[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2175 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2175

     To improve the quality of child care, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 10, 1999

   Mr. Stark (for himself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Bishop, and Ms. DeLauro) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Education and the Workforce, 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 improve the quality of child care, 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 Quality Improvement Act 
of 1999''.

SEC. 2. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall make allotments under 
subsection (b) to eligible States to pay for the Federal share of the 
cost of enabling the States to make grants to local collaboratives 
under section 3 for activities to improve the quality of child care.
    (b) Allotment.--From the funds appropriated under section 6 to 
carry out this Act for each fiscal year and not reserved under 
subsection (h), the Secretary shall allot to each eligible State an 
amount that bears the same relationship to such funds as the total 
number of children in poverty in the State bears to the total number of 
children in poverty in all eligible States.
    (c) State Boards.--
            (1) In general.--In order for a State to be eligible for a 
        grant under section 418(c) of the Social Security Act, the 
        Governor of the State shall establish, or designate an entity 
        to serve as, a Child Care Quality Advisory Board, which shall 
        receive the grant and make the grants described in section 3.
            (2) Established board.--A State board established under 
        paragraph (1) shall consist of members appointed by the 
        Governor, including--
                    (A) representatives of all State agencies primarily 
                providing services to children in the State;
                    (B) parents of children in the State;
                    (C) representatives of community and nonprofit 
                organizations representing or providing services to 
                children and their parents, such as organizations 
                providing child care, carrying out Head Start programs 
                under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), 
                providing prekindergarten education, mental health, or 
                family support services; and
                    (D) representatives of local educational agencies 
                who have expertise in early childhood development.
            (3) Designated board.--The Governor may designate an entity 
        to serve as the State board under paragraph (1) if the entity 
        includes the members described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) 
        of paragraph (2).
            (4) Designated state agency.--The Governor shall designate 
        a State agency that has a representative on the State board to 
        provide administrative oversight concerning the use of funds 
        made available under this Act and ensure accountability for the 
        funds.
    (d) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant to a State 
under section 418(c) of the Social Security Act, a State board shall 
annually submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. 
At a minimum, the application shall contain--
            (1) sufficient information about the entity established or 
        designated under subsection (c) to serve as the State board to 
        enable the Secretary to determine whether the entity complies 
        with the requirements of such subsection;
            (2) a list of goals for quantifiable improvements in child 
        care quality within the State, that accomplish the following:
                    (A) Increased training for child care providers and 
                administrators.
                    (B) Enhanced licensing standards (including at a 
                minimum health and safety, adult-to-child ratios, and 
                group size) that will apply to a broader range of child 
                care providers.
                    (C) Reduced number of unlicensed providers offering 
                child care.
                    (D) Increased State monitoring and enforcement of 
                licensed providers.
                    (E) Decreased caregiver turnover rates of child 
                care providers through incentives such as increased 
                compensation or scholarships to support continuing 
                education in academic areas related to child care and 
                development.
                    (F) Higher levels of accreditation among licensed 
                child care providers.
                    (G) Other standards and practices to improve the 
                quality of child care;
            (3) a comprehensive State plan for reaching the goals 
        listed pursuant to paragraph (2);
            (4) an assurance that the State board will provide such 
        information as the Secretary shall by regulation require on the 
        amount of State and local public funds expended in the State to 
        provide services for children; and
            (5) an assurance that the State board shall annually 
        compile and submit to the Secretary information from the 
        reports referred to in section 3(e)(3)(C) that describes the 
        results referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 
        3(e)(3).
    (e) State Administrative Costs.--A State may use not more than 5 
percent of the amount of a grant made to the State under section 418(c) 
of the Social Security Act to pay for State administrative costs 
related to carrying out this Act.
    (f) Monitoring.--The Secretary shall monitor the activities of 
States that receive a grant made under section 418(c) of the Social 
Security Act to ensure compliance with the requirements of this Act, 
including compliance with the State plans.
    (g) Enforcement.--If the Secretary determines that a State that is 
otherwise eligible for a grant under section 418(c) of the Social 
Security Act for a fiscal year is not complying with a requirement of 
this Act, the Secretary may--
            (1) subject to the limitation in subsection (h), provide 
        technical assistance to the State to improve the quality of 
        child care services and the ability of the State to comply with 
        the goals described in subsection (d)(2);
            (2) reduce, by not less than 5 percent, the amount of the 
        grant otherwise payable to the State under such section for the 
        fiscal year, for the second determination of noncompliance;
            (3) reduce, by not less than 25 percent, the amount of the 
        grant otherwise payable to the State under such section for the 
        fiscal year, for the third determination of noncompliance; or
            (4) revoke the eligibility of the State for any grant under 
        such section, for the fourth or subsequent determination of 
        noncompliance.
    (h) Technical Assistance.--From the funds appropriated under 
section 6 for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not more 
than 1 percent of the funds to pay for the costs of providing technical 
assistance. The Secretary shall use the reserved funds to enter into 
contracts with eligible entities to provide technical assistance to 
local collaboratives that receive grants under section 3, relating to 
the functions of the local collaboratives under this Act.

