Congressional Record, Volume 160 Issue 131 (Monday, September 15, 2014)

[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 131 (Monday, September 15, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H7465-H7481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ACT OF 2014

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(S. 1086) to reauthorize and improve the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act of 1990, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

S. 1086

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 ``Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. SHORT TITLE AND PURPOSES.

Section 658A of the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9801 note) is amended to read as
follows:

``SEC. 658A. SHORT TITLE AND PURPOSES.

``(a) Short Title.--This subchapter may be cited as the
`Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990'.
``(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this subchapter are--
``(1) to allow each State maximum flexibility in developing
child care programs and policies that best suit the needs of
children and parents within that State;
``(2) to promote parental choice to empower working parents
to make their own decisions regarding the child care services
that best suit their family's needs;
``(3) to encourage States to provide consumer education
information to help parents make informed choices about child
care services and to promote involvement by parents and
family members in the development of their children in child
care settings;
``(4) to assist States in delivering high-quality,
coordinated early childhood care and education services to
maximize parents' options and support parents trying to
achieve independence from public assistance;
``(5) to assist States in improving the overall quality of
child care services and programs by implementing the health,
safety, licensing, training, and oversight standards
established in this subchapter and in State law (including
State regulations);
``(6) to improve child care and development of
participating children; and
``(7) to increase the number and percentage of low-income
children in high-quality child care settings.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

Section 658B of the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended by striking
``subchapter'' and all that follows through the period at the
end, and inserting ``subchapter $2,360,000,000 for fiscal
year 2015, $2,478,000,000 for fiscal year 2016,
$2,539,950,000 for fiscal year 2017, $2,603,448,750 for
fiscal year 2018, $2,668,534,969 for fiscal year 2019, and
$2,748,591,018 for fiscal year 2020.''.

SEC. 4. LEAD AGENCY.

(a) Designation.--Section 658D(a) of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b(a)) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``chief executive officer'' and inserting
``Governor''; and
(2) by striking ``designate'' and all that follows and
inserting ``designate an agency (which may be an appropriate
collaborative agency), or establish a joint interagency
office, that complies with the requirements of subsection (b)
to serve as the lead agency for the State under this
subchapter.''.
(b) Collaboration With Tribes.--Section 658D(b)(1) of the
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9858b(b)(1)) is amended--

[[Page H7466]]

(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) at the option of an Indian tribe or tribal
organization in the State, collaborate and coordinate with
such Indian tribe or tribal organization in the development
of the State plan in a timely manner.''.

SEC. 5. APPLICATION AND PLAN.

(a) Period.--Section 658E(b) of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(b)) is
amended by striking ``2-year'' and inserting ``3-year''.
(b) Policies and Procedures.--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 (1), by inserting ``or established'' after
``designated'';
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by inserting a comma after ``care
of such providers'';
(B) by striking subparagraphs (D) through (H); and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) Monitoring and inspection reports.--The plan shall
include a certification that the State, not later than 1 year
after the State has in effect the policies and practices
described in subparagraph (K)(i), will make public by
electronic means, in a consumer-friendly and easily
accessible format, organized by provider, the results of
monitoring and inspection reports, including those due to
major substantiated complaints about failure to comply with
this subchapter and State child care policies, as well as the
number of deaths, serious injuries, and instances of
substantiated child abuse that occurred in child care
settings each year, for eligible child care providers within
the State. The results shall also include information on the
date of such an inspection, and, where applicable,
information on corrective action taken.
``(E) Consumer and provider education information.--The
plan shall include a certification that the State will
collect and disseminate (which dissemination may be done,
except as otherwise specified in this subparagraph, through
resource and referral organizations or other means as
determined by the State) to parents of eligible children, the
general public, and, where applicable, providers--
``(i) information about the availability of the full
diversity of child care services that will promote informed
child care choices and that concerns--

