[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2693 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2693

 To amend the Child Care and Development Grant Act of 1990 to provide 
                 for improved care for young children.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 3, 1999

 Ms. Woolsey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Child Care and Development Grant Act of 1990 to provide 
                 for improved care for young children.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) More than one-half of mothers of children under the age 
        of 1 year are in the labor force.
            (2) The first 3 years of life are particularly critical to 
        a child's learning.
            (3) An Urban Institute study of child care found shortages 
        of infant care in the majority of the cities examined.
            (4) Most parents believe that there is an insufficient 
        supply of child care for infants in their communities.
            (5) Fewer than 10 percent of vacancies in child care 
        centers nationwide can be filled by infants and toddlers.
            (6) A study of child care found that, in 12 States, infant 
        care cost 60 percent or more of a parent's paycheck if the 
        parent was earning at or below the minimum wage.
            (7) Poor quality child care has been shown to have a 
        serious impact on a child's development.
            (8) The Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes study revealed 
        that 40 percent of caregivers for infants and toddlers in child 
        care centers provided such poor care that the children's 
        health, safety, and development were in jeopardy.

SEC. 2. REFERENCE.

    Wherever in this Act a section or other provision is amended, the 
amendment shall be considered to be made to that section or other 
provision of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 9801 et seq.).

SEC. 3. CHILD CARE ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN.

    (a) Goals.--Section 658A(b) (42 U.S.C. 9801 note) is amended
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'';
            (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) to assist States in improving child care services for 
        young children.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 658B (42 U.S.C. 9858) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``There'' and inserting ``(a) In General.--
        There''; and
    (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Child Care Activities for Young Children.--In addition to 
amounts appropriated under subsection (a), there is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out child care activities for young children 
under this subchapter $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 
through 2002.''.
    (c) Child Care Activities for Young Children.--The Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after section 658G the following new section:

``SEC. 658H. CHILD CARE ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN.

    ``Child care activities for young children for which funds under 
this subchapter may be used include activities that are designed to 
accomplish the following:
            ``(1) Increase the availability of child care services for 
        young children.
            ``(2) Provide support services for networks of family child 
        care providers.
            ``(3) Provide or support programs that provide training, 
        services, materials, equipment, or other support to caregivers, 
        eligible child care providers, and family child care providers 
        that provide child care to young children. Such support may 
        include the purchase of equipment such as cribs and high 
        chairs.
            ``(4) Provide funds to increase compensation offered and 
        provide bonuses to caregivers, eligible child care providers, 
        and family child care providers who provide child care to 
        children under the age of 3 years, especially those caregivers 
        and providers who have formal education in early childhood 
        development.
            ``(5) Provide and support networks between health care 
        providers and caregivers, eligible child care providers, and 
        family child care providers that provide child care to young 
        children.
            ``(6) Provide child care services for young children who 
        are enrolled in Head Start programs under the Head Start Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.).''.
    (d) Definitions.--Section 658P (42 U.S.C. 9858n) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(15) Young children.--The term `young children' means 
        children who are less than 3 years of age.''.
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