I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3545 

To amend section 2202 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to authorize 

States to expand the uses of the child care stabilization funds to include 

support for the creation or enhancement of family child care networks 

designed to increase, or to improve the quality of, child care provided 

by family child care providers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2021 

Ms. STEFANIK (for herself and Mr. SMUCKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend section 2202 of the American Rescue Plan Act 

of 2021 to authorize States to expand the uses of the 

child care stabilization funds to include support for the 

creation or enhancement of family child care networks 

designed to increase, or to improve the quality of, child 

care provided by family child care providers, and for 

other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Child Care 

5 Networks Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

2 Section 2202 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 

3 2021 (Public Law 117–2; March 11, 2021) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (e) by striking ‘‘such a 

5 subgrant’’ and inserting ‘‘a subgrant under sub6 section (d)’’, 

7 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub8 section (h), and 

9 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(f) SUBGRANTS TO FAMILY CHILD CARE NET12 WORKS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

14 (d)(2)(A) and with the authorization of the State 

15 under paragraph (6), the lead agency may use the 

16 remainder of grant funds awarded pursuant to sub17 section (c) to make subgrants to be obligated before 

18 October 1, 2024, and expended before October 1, 

19 2025, to eligible entities to support the creation or 

20 enhancement of family child care networks to pro21 vide core services to family child care providers for 

22 the purpose of expanding the availability of family 

23 child care services. 

24 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In making subgrants under 

25 this subsection, the lead agency shall give priority to 

26 eligible entities that will offer core services to family 


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1 childcare providers in geographical areas identified 

2 by the State as having high needs, based on a com3 prehensive needs assessment of under-served areas 

4 and rural areas. 

5 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) Core Services. Services provided to 

7 family child care providers that include the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(i) Consolidated business practices or 

10 administrative support. 

11 ‘‘(ii) Startup support for new family 

12 child care providers to reimburse the costs, 

13 not to exceed $10,000 per provider, to 

14 make facility improvements or modifica15 tions to meet health and safety require16 ments, to form a small business, to sup17 port initial marketing and communications, 

18 to purchase technology and supplies, and 

19 to participate in professional development. 

20 ‘‘(iii) Professional development of new 

21 family child care providers, including sup22 port to obtain the advanced skills and cer23 tifications necessary to operate as a family 

24 child care provider. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Technical assistance, and health 

2 and safety compliance assistance to sup3 port providers who seek to obtain a license; 

4 or to support providers who seeking to pro5 vide services for which assistance is pro6 vided under the Child Care and Develop7 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

8 9857 et seq.) and the child and adult care 

9 food program under section 17 of the 

10 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 1766). 

12 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Entities quali13 fied to receive a subgrant under this subsection 

14 include community-based organizations, private 

15 or public nonprofit organization, and workforce 

16 development boards that will offer not fewer 

17 than 2 of the core services. 

18 ‘‘(C) FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDER.— 

19 The term ‘family child care provider’ has the 

20 meaning given such term in section 658P of the 

21 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

22 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 

23 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that 

24 receives funds through such a subgrant shall use 

25 funds to provide at least 2 of the core services deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545

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1 scribed under paragraph (3) to family child care 

2 providers and may use funds to provide additional 

3 services, including— 

4 ‘‘(A) monitoring support and improvement 

5 activities; 

6 ‘‘(B) peer networking and support activi7 ties; 

8 ‘‘(C) recruitment of new family child care 

9 providers; 

10 ‘‘(D) technical assistance to increase fam11 ily child care services to support specialized 

12 populations, including non-traditional hour 

13 care, children with disabilities, dual-language 

14 learners, infants, and toddlers; 

15 ‘‘(E) community outreach to families and 

16 employers to increase awareness of family child 

17 care opportunities; and 

18 ‘‘(F) collaborative purchasing of supplies 

19 and technology to increase cost savings. 

20 ‘‘(5) REIMBURSEMENTS FOR PROVIDERS.—Any 

21 family child care provider seeking reimbursement for 

22 start-up expenses allowed pursuant to paragraph 

23 (3)(A)(ii) shall provide the following documentation 

24 to the eligible entity: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Invoices of each expense for which 

2 the provider is seeking reimbursement. 

3 ‘‘(B) An assurance such expenses are nec4 essary, one-time expenses to operate a family 

5 child care center in accordance with local health 

6 and safety requirements. 

7 ‘‘(C) An assurance the provider cannot pay 

8 for the work without assistance and that there 

9 is not access to other Federal or State funding 

10 to help with the costs. 

11 ‘‘(6) AMENDED PLAN AND REPORT.—If a State 

12 elects to authorize the lead agency to provide sub13 grants to eligible entities under this subsection the 

14 State shall amend the State plan submitted under 

15 section 658E of the Child Care and Development 

16 Block Grant Act of 1990 to specify— 

17 ‘‘(A) the goals and outcomes the State in18 tends to achieve to improve the availability of 

19 services provided by family child care providers; 

20 ‘‘(B) how the State will measure and 

21 evaluate family child care networks in relation 

22 to these goals; 

23 ‘‘(C) how the State will continue to sup24 port family child care networks that are suc25 cessful at achieving such goals after the expendVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545

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1 iture of such subgrants, including support of 

2 such networks under of the Child Care and De3 velopment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

4 9857); and 

5 ‘‘(D) after the expenditure of such sub6 grants by such networks, the State shall submit 

7 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

8 a report that measures with respect to each 

9 supported eligible entity— 

10 ‘‘(i) the amount of the subgrant re11 ceived by such entity; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the period of time during which 

13 such subgrant was expended by such enti14 ty; 

15 ‘‘(iii) which core services were offered 

16 by such entity during such period; 

17 ‘‘(iv) the number of family childcare 

18 providers who received core services de19 scribed in subparagraphs provided by such 

20 entity during such period; 

21 ‘‘(v) the number of children who re22 ceived services during such period from the 

23 supported family child care providers; 

24 ‘‘(vi) the increase or decrease in the 

25 number of family child care providers in 


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1 the geographical area served by such entity 

2 during such period; and 

3 ‘‘(vii) the extent to which such goals 

4 and outcomes improved the quality and 

5 availability of services provided by family 

6 child care providers served by such net7 work. 

8 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

9 Health and Human Services, acting through the National 

10 Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance of the Of11 fice of Child Care, shall disseminate best practices infor12 mation and offer technical assistance to States, Terri13 tories, Indian Tribes, and eligible entities to help imple14 ment family child care networks and to support family 

15 child care providers, to carry out the purposes and meet 

16 requirements of subsection (f). Information and technical 

17 assistance provided under this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(1) shall include supporting family child care 

19 networks in offering the core services described in 

20 subsection (f)(3)(A); 

21 ‘‘(2) may include supporting family child care 

22 networks to offer additional services described in 

23 subsection (f)(4); and 

24 ‘‘(3) may include any other topic the Secretary 

25 identifies as important or necessary to fulfil the 


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1 goals of subsection (f), including topics requested by 

2 States, family child care networks, and family child 

3 care providers.’’. 

Æ 


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