``(I) the availability of child care services provided
through programs authorized by this subchapter and, if
feasible, other child care services and other programs
provided in the State for which the family may be eligible,
as well as the availability of financial assistance to obtain
child care services in the State;
``(II) if available, information about the quality of
providers, as determined by the State, that can be provided
through a Quality Rating and Improvement System;
``(III) information, made available through a State Web
site, describing the State process for licensing child care
providers, the State processes for conducting background
checks, and monitoring and inspections, of child care
providers, and the offenses that prevent individuals and
entities from serving as child care providers in the State;
``(IV) other programs for which families that receive child
care services for which financial assistance is provided
under this subchapter may be eligible, including the program
of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy
families established under part A of title IV of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), Head Start and Early
Head Start programs carried out under the Head Start Act (42
U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), the program carried out under the Low-
Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et
seq.), the supplemental nutrition assistance program
established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7
U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), the special supplemental nutrition
program for women, infants, and children established under
section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.
1786), the child and adult care food program established
under section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766), and the Medicaid and State
children's health insurance programs under titles XIX and XXI
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq., 1397aa et
seq.);
``(V) programs carried out under section 619 and part C of
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
1419, 1431 et seq.);
``(VI) research and best practices concerning children's
development, including social and emotional development,
early childhood development, and meaningful parent and family
engagement, and physical health and development (particularly
healthy eating and physical activity); and
``(VII) the State policies regarding the social-emotional
behavioral health of young children, which may include
positive behavioral intervention and support models, and
policies on expulsion of preschool-aged children, in early
childhood programs receiving assistance under this
subchapter; and

``(ii) information on developmental screenings, including--

``(I) information on existing (as of the date of submission
of the application containing the plan) resources and
services the State can deploy, including the coordinated use
of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment
program under the Medicaid program carried out under title
XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and
developmental screening services available under section 619
and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.), in conducting developmental
screenings and providing referrals to services, when
appropriate, for children who receive assistance under this
subchapter; and
``(II) a description of how a family or eligible child care
provider may utilize the resources and services described in
subclause (I) to obtain developmental screenings for children
who receive assistance under this subchapter who may be at
risk for cognitive or other developmental delays, which may
include social, emotional, physical, or linguistic delays.

``(F) Compliance with state licensing requirements.--
``(i) In general.--The plan shall include a certification
that the State involved has in effect licensing requirements
applicable to child care services provided within the State,
and provide a detailed description of such requirements and
of how such requirements are effectively enforced.
``(ii) License exemption.--If the State uses funds received
under this subchapter to support a child care provider that
is exempt from the corresponding licensing requirements
described in clause (i), the plan shall include a description
stating why such licensing exemption does not endanger the
health, safety, or development of children who receive
services from child care providers who are exempt from such
requirements.
``(G) Training and professional development requirements.--
``(i) In general.--The plan shall describe the training and
professional development requirements that are in effect
within the State designed to enable child care providers to
promote the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive
development of children and to improve the knowledge and
skills of the child care workforce. Such requirements shall
be applicable to child care providers that provide services
for which assistance is provided in accordance with this
subchapter.
``(ii) Requirements.--The plan shall provide an assurance
that such training and professional development--

``(I) shall be conducted on an ongoing basis, provide for a
progression of professional development (which may include
encouraging the pursuit of postsecondary education), reflect
current research and best practices relating to the skills
necessary for the child care workforce to meet the
developmental needs of participating children, and improve
the quality of, and stability within, the child care
workforce;
``(II) shall be developed in consultation with the State
Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care
(designated or established pursuant to section
642B(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C.
9837b(b)(1)(A)(i))), and may engage training providers in
aligning training opportunities with the State's training
framework;
``(III) incorporates knowledge and application of the
State's early learning and developmental guidelines (where
applicable), the State's health and safety standards, and
incorporates social-emotional behavior intervention models,
which may include positive behavior intervention and support
models;
``(IV) shall be accessible to providers supported through
Indian tribes or tribal organizations that receive assistance
under this subchapter; and
``(V) to the extent practicable, are appropriate for a
population of children that includes--

