grants under section 226 for that fiscal 
year; and 
(ii) provide a follow-up report, not 
later than 90 days after the end of the suc-
ceeding fiscal year that includes informa-
tion regarding— 
(I) the continuity of employment 
of the grant recipients as child care 
providers with the same employer; 
(II) with respect to each em-
ployer that employed such a grant re-
cipient, whether such employer was 
accredited by a recognized national or 
State accrediting body during the pe-
riod of employment; and 
(III) to the extent practicable 
and available to the State, detailed in-
formation regarding the rate and fre-
quency of employment turnover of 
qualified child care providers through-
out such area, 
during the 1-year period beginning on the 
date on which the grant to the State was 
made under section 226.
(5) CHILD CARE PROVIDER DEVELOPMENT AND 
RETENTION GRANT PROGRAM.—The State plan shall 
describe how the lead agency will determine the 
amounts of grants to be made under section 226 in 
accordance with the following requirements: 
(A) SUFFICIENT
AMOUNTS.—The State 
shall demonstrate that the amounts of indi-
vidual grants to be made under section 226 will 
be sufficient— 
(i) to encourage child care providers 
to improve their qualifications; and 
(ii) to retain qualified child care pro-
viders in the child care field. 
(B) AMOUNTS
TO
CREDENTIALED
PRO-
VIDERS.—Such grants made to eligible child 
care providers who have a child development as-
sociate credential (or equivalent) and who are 
employed full-time to provide child care services 
shall be in an amount that is not less than 
$1,000 per year. 
(C) AMOUNTS TO PROVIDERS WITH HIGH-
ER LEVELS OF EDUCATION.—The State shall 
make such grants in amounts greater than 
$1,000 per year to eligible child care providers 
who have higher levels of education than the
education required for a credential such as a 
child development associate credential (or equiv-
alent), according to the following requirements: 
(i) PROVIDERS WITH BACCALAUREATE 
DEGREES IN RELEVANT FIELDS.—An eligi-
ble child care provider who has a bacca-
laureate degree in the area of child devel-
opment or early child education shall re-
ceive a grant under section 226 in an 
amount that is not less than twice the 
amount of the grant that is made under 
section 226 to an eligible child care pro-
vider who has an associate of the arts de-
gree in the area of child development or 
early child education. 
(ii) PROVIDERS WITH ASSOCIATE DE-
GREES.—An eligible child care provider 
who has an associate of the arts degree in 
the area of child development or early child 
education shall receive a grant under sec-
tion 226 in an amount that is not less 
than 150 percent of the amount of the 
grant that is made under section 226 to an 
eligible child care provider who has a child 
development associate credential (or equiv-
alent) and is employed full-time to provide 
child care services. 
(iii) OTHER PROVIDERS WITH BACCA-
LAUREATE DEGREES.— 
(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in subclause (II), an eligible 
child care provider who has a bacca-
laureate degree in a field other than 
child development or early child edu-
cation shall receive a grant under sec-
tion 226 in an amount equal to the 
amount of the grant that is made 
under section 226 to an eligible child 
care provider who has an associate of 
the arts degree in the area of child de-
velopment or early child education. 
(II) EXCEPTION.—If an eligible 
child care provider who has such a 
baccalaureate degree obtains addi-
tional educational training in the area 
of child development or early child 
education, as specified by the State, 
such provider shall receive a grant 
under section 226 in an amount equal 
to the amount of the grant that is
made under section 226 to an eligible 
child care provider who has a bacca-
laureate degree specified in clause (i). 
(D) 
AMOUNTS
TO
FULL-TIME
PRO-
VIDERS.—The State shall make a grant under 
section 226 to an eligible child care provider 
who works full-time in a greater amount than 
the amount of the grant that is made under 
section 226 to an eligible child care provider 
who works part-time, based on the State defini-
tions of full-time and part-time work. 
(E) AMOUNTS
TO
EXPERIENCED
PRO-
VIDERS.—The State shall make grants under 
section 226 in progressively larger amounts to 
eligible child care providers to reflect the num-
ber of years worked as child care providers. 
(6) DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD CARE PROVIDER 
SCHOLARSHIPS.—The State plan shall describe how 
the lead agency will make grants for scholarships in 
compliance with section 227 and shall specify the 
types of educational and training programs for 
which the scholarship grants made under such sec-
tion may be used, including only programs that— 
(A) are administered by institutions of 
higher education that are eligible to participate
in student financial assistance programs under 
title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); and 
(B) lead to a State or nationally recog-
nized credential in the area of child develop-
ment or early child education, an associate of 
the arts degree in the area of child development 
or early child education, or a baccalaureate de-
gree in the area of child development or early 
child education. 
(7) EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION.—The State 
plan shall describe how the lead agency will encour-
age employers of child care providers to contribute 
to the attainment of education goals by eligible child 
care providers who receive grants under section 227. 
