I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7498 
To establish and expand child care programs for parents who work 
nontraditional hours, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 11, 2026 
Mrs. HINSON (for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. MACKENZIE, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. 
STEFANIK, and Mr. POCAN) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Workforce 
A BILL 
To establish and expand child care programs for parents 
who work nontraditional hours, 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 ‘‘After Hours Child 
Care Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION 
FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Child Care and Develop-
ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) 
is amended— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
19:12 Feb 13, 2026
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7498.IH
H7498
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
(1) by redesignating section 658P as section 
658T, and moving that section 658T to follow sec-
tion 658S; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 658U. CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION 
FUND. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to— 
‘‘(1) improve child care access for parents 
working hours outside of traditional 9 to 5 work 
hours, such as parents working an evening, night, or 
weekend shift; and 
‘‘(2) address the needs of working parents with 
young children, so that the parents are able to stay 
attached to the workforce, attain eligibility for pro-
motions and salary increases, and amass savings. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CHILD CARE PROGRAM.—The term ‘child 
care program’ means the child care activities of an 
eligible child care provider. 
‘‘(2) NONTRADITIONAL
WORK
HOURS.—The 
term ‘nontraditional work hours’ means work hours 
at least 25 percent of which— 
‘‘(A) are before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on 
a weekday; 
‘‘(B) are on a Saturday or Sunday; or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
19:12 Feb 13, 2026
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7498.IH
H7498
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(C) are scheduled within 7 days before re-
quired attendance at work for those work 
hours. 
‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
‘‘(c) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) GRANTS.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of enactment of the After Hours Child Care 
Act, the Secretary shall establish a pilot program, 
through which the Secretary shall award grants on 
a competitive basis to eligible entities to pay for the 
Federal share of the cost of— 
‘‘(A) expanding capacity for an existing (as 
of January 1, 2027) child care program, includ-
ing such a program of a family child care pro-
vider to serve families in which a parent is 
working nontraditional work hours; 
‘‘(B) entering into an enrollment-based 
contract with— 
‘‘(i) an eligible child care provider to 
serve such families; or 
‘‘(ii) a fiscal intermediary such as a 
staffed network of family child care pro-
viders, child care resource and referral or-
ganization, or entity operating a child care 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
19:12 Feb 13, 2026
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7498.IH
H7498
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
facilities fund for the services of multiple 
eligible child care providers to serve such 
families; 
‘‘(C) planning activities, including con-
ducting a needs assessment and outreach to ex-
isting eligible child care providers (existing on 
the date of the outreach); 
‘‘(D) establishing an onsite child care pro-
gram at a workplace to serve such families; 
‘‘(E) expanding capacity for an onsite child 
care program at a workplace to serve such fam-
ilies; or 
‘‘(F) establishing a child care program, in-
cluding a program of a family child care pro-
vider with the primary goal of serving such 
families. 
‘‘(2) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award 
the grant for a period of 5 years. A grant awarded 
under this section may not be renewed. 
‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall award the 
grant in an amount of not less than $25,000 and 
not more than $500,000. 
‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive 
a grant under this section, an entity shall be— 
‘‘(1) an eligible child care provider; or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
19:12 Feb 13, 2026
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7498.IH
H7498
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(2) a partnership of— 
‘‘(A) an eligible child care provider; and 
‘‘(B) a lead agency, business, child care re-
source and referral organization, community de-
velopment financial institution, staffed network 
of family child care providers, another inter-
mediary with experience supporting child care 
providers, or another appropriate entity. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, an entity shall submit an application 
to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining— 
‘‘(1) a description of the activities to be funded 
under the grant; 
‘‘(2) a description of the objective for the activi-
ties, which may be an objective described in a para-
graph of subsection (f), including— 
‘‘(A) whether the objective is to increase 
the quantity or quality of a good or service, 
specified in the description; and 
‘‘(B) information on that quantity or qual-
ity of that good or service, on the date of sub-
mission of the application; and 
‘‘(3) the population to be served through the ac-
tivities. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
19:12 Feb 13, 2026
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7498.IH
H7498
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a grant 
under this section may use the grant funds for activities 
that may include— 
‘‘(1) staffing the child care program involved; 
‘‘(2) improving the child care facility and re-
lated equipment; 
‘‘(3) establishing or improving the curriculum 
of the child care program; 
‘‘(4) assisting eligible child care providers in 
meeting health and safety requirements, achieving li-
censure or registration as a child care provider, or 
improving quality; 
‘‘(5) acquiring other items needed for the child 
care program; and 
‘‘(6) providing training in the prevention of 
sudden infant death syndrome and safe sleep prac-
tices. 
‘‘(g) MATCH.—The non-Federal share of the cost de-
scribed in subsection (c)(1) shall be 25 percent. 
‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not less often than every 2 years, the 
Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress a report 
that includes— 
‘‘(1) information on the number of children 
served under this section and the employment status 
of their parents; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
19:12 Feb 13, 2026
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7498.IH
H7498
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(2) general information to demonstrate the im-
pact of activities carried out under grants under this 
section on child care availability; 
‘‘(3) for each objective referred to in subsection 
(e)(2) that is described in an application submitted 
by a grant recipient, a summary of information ob-
tained by— 
‘‘(A) collecting, from each recipient, infor-
mation on the quantity or quality of the good 
or service referred to in subsection (e)(2)(B), as 
of the last day of the grant period; 
‘‘(B) comparing the information described 
in subsection (e)(2)(B) with the information de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), for each such re-
cipient; and 
‘‘(C) summarizing that collected informa-
tion and those comparisons for all the recipients 
who described the objective in such an applica-
tion; and 
‘‘(4) other information relevant to the grants 
made under this section. 
‘‘(i) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 
None of the requirements of this subchapter, other than 
section 658T, shall apply to this section. No reference in 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
19:12 Feb 13, 2026
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7498.IH
H7498
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
this subchapter to ‘this subchapter’ shall be considered to 
include this section. 
‘‘(j) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may 
reserve up to 1⁄4 of 1 percent of the amount appropriated 
under this subchapter to carry out this section for each 
of the fiscal years 2027 through 2031.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) 
APPLICATION
PROVISIONS.—Section 
658E(c)(2) of the Child Care and Development 
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)) is 
amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(II), by striking 
‘‘658P(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘658T(2)’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (K)(i)(IV), by strik-
ing ‘‘658P(6)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘658T(6)(B)’’. 
(2) REPORT PROVISIONS.—Section 658K(a)(2) 
of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i(a)(2)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘658P(6)’’ and inserting ‘‘658T(6)’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (F), by striking 
‘‘658P(6)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘658T(6)(B)’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
19:12 Feb 13, 2026
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H7498.IH
H7498
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB