Parents as First Teachers Act of 1997

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Parents as First Teachers Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) New scientific research shows that experiences in the 
        first 3 years of life have a dramatic impact on brain 
        development.
            (2) Experiences in the earliest years of a child's life are 
        critical to their cognitive, emotional, and physical 
        development.
            (3) Nurturing and stimulating children in the first years 
        of life prepare them for the challenges of school and later 
        life.
            (4) According to a Carnegie Corporation publication 
        entitled ``Years of Promise: A Comprehensive Strategy for 
        America's Children,'' kindergarten teachers estimate that 1 out 
        of every 3 children enters the classroom unprepared to meet the 
        challenges of kindergarten.
            (5) Children who receive high quality child care services 
        are less likely to need special education, be retained a grade, 
        or engage in juvenile delinquency or other antisocial behavior 
        as they grow up.
            (6) According to ``The State of America's Children, 
        Yearbook 1997,'' published by the Children's Defense Fund, 
        approximately 7,700,000 children less than 5 years of age are 
        being cared for by someone other than their parents while their 
        mothers work.
            (7) Documented in the 1997 edition of ``Key Facts About 
        Child Care and Early Education: A Briefing Book,'' also 
        published by the Children's Defense Fund, is the fact that 60 
        percent of mothers with children less than 6 years of age, and 
        52 percent of mothers with children less than 1 year of age, 
        are working outside the home.
            (8) Demand for child care services in low-income 
        communities will rise dramatically through 2002 as a result of 
        the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
        Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193).
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to provide financial assistance to train, to support, 
        and to place as early childhood teaching professionals, parents 
        in families that receive assistance under State programs funded 
        under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act,
            (2) to increase nationwide the number of qualified 
        individuals who provide early childhood education,
            (3) to reduce dependency on assistance under State programs 
        funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, and
            (4) to increase the number of children who receive high 
        quality child care services.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.

    The Secretary of Health and Human Services may make grants to 
eligible counties to carry out programs--
            (1) to provide to parents in families that receive 
        assistance under State programs funded under part A of title IV 
        of the Social Security Act, training relating to early 
        childhood development and education for the purpose of 
        preparing such parents for obtaining employment as caregivers 
        of high quality child care services, and
            (2) to provide supportive services and job placement 
        services to such parents necessary for their participation in 
        such training and their obtaining such employment at the 
        completion of such training.

SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE GRANTS.

    To be eligible to receive a grant under section 3, a county shall 
submit to the Secretary an application that contains all of the 
following:
            (1) An assurance that the county has established an 
        administrative committee that will administer such program and 
        that includes at least--
                    (A) 1 representative of a county agency that has 
                responsibility for the development of the local work 
                force,
                    (B) 1 representative of a county agency that has 
                responsibility for providing human services to 
                residents of the county,
                    (C) 1 representative of a county agency that has 
                responsibility for providing training and employment 
                services to such residents,
                    (D) 1 representative of a county agency that has 
                supervisory responsibility for public education 
                provided by the county,
                    (E) 1 representative of an institution of higher 
                education that will provide educational services 
                through the program for which such grant is requested, 
                and
                    (F) 1 representative of a center-based child care 
                provider that will participate in such program.
            (2) Information on the identities and qualifications of the 
        members of such committee and on how such committee will 
        administer such program.
            (3) A plan that--
                    (A) contains information describing how parents in 
                families that receive assistance under State programs 
                funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security 
                Act will be selected to participate in such program,
                    (B) identifies the institutions of higher education 
                that will provide educational services and training 
                through such program and specifies with respect to each 
                of such institutions, the course requirements that must 
                be satisfied to complete the education program or 
                training program to be provided,
                    (C) describes the supportive services that will be 
                provided, directly or indirectly, by the county for the 
                benefit of such families to permit such parents to 
                participate in such program, and
                    (D) contains a plan for the job placement of, and 
                follow-up services for a post-employment period not to 
                exceed 13 weeks for, such parents who complete the 
                participation requirements established in such program.
            (4) An assurance that such program will provide to 
        participating parents in families that receive assistance under 
        State programs funded under part A of title IV of the Social 
        Security Act--
                    (A) not less than 228 hours of classroom 
                instruction, and
                    (B) not less than 200 hours of clinical training, 
                of which not less than 63 hours shall consist of 
                experience as a caregiver on the business premises of a 
                center-based child care provider.
            (5) Assurance that such grant will be used only--
                    (A) to provide education and training services, 
                supportive services, job placement services, and post-
                employment follow-up services that satisfy the 
                requirements of such plan,
                    (B) at the option of the county, to pay 
                compensation for the services of an individual employed 
                by the county to manage the implementation of such plan 
                and the operation of such program, and
                    (C) to pay costs incurred by participants in such 
                program to comply with health and safety requirements 
                (including fingerprinting and medical testing) 
                applicable to caregivers employed by center-based child 
                care providers.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``caregiver'' means an individual who provides 
        service directly to a child on a person-to-person basis,
            (2) the term ``child'' means an individual who is less than 
        the age of compulsory school attendance,
            (3) the term ``county'' means--
                    (A) a county of a State or a parish in the case of 
                the State of Louisiana, or
                    (B) the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
                Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
                Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands of 
                the United States,
            (4) the term ``follow-up services'' means services designed 
        to assist individuals to successfully perform their job 
        requirements as a caregiver of high quality child care services 
        during their first employment obtained after their completion 
        of the training received in a program carried out under this 
        section by a county.
            (5) the term ``institution of higher education'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 1201(a) of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)),
            (6) the term ``State'' means any of the several States, and
            (7) the term ``supportive services'' includes child care 
        services for children less than 13 years of age and 
        transportation.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 to carry 
out this Act.

Summary: Parents as First Teachers Act of 1997 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to eligible counties to carry out programs to provide:  (1) early childhood development and education training to parents in families that receive assistance under State programs funded under part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) of title IV of the Social Security Act, for the purpose of preparing such parents to obtain employment as caregivers of high quality child care services; and (2) supportive services and job placement services to such parents necessary for their participation in such training and their obtaining such employment at the completion of such training.  Authorizes appropriations.