I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3643 
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide additional 
child care funding, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 4, 2017 
Mr. CROWLEY (for himself and Ms. FRANKEL of Florida) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 
to provide additional child care funding, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children First Act of 
2017’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
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(1) to provide funding to ensure that the fami-
lies that have infants and toddlers, that have a fam-
ily income of not more than 200 percent of the ap-
plicable Federal poverty guideline, and that need 
child care have access to high-quality infant and tod-
dler child care by the end of fiscal year 2028, in 
order to promote family economic security and pa-
rental employment, to support parents in balancing 
work and family obligations, and to promote chil-
dren’s health, early care, and learning; 
(2) to provide sufficient funding to ensure that 
both families and child care providers have the re-
sources they need to support high-quality early care 
and learning for infants and toddlers; 
(3) to ensure that provider payment rates, for 
infant and toddler child care providers, are set at a 
level high enough to support high-quality child care 
for infants and toddlers, including infants and tod-
dlers with disabilities; 
(4) to assist eligible infant and toddler child 
care providers in improving the quality of their pro-
grams— 
(A) by strengthening the skills, com-
petencies, and compensation of the workforce of 
those providers, in a manner aligned with the 
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report entitled ‘‘Transforming the Workforce 
for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying 
Foundation’’, issued by the National Academy 
of Sciences in April 2015; and 
(B) by helping those providers ensure that 
children receive the comprehensive services they 
need, by coordinating activities with other com-
munity service providers; and 
(5) to ensure that high-quality infant and tod-
dler child care is a strong component of a continuum 
of quality early care and learning activities within 
States and Indian and Native Hawaiian commu-
nities, starting with prenatal care and continuing 
through activities in the early school years, with 
seamless transitions between programs. 
SEC. 3. CHILD CARE FUNDING FOR INFANTS AND TOD-
DLERS. 
Part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 
418 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 418A. FUNDING FOR CHILD CARE FOR INFANTS AND 
TODDLERS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY 
CHILD CARE.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount reserved 
under subsection (g)(1) for a fiscal year, the Sec-
retary shall make a grant— 
‘‘(A) to each eligible State that is not a 
territory, in an amount that bears the same 
ratio to 95 percent of the amount so reserved 
as the number of infants and toddlers from low- 
income families in the State bears to the total 
number of such infants and toddlers in all eligi-
ble States that are not territories; and 
‘‘(B) to each eligible State that is a terri-
tory, in an amount that bears the same ratio to 
5 percent of the amount so reserved as the 
number of infants and toddlers from low-income 
families in the territory bears to the total num-
ber of such infants and toddlers in all eligible 
States that are territories. 
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—A State to which a grant 
is made under this subsection shall use the grant— 
‘‘(A) to expand access to high-quality child 
care for infants and toddlers who do not receive 
child care funded through the Child Care and 
Development Fund; 
‘‘(B) to increase, as described in this sec-
tion, the quality of child care for infants and 
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toddlers who receive child care funded through 
the Child Care and Development Fund; and 
‘‘(C)(i) to support payment rates, for child 
care providers that serve infants and toddlers, 
that reflect the cost of high-quality child care 
and are sufficient to attract, support, and re-
tain providers who meet quality standards that 
relate to the unique needs of infants and tod-
dlers, including infants and toddlers with dis-
abilities; and 
‘‘(ii) to increase the compensation of, and 
provide other financial incentives for, the high-
ly-qualified infant and toddler child care work-
force. 
‘‘(b) GRANTS FOR MAINTAINING ACCESS TO CHILD 
CARE.—From the amount reserved under subsection 
(g)(6) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall make a grant— 
‘‘(1) to each eligible State that is not a terri-
tory, in an amount that bears the same ratio to the 
amount so reserved as the amount payable to the 
State under section 418(a)(2)(B) for the fiscal year 
bears to the total of the amounts payable under such 
section for the fiscal year to all eligible States that 
are not territories; and 
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‘‘(2) to each eligible State that is a territory, in 
an amount that bears the same ratio to 5 percent 
of the amount so reserved as the amount payable to 
the territory under section 418(a)(2)(B) for the fis-
cal year bears to the total of the amounts payable 
under such section for the fiscal year to all eligible 
States that are territories. 
‘‘(c) GRANTS FOR INDIAN AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN 
CHILD CARE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) GRANT FORMULA.—In order to en-
sure that Indian and Native Hawaiian children 
have equal access to high-quality infant and 
toddler child care, the Secretary shall develop a 
formula for allotting the amount reserved under 
subsection (g)(2) among Indian tribes and trib-
al organizations, and shall make a grant to 
each Indian tribe and tribal organization in an 
amount equal to the amount allotted to the In-
dian tribe or tribal organization under the for-
mula. 