``(aa) different age groups;
``(bb) English learners;
``(cc) children with disabilities; and
``(dd) Native Americans, including Indians, as the term is
defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b) (including Alaska
Natives within the meaning of that term), and Native
Hawaiians (as defined in section 7207 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517)).
``(iii) Information.--The plan shall include the number of
hours of training required for eligible providers and
caregivers to engage in annually, as determined by the State.
``(iv) Construction.--The Secretary shall not require an
individual or entity that provides child care services for
which assistance is provided in accordance with this
subchapter to acquire a credential to provide such services.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a
State from requiring a credential.
``(H) Child-to-provider ratio standards.--
``(i) Standards.--The plan shall describe child care
standards for child care services for which assistance is
made available in accordance with this subchapter,
appropriate to the type of child care setting involved, to
provide for the safety and developmental needs of the
children served, that address--

``(I) group size limits for specific age populations, as
determined by the State;
``(II) the appropriate ratio between the number of children
and the number of providers, in terms of the age of the
children in child care, as determined by the State; and
``(III) required qualifications for such providers, as
determined by the State.

[[Page H7467]]

``(ii) Construction.--The Secretary may offer guidance to
States on child-to-provider ratios described in clause (i)
according to setting and age group, but shall not require
that the State maintain specific group size limits for
specific age populations or child-to-provider ratios for
providers who receive assistance in accordance with
subchapter.
``(I) Health and safety requirements.--The plan shall
include a certification that there are in effect within the
State, under State or local law, requirements designed to
protect the health and safety of children that are applicable
to child care providers that provide services for which
assistance is made available in accordance with this
subchapter. Such requirements--
``(i) shall relate to matters including health and safety
topics consisting of--

``(I) the prevention and control of infectious diseases
(including immunization) and the establishment of a grace
period that allows homeless children and children in foster
care to receive services under this subchapter while their
families (including foster families) are taking any necessary
action to comply with immunization and other health and
safety requirements;
``(II) prevention of sudden infant death syndrome and use
of safe sleeping practices;
``(III) the administration of medication, consistent with
standards for parental consent;
``(IV) the prevention of and response to emergencies due to
food and allergic reactions;
``(V) building and physical premises safety, including
identification of and protection from hazards that can cause
bodily injury such as electrical hazards, bodies of water,
and vehicular traffic;
``(VI) prevention of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head
trauma;
``(VII) emergency preparedness and response planning for
emergencies resulting from a natural disaster, or a man-
caused event (such as violence at a child care facility),
within the meaning of those terms under section 602(a)(1) of
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195a(a)(1));
``(VIII) the handling and storage of hazardous materials
and the appropriate disposal of biocontaminants;
``(IX) for providers that offer transportation, if
applicable, appropriate precautions in transporting children;
``(X) first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and
``(XI) minimum health and safety training, to be completed
pre-service or during an orientation period in addition to
ongoing training, appropriate to the provider setting
involved that addresses each of the requirements relating to
matters described in subclauses (I) through (X); and

``(ii) may include requirements relating to nutrition,
access to physical activity, or any other subject area
determined by the State to be necessary to promote child
development or to protect children's health and safety.
``(J) Compliance with state and local health and safety
requirements.--The plan shall include a certification that
procedures are in effect to ensure that child care providers
within the State, that provide services for which assistance
is made available in accordance with this subchapter, comply
with all applicable State and local health and safety
requirements as described in subparagraph (I).
``(K) Enforcement of licensing and other regulatory
requirements.--
``(i) Certification.--The plan shall include a
certification that the State, not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 2014, shall have in effect policies and
practices, applicable to licensing or regulating child care
providers that provide services for which assistance is made
available in accordance with this subchapter and the
facilities of those providers, that--

``(I) ensure that individuals who are hired as licensing
inspectors in the State are qualified to inspect those child
care providers and facilities and have received training in
related health and safety requirements, and are trained in
all aspects of the State's licensure requirements;
``(II) require licensing inspectors (or qualified
inspectors designated by the lead agency) of those child care
providers and facilities to perform inspections, with--

``(aa) not less than 1 prelicensure inspection, for
compliance with health, safety, and fire standards, of each
such child care provider and facility in the State; and
``(bb) not less than annually, an inspection (which shall
be unannounced) of each such child care provider and facility
in the State for compliance with all child care licensing
standards, which shall include an inspection for compliance
with health, safety, and fire standards (inspectors may
inspect for compliance with all 3 standards at the same
time);

``(III) require the ratio of licensing inspectors to such
child care providers and facilities in the State to be
maintained at a level sufficient to enable the State to
conduct inspections of such child care providers and
facilities on a timely basis in accordance with Federal,
State, and local law; and
``(IV) require licensing inspectors (or qualified
inspectors designated by the lead agency) of child care
providers and facilities to perform an annual inspection of
each license-exempt provider in the State receiving funds
under this subchapter (unless the provider is an eligible
child care provider as described in section 658P(6)(B)) for
compliance with health, safety, and fire standards, at a time
to be determined by the State.

