[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3860 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3860

 To consolidate and expand Federal child care services to promote self-
   sufficiency and support working families; and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 1996

 Ms. Woolsey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, and in addition to 
   the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To consolidate and expand Federal child care services to promote self-
   sufficiency and support working families; and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Care Consolidation and 
Investment Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) fragmentation of the Federal Government's major child 
        care assistance programs has left gaps for many parents moving 
        from welfare to work;
            (2) child care problems have prevented 34 percent of poor 
        mothers between the ages 21 and 29 from working;
            (3) \2/3\ of all families receiving assistance under the 
        Aid to Families with Dependent Children program have at least 
        one preschool age child and need child care in order to work;
            (4) there already exists an unmet need for child care 
        assistance--37 States now have waiting lists that can run as 
        high as 35,000 individuals;
            (5) child care directly affects an individual's ability to 
        stay in the work force;
            (6) welfare reform that places work at its center will 
        increase the demand for child care and require an additional 
        investment of resources;
            (7) child care consumes $260 per month or about 27 percent 
        of income for average working poor families, leaving them with 
        less income than families eligible for assistance under the Aid 
        to Families with Dependent Children program;
            (8) quality must be a central feature of the child care 
        policy of the United States;
            (9) only 1 in 7 day care centers offer good quality care;
            (10) 40 percent of day care centers serving infants and 
        toddlers do not meet basic sanitary conditions, have safety 
        problems, and do not encourage learning; and
            (11) only 9 percent of family and relative day care is 
        considered good quality care.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this Act to--
            (1) eliminate program fragmentation and create a seamless 
        system of high quality child care that allows for continuity of 
        care for children as parents move from welfare to job training 
        to work;
            (2) provide for parental choice among high quality child 
        care programs; and
            (3) increase the availability of high quality affordable 
        child care in order to promote self-sufficiency and support 
        working families.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ACT OF 
              1990.

    (a) Appropriations.--Section 658B of the Child Care and Development 
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 658B. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
subchapter, $2,790,000,000 for fiscal year 1997, $3,040,000,000 for 
fiscal year 1998, $3,460,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, $4,030,000,000 
for fiscal year 2000, and $4,680,000,000 for fiscal year 2001.''.
    (b) Awarding of Grants.--Section 658C of the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858a) is amended by 
striking ``is authorized to'' and inserting ``shall''.
    (c) Supplementation.--Section 658E(c)(2)(J) of the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)(J)) is 
amended by inserting ``in fiscal year 1995'' before the period.
    (d) Set-Asides for Quality and Working Families, and Child Care 
Guarantee.--Section 658E(c)(3) of the Child Care and Development Block 
Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(3))--
            (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``25 percent'' and 
        inserting ``20 percent''; and
            (2) by adding at the end thereof the following:
                    ``(D) Assistance for low-income working families.--
                The State shall reserve not less than 50 percent of the 
                amount provided to the State and available for 
                providing services under this subchapter, to carry out 
                child care activities to support low-income working 
                families residing in the State.
                    ``(E) Child care guarantee.--The State plan shall 
                provide assurances that the availability of child care 
                under the grant will be coordinated in an appropriate 
                manner (as determined by the Secretary) with the 
                requirements of part A of title IV of the Social 
                Security Act. Such coordination shall ensure that the 
                single custodial parent of a dependent child who is 
                less than 11 years of age, or who is a child with a 
                disability (as defined in section 602(1)(A) of the 
                Individuals with Disabilities Act (20 U.S.C. 
                1401(1)(A)), is not required to undertake an education, 
                job training, job search, or employment requirement 
                unless child care assistance in an appropriate child 
                care program is made available.''.
    (e) Matching Requirement.--Section 658E(c) of the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended by 
adding at the end thereof the following:
            ``(6) Matching requirement.--With respect to amounts made 
        available to a State in each fiscal year beginning on or after 
        the effective date of this paragraph, that exceed the aggregate 
        amounts received by the State for child care services in fiscal 
        year 1995, the State plan shall provide that, with respect to 
        the costs to be incurred by the State in carrying out the 
        activities for which a grant under this subchapter is awarded, 
        the State will make available (directly or through in-kind 
        donations from public or private entities) non-Federal 
        contributions in an amount equal to not less than $1 for every 
        $4 of Federal funds provided under the grant.''.
    (f) Improving Quality.--
            (1) Increase in required funding.--Section 658G of the 
        Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
        9858e) is amended by striking ``not less than 20 percent'' and 
        inserting ``50 percent''.
            (2) Quality improvement incentive initiative.--Section 658G 
        of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 
        U.S.C. 9858e) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``A State'' and inserting ``(a) In 
                General.--A State''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end thereof the following:
    ``(b) Quality Improvement Incentive Initiative.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a child 
        care quality improvement incentive initiative to make funds 
        available to States that demonstrate progress in the 
        implementation of--
                    ``(A) innovative teacher training programs such as 
                the Department of Defense staff development and 
                compensation program for child care personnel; or
                    ``(B) enhanced child care quality standards and 
                licensing and monitoring procedures.
            ``(2) Funding.--From the amounts made available for each 
        fiscal year under subsection (a), the Secretary shall reserve 
        not to exceed $50,000,000 in each such fiscal year to carry out 
        this subsection.''.
    (g) Before- and After-School Services.--Section 658H(a) of the 
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858f(a)) 
is amended by striking ``not less than 75 percent'' and inserting ``50 
percent''.
    (h) Payments.--Section 658J(a) of the Child Care and Development 
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858h) is amended by striking 
``Subject to the availability of appropriation, a'' and inserting 
``A''.
    (i) Allotments.--Section 658O(b) of the Child Care and Development 
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m(b)) is amended by adding at 
the end thereof the following:
            ``(5) Allotment.--
                    ``(A) Base allotment.--The amount allotted to a 
                State under this section shall include the base amount 
                that the State received under this Act, and under the 
                provisions repealed under section 5 of the Child Care 
                Consolidation and Investment Act of 1996, in fiscal 
                year 1995.
                    ``(B) Additional amounts.--Any amounts appropriated 
                under section 658B for a fiscal year and remaining 
                after the requirement of subparagraph (A) is complied 
                with, shall be allotted to States pursuant to the 
                formula described in paragraph (1).''.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM REPEALS.

