[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2565 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2565

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to provide child care assistance to veterans receiving 
 certain training or vocational rehabilitation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2018

Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Klobuchar, 
Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Hassan, Ms. Smith, and Mr. Nelson) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to provide child care assistance to veterans receiving 
 certain training or vocational rehabilitation, 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 ``Veteran Employment and Child Care 
Access Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR VETERANS RECEIVING CERTAIN TRAINING 
              OR VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 31 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 3123. Child care assistance for veterans receiving training or 
              vocational rehabilitation
    ``(a) In General.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
Secretary shall provide child care assistance to an eligible veteran 
for any period that the veteran--
            ``(A) receives any training or vocational rehabilitation 
        under this chapter, chapter 41, or section 1718, 2021, or 2021A 
        of this title; and
            ``(B) is required to travel to and return from a facility 
        for the receipt of such training or vocational rehabilitation.
    ``(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Secretary may 
only provide child care assistance under paragraph (1)--
            ``(i) once for a child; and
            ``(ii) for a period shorter than six months.
    ``(B) The Secretary may waive the limitations of subparagraph (A) 
as the Secretary considers appropriate.
    ``(b) Eligible Veterans.--For purposes of this section, an eligible 
veteran is any veteran--
            ``(1) who--
                    ``(A) is the primary caretaker of a child or 
                children; and
                    ``(B) is--
                            ``(i) receiving training or vocational 
                        rehabilitation described in subsection (a)(1) 
                        on a full-time basis; or
                            ``(ii) in need of such training or 
                        vocational rehabilitation on a full-time basis, 
                        and but for lack of child care services, would 
                        receive such training or vocational 
                        rehabilitation on a full-time basis; and
            ``(2) whose family's adjusted gross income does not exceed 
        85 percent of the median adjusted gross income of the State in 
        which the veteran resides.
    ``(c) Child Care Assistance.--(1) Child care assistance provided 
under this section may include any of the following:
            ``(A) A stipend for the payment of child care offered by a 
        licensed child care center (either directly or through a 
        voucher program).
            ``(B) Direct provision of child care at an on-site facility 
        of the Department or the Department of Labor.
            ``(C) A collaboration with a facility or program of another 
        Federal department or agency.
            ``(D) Such other form of assistance as the Secretary 
        considers appropriate.
    ``(2) In the case that child care assistance under this section is 
provided as a stipend under paragraph (1)(A), such stipend--
            ``(A) shall cover the full cost of such child care and 
        associated fees, including application fees and full day, full 
        week, and full month requirements of the child care provider; 
        and
            ``(B) such stipend shall be paid to the eligible veteran.
    ``(d) Coordination.--Whenever practicable, the Secretary shall 
coordinate with the heads of other Federal agencies and with States and 
local entities in carrying out this section to ensure accessibility and 
continuity of care.
    ``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to require any provider of child care to change the 
provider's standard eligibility requirements or practices.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Notwithstanding section 101 of this title, the term 
        `child' means--
                    ``(A) a person--
                            ``(i) who is under the age of 13 years; or
                            ``(ii)(I) who is under the age of 18 years;
                            ``(II) who is 13 years of age or older; and
                            ``(III) who is physically or mentally 
                        incapable of caring for themselves; or
                    ``(B) such other person as the Secretary considers 
                appropriate.
            ``(2) The term `licensed child care center' means a center-
        based child care provider, a family child care provider, or 
        another provider of child care services for compensation on a 
        regular basis, that is licensed, regulated, or registered under 
        Federal or State law.
            ``(3) The term `primary caretaker', with respect to a 
        child, means--
                    ``(A) the parent of the child; or
                    ``(B) such other individual as the Secretary 
                considers appropriate.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
3122 the following new item:

``3123. Child care assistance for veterans receiving training or 
                            vocational rehabilitation.''.
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