``(ii) Construction.--The Secretary may offer guidance to a
State, if requested by the State, on a research-based minimum
standard regarding ratios described in clause (i)(III) and
provide technical assistance to the State on meeting the
minimum standard within a reasonable time period, but shall
not prescribe a particular ratio.
``(L) Compliance with child abuse reporting requirements.--
The plan shall include a certification that child care
providers within the State will comply with the child abuse
reporting requirements of section 106(b)(2)(B)(i) of the
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C.
5106a(b)(2)(B)(i)).
``(M) Meeting the needs of certain populations.--The plan
shall describe how the State will develop and implement
strategies (which may include alternative reimbursement rates
to child care providers, the provision of direct contracts or
grants to community-based organizations, offering child care
certificates to parents, or other means determined by the
State) to increase the supply and improve the quality of
child care services for--
``(i) children in underserved areas;
``(ii) infants and toddlers;
``(iii) children with disabilities, as defined by the
State; and
``(iv) children who receive care during nontraditional
hours.
``(N) Protection for working parents.--
``(i) Minimum period.--

``(I) 12-month period.--The plan shall demonstrate that
each child who receives assistance under this subchapter in
the State will be considered to meet all eligibility
requirements for such assistance and will receive such
assistance, for not less than 12 months before the State or
designated local entity redetermines the eligibility of the
child under this subchapter, regardless of a temporary change
in the ongoing status of the child's parent as working or
attending a job training or educational program or a change
in family income for the child's family, if that family
income does not exceed 85 percent of the State median income
for a family of the same size.
``(II) Fluctuations in earnings.--The plan shall
demonstrate how the State's or designated local entity's
processes for initial determination and redetermination of
such eligibility take into account irregular fluctuations in
earnings.

``(ii) Redetermination process.--The plan shall describe
the procedures and policies that are in place to ensure that
working parents (especially parents in families receiving
assistance under the program of block grants to States for
temporary assistance for needy families under part A of title
IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)) are
not required to unduly disrupt their employment in order to
comply with the State's or designated local entity's
requirements for redetermination of eligibility for
assistance provided in accordance with this subchapter.
``(iii) Period before termination.--At the option of the
State, the plan shall demonstrate that the State will not
terminate assistance provided to carry out this subchapter
based on a factor consisting of a parent's loss of work or
cessation of attendance at a job training or educational
program for which the family was receiving the assistance,
without continuing the assistance for a reasonable period of
time, of not less than 3 months, after such loss or cessation
in order for the parent to engage in a job search and resume
work, or resume attendance at a job training or educational
program, as soon as possible.
``(iv) Graduated phaseout of care.--The plan shall describe
the policies and procedures that are in place to allow for
provision of continued assistance to carry out this
subchapter, at the beginning of a new eligibility period
under clause (i)(I), for children of parents who are working
or attending a job training or educational program and whose
family income exceeds the State's income limit to initially
qualify for such assistance, if the family income for the
family involved does not exceed 85 percent of the State
median income for a family of the same size.
``(O) Coordination with other programs.--
``(i) In general.--The plan shall describe how the State,
in order to expand accessibility and continuity of care, and
assist children enrolled in early childhood programs to
receive full-day services, will efficiently, and to the
extent practicable, coordinate the services supported to
carry out this subchapter with programs operating at the
Federal, State, and local levels for children in preschool
programs, tribal early childhood programs, and other early
childhood programs, including those serving infants and
toddlers with disabilities, homeless children, and children
in foster care.
``(ii) Optional use of combined funds.--If the State elects
to combine funding for the services supported to carry out
this subchapter with funding for any program described in
clause (i), the plan shall describe how the State will
combine the multiple sets of funding and use the combined
funding.
``(iii) Rule of construction.--Nothing in clause (i) shall
be construed to affect the priority of children described in
clause (i) to receive full-day prekindergarten or Head Start
program services.
``(P) Public-private partnerships.--The plan shall
demonstrate how the State encourages partnerships among State
agencies,

