I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8409 
To assist parents in locating and utilizing child care that meets individual 
family needs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 15, 2024 
Mr. NICKEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To assist parents in locating and utilizing child care that 
meets individual family needs. 
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 ‘‘Helping Our Parents 
Enroll (HOPE) in Child Care Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL CHILD CARE NAVIGATOR GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title XX of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
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‘‘Subtitle D—National Child Care 
Navigator Grant Program 
‘‘SEC. 2071. GRANTS. 
‘‘The Secretary may make grants to eligible local 
partners for the purpose of providing free access to infor-
mation, counseling, and assistance with respect to locat-
ing, enrolling in, and paying for child care, including 
through programs funded under section 418 of this Act 
or the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990, 
and through the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 under which child care expenditures may be sub-
sidized. 
‘‘SEC. 2072. GRANT APPLICATION AND PLAN REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant under 
this subtitle, an eligible local partner shall submit an ap-
plication to the Secretary, at such time and in such man-
ner as the Secretary may provide, that includes a plan 
to establish a program to provide free access to the infor-
mation, counseling, and assistance referred to in section 
2071. As a condition of the grant, the eligible local partner 
must demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Secretary— 
‘‘(1) an ability to adequately provide the infor-
mation, counseling, and assistance; and 
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‘‘(2) commitment to operating a program that 
satisfies the requirements of subsection (d). 
‘‘(b) DURATION.—Each grant under this subtitle 
shall be awarded for a period of 5 years, except that the 
grantee may reapply for another 5-year period at the end 
of each grant period, and the Secretary may terminate 
such a grant for noncompliance with data reporting re-
quirements or failure to provide promised services or com-
ply with any grant condition. 
‘‘(c) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall determine the 
amount of any grant under this subtitle so as to maximize 
the number of parents with access to navigators referred 
to in subsection (d)(1). 
‘‘(d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—A program satis-
fies the requirements of this subsection if the program— 
‘‘(1) establishes a system of staff members, in-
cluding navigators, to provide information on— 
‘‘(A) navigating child care systems, includ-
ing information on— 
‘‘(i) applying for subsidized child care; 
‘‘(ii) consumer education and informa-
tion about types of child care settings; 
‘‘(iii) navigating the child care re-
source and referral system funded under 
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the Child Care and Development Block 
Grant Act of 1990; and 
‘‘(iv) center-based and home based 
child care; 
‘‘(B) accessing such systems in languages 
other than English and protections against non- 
discrimination on the basis of limited English 
proficiency under title VI of the Civil Rights 
Act, accommodations and protections against 
non-discrimination under the Americans with 
Disabilities Act and section 504 of the Rehabili-
tation Act of 1973, and protections against 
non-discrimination under other Federal civil 
rights laws in child care settings; and 
‘‘(C) any other information specified by the 
Secretary; 
‘‘(2) in conjunction with the system established 
under paragraph (1), establishes a system of referral 
to appropriate departments or agencies within the 
State in which the eligible local partner is located 
and, when appropriate, the Federal Government, for 
other issues related to obtaining assistance (includ-
ing legal aid), as determined by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(3) establishes a community-based system of 
education and outreach to raise public awareness of 
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and increase access to the resources described in sec-
tion 2071 and the availability of information, coun-
seling, and assistance provided by the system of 
staff members described in paragraph (1) and the 
system of referrals described in paragraph (2), in-
cluding by— 
‘‘(A) engaging in a robust program of cul-
turally and linguistically competent education 
and outreach; 
‘‘(B) creating visual and written content 
using clear and plain language; 
‘‘(C) tailoring materials to members of un-
derserved areas or populations; 
‘‘(D) working with employers and child 
care providers to promote the awareness and 
distribution of information to employees and 
parents in the community; and 
‘‘(E) partnering with governmental and 
non-governmental organizations serving working 
parents or child care providers; 
‘‘(4) provides for a sufficient number of staff 
positions (which may include but may not consist en-
tirely of volunteer positions) necessary to provide the 
services of the program; 
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‘‘(5) provides for training programs for staff 
members (including volunteer staff members) and al-
lows for continuous improvement processes for com-
munity-based strategies to ensure maximum out-
reach and engagement with underserved areas or 
populations; 
‘‘(6) provides for the collection and dissemina-
tion of timely, impartial, and accurate programmatic 
information to staff members (including volunteer 
staff members); 
‘‘(7) maintains confidentiality of all personal in-
formation provided to navigators or program staff 
(including volunteer staff), including by following 
procedures set by the Secretary for destroying per-
sonally identifiable information and preventing it 
from being shared with any other government entity; 
‘‘(8) collects non-personally identifiable data to 
measure equitable access to the program, as de-
scribed in section 2073(2); and 
‘‘(9) provides data to the Secretary, upon re-
quest, regarding how individuals are being served by 
the program, including— 
‘‘(A) data and details on the number of in-
dividuals served, as well as the type and num-
ber of services such individuals are receiving; 
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‘‘(B) data and details on the problems that 
individuals may encounter, including a lack of 
timely payment of benefits or child care avail-
ability; and 
‘‘(C) data and details on improvements 
that could be made at the State or Federal level 
to promote equitable access to child care. 
‘‘(e) GUARANTEED NUMBER
OF GRANTEES PER 
STATE.—For each grant cycle, the Secretary shall award 
a grant under this subtitle to at least 2 eligible local part-
ners in each State that is not Puerto Rico, Guam, the Vir-
gin Islands, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana 
Islands, to the extent there are a sufficient number of ap-
plications submitted by the entities that meet the require-
ments applicable with respect to the grant. 
‘‘(f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Funds awarded to 
a State or county under this subtitle shall be used to sup-
plement, not supplant, State and Federal funds, and may 
not be used to replace any personnel selected on a merit 
basis. 
‘‘SEC. 2073. CRITERIA FOR MAKING GRANTS. 
‘‘In determining whether to make a grant under this 
subtitle to an eligible local partner, the Secretary shall 
consider the commitment of the eligible local partner to— 
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‘‘(1) carrying out the program described in sec-
tion 2072; and 
‘‘(2) promoting equitable access to the program 
in the State in which the eligible local partner is lo-
cated, including as the equitable access pertains to— 
‘‘(A) race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual 
orientation, disability, economic status, religion, 
citizenship, or age; 
‘‘(B) geographic area; and 
‘‘(C) other factors as determined by the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 
the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor. 
‘‘SEC. 2074. LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO-
PRIATIONS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—For grants under this subtitle, there 
is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more 
than $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 
2029. 
‘‘(b) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.—For the provision 
of administrative support and technical assistance for 
grants awarded under this subtitle, there is authorized to 
be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2025 through 
2029 $5,000,000 to the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. 
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‘‘SEC. 2075. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this subtitle: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE LOCAL PARTNER.—The term ‘el-
igible local partner’ means a State, county, Indian 
tribe, tribal organization, or non-profit organization 
(including a labor organization) with a presence 
within a State, a history of knowledge of the re-
sources described in section 2071, and a dem-
onstrated commitment to helping workers and fami-
lies. 
‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 
The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ 
have the meanings give the terms in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 50 
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 
Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the 
Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 2024. 
Æ 
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