[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2787 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2787
To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to
increase the availability of, and improve quality care for, children
with disabilities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2001
Mrs. Meek of Florida (for herself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Rush, Mr.
Blagojevich, Mr. Petri, and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to
increase the availability of, and improve quality care for, children
with disabilities, 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. REFERENCE.
Whenever in this Act a section or other provision is amended, such
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. 9858 et seq.).
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Two-thirds of mothers with children under 6 years of
age are in the workforce.
(2) More than 10 percent of children under the age of 6
have a disability; children living in low-income communities
have a higher incidence of disability.
(3) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
requires early intervention services to be provided to infants
and toddlers with disabilities in a natural environment,
typically the child's home or a child care setting.
(4) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
requires special education preschool services to be delivered
in the least restrictive environment, with a preschooler's
nondisabled peers.
(5) The General Accounting Office reports that the ``supply
of infant care, care for special needs children, and care
during nonstandard hours has been more limited than the overall
supply''. There is even less care for those children who live
in low-income communities.
(6) Children with disabilities or special health care needs
are barred from many child care programs due to myth,
stereotype, and fear about disability and because staff lack
sufficient training to meet the needs of such children.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to increase the supply of
quality child care for children with disabilities.
SEC. 3. APPLICATION AND PLAN.
Section 658E(c) (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)(H)--
(A) by striking ``, and families'' and inserting
``, families''; and
(B) by inserting before the final period ``, and
families that have children with disabilities''; and
(2) in paragraph (3)(B)--
(A) by striking ``size) and to'' and inserting
``size), to''; and
(B) by inserting before the final period ``, and to
children with disabilities''.
SEC. 4. ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CHILD CARE.
Section 658G (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended--
(1) by striking ``A State'' and inserting ``(a) In
General.--A State'';
(2) by amending subsection (a) (as so designated by
paragraph (1) of this section) by adding at the end the
following: ``Such activities may include activities listed in
subsection (b).''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
``(b) Activities for Children With Disabilities.--
``(1) Use of funds.--A State that receives funds to carry
out this subchapter for a fiscal year after fiscal year 2001,
shall use not less than 5 percent of the total amount of such
funds for one or more of the activities described in paragraph
(2) that are designed to increase the availability of quality
child care for children with disabilities.
``(2) Eligible activities.--Activities referred to in
paragraph (1) are the following:
``(A) Training and technical assistance.--Ongoing
comprehensive system of training and technical
assistance for the following:
``(i) Training for child care providers,
State licensing agencies responsible for
licensing child care providers, and parents on
how to collaborate with each other to help
ensure appropriate implementation of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
``(ii) Technical assistance to assist
family home and center child care providers to
enable them to appropriately and better include
children with disabilities alongside children
without disabilities in child care settings.
``(iii) Training for child care directors
and staff on the use of assistive technology
for children with special needs and children
with disabilities.
``(iv) Training to develop leadership
skills for directors of child care facilities
to operate inclusive child care programs,
including leadership skills in financial
development, program development, parent
education, and community development.
``(v) Assistance to State and local child
care resource and referral agencies on
compliance with the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 and the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act.
``(B) Recruitment and retention of staff.--Grants
for recruitment and retention of qualified staff though
the following:
``(i) Grants for scholarships for child
care staff who work with children with and
without disabilities to obtain associate,
bachelor's, or master's degrees or other
training in child development.
``(ii) Grants to increase salaries of child
care staff who obtain associate, bachelors, or
masters degrees or other training in fields of
child development.
``(iii) Grants to retain qualified child
care providers in the child care field.
``(c) Grants and Loans for Certain Child Care Programs.--To the
extent provided for in advance by Acts of appropriation, the Secretary
shall make grants and low-interest loans to public agencies and
nonprofit organizations (including State and local governments and
community-based organizations) for projects that increase the
availability of 1 or more of the following:
``(1) Inclusive child care programs.
``(2) Child care for infants.
``(3) Child care during evenings and weekends.''.
SEC. 5. REPORTS.
Section 658K(a)(1)(B)(iii) (42 U.S.C. 9858i(a)(1)(B)(iii)) is
amended by striking ``and age'' and inserting ``age, and disability
status''.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
Section 658P (42 U.S.C. 9858n) is amended--
(1) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new
paragraph:
``(3) Child with a disability.--The term `child with a
disability' has the meaning given that term and the meaning
given the term `infant or toddler with a disability' in section
602 and section 632 of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401).''; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following new
paragraph:
``(10) Inclusive child care program.--The term `inclusive
child care program' means a child care program that serves
children with disabilities and children without disabilities
together in a setting where not more than 50 percent of the
children enrolled are children with disabilities.''.
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