[[Page H7468]]

other public agencies, Indian tribes and tribal
organizations, and private entities, including faith-based
and community-based organizations, to leverage existing
service delivery systems (as of the date of the submission of
the application containing the plan) for child care and
development services and to increase the supply and quality
of child care services for children who are less than 13
years of age, such as by implementing voluntary shared
services alliance models.
``(Q) Priority for low-income populations.--The plan shall
describe the process the State proposes to use, with respect
to investments made to increase access to programs providing
high-quality child care and development services, to give
priority for those investments to children of families in
areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and
unemployment and that do not have such programs.
``(R) Consultation.--The plan shall include a certification
that the State has developed the plan in consultation with
the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and
Care designated or established pursuant to section
642B(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C.
9837b(b)(1)(A)(i)).
``(S) Payment practices.--The plan shall include--
``(i) a certification that the payment practices of child
care providers in the State that serve children who receive
assistance under this subchapter reflect generally accepted
payment practices of child care providers in the State that
serve children who do not receive assistance under this
subchapter, so as to provide stability of funding and
encourage more child care providers to serve children who
receive assistance under this subchapter; and
``(ii) an assurance that the State will, to the extent
practicable, implement enrollment and eligibility policies
that support the fixed costs of providing child care services
by delinking provider reimbursement rates from an eligible
child's occasional absences due to holidays or unforseen
circumstances such as illness.
``(T) Early learning and developmental guidelines.--
``(i) In general.--The plan shall include an assurance that
the State will maintain or implement early learning and
developmental guidelines (or develop such guidelines if the
State does not have such guidelines as of the date of
enactment of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
of 2014) that are appropriate for children from birth to
kindergarten entry, describing what such children should know
and be able to do, and covering the essential domains of
early childhood development for use statewide by child care
providers. Such guidelines shall--

``(I) be research-based, developmentally appropriate, and
aligned with entry to kindergarten;
``(II) be implemented in consultation with the state
educational agency and the State Advisory Council on Early
Childhood Education and Care (designated or established
pursuant to section 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act
(42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i)); and
``(III) be updated as determined by the State.

``(ii) Prohibition on use of funds.--The plan shall include
an assurance that funds received by the State to carry out
this subchapter will not be used to develop or implement an
assessment for children that--

``(I) will be the sole basis for a child care provider
being determined to be ineligible to participate in the
program carried out under this subchapter;
``(II) will be used as the primary or sole basis to provide
a reward or sanction for an individual provider;
``(III) will be used as the primary or sole method for
assessing program effectiveness; or
``(IV) will be used to deny children eligibility to
participate in the program carried out under this subchapter.

``(iii) Exceptions.--Nothing in this subchapter shall
preclude the State from using a single assessment as
determined by the State for children for--

``(I) supporting learning or improving a classroom
environment;
``(II) targeting professional development to a provider;
``(III) determining the need for health, mental health,
disability, developmental delay, or family support services;
``(IV) obtaining information for the quality improvement
process at the State level; or
``(V) conducting a program evaluation for the purposes of
providing program improvement and parent information.

``(iv) No federal control.--Nothing in this section shall
be construed to authorize an officer or employee of the
Federal Government to--

``(I) mandate, direct, control, or place conditions
(outside of what is required by this subchapter) around
adopting a State's early learning and developmental
guidelines developed in accordance with this section;
``(II) establish any criterion that specifies, defines,
prescribes, or places conditions (outside of what is required
by this subchapter) on a State adopting standards or measures
that a State uses to establish, implement, or improve such
guidelines, related accountability systems, or alignment of
such guidelines with education standards; or
``(III) require a State to submit such guidelines for
review.