(8) SUPPLEMENTATION.—The State plan shall 
provide assurances that amounts received by the 
State to carry out sections 226, 227, and 228 will 
be used only to supplement, and not to supplant, 
Federal, State, and local funds otherwise available to 
support existing services and activities (as of the 
date the amounts are used) that— 
(A) encourage child care providers to im-
prove their qualifications and that promote the
retention of qualified child care providers in the 
child care field; or 
(B) provide health benefits coverage for 
child care providers. 
SEC. 226. CHILD CARE PROVIDER DEVELOPMENT AND RE-
TENTION GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds allot-
ted under section 224 and made available to carry out this 
section shall expend such funds to pay for the Federal 
share of the cost of making grants to eligible child care 
providers in accordance with this section, to improve the 
qualifications and promote the retention of qualified child 
care providers. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE GRANTS.—To be eligi-
ble to receive a grant under this section, a child care pro-
vider shall— 
(1) have a child development associate creden-
tial (or equivalent), an associate of the arts degree 
in the area of child development or early child edu-
cation, a baccalaureate degree in the area of child 
development or early child education, or a bacca-
laureate degree in an unrelated field; and 
(2) be employed as a child care provider for not 
less than 1 calendar year, or (if the provider is em-
ployed on the date of the eligibility determination in
a child care program that operates for less than a 
full calendar year) the program equivalent of 1 cal-
endar year, ending on the date of the application for 
such grant, except that not more than 3 months of 
education related to child development or to early 
child education obtained during the corresponding 
calendar year may be treated as employment that 
satisfies the requirements of this paragraph. 
(c) PRESERVATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—A State shall 
not take into consideration whether a child care provider 
is receiving, may receive, or may be eligible to receive any 
funds or benefits under any other provision of this subtitle 
for purposes of selecting eligible child care providers to 
receive grants under this section. 
SEC. 227. CHILD CARE PROVIDER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds allot-
ted under section 224 and made available to carry out this 
section shall expend such funds to pay for the Federal 
share of the cost of making scholarship grants to eligible 
child care providers in accordance with this section, to im-
prove their educational qualifications to provide child care 
services. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT FOR SCHOLARSHIP 
GRANTS.—To be eligible to receive a scholarship grant 
under this section, a child care provider shall be employed
as a child care provider for not less than 1 calendar year, 
or (if the provider is employed on the date of the eligibility 
determination in a child care program that operates for 
less than a full calendar year) the program equivalent of 
1 calendar year, ending on the date of the application for 
such grant. 
(c) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.—For purposes of se-
lecting eligible child care providers to receive scholarship 
grants under this section and determining the amounts of 
such grants, a State shall not— 
(1) take into consideration whether a child care 
provider is receiving, may receive, or may be eligible 
to receive any funds or benefits under any other pro-
vision of this subtitle, or under any other Federal or 
State law that provides funds for educational pur-
poses; or 
(2) consider as resources of such provider any 
funds such provider is receiving, may receive, or may 
be eligible to receive under any other provision of 
this subtitle, under any other Federal or State law 
that provides funds for educational purposes, or 
from a private entity. 
(d) COST-SHARING REQUIRED.—The amount of a 
scholarship grant made under this section to an eligible
child care provider shall be less than the cost of the edu-
cational or training program for which such grant is made. 
(e) 
ANNUAL
MAXIMUM
SCHOLARSHIP
GRANT 
AMOUNT.—The maximum aggregate dollar amount of a 
scholarship grant made by a State to an eligible child care 
provider under this section in a fiscal year shall be $1,500. 
SEC. 228. CHILD CARE PROVIDER HEALTH BENEFITS COV-
ERAGE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 
‘‘Healthy Early Education Workforce Grant Program 
Act’’. 
(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘‘depend-
ent’’, ‘‘domestic partner’’, and ‘‘spouse’’, used with respect 
to a State, have the meanings given the terms by the 
State. 
(c) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—A State that receives 
funds allotted under section 224 and made available to 
carry out this section shall expend such funds to pay for 
the Federal share of the cost of providing access to afford-
able health benefits coverage for— 
(1) eligible child care providers; and 
(2) at the discretion of the State involved, the 
spouses, domestic partners, and dependents of such 
providers.
(d) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub-
section (c), the State may expend such funds for any of 
the following: 
(1) To reimburse an employer of an eligible 
child care provider, or the provider, for the employ-
er’s or provider’s share (or a portion of the share) 
of the premiums or other costs for coverage under 
group or individual health plans. 
(2) To offset the cost of enrolling eligible child 
care providers in public health benefits plans, such 
as the medicaid program under title XIX of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the State 
children’s health insurance program under title XXI 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.), or public 
employee health benefit plans. 
(3) To otherwise subsidize the cost of health 
benefits coverage for eligible child care providers. 
(e) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR HEALTH BENEFITS 
COVERAGE.—The State may establish criteria to limit the 
child care providers who may receive benefits through the 
allotment. 
(f) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.—For purposes of se-
lecting eligible child care providers to receive benefits 
under this section for a fiscal year, a State shall give— 
(1) highest priority to—