I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2097
To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to
provide incentive grants to improve the quality of child care.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 7, 2001
Mr. BISHOP (for himself, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr.
CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. HASTINGS of Flor-
ida, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. LEE,
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mrs. MEEK of Flor-
ida, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr.
OWENS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCOTT, Mr.
THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WATT of North Carolina, Ms.
WOOLSEY, Mr. WYNN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. LANGEVIN, and
Mrs. MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 to provide incentive grants to improve the
quality of child care.
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 ‘‘Child Care Quality
Incentive Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings:
(1) Recent research on early brain development
reveals that much of a child’s growth is determined
by early learning and nurturing care. Research also
shows that quality early care and education leads to
increased cognitive abilities, positive classroom learn-
ing behavior, increased likelihood of long-term school
success, and greater likelihood of long-term economic
and social self-sufficiency.
(2) Each day an estimated 13,000,000 children,
including 6,000,000 infants and toddlers, spend
some part of their day in child care. However, a
study in 4 States found that only 1 in 7 child care
centers provide care that promotes healthy develop-
ment, while 1 in 8 child care centers provide care
that threatens the safety and health of children.
(3) Full-day child care can cost $4,000 to
$10,000 per year.
(4) Although Federal assistance is available for
child care, funding is severely limited. Even with
Federal subsidies, many families cannot afford child
care. For families with young children and a month-
ly income under $1,200, the cost of child care typi-
cally consumes 25 percent of their income.
(5) Payment (or reimbursement) rates, which
determine the maximum the State will reimburse a
child care provider for the care of a child who re-
ceives a subsidy, are too low to ensure that quality
care is accessible to all families.
(6) Low payment rates directly affect the kind
of care children get and whether families can find
quality child care in their communities. In many in-
stances, low payment rates force child care providers
to cut corners in ways that lower the quality of care
for children, including reducing number of staff,
eliminating staff training opportunities, and cutting
enriching educational activities and services.
(7) Children in low quality child care are more
likely to have delayed reading and language skills,
and display more aggression toward other children
and adults.
(8) Increased payment rates lead to higher
quality child care as child care providers are able to
attract and retain qualified staff, provide salary in-
creases and professional training, maintain a safe
and healthy environment, and purchase basic sup-
plies and developmentally appropriate educational
materials.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to improve
the quality of, and access to, child care by increasing child
care payment rates.
SEC. 3. INCENTIVE GRANTS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF
CHILD CARE.
(a) FUNDING.—Section 658B of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858)
is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘There’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(a) 
AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There’’;
(2) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘(other than
section 658H)’’ after ‘‘this subchapter’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS FOR GRANTS TO IM-
PROVE THE QUALITY OF CHILD CARE.—Out of any funds
in the Treasury that are not otherwise appropriated, there
are authorized to be appropriated and there are appro-
priated, $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums
as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal year, for
the purpose of making grants under section 658H.’’.
(b) USE
OF
BLOCK
GRANT
FUNDS.—Section
658E(c)(3) of the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(3)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘under
this subchapter’’ and inserting ‘‘from funds appro-
priated under section 658B(a)’’; and
(2) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘(other
than section 658H)’’ after ‘‘under this subchapter’’.
(c) 
ESTABLISHMENT
OF
PROGRAM.—Section
658G(a) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e(a)) is amended by inserting
‘‘(other than section 658H)’’ after ‘‘this subchapter’’.
(d) GRANTS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CHILD
CARE.—The Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) is amended by in-
serting after section 658G the following:
‘‘SEC. 658H. GRANTS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CHILD
CARE.
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use the
amount appropriated under section 658B(b) for a
fiscal year to make grants to eligible States in ac-
cordance with this section.
‘‘(2) ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall
make an annual payment for such a grant to each
eligible State out of the allotment for that State de-
termined under subsection (c).
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATES.—
‘‘(iii) describe how the State will in-
crease payment rates in accordance with
the market survey results.
‘‘(3) 
CONTINUING
ELIGIBILITY
REQUIRE-
MENT.—The Secretary may make an annual pay-
ment under this section to an eligible State only if—
‘‘(A) the Secretary determines that the
State has made progress, through the activities
assisted under this subchapter, in maintaining
increased payment rates; and
‘‘(B) at least once every 2 years, the State
conducts an update of the survey described in
paragraph (1)(A).
‘‘(4) REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re-
ceive a grant under this section, the State shall
agree to make available State contributions
from State sources toward the costs of the ac-
tivities to be carried out by a State pursuant to
subsection (d) in an amount that is not less
than 25 percent of such costs.
‘‘(B) DETERMINATION
OF
STATE
CON-
TRIBUTIONS.—State contributions shall be in
cash. Amounts provided by the Federal Govern-
ment may not be included in determining the
amount of such State contributions.
‘‘(c) ALLOTMENTS
TO
ELIGIBLE
STATES.—The
amount appropriated under section 658B(b) for a fiscal
year shall be allotted among the eligible States in the same
manner as amounts are allotted under section 658O(b).
‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) PRIORITY USE.—An eligible State that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall use the funds
received to significantly increase the payment rate
for the provision of child care assistance in accord-
ance with this subchapter up to the 100th percentile
of the market rate survey described in subsection
(b)(1)(A).
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL USES.—An eligible State that
demonstrates to the Secretary that the State has
achieved a payment rate of the 100th percentile of
the market rate survey described in subsection
(b)(1)(A) may use funds received under a grant
made under this section for any other activity that
the State demonstrates to the Secretary will enhance
the quality of child care services provided in the
State.
‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts
paid to a State under this section shall be used to
supplement and not supplant other Federal, State,
or local funds provided to the State under this sub-
chapter or any other provision of law.
‘‘(e) EVALUATIONS AND REPORTS.—
‘‘(1) STATE EVALUATIONS.—Each eligible State
shall submit to the Secretary, at such time and in
such form and manner as the Secretary may require,
information regarding the State’s efforts to increase
payment rates and the impact increased rates are
having on the quality of, and accessibility to, child
care in the State.
‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary
shall submit biennial reports to Congress on the in-
formation described in paragraph (1). Such reports
shall include data from the applications submitted
under subsection (b)(2) as a baseline for deter-
mining the progress of each eligible State in main-
taining increased payment rates.
‘‘(f) PAYMENT RATE.—In this section, the term ‘pay-
ment rate’ means the rate of reimbursement to providers
for subsidized child care.’’.
(e) PAYMENTS.—Section 658J(a) of the Child Care
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9858h(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘from funds appro-
priated under section 658B(a)’’ after ‘‘section 658O’’.
(f) ALLOTMENT.—Section 658O of the Child Care
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9858m) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘this
subchapter’’ and inserting ‘‘section 658B(a)’’;
and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘section
658B’’ and inserting ‘‘section 658B(a)’’;
(2) in subsection (b)(1), in the matter pre-
ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘each sub-
section of’’ before ‘‘section 658B’’; and
(3) in subsection (e)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the al-
lotment under subsection (b)’’ and inserting
‘‘an allotment made under subsection (b)’’; and
(B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘cor-
responding’’ before ‘‘allotment’’.
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