``(U) Disaster preparedness.--
``(i) In general.--The plan shall demonstrate the manner in
which the State will address the needs of children in child
care services provided through programs authorized under this
subchapter, including the need for safe child care, for the
period before, during, and after a state of emergency
declared by the Governor or a major disaster or emergency (as
such terms are defined in section 102 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5122)).
``(ii) Statewide child care disaster plan.--Such plan shall
include a statewide child care disaster plan for coordination
of activities and collaboration, in the event of an emergency
or disaster described in clause (i), among the State agency
with jurisdiction over human services, the agency with
jurisdiction over State emergency planning, the State lead
agency, the State agency with jurisdiction over licensing of
child care providers, the local resource and referral
organizations, the State resource and referral system, and
the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and
Care as provided for under section 642B(b) of the Head Start
Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)).
``(iii) Disaster plan components.--The components of the
disaster plan, for such an emergency or disaster, shall
include--

``(I) evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lock-
down procedures, and procedures for communication and
reunification with families, continuity of operations, and
accommodation of infants and toddlers, children with
disabilities, and children with chronic medical conditions;
``(II) guidelines for the continuation of child care
services in the period following the emergency or disaster,
which may include the provision of emergency and temporary
child care services, and temporary operating standards for
child care providers during that period; and
``(III) procedures for staff and volunteer emergency
preparedness training and practice drills.

``(V) Business technical assistance.--The plan shall
describe how the State will develop and implement strategies
to strengthen the business practices of child care providers
to expand the supply, and improve the quality of, child care
services.'';
(3) in paragraph (3)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``as required under''
and inserting ``in accordance with'';
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) by striking ``The State'' and inserting the following:
``(i) In general.--The State'';
(ii) by striking ``and any other activity that the State
deems appropriate to realize any of the goals specified in
paragraphs (2) through (5) of section 658A(b)'' and inserting
``activities that improve access to child care services,
including the use of procedures to permit enrollment (after
an initial eligibility determination) 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
homeless families, and any other activity that the State
determines to be appropriate to meet the purposes of this
subchapter (which may include an activity described in clause
(ii))''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Report by the assistant secretary for children and
families.--

``(I) In general.--Not later than September 30 of the first
full fiscal year after the date of enactment of the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, and September
30 of each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary (acting
through the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of
the Department of Health and Human Services) shall prepare a
report that contains a determination about whether each State
uses amounts provided to such State for the fiscal year
involved under this subchapter in accordance with the
priority for services described in clause (i).
``(II) Penalty for noncompliance.--For any fiscal year that
the report of the Secretary described in subclause (I)
indicates that a State has failed to give priority for
services in accordance with clause (i), the Secretary shall--

``(aa) inform the State that the State has until the date
that is 6 months after the Secretary has issued such report
to fully comply with clause (i);
``(bb) provide the State an opportunity to modify the State
plan of such State, to make the plan consistent with the
requirements of clause (i), and resubmit such State plan to
the Secretary not later than the date described in item (aa);
and
``(cc) if the State does not fully comply with clause (i)
and item (bb), by the date described in item (aa), withhold 5
percent of the funds that would otherwise be allocated to
that State in accordance with this subchapter for the first
full fiscal year after that date.

``(III) Waiver for extraordinary circumstances.--
Notwithstanding subclause (II) the Secretary may grant a
waiver to a State for one year to the penalty applied in
subclause (II) if the Secretary determines there are
extraordinary circumstances, such as a natural disaster, that
prevent the State from complying with clause (i). If the
Secretary does grant a waiver to a State under this section,
the Secretary shall, within 30

[[Page H7469]]

days of granting such waiver, submit a report to the
appropriate congressional committees on the circumstances of
the waiver including the stated reason from the State on the
need for a waiver, the expected impact of the waiver on
children served under this program, and any such other
relevant information the Secretary deems necessary.

