Q: In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''Choices in Child Care Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) Currently, child care assistance for children from low-
income working families is severely underfunded, allowing only
1 in 7 eligible children to receive child care assistance for
children from birth to age 13.
(2) Funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 has remained relatively flat for 5 years, making it
more difficult for children from eligible families to receive
child care assistance.
(3) In the majority of United States families, parents,
whether married or single, must work to provide economic
security for their families and, not the least, for the infants
newly welcomed into the families. Fifty-five percent of women
with children less than 1 year of age are part of the
workforce, while 73 percent of women with children 1 year of
age or older are in the workforce.
(4) Research shows that the quality and nature of
caretaking in the first months and years of life are critical
to a young child's subsequent brain development, social
development, and well-being. Healthy early development depends
on nurturing and responsible relationships.
(5) Research also shows that there is an extreme shortage
of quality, affordable child care for infants. Numerous studies
document lack of infant care and, in particular, affordable
care that meets basic health and safety standards, particularly
in rural areas. The current number of infant slots of licensed
child care providers can only meet 18 percent of the potential
need. The shortage is even more acute in rural areas,
especially those with a high percentage of low-wage residents.
(6) For the well-being of United States children, and for
the economic security of the families on which the children
depend, working parents should be able to provide child care
for infants themselves without undermining family economic
stability.

SEC. 3. AT-HOME INFANT CARE.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 is amended
by inserting after section 658G (42 U.S.C. 9858e) the following:

''SEC. 658H. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO PROVIDE AT-HOME INFANT CARE
BENEFITS.