‘‘(B) FORMULA FACTORS.—In developing 
the formula, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) provide for a level of funding that 
will ensure that, by the end of fiscal year 
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2026, the Indian and Native Hawaiian in-
fants and toddlers in eligible families will 
receive a level of services that is equivalent 
to the high-quality child care received by 
infants and toddlers in the general popu-
lation under this section; 
‘‘(ii) take into consideration the 
unique needs and circumstances of individ-
uals in Indian and Native Hawaiian com-
munities, such as unemployment rates; and 
‘‘(iii) the cost of providing high-qual-
ity child care that addresses Indian and 
Native Hawaiian culture and language. 
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—An Indian tribe or tribal 
organization to which a grant is made under this 
subsection shall use the grant to provide high-quality 
child care to infants and toddlers in low-income fam-
ilies. 
‘‘(d) GRANTS FOR CHILD CARE DURING UNCONVEN-
TIONAL HOURS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount reserved 
under subsection (g)(5) for each fiscal year, the Sec-
retary may make a grant— 
‘‘(A) to each eligible State that is not a 
territory, in an amount that bears the same 
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ratio to the amount so reserved as the total of 
the amounts payable to the State under section 
418 and this section for the fiscal year bears to 
the total of the amounts payable under such 
sections for the fiscal year to all eligible States 
that are not territories; and 
‘‘(B) to each eligible State that is a terri-
tory, in an amount that bears the same ratio to 
5 percent of the amount so reserved as the total 
of the amounts payable to the territory under 
section 418 and this section for the fiscal year 
bears to the total of the amounts payable under 
such sections for the fiscal year to all eligible 
States that are territories. 
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—A State to which a grant 
is made under this subsection shall use the grant to 
enable the provision of child care during nontradi-
tional and unpredictable hours. 
‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY
OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS 
RELATING
TO
CHILD
CARE
FUNDING.—Subsections 
(a)(2)(D), (a)(5), (b), and (c) of section 418 shall apply 
with respect to this section in the same way such sub-
sections apply with respect to section 418. 
‘‘(f) APPROPRIATION.—For grants under this section, 
there are appropriated— 
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‘‘(1) $3,745,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; 
‘‘(2) $4,212,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; 
‘‘(3) $4,926,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 
‘‘(4) $5,972,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 
‘‘(5) $7,038,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 
‘‘(6) $8,146,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 
‘‘(7) $9,775,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 
‘‘(8) $11,416,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 
‘‘(9) $13,169,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and 
‘‘(10) $15,222,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. 
‘‘(g) RESERVATIONS OF FUNDS.—From the amounts 
appropriated under subsection (f) for each fiscal year, the 
Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) reserve an amount for grants under sub-
section (a) (relating to expanding access to high- 
quality child care); 
‘‘(2) reserve not less than 2 percent for grants 
under subsection (c) (relating to Indian and Native 
Hawaiian child care); 
‘‘(3) reserve not more than 0.5 percent for re-
search and evaluation of activities under this section; 
‘‘(4) reserve not more than 0.5 percent for the 
provision of technical assistance relating to activities 
under this section; 
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‘‘(5) reserve 6 percent for grants under sub-
section (d) (relating to child care provided during 
nontraditional and unpredictable hours); and 
‘‘(6) reserve the remainder for grants under 
subsection (b) (relating to maintaining access to 
child care). 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND.— 
The term ‘Child Care and Development Fund’ 
means the funds appropriated under the Child Care 
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and the funds appropriated 
under section 418 of this Act. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE
FAMILY.—The term ‘eligible 
family’ means a low-income family that has, and 
needs child care for, an infant or toddler. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE
INFANT
OR
TODDLER.—The 
term ‘eligible infant or toddler’ means an infant or 
toddler from a low-income family. 
‘‘(4) HIGH-QUALITY.—This term ‘high-quality’, 
used with respect to child care (including early care 
and learning), means child care that— 
‘‘(A) meets the needs of working families, 
including full-day and full-year options; 
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‘‘(B) provides adequate compensation to 
attract, retain, and develop a well-qualified 
workforce, and provides opportunities for care-
givers to progress through professional develop-
ment goals; 
‘‘(C) promotes age-appropriate social, emo-
tional, cognitive, and physical development; 
‘‘(D) coordinates activities with Head Start 
and other public and private agencies to ensure 
that infants and toddlers are referred to other 
appropriate community services; and 
‘‘(E) engages with parents in their roles as 
first teachers and partners with parents in their 
child’s early care and learning and transition to 
pre-kindergarten or a Head Start program. 
‘‘(5) INFANT OR TODDLER.—The term ‘infant 
or toddler’ means a child who has not attained 4 
years of age. 
‘‘(6) INFANT
OR
TODDLER
WITH
A
DIS-
ABILITY.—The term ‘infant or toddler with a dis-
ability’ has the meaning given the term in section 
632 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act (20 U.S.C. 1432). 
‘‘(7) LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The term ‘low-in-
come family’ means a family with a family income 
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