(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to support 
the recovery and stability of the United States economy 
by providing grants to businesses to aid in opening child 
care programs, establishing partnerships with existing 
providers, or expanding existing child care services to meet 
the demand for child care for working parents. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 
Section 2202 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 
2021 (Public Law 117–2; March 11, 2021) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘such a 
subgrant’’ and inserting ‘‘a subgrant under sub-
section (d)’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-
section (h); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f) SUBGRANTS
FOR BUSINESSES
TO PROVIDE 
CHILD CARE SERVICES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para-
graphs (1) and (2)(A) of subsection (d), and with 
the authorization of the State under paragraph (5), 
the lead agency may use any unobligated grant 
funds awarded pursuant to subsection (c) (including 
any such funds otherwise reserved under subsection 
(d)(1)) to make subgrants to eligible businesses to 
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assist in paying for the establishment and operation 
or expansion of child care services for a transition 
period of not more than 9 months, so that working 
parents have a safe place for their children to receive 
child care. Any fund used for subgrants under this 
subsection shall be obligated before October 1, 2024, 
and expended before October 1, 2025. Subgrants 
made under this subsection shall be known as ‘Ex-
panding Employer-Sponsored Child Care subgrants’. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE BUSINESS.—The term ‘eli-
gible business’ means a business that seeks to 
provide or expand child care services for the 
children of such business’ employees or to part-
ner with an eligible child care provider for such 
services. 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER.— 
Notwithstanding subsection (a)(2), the term ‘el-
igible child care provider’ means— 
‘‘(i) an eligible child care provider, as 
defined in section 658P(6)(A) of the Child 
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 
1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n(6)(A)); 
‘‘(ii) a child care provider that— 
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‘‘(I) is license-exempt and oper-
ating legally in the State; 
‘‘(II) is not providing child care 
services to relatives; and 
‘‘(III) satisfies State and local re-
quirements, including those referenced 
in section 658E(c)(2)(I) of the Child 
Care and Development Block Grant 
Act 
of 
1990 
((42 
U.S.C. 
9858c)(c)(2)(I)); or 
‘‘(iii) a new child care provider that, 
on or before the date such provider begins 
to provide child care services, will— 
‘‘(I) be licensed, regulated, or 
registered in the State, territory, or 
Indian Tribe; and 
‘‘(II) meet applicable State and 
local health and safety requirements. 
‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS
OF
LEAD
AGENCY.—In 
carrying out this subsection, a lead agency shall— 
‘‘(A) require as a condition of receiving a 
subgrant under this subsection that each eligi-
ble business applying for such a subgrant— 
‘‘(i)(I) will use subgrant funds for the 
sole purpose of establishing or expanding a 
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child care program and providing child 
care services for the children of such busi-
ness’ employees; or 
‘‘(II) will operate in partnership with 
an eligible child care provider to provide 
child care services for the children of such 
business’ employees; 
‘‘(ii) agree to follow all applicable 
State, local, and Tribal health and safety 
requirements and, if applicable, enhanced 
protocols for child care services related to 
COVID–19 or another health or safety 
condition; 
‘‘(iii) agree to comply with any report-
ing requirements the lead agency deter-
mines are necessary for the agency to com-
ply with paragraph (6); and 
‘‘(iv) certify in good faith that the 
child care program of the business will re-
main open for not less than 1 year after 
receiving such a subgrant unless such pro-
gram is closed due to extraordinary cir-
cumstances, including a state of emergency 
declared by the Governor or a major dis-
aster or emergency declared by the Presi-
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dent under section 401 or 501, respec-
tively, of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5170, 5191); 
‘‘(B) ensure eligible businesses in urban, 
suburban, and rural areas can readily apply for 
and access funding under this section, which 
shall include the provision of technical assist-
ance either directly or through resource and re-
ferral agencies; 
‘‘(C) give priority for subgrant awards ac-
cording to geographically based child care serv-
ice needs across the State or Tribal community, 
with special consideration given to rural areas; 
and 
‘‘(D) make available to the public, which 
shall include, at a minimum, posting to an 
internet website of the lead agency— 
‘‘(i) notice of funding availability 
through subgrants for eligible businesses 
under this section; and 
‘‘(ii) the criteria for awarding sub-
grants for eligible businesses. 
