1.This Act may be cited as
the Improving Access to Child Care for
Homeless Families Act of 2012
.
2.Findings; sense
of Congress
(a)Congress
makes the following findings:
(1)Child and youth
homelessness has increased by 38 percent during the period since 2006, and Head
Start programs have registered a 44 percent increase in the number of homeless
children served over that same period.
(2)Among homeless
children living in shelters supported by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 50 percent are under 5 years old.
(3)A 2010 study by
the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development found that children who had received high-quality care in the first
few years of life scored higher on measures of academic and cognitive
achievement when the children were 19 years old, and were less likely to
misbehave, than children who had been enrolled in low-quality care in those
years.
(4)Homelessness has
a negative impact on child development that surpasses the harmful impacts of
poverty. A Head Start demonstration project serving homeless families indicated
that the homeless children served had more instances of developmental delay,
learning disabilities, and physical or mental health problems, compared with
their low-income peers in stable housing.
(5)For homeless
families, residential instability, high mobility, documentation requirements,
and lack of transportation are significant obstacles to accessing and retaining
child care services.
(6)According to a
study by the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, homeless
families are less likely to receive government financial assistance for child
care than families that are not homeless.
(7)Without child
care, homeless parents of young children struggle to search for employment,
maintain employment, and enter job training programs.
(8)Many parents who
are domestic violence survivors who flee their homes try to find employment,
but the parents are often limited by a lack of child care. In a survey of
nearly 1,500 domestic violence survivors in domestic violence shelters, 29
percent indicated that they needed help with child care.
(b)It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)(A)Congress has enacted
successful policies to increase homeless children's access to and stability in
public elementary and secondary schools and Head Start programs; and
(B)in order to increase homeless
families' access to and continuity in child care, similar policies should be
applied to Federal child care programs; and
(2)such policies
will assist homeless parents in maintaining employment and regaining housing,
and will provide critical interventions to support that vulnerable population
of children.
3.The purpose of this Act is to ensure access
to high-quality child care for homeless children and families.
4.Child care for
homeless children
(a)Section 658D(b)(1)(D) of the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b(b)(1)(D)) is amended by striking
Federal, State and local child care and early childhood development
programs.
and inserting
Federal, State,
and local child care, early childhood development, and social service programs
that shall include—(1)Head Start and
Early Head Start programs under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et
seq.);
(2)programs, and
services of partners, that serve vulnerable populations, including programs
serving homeless children and services of local educational agency liaisons for
homeless children and youths designated under subsection (g)(1)(J)(ii) of
section 722 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432);
and
(3)programs, and
services of entities receiving grants, to provide to homeless veterans services
authorized under chapter 20 of title 38, United States Code, consisting of
housing, employment-related services (such as services under section 2021 or
2021A of such title), or supportive services (such as services authorized under
section 2044 of such
title).
.
(b)Section 658E(c) of the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended—
(1)in paragraph
(2)—
(A)in subparagraph
(D), by inserting , Head Start and Early Head Start agencies under the
Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), State Coordinators designated under
subsection (d)(3), and local educational agency liaisons for homeless children
and youths designated under subsection (g)(1)(J)(ii), of section 722 of the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432), local educational
agencies and providers of early intervention services under the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.),
after
children
;
(B)in subparagraph
(F)(i), by striking the semicolon and inserting and the establishment of
a grace period that allows homeless children to receive services under this
subchapter while their families are taking any necessary action to comply with
immunization and other health and safety requirements;
; and
(C)in subparagraph
(H)—
(i)by
striking and families
and inserting families
;
and
(ii)by
inserting , and families of homeless children
before the
period;
(2)in paragraph
(3)(B)—
(A)by inserting
activities that improve access to such services (including
transportation to child care services, procedures to permit immediate
enrollment of homeless children while required documentation is obtained,
training and technical assistance on identifying and serving homeless children
and their families, and specific outreach to families described in paragraph
(2)(H)),
after availability of such services,
;
and
(B)by inserting
, to homeless children,
after family size)
;
and
(3)in paragraph (5),
by adding at the end the following: Each sliding fee scale shall be
applied using measures to ensure that cost sharing is not a barrier to the
enrollment of families of homeless children.
.
(c)Access and
outreach to families of homeless childrenSection 658G of the
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is
amended—
(1)by inserting
(such as resource and referral services)
after and
activities
; and
(2)by striking
(such as resource and referral services).
and inserting ,
including developing strategies and partnerships to provide transportation to
child care services and specific outreach to families described in section
658E(c)(2)(H)).
after availability of child care
.
(d)Section
658K(a)(1)(B) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 9858i(a)(1)(B)) is amended—
(1)in clause (ix),
by striking and
at the end;
(2)in clause (x), by
adding and
at the end; and
(3)by inserting
after clause (x) the following:
(xi)whether the
children receiving assistance under this subchapter are homeless
children;
.
5.
(a)Section
658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9858j) is amended—
(1)by striking the
section heading;
(2)by inserting
(c) Report by
Secretary.—
before Not later
;
(3)by striking
section 658K
and inserting this section
;
and
(4)by moving
subsection (c) (as redesignated by paragraph (2)) to the end of section
658K.
(b)The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990
(42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 658K (42 U.S.C.
9858i), as amended by subsection (a), the following:
658L.
(a)The Secretary shall carry out a pilot program to identify
and implement best practices for increasing access to and continuity of child
care for homeless children.
(b)In
carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall award to States not more
than 5 grants of not more than $5,000,000 per grant. Each grant shall be for a
period of not more than 3 years, beginning not later than March 31,
2013.
(c)In
order to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a State shall
submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary shall require.
(d)A State that receives a grant under this section shall use
the funds made available under the grant—
(1)to establish a
pilot project for—
(A)implementing
promising practices for increasing access to and continuity of child care for
homeless children; and
(B)identifying the
best practices; and
(2)to carry out
subsection (e)(1).
(e)
(1)
(A)A
State that receives a grant under this section shall carry out data collection
for and an assessment of its pilot project described in subsection
(d)(1).
(B)Not later than 42 months after the first day of the
grant period for a pilot project described in subsection (d)(1), the State
carrying out the pilot project shall submit to the Secretary a report
containing a summary of the results of the assessment described in subparagraph
(A), including a description of the best practices identified.
(2)Secretarial
responsibilitiesNot later than 4 years after the first day of
the latest grant period for a pilot project, the Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report containing a summary of the reports received under paragraph
(1) and a recommendation concerning whether and how to expand the pilot
projects carried out with best practices.
(f)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this section such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2013
through 2015, which shall remain available through fiscal year
2017.
.
6.Section 658P of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n) is amended—
(1)in paragraph
(4)(C)—
(A)in clause (i), by
striking or
at the end;
(B)in clause (ii),
by striking the period and inserting ; or
; and
(C)by adding at the
end the following:
(iii)is a homeless
child.
;
and
(2)by adding at the
end the following:
(15)The term homeless child means a homeless child
or youth, as defined under section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
11434a).
.