    (a) AFDC JOBS and Transitional Child Care.--
            (1) Repeal.--Paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) of 
        section 402(g) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602(g)) 
        are repealed.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Part A of title IV of the 
        Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended--
                    (A) in section 402(a)(19) (42 U.S.C. 602(a)(19))--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B)(i)(I), by striking 
                        ``section 402(g)'' and inserting ``the Child 
                        Care Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 
                        U.S.C. 9858 et seq.)'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii)(II), by 
                        striking ``section 402(g)'' and inserting ``the 
                        Child Care Development Block Grant Act of 1990 
                        (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.)'';
                            (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 
                        ``section 402(g)'' and inserting ``the Child 
                        Care Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 
                        U.S.C. 9858 et seq.)''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (F)(iv), by striking 
                        ``section 402(g)'' and inserting ``section 
                        402(g)(2) and the Child Care Development Block 
                        Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.)'';
                    (B) in section 402(g)(2) (42 U.S.C. 602(g)(2)), by 
                striking ``(in addition to guaranteeing child care 
                under paragraph (1))''; and
                    (C) in section 403(l)(1)(A) (42 U.S.C. 
                603(l)(1)(A)), by striking ``(including expenditures 
                for child care under section 402(g)(1)(A)(i), but only 
                in the case of a State with respect to which section 
                1108 applies)''.
    (b) At-Risk Child Care.--Sections 402(i) and 403(n) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602(i), 603(n)) are repealed.
    (c) State Dependent Care Grants.--Subchapter E of chapter 8 of 
subtitle A of title VI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 
(42 U.S.C. 9871 et seq.) is repealed.
    (d) Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act.--The 
Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985 (42 
U.S.C. 10901 et seq.) is repealed.
    (e) Secretarial Submission of Legislative Proposal for Technical 
and Conforming Amendments.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall, within 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress, a legislative 
proposal providing for such technical and conforming amendments in the 
law as are required by the provisions of subsections (a) and (c).

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect on the first day of the first fiscal 
year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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