

10 and eligibility determinations by the State or 

11 local agency responsible for providing services 

12 under section 619 or part C of the Individuals 

13 with Disabilities Education Act; and 

14 (C) determine under what circumstances 

15 and for what length of time child care and early 

16 learning programs are providing disability-re17 lated services for children who have not been 

18 determined under the Individuals with Disabil19 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) to 

20 be children with disabilities; and 

21 (13) information on how child care and early 

22 learning programs serve populations of low-income 

23 children, minority children, and dual language learn24 er children, the extent to which disparities exist in 

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1 grams, and how such programs address disparities 

2 in early learning outcomes. 

3 (c) SUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall submit each 

4 report prepared under subsection (a) to the Committee on 

5 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

6 the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 

7 Representatives. 

8 SEC. 139. NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISIONS. 

9 The Secretary shall establish nondiscrimination re10 quirements consistent with the requirements described in 

11 section 654 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9849). The 

12 established requirements shall apply to the child care and 

13 early learning programs carried out under this title, and 

14 the prime sponsors carrying out such programs, as the 

15 case may be. 

16 SEC. 140. ADVANCE FUNDING. 

17 For the purpose of affording adequate notice of fund18 ing available under this title, appropriations for carrying 

19 out this title are authorized to be included in an appro20 priation Act for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year 

21 for which the appropriations are available for obligation. 


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1 SEC. 141. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR NON2 EMERGENCY INTRUSIVE PHYSICAL EXAMINA3 TIONS. 

4 The Secretary shall establish a parental consent re5 quirement consistent with the requirement described in 

6 section 657A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9852a). 

7 The established requirement shall apply to the child care 

8 and early learning programs carried out under this title, 

9 and the prime sponsors carrying out such programs, as 

10 the case may be. 

11 Subtitle D—Special Programs 

12 SEC. 151. SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING TO PRIME SPONSORS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

14 provide supplemental financial assistance for the activities 

15 described in subsection (b) or the purposes described in 

16 subsection (c), to prime sponsors, who— 

17 (1) demonstrate barriers— 

18 (A) to scaling the services and processes 

19 needed to fully implement the prime sponsors’ 

20 child care and early learning programs; and 

21 (B) to meeting the national program 

22 standards; and 

23 (2) need financial assistance, as determined by 

24 the Secretary, for those activities or purposes, re25 spectively. 


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1 (b) ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may provide the sup2 plemental financial assistance for activities consisting of— 

3 (1) conducting a facilities review as described in 

4 section 132(b)(2) and accessing adequate facilities; 

5 (2) establishing coordination arrangements and 

6 processes with other entities, including local edu7 cational agencies and related entities, organizations 

8 delivering health and social services in the service 

9 area involved, and the State; 

10 (3) establishing training and professional devel11 opment protocols and processes under sections 135 

12 and 136; 

13 (4) meeting accreditation requirements; 

14 (5) providing supports to enable family child 

15 care home providers to participate as providers with16 in the child care and early learning program carried 

17 out by the prime sponsor involved and to enable the 

18 prime sponsor to meet the national program stand19 ards; 

20 (6) securing materials and resources for profes21 sional learning opportunities; and 

22 (7) other activities related to the establishment, 

23 expansion, and scaling of services and processes 

24 needed to fully implement the prime sponsor’s child 

25 care and early learning program and enable the 


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1 prime sponsor to meet the national program stand2 ards. 

3 (c) PURPOSES.—The Secretary may provide the sup4 plemental financial assistance to a prime sponsor that 

5 meets the requirements of subsection (a) and has difficulty 

6 in providing a non-Federal share because the prime spon7 sor serves an area with a high concentration of families 

8 with a family income of not more than, or slightly above, 

9 200 percent of the poverty line, for the purposes of in10 creasing the Federal share of the costs described in section 

11 121(c)(2)(A). 

12 SEC. 152. SPECIAL GRANTS TO STATES. 

13 (a) GRANTS.—On approving an application submitted 

14 by any State, the Secretary is authorized to provide a 

15 grant to the State for carrying out activities described in 

16 subsection (b). 

17 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 

18 under subsection (a) may use the grant funds for— 

19 (1) identifying child care and early learning 

20 services goals and needs within the State; 

21 (2) furnishing child care providers with start-up 

22 funding and technical assistance; 

23 (3) supporting compensation for the child care 

24 and early learning workforce comparable to comVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00131 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2886.IH H2886

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1 pensation for the primary education workforce, 

2 which may include retention or bonus awards; 

3 (4) establishing or expanding the operation of 

4 community or neighborhood-based family child care 

5 networks by providing grants and contracts for 

6 training; 

7 (5) supporting the recruitment, training, and 

8 professional development of the child care and early 

9 learning workforce; 

10 (6) assisting in the establishment of Child Care 

11 and Early Learning Councils and strengthening the 

12 capability of such Councils to effectively advise on 

13 the child care and early learning programs; 

14 (7) encouraging the cooperation and participa15 tion of State agencies in providing child care and 

16 early learning services, including health, family plan17 ning, mental health, education, nutrition, family, so18 cial, and rehabilitative services if that cooperation 

19 and participation are requested by appropriate prime 

20 sponsors in the development and implementation of 

21 child care and early learning plans; 

22 (8) encouraging the full utilization of resources 

23 and facilities for child care and early learning pro24 grams within the State; 


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1 (9) disseminating the results of research on 

2 child care and early learning programs; 

3 (10) conducting programs for the exchange of 

4 personnel involved in child care and early learning 

5 programs within the State; 

6 (11) assisting prime sponsors in the acquisition 

7 or improvement of facilities for child care and early 

8 learning programs; 

9 (12) assessing State and local licensing codes as 

10 the codes relate to child care and early learning pro11 grams within the State; 

12 (13) developing information useful in reviewing 

13 prime sponsorship plans described in section 113(a) 

14 and child care and early learning plans described in 

15 section 114(b); 

16 (14) facilitating collaboration among prime 

17 sponsors and delegate providers within the State; 

18 and 

19 (15) supporting a unified, birth-through-school20 entry, early childhood system, including carrying out 

21 activities related to establishing braided or blended 

22 funding arrangements to promote the integration of 

23 services to children and families. 

24 (c) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—No State or com25 munity shall reduce its expenditures for child care and 


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1 early learning programs (including home-based child care 

2 and early learning programs) because of financial assist3 ance provided under this section. 

4 TITLE II—RELATED PROGRAMS 

5 SEC. 201. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT. 

6 (a) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Section 658J of the 

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

8 U.S.C. 9858h) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(d) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No State shall receive such 

12 a payment for a fiscal year if the State reduces its 

13 total State expenditures for child care services for 

14 the prior fiscal year below the average of such ex15 penditures for the 3 fiscal years preceding that prior 

16 fiscal year. 

17 ‘‘(2) TOTAL STATE EXPENDITURES.—For pur18 poses of this subsection, total State expenditures for 

19 child care services include State expenditures to 

20 carry out this subchapter and the Universal Child 

21 Care and Early Learning Act.’’. 

22 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO THE UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE

23 AND EARLY LEARNING ACT.—Section 658M of the Child 

24 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 9858k) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO THE UNIVERSAL CHILD

4 CARE AND EARLY LEARNING ACT.—An eligible child who 

5 is eligible for child care and early learning services under 

6 the Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act shall 

7 only receive child care services under this subchapter that 

8 the child is ineligible for under that Act.’’. 

Æ 


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