[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 472 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 472

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            February 23 (legislative day, February 22), 1995

 Mr. Dodd (for himself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 1995''.

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. APPROPRIATION.

    ``(a) In General.--For the purpose of providing child care services 
for eligible children through the awarding of grants to States under 
this subchapter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall pay, 
from funds in Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $2,302,000,000 for 
fiscal year 1996, $2,790,000,000 for fiscal year 1997, $3,040,000,000 
for fiscal year 1998, $3,460,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, and 
$4,030,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.
    ``(b) Adjustments.--If the amounts appropriated under subsection 
(a) are not sufficient to provide services to each child whose parent 
is required to undertake education, job training, job search, or 
employment as a condition of eligibility for benefits under part A of 
title IV of the Social Security Act, the Secretary shall pay, from 
funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be 
necessary to ensure the implementation of section 658E(c)(3)(E) with 
respect to each such child.''.
    (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 new 
        subparagraphs:
                    ``(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 
                parent of a dependent child 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 new paragraph:
            ``(6) Matching requirement.--With respect to amounts made 
        available to a State in each fiscal year beginning with fiscal 
        year 1996, 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 new 
                subsection:
    ``(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 new paragraph:
            ``(5) Allotment.--
                    ``(A) Base allotment.--Effective beginning with 
                fiscal year 1996, 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 1995, in fiscal 
                year 1995.
                    ``(B) Additional amounts.--Effective beginning with 
                fiscal year 1996, 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).
                                 <all>