1.This Act may be cited as the
Child Care Public-Private Partnership
Act of 2012
.
2.Establishment of
business incentive grant programThe Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall establish a program to make grants to—
(1)States, on a
competitive basis, to enable eligible businesses and consortia in the States to
carry out the activities described in section 4; and
(2)nonprofit business
organizations with expertise in management issues concerning operating a
high-quality child care center, to provide technical information and assistance
to enable businesses to provide child care services.
3.Applications
from States and nonprofit business organizations
(a)To be eligible to receive a grant under section 2, a
State or nonprofit business organization shall submit an application to the
Secretary at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the
Secretary may require.
(b)At
a minimum, an application submitted under subsection (a) by a nonprofit
business organization shall contain—
(1)an assurance
that, with respect to the costs to be incurred by the applicant in carrying out
the purposes for which the grant is made, the applicant will make available
State or other non-Federal early childhood contributions (such as contributions
for child care, Head Start, State prekindergarten, and early intervention
programs), in an amount equal to not less than $1 for every $1 of Federal funds
provided under the grant;
(2)an assurance that
such applicant will expend the grant funds for the use specified in section
2(2);
(3)an assurance that
such applicant will employ strategies to ensure that child care services,
provided with the technical information and assistance made available by such
applicant, are provided at affordable costs, and on an equitable basis, to low-
and moderate-income employees;
(4)an assurance that
such applicant will employ procedures to ensure that technical information and
assistance provided under this Act by such applicant will be provided only to
businesses that provide child care services in compliance with all State and
local licensing and regulatory requirements applicable to child care providers
in such State; and
(5)an assurance that
such applicant will employ procedures to ensure such information and assistance
will be provided only to businesses located in an area without an adequate
supply of licensed and regulated (as applicable) child care providers.
(c)For purposes of selecting applicants to
receive grants under section 2, to the extent practicable, the Secretary
shall—
(1)make grants
equitably under section 2 to applicants located in all geographical regions of
the United States; and
(2)give priority to
applicants for grants under section 2(1).
4.Grants to
businesses and consortiaA
State that receives a grant under section 2 shall use the grant funds to make
grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible businesses or consortia in the
State in order to enable the businesses and consortia—
(1)to pay start-up
costs incurred to provide child care services;
(2)to provide for
assistance for the costs of child care services needed by the employees of such
businesses and consortia; and
(3)to pay for
training and professional development for staff that provide child care
services.
5.Applications from
businesses and consortia
(a)To be eligible to
receive a grant under section 4, a business or consortium shall submit an
application to the State at such time, in such form, and containing such
information as the State may require.
(b)At a minimum, such application shall
contain—
(1)an assurance that,
with respect to the costs to be incurred by the applicant in carrying out the
purposes for which the grant is made, the applicant will make available State
or other non-Federal early childhood contributions (such as contributions for
child care, Head Start, State prekindergarten, and early intervention
programs), in an amount equal to not less than $1 for every $1 of Federal funds
provided under the grant;
(2)an assurance that
such applicant will expend the grant funds for the use specified in section
2(1);
(3)an assurance that
such applicant will employ strategies to ensure that child care services,
provided by such applicant, are provided at affordable costs, and on an
equitable basis, to low- and moderate-income employees;
(4)an
assurance that such applicant will comply with all State and local child care
licensing and regulatory requirements that are applicable to the applicant;
and
(5)information
demonstrating that the applicant is located in an area without an adequate
supply of licensed and regulated (as applicable) child care providers.
(c)For purposes of selecting applicants to
receive grants under section 4, the State shall give priority to businesses
that have fewer than 100 full-time employees.
6.As used in this Act:
(1)The
term business means a person engaged in commerce whose primary
activity is an activity other than the provision of child care services.
(2)The term child care services means care for
a child that is—
(A)provided on the
site at which a parent of such child is employed or at a site nearby in the
community in which the site is located; and
(B)subsidized at
least in part by the business that employs such parent.
(3)The
term consortium means a partnership—
(A)that shall
include 2 or more businesses, acting jointly; and
(B)shall include a
nonprofit private organization with expertise in the provision of high-quality
child care services.
(4)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human
Services.
7.Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $25,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2013 through 2015.