I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4206
To establish a grant program to improve the quality and expand the avail-
ability of child care services, and of family support services, for families
with children less than 3 years of age.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 6, 2000
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr.
FROST, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,
Mr. WEYGAND, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. OLVER, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. JACKSON
of Illinois, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. KENNEDY
of Rhode Island, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD,
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, and Ms. SLAUGHTER) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce
A BILL
To establish a grant program to improve the quality and
expand the availability of child care services, and of
family support services, for families with children less
than 3 years of age.
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 ‘‘Early Learning and
Opportunity State Grants Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The first 3 years of life are a critical period
of brain development, intellectual growth, and emo-
tional, social, affective, and moral development, that
help determine the health and productivity of a child
in later life.
(2) Scientific research shows that how individ-
uals function from preschool through adolescence
and adulthood hinges to a significant extent on the
experiences children have in their first 3 years of
life.
(3) One in 3 victims of physical abuse is a baby
less than 1 year of age.
(4) In 1993 the National Educational Goals
Panel reported that nearly half of infants in the
United States do not have what they need to grow
and thrive.
(5) High-quality care from a parent or other
adult is necessary to facilitate growth and develop-
ment.
(6) More than 50 percent of mothers with chil-
dren less than 1 year of age are working outside the
home.
(7) Five million children under age 3 are in the
care of other adults while their parents work outside
the home.
(8) Parents of very young children have few
child care service options. Many cannot afford to
stay home with their children, or to pay for safe,
high-quality developmental child care services.
(9) Statewide and multistate studies have found
that less than 20 percent of child care services for
very young children is of good quality; nearly 50
percent is of such substandard quality that it ad-
versely affects such children’s development and may
put their health and safety at risk.
(10) In 1998 the average child care worker
earned $14,820, making it difficult to recruit and
retain qualified caregivers for infants and toddlers.
(11) Families with children less than 3 years of
age are the single largest group living in poverty.
Twenty-five percent of such children, 3,000,000 chil-
dren, are living below the poverty line, are at greater
risk for malnutrition, poor health, and maltreat-
ment, and are less likely to receive the care they
need from parents or other child care service pro-
viders to grow and develop normally.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to improve the quality, and to increase the
availability, of child care services for children less
than 3 years of age,
(2) to improve the affordability of child care
services available to such children,
(3) to improve the quality, and to increase the
availability, of services to assist families to nurture
such children, and
(4) to improve the coordination and effective-
ness of existing programs that provide such services
to such children and their families.
SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR SERVICES.
(a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—The Secretary
of Health and Human Services may make grants, on a
competitive basis, to eligible States to improve the quality,
and to increase the availability, of child care services for
very young children and of support services for the fami-
lies of such children.
(b) PRIORITY.—For the purpose of making grants
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to
eligible States to the extent that such State, as dem-
onstrated in the application for a grant under such
subsection—