‘‘(4) SUBGRANTS TO BUSINESSES.— 
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‘‘(A) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible business 
that receives funds through a subgrant author-
ized under this subsection shall use such funds 
to carry out activities related to establishing a 
child care program, expanding a child care pro-
gram, or contracting with an eligible child care 
provider to offer child care services for the em-
ployees of such business. 
‘‘(B) SUBGRANT APPLICATION.—To be eli-
gible to receive a subgrant under this para-
graph, an eligible business shall submit an ap-
plication to the lead agency in such form and 
containing such information as the lead agency 
may reasonably require, including— 
‘‘(i) a plan for offering access or ex-
panding access to child care services for 
the employees of such business that in-
cludes— 
‘‘(I) information describing how 
the eligible business will use the 
subgrant funds to cover slots for the 
children of their employees; 
‘‘(II) if applicable, the amount of 
tuition or copayments employees will 
be expected to pay; 
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‘‘(III) child care enrollment and 
attendance projections or, if applica-
ble, how funds used for expansion will 
increase the enrollment and attend-
ance projections; and 
‘‘(IV) a demonstration of how the 
eligible business will sustain its oper-
ations after the cessation of funding 
under this section; 
‘‘(ii) assurances that the eligible busi-
ness will— 
‘‘(I) report to the lead agency 
data on current average enrollment 
and attendance; 
‘‘(II) provide any documentation 
to the lead agency that the agency de-
termines is necessary to comply with 
paragraph (6), including providing 
documentation 
of 
expenditures 
of 
subgrant funds; and 
‘‘(III) implement all applicable 
State, local, and Tribal health and 
safety requirements and, if applicable, 
enhanced protocols for child care serv-
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ices and related to COVID–19 or an-
other health or safety condition; and 
‘‘(iii) a certification in good faith that 
the child care program will remain open 
for not less than 1 year after receiving a 
subgrant under this subsection unless such 
program is closed due to extraordinary cir-
cumstances 
described 
in 
paragraph 
(3)(A)(iv). 
‘‘(C) REPAYMENT OF SUBGRANT FUNDS.— 
An eligible business that receives a subgrant 
under this paragraph shall be required to repay 
the subgrant funds if the lead agency deter-
mines that the business fails to provide the as-
surances described in subparagraph (B)(ii), or 
to comply with such an assurance. 
‘‘(5) AMENDED PLAN AND REPORT.—If a State 
elects to authorize the lead agency to provide sub-
grants to eligible businesses under this subsection, 
the State shall amend the State plan submitted 
under section 658E of the Child Care and Develop-
ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c) 
to specify— 
‘‘(A) how the lead agency plans to award 
subgrants to eligible businesses; 
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‘‘(B) how the lead agency will consider pri-
orities for subgrants related to geographically 
based child care service needs across the State 
or Tribal community and in rural areas; and 
‘‘(C) any goals regarding increase in access 
to child care, such as— 
‘‘(i) the number or type of eligible 
businesses that will receive a subgrant 
under this subsection; or 
‘‘(ii) the increase in the number of 
children served State-wide. 
‘‘(6) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) LEAD
AGENCY
REPORT.—A lead 
agency that makes subgrants under this sub-
section shall, not later than January 1, 2026, 
submit a report on such subgrants to the Sec-
retary that includes, for the State or Tribal 
community involved— 
‘‘(i) a description of how the lead 
agency determined— 
‘‘(I) the criteria for awarding 
subgrants for eligible businesses, in-
cluding the methodology the lead 
agency used to determine and dis-
burse funds to such businesses; and 
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‘‘(II) the types of eligible busi-
nesses that received priority for the 
subgrants, including considerations re-
lated to geographically based child 
care service needs across the State or 
Tribal community and in rural areas; 
‘‘(ii) the number of eligible businesses 
that received a subgrant under this sub-
section, disaggregated by age of children 
served, geography, region, the average and 
range of the amounts of the subgrants 
awarded, and whether such businesses 
were operating their own child care pro-
gram or partnering with an eligible child 
care provider; and 
‘‘(iii) information concerning how eli-
gible businesses receiving subgrants under 
this subsection used the subgrant funding 
received. 
‘‘(B) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 90 days after receiving the lead agency re-
ports required under subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary shall make publicly available and pro-
vide to the Committee on Finance and the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
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Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 
Education and Labor and the Committee on 
Ways and Means of the House of Representa-
tives a report summarizing the findings of the 
lead agency reports.’’. 
Æ 
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