I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4750
To establish programs to improve the health and safety of children receiving
child care outside the home, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 26, 2000
Mr. BRYANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To establish programs to improve the health and safety of
children receiving child care outside the home, 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’s Day Care
Health and Safety Improvement Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) of the 21,000,000 children under age 6 in
the United States, almost 13,000,000 spend some
part of their day in child care;
(2) a review of State child care regulations in
47 States found that more than half of the States
had inadequate standards or no standards for 2⁄3 of
the safety topics reviewed;
(3) a research study conducted by the Con-
sumer Product Safety Commission in 1998 found
that 2⁄3 of the 200 licensed child care settings inves-
tigated in the study exhibited at least 1 of 8 safety
hazards investigated, including insufficient child
safety gates, cribs with soft bedding, and unsafe
playground surfacing;
(4) compliance with recently published vol-
untary national safety standards developed by public
health and pediatric experts was found to vary con-
siderably by State, and the States ranged from a 20
percent to a 99 percent compliance rate;
(5) in 1997, approximately 31,000 children
ages 4 and younger were treated in hospital emer-
gency rooms for injuries in child care or school set-
tings;
(6) the Consumer Product Safety Commission
reports that at least 56 children have died in child
care settings since 1990;
(7) the American Academy of Pediatrics identi-
fies safe facilities, equipment, and transportation as
elements of quality child care; and
(8) a research study of 133 child care centers
revealed that 85 percent of the child care center di-
rectors believe that health consultation is important
or very important for child care centers.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) CHILD
WITH
A
DISABILITY; INFANT
OR
TODDLER WITH A DISABILITY.—The terms ‘‘child
with a disability’’ and ‘‘infant or toddler with a dis-
ability’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec-
tion 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401).
(2) ELIGIBLE
CHILD
CARE
PROVIDER.—The
term ‘‘eligible child care provider’’ means a provider
of child care services for compensation, including a
provider of care for a school-age child during non-
school hours, that—
(A) is licensed, regulated, registered, or
otherwise legally operating, under State and
local law; and
(B) satisfies the State and local require-
ments,
applicable to the child care services the provider pro-
vides.
(3) FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The term
‘‘family child care provider’’ means 1 individual who
provides child care services for fewer than 24 hours
per day, as the sole caregiver, and in a private resi-
dence.
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of
the several States of the United States, the District
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this Act $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums
as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal year.
SEC. 5. PROGRAMS.
The Secretary shall make allotments to eligible States
under section 6. The Secretary shall make the allotments
to enable the States to establish programs to improve the
health and safety of children receiving child care outside
the home, by preventing illnesses and injuries associated
with that care and promoting the health and well-being
of children receiving that care.
SEC. 6. AMOUNTS RESERVED; ALLOTMENTS.
(a) AMOUNTS RESERVED.—The Secretary shall re-
serve not more than 1⁄2 of 1 percent of the amount appro-
priated under section 4 for each fiscal year to make allot-
ments to Guam, American Samoa, the United States Vir-
gin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar-
iana Islands to be allotted in accordance with their respec-
tive needs.
(b) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—
(1) GENERAL RULE.—From the amounts ap-
propriated under section 4 for each fiscal year and
remaining after reservations are made under sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall allot to each State an
amount equal to the sum of—
(A) an amount that bears the same ratio
to 50 percent of such remainder as the product
of the young child factor of the State and the
allotment percentage of the State bears to the
sum of the corresponding products for all
States; and
(B) an amount that bears the same ratio
to 50 percent of such remainder as the product
of the school lunch factor of the State and the
allotment percentage of the State bears to the
sum of the corresponding products for all
States.
(2) YOUNG CHILD FACTOR.—In this subsection,
the term ‘‘young child factor’’ means the ratio of the
number of children under 5 years of age in a State
to the number of such children in all States, as pro-
vided by the most recent annual estimates of popu-
lation in the States by the Census Bureau of the De-
partment of Commerce.
(3) SCHOOL
LUNCH
FACTOR.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘‘school lunch factor’’ means the
ratio of the number of children who are receiving
free or reduced price lunches under the school lunch
program established under the National School
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) in the State to
the number of such children in all States, as deter-
mined annually by the Department of Agriculture.
(4) ALLOTMENT PERCENTAGE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this
subsection, the allotment percentage for a State
shall be determined by dividing the per capita
income of all individuals in the United States,
by the per capita income of all individuals in
the State.
(B) LIMITATIONS.—If an allotment per-
centage determined under subparagraph (A) for
a State—
(i) is more than 1.2 percent, the allot-
ment percentage of the State shall be con-
sidered to be 1.2 percent; and
(ii) is less than 0.8 percent, the allot-
ment percentage of the State shall be con-
sidered to be 0.8 percent.
(C) PER CAPITA INCOME.—For purposes
of subparagraph (A), per capita income shall
be—
(i) determined at 2-year intervals;
(ii) applied for the 2-year period be-
ginning on October 1 of the first fiscal
year beginning after the date such deter-
mination is made; and
(iii) equal to the average of the an-
nual per capita incomes for the most re-
cent period of 3 consecutive years for
which satisfactory data are available from
the Department of Commerce on the date
such determination is made.
(c) DATA AND INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall
obtain from each appropriate Federal agency, the most re-
cent data and information necessary to determine the al-
lotments provided for in subsection (b).
(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘State’’
includes only the several States of the United States, the
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico.
SEC. 7. STATE APPLICATIONS.
To be eligible to receive an allotment under section
6, a State shall submit an application to the Secretary
at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor-
mation as the Secretary may require. The application shall
contain information assessing the needs of the State with
regard to child care health and safety, the goals to be
achieved through the program carried out by the State
under this Act, and the measures to be used to assess the
progress made by the State toward achieving the goals.
SEC. 8. USE OF FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives an allotment
under section 6 shall use the funds made available through
the allotment to carry out 2 or more activities consisting
of—
(1) providing training and education to eligible
child care providers on preventing injuries and ill-
nesses in children, and promoting health-related
practices;
(2) strengthening licensing, regulation, or reg-
istration standards for eligible child care providers;
(3) assisting eligible child care providers in
meeting licensing, regulation, or registration stand-
ards, including rehabilitating the facilities of the
providers, in order to bring the facilities into compli-
ance with the standards;
(4) enforcing licensing, regulation, or registra-
tion standards for eligible child care providers, in-
cluding holding increased unannounced inspections
of the facilities of those providers;
(5) providing health consultants to provide ad-
vice to eligible child care providers;
(6) assisting eligible child care providers in en-
hancing the ability of the providers to serve children
with disabilities and infants and toddlers with dis-
abilities;
(7) conducting criminal background checks for
eligible child care providers and other individuals
who have contact with children in the facilities of the
providers;
(8) providing information to parents on what
factors to consider in choosing a safe and healthy
child care setting; or
(9) assisting in improving the safety of trans-
portation practices for children enrolled in child care
programs with eligible child care providers.
(b) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds appro-
priated pursuant to the authority of this Act shall be used
to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, and
local public funds expended to provide services for eligible
individuals.
SEC. 9. REPORTS.
Each State that receives an allotment under section
6 shall annually prepare and submit to the Secretary a
report that describes—
(1) the activities carried out with funds made
available through the allotment; and
(2) the progress made by the State toward
achieving the goals described in the application sub-
mitted by the State under section 7.
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