''(a) Authority To Award Grants.--
''(1) In general.--The Secretary shall award grants to not
less than 5 and not more than 7 States to enable such States to
carry out demonstration projects to provide at-home infant care
benefits to eligible low-income families.
''(2) Indian tribes.--The Secretary may award grants to
Indian tribes under this subsection. An Indian tribe that
receives a grant under this subsection shall carry out a
demonstration project to provide at-home infant care benefits
to eligible low-income families. The Indian tribe shall carry
out the demonstration project in the same manner, and to the
same extent, as a State that receives a grant under this
subsection, except that the Secretary may modify the
requirements of this section as appropriate with respect to the
Indian tribe.
''(3) Calculation.--Any grant awarded to an Indian tribe
under paragraph (2) shall not be counted in determining the
number of grants awarded to States under paragraph (1).
''(b) Demonstration Projects.--
''(1) Application for participation and selection of
states.--
''(A) In general.--To be eligible to participate in
the program carried out under this section and receive
a grant under subsection (a) to carry out a
demonstration project, a State shall submit an
application to the Secretary at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may require.
''(B) Notice.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of enactment of Choices in Child Care Act, the
Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a
notice of opportunity to participate in the program and
receive such a grant, specifying the contents of an
application described in subparagraph (A). The notice
shall include a timeframe for States to submit such an
application, and shall provide that all such
applications shall be submitted not later than 270 days
after such date of enactment.
''(C) Selection.--
''(i) In general.--The Secretary shall
review the applications and select the
participating States not later than 1 year
after such date of enactment.
''(ii) Criteria.--In selecting the
participating States, the Secretary shall--
''(I) seek to ensure geographic
diversity; and
''(II) give priority to States--
''(aa) whose applications
demonstrate a strong commitment
to improving the quality of
infant care and the choices
available to parents of
infants;
''(bb) with experience
relevant to the operation of
at-home infant care programs;
and
''(cc) in which there are
demonstrable shortages of
infant care.
''(2) Required certifications.--A State selected to be a
participating State shall provide certifications to the
Secretary, with respect to the demonstration project to be
carried out by the State, that--
''(A) during the period during which the State
carries out the demonstration project, the State will
not reduce expenditures for child care services below
the level of such expenditures made by the State in the
fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which the
State began to carry out the project;
''(B) the State, in carrying out the demonstration
project--
''(i) will not give priority or preference
to--
''(I) eligible low-income families
seeking to receive at-home infant care
benefits through the demonstration
project; over
''(II) other eligible low-income
families on a waiting list for child
care assistance through another program
in the State; but
''(ii) will select a combination of
families described in clause (i)(I) and
families described in (i)(II) to receive at-
home infant care benefits;
''(C) the State will--
''(i) provide parents applying to receive
at-home infant care benefits with in- formation
on the range of options for child care
available to the parents;
''(ii) ensure that approved applicants for
at-home infant care benefits are permitted to
choose between receipt of at-home infant care
benefit subsidies, and receipt of certificates
that may be used with an eligible child care
provider for child care needed for employment;
and
''(iii) provide that a family receiving at-
home infant care benefit subsidies may exchange
the subsidies for certificates described in
clause (ii) at any time during the family's
participation in the demonstration project;
''(D) the State will develop or update, and
implement, a plan to improve the quality of infant care
in the State, and provide parent education and support
services to participants in the demonstration project;
and
''(E) the State will cooperate with information
collection and evaluations conducted by the Secretary.
''(3) Family eligibility.--
''(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive at-
home infant care benefits through a demonstration
project under this section, a family shall--
''(i) have a family income that does not
exceed the limit specified in section
658P(4)(B);
''(ii) include a child under the age of 12
months (or, at the election of the State
carrying out the demonstration project, under
the age of 24 months);
''(iii) include a parent who had a recent
work history (as determined in accordance with
the State's requirements for such a work
history) prior to application for the at-home
infant care benefits; and
''(iv) meet such other eligibility
requirements as the State may establish.
''(B) Two-parent families.--A State selected to
carry out a demonstration project under this section
shall permit 2-parent families to participate in the
project but may not limit participation in the project
to such families.
''(4) Amount of assistance.--The amount of an at-home
infant care benefit provided to an eligible low-income family
under this section for a month shall not exceed the monthly
amount obtained by applying 100 percent of the State's maximum
rate for a licensed family child care provider for full-time
infant care.
''(5) TANF assistance.--The receipt of an at-home infant
care benefit under this section shall not be considered to be
assistance for any purpose under the program of block grants to
States for temporary assistance for needy families established
under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
601 et seq.).
''(6) Benefit not treated as income.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the value of an at-home infant care
benefit shall not be treated as income for purposes of any
Federal or federally-assisted program that bases eligibility,
or the amount of benefits or services provided, on need.
''(c) Evaluation and Report to Congress.--
''(1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct an
evaluation of the demonstration projects carried out under this
section and submit a report to Congress containing the results
of such evaluation not later than 4 years after the date of
enactment of Choices in Child Care Act.
''(2) Requirements.--In conducting the evaluation, the
Secretary shall examine the following:
''(A) Implementation experiences of the States
carrying out the demonstration projects in developing
and operating projects providing at-home infant care
benefits, including design issues and issues in
coordinating at-home infant care benefits provided
under this section with benefits provided or funded
under another provision of this Act in the State.
''(B) The characteristics of families seeking to
participate and participating in the demonstration
projects providing at-home infant care benefits funded
under this section.
''(C) The length of participation by families in
such demonstration projects and the reasons for the
families ceasing to participate in the demonstration
projects.
''(D) The prior and subsequent employment of the
participating families and the effect of the
demonstration project participation on subsequent
employment of the families.
''(E) The costs and benefits of the demonstration
projects.
''(F) The effectiveness of State efforts (including
tribal efforts) to improve the quality of infant care
during the periods in which the demonstration projects
are carried out.
''(3) Reservation of funds.--From the amount appropriated
under section 658B(b) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall
reserve $1,000,000 for purposes of conducting the evaluation
required under this subsection.''.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 658B of the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is
amended--
(1) by inserting: ''(a) In General.--'' before ''There
is'';
(2) by inserting ''(other than section 658H)'' after ''this
subchapter''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
''(b) Demonstration Projects To Provide At-Home Infant Care
Benefits.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out section
658H $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and each subsequent fiscal
year.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Reservations.--Section 658O(a) of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m(a)) is
amended--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ''under this
subchapter'' and inserting ''under section 658B(a)'';
and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ''under section
658B'' and inserting ''under section 658B(a)''.
(2) Allotments.--Section 658O(b)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
9858m(b)(1)) is amended by striking ''under section 658B'' and
inserting ''under section 658B(a)''.
A:
Choices in Child Care Act - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to five to seven states for demonstration projects to provide at-home infant care benefits to low-income families. Allows grants to Indian tribes. Requires the Secretary to seek to ensure geographic diversity among participants and to give priority to states that demonstrate a commitment to improving the quality of infant care and the choices available to parents of infants, that have relevant experience, and that have a shortage of infant care.

Requires states, to participate in the demonstration project, to certify to the Secretary that the state: (1) will not reduce expenditures for child care services while carrying out the project; (2) will not give priority or preference to low-income families seeking to receive at-home infant care benefits over other families on a waiting list for child care assistance through other state programs, but will select a combination of such families; and (3) will ensure that applicants are permitted to choose between receipt of at-home care subsidies and certificates for child care needed for employment.

Sets forth eligibility requirements for families seeking assistance, including having a parent who had a recent work history prior to the application for benefits. Requires states to permit two-parent families to participate in the project, but prohibits states from limiting participation in the project to such families.