SEC. 3. USE OF FUNDS.

    (a) Use by State Board.--A State board that receives a grant made 
under section 418(c) of the Social Security Act shall use the grant 
to--
            (1) establish and enforce State child care licensing 
        requirements; and
            (2) make grants, on a competitive basis, to local 
        collaboratives to carry out activities to improve the quality 
        of child care.
    (b) Use by Local Collaborative.--A local collaborative that 
receives funds through a grant made under subsection (a) may use such 
funds--
            (1) to carry out the plan included in the application for 
        the grant; and
            (2) to prepare reports described in subsection (e)(3)(C).
    (c) Multiyear Funding.--In making grants under this section, a 
State board may make grants for grant periods of more than 1 year to 
local collaboratives with demonstrated success in carrying out 
activities to improve the quality of child care.
    (d) Local Collaboratives.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section for a community, a local collaborative shall demonstrate 
that the collaborative--
            (1) is able to provide, through a coordinated effort, 
        activities to improve the quality of child care to children in 
        the community and their parents; and
            (2) includes--
                    (A) public agencies primarily providing services to 
                children in the community;
                    (B) parents of children in the community;
                    (C) businesses that provide child care services in 
                the community;
                    (D) representatives of the local government of the 
                county or other political subdivision in which the 
                community is located;
                    (E) representatives of community and nonprofit 
                organizations that represent or provide services for 
                low-income individuals in the community;
                    (F) community-based organizations providing 
                services to children and their parents, such as 
                organizations providing child care, carrying out Head 
                Start programs, or providing prekindergarten education, 
                mental health, or family support services; and
                    (G) persons with expertise in early childhood 
                development.
    (e) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section, a local collaborative shall submit an application to the State 
board at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
the State board may require. At a minimum, the application shall 
contain--
            (1) sufficient information about the entity described in 
        subsection (d)(2) to enable the State board to determine 
        whether the entity complies with the requirements of such 
        subsection;
            (2) a comprehensive plan to accomplish the following:
                    (A) Increase training for child care providers and 
                administrators.
                    (B) Comply with State licensing standards 
                (including at a minimum health and safety, adult-to-
                child ratios, group size, and criminal background 
                checks) that may apply to a broader range of child care 
                providers than currently exists in the community.
                    (C) Reduce the number of unlicensed providers 
                offering child care.
                    (D) Decrease caregiver turnover rates at child care 
                providers through incentives such as increased 
                compensation.
                    (E) Increase levels of accreditation among licensed 
                child care providers.
                    (F) Otherwise improve the quality of child care; 
                and
            (3) a description of the manner in which the collaborative 
        plans to submit information, at such intervals as the State 
        board may require, to the State board to enable the State board 
        to carry out monitoring under section 2(f), including the 
        manner in which the collaborative plans to--
                    (A) evaluate the results achieved by the 
                collaborative for implementing the plan submitted under 
                paragraph (2);
                    (B) evaluate how child care services can be more 
                effectively improved and made available to children and 
                their parents; and
                    (C) prepare and submit to the State board annual 
                reports describing the results of the evaluations under 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B).
    (f) Distribution.--In making grants under this section, the State 
board shall ensure that at least 60 percent of the funds made available 
through each grant are used to provide the activities to improve the 
quality of child care to children (and parents of children) who reside 
in school districts in which half or more of the students would be 
eligible to receive free or reduced price lunches under the National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.).
    (g) Monitoring.--The State board shall monitor the activities of 
local collaboratives that receive grants under this Act to ensure 
compliance with the requirements of this Act.

SEC. 4. SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.

    Funds received from a grant made under section 418(c) of the Social 
Security Act shall be used to supplement and not supplant other 
Federal, State, and local public funds expended to provide services for 
children.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act the following definitions apply:
            (1) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        8801).
            (2) Poverty line.--The term ``poverty line'' means the 
        poverty line (as defined by the Office of Management and 
        Budget, and revised annually in accordance with section 673(2) 
        of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) 
        applicable to a family of the applicable size.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' includes the several States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, 
        Guam, the Virgin Islands, and any other territory or possession 
        of the United States.
            (5) State board.--The term ``State board'' means a State 
        Child Care Quality Advisory Board established under section 
        2(c).

