[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 62 (Friday, April 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ENSURING CHILD CARE FOR WORKING FAMILIES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 27, 2012

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, today I and my colleagues are introducing 
the ``Ensuring Child Care for Working Families Act of 2012.'' This bill 
creates an entitlement to the states to provide guaranteed child care 
assistance for children up to age 13 for low-income families with 
incomes up to 200 percent of the poverty level. In the context of 
growing poverty, declining incomes, and high unemployment, we must 
invest in child care.
  Working families today are faced with the challenge of finding 
stable, high quality child care to enable them to work. This challenge 
is compounded for low-income working families who are severely impacted 
by federal and state cuts to child care assistance. These cuts have 
profound economic and social costs. Research is clear that child care 
assistance helps low-income mothers afford the reliable child care they 
need to get and keep a job. Child care helps children, families and 
communities prosper. It gives children the opportunity to learn and 
develop the skills they need to succeed in school and in life. It gives 
parents the support and peace of mind they need to be productive at 
work.
  Yet today, only one in six children eligible for federal child care 
assistance receives help. Twenty-two states have waiting lists for 
child care assistance. Despite the importance of child care assistance, 
families in thirty-seven states were worse off in February 2011 than in 
February 2010 under one or more key child care assistance policies.
  In 13 states, a family with an income above 150 percent of poverty 
cannot qualify for child care assistance. Yet in the majority of 
communities across the country, a family needs an income equal to at 
least 200 percent of poverty to meet its basic needs, including housing 
food, child care, transportation, health care, and other necessities, 
based on a study by the Economic Policy Institute. What we define as 
poverty no longer reflects what it really means to be poor in this 
country.
  Reliable high quality child care makes the difference in the economic 
health and survival of families and in the educational development of 
children. Too many families are forced to find ways to pay for child 
care assistance while they struggle to put food on the table and pay 
their rent. Child care assistance enables us to have a stable work 
force, with fewer absences and more productivity. Yet, absent an 
increase in funding in 2013, as few as 1.4 million children might be 
served in 2013. This would result in the smallest number of children 
served since 1998.
  According to the National Women's Law Center 8th annual review of key 
child care subsidy policies in all 50 states and the District of 
Columbia, families were worse off in 2011 than they were in 2010, but 
they are also worse off than they were a decade ago. Although the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided an additional $2 
billion for child care, states had used most of that money by the end 
of 2010 and were battling severe budget deficits.
  Enacting the ``Ensuring Child Care for Working Families Act of 2012'' 
will help lessen the burden of struggling parents as it will:
  Maintain state investments in child care prior to the enactment of 
the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 
1996, including existing provisions relating to federal matching of 
state expenditures.
  Provide federal grants to States and qualified Indian tribes and 
tribal organizations in amounts necessary to provide child care 
assistance to any family with a dependent child requiring such care in 
which: family income does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty 
line, and child care assistance will enable a family member to work or 
participate in an education or training program.
  Require States and Indian tribes/tribal organizations receiving such 
grants to guarantee the provision of child care assistance to all 
families meeting the specified criteria.
  Ensure that States continue to comply with the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Act of 1990, including the requirement to set 
aside a minimum of 4 percent of funding for quality.
  Direct the Secretary to promulgate regulations to implement the 
bill's provisions.
  Provide that such amendments are effective on the first day of the 
first fiscal year that begins after the 12-month period beginning upon 
enactment.
  This legislation is based on a 2007 paper presented at the Center for 
American Progress entitled ``Next Steps for Federal Child Care 
Policy.'' Our federal child care policy must catch up to the economic 
and social reality of the world in which we live. The number of 
families falling further into poverty, but don't yet qualify for child 
care assistance, is increasing. This costs our society billions in lost 
productivity and increased spending on health care. This bill helps 
ensure our society will be strong and prosperous well into the 21st 
century.

              Ensuring Child Care for Working Families Act


                       Section-by-Section Summary

       Section 1--Short Title. The ``Ensuring Child Care for 
     Working Families Act of 2012.''
       Section 2--Child Care Funding. Amends Section 418 of the 
     Social Security Act to:
       Maintain state investments in child care prior to the 
     enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
     Reconciliation Act of 1996, including existing provisions 
     relating to federal matching of state expenditures.
       Provide federal grants to States and qualified Indian 
     tribes and tribal organizations in amounts necessary to 
     provide child care assistance to any family with a dependent 
     child requiring such care in which: family income does not 
     exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty line, and child 
     care assistance will enable a family member to work or 
     participate in an education or training program.
       Require States and Indian tribes/tribal organizations 
     receiving such grants to guarantee the provision of child 
     care assistance to all families meeting the specified 
     criteria.
       Ensure that States continue to comply with the Child Care 
     and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, including the 4 
     percent quality set-aside.
       Direct the Secretary to promulgate regulations to implement 
     the bill's provisions.
       Provide that such amendments are effective on the first day 
     of the first fiscal year that begins after the 12-month 
     period beginning upon enactment.

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