SEC. 121. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that a State welfare-
to-work program should include a mentoring program. 
SEC. 122. EXTENSION THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2003. 
Except as otherwise provided in this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act, activities authorized by 
part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, and by section 
1108(b) of the Social Security Act, shall continue through 
September 30, 2003, in the manner authorized, and at 
the level provided, for fiscal year 2002. 
TITLE II—CHILD CARE 
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Caring for Children 
Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 202. GOALS. 
(a) GOALS.—Section 658A(b) of the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9801 
note) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘encourage’’ 
and inserting ‘‘assist’’, 
(2) by amending paragraph (4) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(4) to assist States to provide child care to 
low-income parents;’’, 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para-
graph (7), and
(4) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(5) to encourage States to improve the quality 
of child care available to families; 
‘‘(6) to promote school readiness by encour-
aging the exposure of young children in child care to 
nurturing environments and developmentally-appro-
priate activities, including activities to foster early 
cognitive and literacy development; and’’. 
(b) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
658E(c)(3)(B) of the Child Care and Development Block 
Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(3)(B)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘through (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘through (7)’’. 
SEC. 203. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 658B of the Child Care and Development 
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘is’’ and inserting ‘‘are’’, and 
(2) by striking ‘‘$1,000,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 1996 through 2002’’ and inserting 
‘‘$2,100,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2003, 
$2,300,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2004, 
$2,500,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2005, 
$2,700,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2006, 
$2,900,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2007, 
and 
$3,100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008’’.
SEC. 204. APPLICATION AND PLAN. 
Section 658E(c)(2) of the Child Care and Develop-
ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858C(c)(2)) 
is amended—
(1) by amending subparagraph (D) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(D) CONSUMER AND CHILD CARE PRO-
VIDER EDUCATION INFORMATION.—Certify that 
the State will collect and disseminate, through 
resource and referral services and other means 
as determined by the State, to parents of eligi-
ble children, child care providers, and the gen-
eral public, information regarding—
‘‘(i) the promotion of informed child 
care choices, including information about 
the quality and availability of child care 
services; 
‘‘(ii) research and best practices on 
children’s development, including early cog-
nitive development; 
‘‘(iii) the availability of assistance to 
obtain child care services; and 
‘‘(iv) other programs for which fami-
lies that receive child care services for 
which financial assistance is provided 
under this subchapter may be eligible, in-
cluding the food stamp program, the WIC 
program under section 17 of the Child Nu-
trition Act of 1966, the child and adult 
care food program under section 17 of the 
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act, and the medicaid and SCHIP pro-
grams under titles XIX and XXI of the 
Social Security Act.’’, and 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(I) COORDINATION WITH OTHER EARLY 
CHILD CARE SERVICES AND EARLY CHILDHOOD 
EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—Demonstrate how the 
State is coordinating child care services pro-
vided under this subchapter with Head Start, 
Early Reading First, Even Start, Ready-To-
Learn Television, State pre-kindergarten pro-
grams, and other early childhood education pro-
grams to expand accessibility to and continuity 
of care and early education without displacing 
services provided by the current early care and 
education delivery system. 
‘‘(J) PUBLIC-PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIPS.—
Demonstrate how the State encourages partner-
ships with private and other public entities to
leverage existing service delivery systems of 
early childhood education and increase the sup-
ply and quality of child care services. 
‘‘(K) CHILD CARE SERVICE QUALITY.—
‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION.—For each fiscal 
year after fiscal year 2004, certify that 
during the then preceding fiscal year the 
State was in compliance with section 658G 
and describe how funds were used to com-
ply with such section during such pre-
ceding fiscal year. 
‘‘(ii) STRATEGY.—For each fiscal year 
after fiscal year 2004, contain an outline 
of the strategy the State will implement 
during such fiscal year for which the State 
plan is submitted, to address the quality of 
child care services in the State available to 
low-income parents from eligible child care 
providers, and include in such strategy—
‘‘(I) a statement specifying how 
the State will address the activities 
described in paragraphs (1), (2), and 
(3) of section 658G; 
‘‘(II) a description of quantifi-
able, objective measures for evaluating
the quality of child care services sepa-
rately with respect to the activities 
listed in each of such paragraphs that 
the State will use to evaluate its 
progress in improving the quality of 
such child care services; 
‘‘(III) a list of State-developed 
child care service quality targets for 
such fiscal year quantified on the 
basis of such measures; and 
‘‘(IV) for each fiscal year after 
fiscal year 2004, a report on the 
progress made to achieve such targets 
during the then preceding fiscal year. 
‘‘(iii) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—
Nothing in this subparagraph shall be con-
strued to require that the State apply 
measures for evaluating quality to specific 
types of child care providers. 
‘‘(L) ACCESS TO CARE FOR CERTAIN POPU-
LATIONS.—Demonstrate how the State is ad-
dressing the child care needs of parents eligible 
for child care services for which financial assist-
ance is provided under this subchapter who 
have children with special needs, work nontradi-