SEC. 6. FUNDING.

    Section 418 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 618) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``this section'' each 
        place it appears and inserting ``subsection (a)'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
        (d) and (e), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Appropriations for Child Care Quality Improvement Grant.--Out 
of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise 
appropriated, there are appropriated $600,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2000 through 2004 to carry out the Child Care Quality 
Improvement Act of 1999.''.

SEC. 7. ADVISORY COMMISSION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a commission to be known 
as the ``Advisory Commission on Quality Child Care''.
    (b) Duties.--The Commission shall--
            (1) identify and study--
                    (A) the most important issues affecting the quality 
                of child care;
                    (B) the most efficient and effective manner of 
                ensuring that families in the United States will 
                receive quality child care; and
                    (C) other related topics that the Commission 
                considers appropriate; and
            (2) develop and make recommendations regarding--
                    (A) feasible goals and targets for child care 
                programs to improve the quality of child care provided 
                in accordance with such programs;
                    (B) national standards for the quality of child 
                care; and
                    (C) other related topics that the Commission 
                considers appropriate.
    (c) Number and Appointment of Members.--The Commission shall be 
composed of 9 members who shall be appointed by the President before 
the expiration of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (d) Qualifications of Members.--Each of the individuals appointed 
under subsection (a) shall be an individual with distinctive expertise 
or experience in child care or early childhood development.
    (e) Terms.--Each member shall be appointed for the life of the 
Commission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, 
but shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was 
made.
    (f) Basic Pay.--Each member shall serve without pay.
    (g) Travel Expenses.--Each member shall receive travel expenses, 
including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sections 
5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
    (h) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Commission shall 
constitute a quorum but a lesser number may hold hearings.
    (i) Chairperson.--The Chairperson of the Commission shall be 
designated by the President. The term of office of the Chairperson 
shall be for the life of the Commission. A vacancy in the office of the 
Chairperson shall be filled in the manner in which the original 
designation was made.
    (j) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet not less than 4 times. The 
initial meeting of the Commission shall be at the call of the 
Chairperson and shall occur within the 90-day period beginning on the 
date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed. After 
the initial meeting, the Commission shall meet at the call of the 
Chairperson or a majority of its members.
    (k) Director.--The Commission shall have a Director who shall be 
appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Secretary 
of Health and Human Services shall fix the pay of the Director.
    (l) Staff.--Upon request of the Commission, the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall detail, and the head of any other Federal 
department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 
personnel of that department or agency to the Commission to assist it 
in carrying out its duties under this Act.
    (m) Administrative Support Services.--Upon the request of the 
Commission, the Administrator of General Services shall provide to the 
Commission, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative support 
services necessary for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities 
under this Act.
    (n) Hearings and Sessions.--The Commission may, for the purpose of 
carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, 
take testimony, and receive evidence as the Commission considers 
appropriate.
    (o) Powers of Members and Agents.--Any member or agent of the 
Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take any action that 
the Commission is authorized to take by this section.
    (p) Obtaining Official Data.--The Commission may secure directly 
from any department or agency of the United States information 
necessary to enable the Commission to carry out this Act. Upon request 
of the Chairperson, the head of the department or agency shall furnish 
the information to the Commission.
    (q) Gifts, Bequests, and Devises.--The Commission may accept, use, 
and dispose of gifts, bequests, or devises of services or property, 
both real and personal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the 
work of the Commission. Gifts, bequests, or devises of money and 
proceeds from sales of other property received as gifts, bequests, or 
devises shall be deposited in the Treasury and shall be available for 
disbursement upon order of the Commission.
    (r) Mails.--The Commission may use the United States mails in the 
same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and 
agencies of the United States.
    (s) Reports.--
            (1) Interim reports.--As soon as practicable after any 
        hearing held by the Commission, the Commission shall submit to 
        the President, Congress, and the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services an interim report summarizing the hearing and 
        containing any other information the Commission considers 
        appropriate.
            (2) Final report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        the initial meeting of the Commission, the Commission shall 
        submit to the President, Congress, and the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services a final report that--
                    (A) shall set forth the consensus findings and 
                recommendations of the Commission; and
                    (B) may set forth the majority but nonconsensus 
                findings and recommendations of the Commission and any 
                other information that the Commission considers 
                appropriate.
            (3) Report by secretary.--Not later than 2 years after the 
        date on which the Commission submits its final report, the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to Congress 
        a report describing any actions that the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services has taken with respect to the final report 
        of the Commission.
    (t) Termination.--The Commission shall terminate 2 years after the 
date of its initial meeting, or on the date on which the Commission 
submits its final report, whichever occurs first.
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