``(iii) Child care resource and referral system.--

``(I) In general.--A State may use amounts described in
clause (i) to establish or support a system of local or
regional child care resource and referral organizations that
is coordinated, to the extent determined appropriate by the
State, by a statewide public or private nonprofit, community-
based or regionally based, lead child care resource and
referral organization.
``(II) Local or regional organizations.--The local or
regional child care resource and referral organizations
supported as described in subclause (I) shall--

``(aa) provide parents in the State with consumer education
information referred to in paragraph (2)(E) (except as
otherwise provided in that paragraph), concerning the full
range of child care options (including faith-based and
community-based child care providers), analyzed by provider,
including child care provided during nontraditional hours and
through emergency child care centers, in their political
subdivisions or regions;
``(bb) to the extent practicable, work directly with
families who receive assistance under this subchapter to
offer the families support and assistance, using information
described in item (aa), to make an informed decision about
which child care providers they will use, in an effort to
ensure that the families are enrolling their children in the
most appropriate child care setting to suit their needs and
one that is of high quality (as determined by the State);
``(cc) collect data and provide information on the
coordination of services and supports, including services
under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431, et seq.), for
children with disabilities (as defined in section 602 of such
Act (20 U.S.C. 1401));
``(dd) collect data and provide information on the supply
of and demand for child care services in political
subdivisions or regions within the State and submit such
information to the State;
``(ee) work to establish partnerships with public agencies
and private entities, including faith-based and community-
based child care providers, to increase the supply and
quality of child care services in the State; and
``(ff) as appropriate, coordinate their activities with the
activities of the State lead agency and local agencies that
administer funds made available in accordance with this
subchapter.'';
(C) in subparagraph (D)--
(i) by striking ``1997 through 2002)'' and inserting ``2015
through 2020''; and
(ii) by striking ``other than families described in
paragraph (2)(H)'' and inserting ``including or in addition
to families with children described in clause (i), (ii),
(iii), or (iv) of paragraph (2)(M)''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) Direct services.--From amounts provided to a State
for a fiscal year to carry out this subchapter, the State
shall--
``(i) reserve the minimum amount required to be reserved
under section 658G, and the funds for costs described in
subparagraph (C); and
``(ii) from the remainder, use not less than 70 percent to
fund direct services (provided by the State) in accordance
with paragraph (2)(A).'';
(4) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
``(4) Payment rates.--
``(A) In general.--The State plan shall certify that
payment rates for the provision of child care services for
which assistance is provided in accordance with this
subchapter are sufficient to ensure equal access for eligible
children to child care services that are comparable to child
care services in the State or substate area involved that are
provided to children whose parents are not eligible to
receive assistance under this subchapter or to receive child
care assistance under any other Federal or State program, and
shall provide a summary of the facts relied on by the State
to determine that such rates are sufficient to ensure such
access.
``(B) Survey.--The State plan shall--
``(i) demonstrate that the State has, after consulting with
the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and
Care designated or established in section 642B(b)(1)(A)(i) of
the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i)), local child
care program administrators, local child care resource and
referral agencies, and other appropriate entities, developed
and conducted (not earlier than 2 years before the date of
the submission of the application containing the State plan)
a statistically valid and reliable survey of the market rates
for child care services in the State (that reflects
variations in the cost of child care services by geographic
area, type of provider, and age of child) or an alternative
methodology, such as a cost estimation model, that has been
developed by the State lead agency;
``(ii) demonstrate that the State prepared a detailed
report containing the results of the State market rates
survey or alternative methodology conducted pursuant to
clause (i), and made the results of the survey or alternative
methodology widely available (not later than 30 days after
the completion of such survey or alternative methodology)
through periodic means, including posting the results on the
Internet;
``(iii) describe how the State will set payment rates for
child care services, for which assistance is provided in
accordance with this subchapter--

``(I) in accordance with the results of the market rates
survey or alternative methodology conducted pursuant to
clause (i);
``(II) taking into consideration the cost of providing
higher quality child care services than were provided under
this subchapter before the date of enactment of the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014; and
``(III) without, to the extent practicable, reducing the
number of families in the State receiving such assistance to
carry out this subchapter, relative to the number of such
families on the date of enactment of that Act; and

``(iv) describe how the State will provide for timely
payment for child care services provided under this
subchapter.
``(C) Construction.--
``(i) No private right of action.--Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to create a private right of
action if the State acted in accordance with this paragraph.
``(ii) No prohibition of certain different rates.--Nothing
in this subchapter shall be construed to prevent a State from
differentiating the payment rates described in subparagraph
(B)(iii) on the basis of such factors as--

``(I) geographic location of child care providers (such as
location in an urban or rural area);
``(II) the age or particular needs of children (such as the
needs of children with disabilities and children served by
child protective services);
``(III) whether the providers provide child care services
during weekend and other nontraditional hours; or
``(IV) the State's determination that such differentiated
payment rates may enable a parent to choose high-quality
child care that best fits the parent's needs.''; and

(5) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``(that is not a barrier
to families receiving assistance under this subchapter)''
after ``cost sharing''.
(c) Technical Amendment.--Section 658F(b)(2) of the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9858d(b)(2)) is amended by striking ``section 658E(c)(2)(F)''
and inserting ``section 658E(c)(2)(I)''.

SEC. 6. ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CHILD CARE.

Section 658G of the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 658G. ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CHILD CARE.

``(a) Reservation.--
``(1) Reservation for activities relating to the quality of
child care services.--A State that receives funds to carry
out this subchapter for a fiscal year referred to in
paragraph (2) shall reserve and use a portion of such funds,
in accordance with paragraph (2), for activities provided
directly, or through grants or contracts with local child
care resource and referral organizations or other appropriate
entities, that are designed to improve the quality of child
care services and increase parental options for, and access
to, high-quality child care, and is in alignment with a
Statewide assessment of the State's needs to carry out such
services and care, provided in accordance with this
subchapter.
``(2) Amount of reservations.--Such State shall reserve and
use--
``(A) to carry out the activities described in paragraph
(1), not less than--
``(i) 7 percent of the funds described in paragraph (1),
for the first and second full fiscal years after the date of
enactment of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
of 2014;
``(ii) 8 percent of such funds for the third and fourth
full fiscal years after the date of enactment; and
``(iii) 9 percent of such funds for the fifth and each
succeeding full fiscal year after the date of enactment; and
``(B) in addition to the funds reserved under subparagraph
(A), 3 percent of the funds described in paragraph (1)
received not later than the second full fiscal year after the
date of enactment and received for each succeeding full
fiscal year, to carry out the activities described in
paragraph (1) and subsection (b)(4), as such activities
relate to the quality of care for infants and toddlers.
``(3) State reservation amount.--Nothing in this subsection
shall preclude the State from reserving a larger percentage
of funds to carry out the activities described in paragraph
(1) and subsection (b).
``(b) Activities.--Funds reserved under subsection (a)
shall be used to carry out no fewer than one of the following
activities that will improve the quality of child care
services provided in the State:
``(1) Supporting the training and professional development
of the child care workforce through activities such as those
included under section 658E(c)(2)(G), in addition to--
``(A) offering training and professional development
opportunities for child care providers that relate to the use
of scientifically-based, developmentally-appropriate and age-
appropriate strategies to promote the social, emotional,
physical, and cognitive development of children, including
those related to

[[Page H7470]]

nutrition and physical activity, and offering specialized
training for child care providers caring for those
populations prioritized in section 658E(c)(2)(Q), and
children with disabilities;
``(B) incorporating the effective use of data to guide
program improvement;
``(C) including effective behavior management strategies
and training, including positive behavior interventions and
support models, that promote positive social and emotional
development and reduce challenging behaviors, including
reducing expulsions of preschool-aged children for such
behaviors;
``(E) providing training and outreach on engaging parents
and families in culturally and linguistically appropriate
ways to expand their knowledge, skills, and capacity to
become meaningful partners in supporting their children's
positive development;
``(F) providing training corresponding to the nutritional
and physical activity needs of children to promote healthy
development;
``(G) providing training or professional development for
child care providers regarding the early neurological
development of children; and
``(H) connecting child care staff members of child care
providers with available Federal and State financial aid, or
other resources, that would assist child care staff members
in pursuing relevant postsecondary training.
``(2) Improving upon the development or implementation of
the early learning and developmental guidelines described in
section 658E(c)(2)(T) by providing technical assistance to
eligible child care providers that enhances the cognitive,
physical, social and emotional development, including early
childhood development, of participating preschool and school-
aged children and supports their overall well-being.
``(3) Developing, implementing, or enhancing a tiered
quality rating system for child care providers and services,
which may--
``(A) support and assess the quality of child care
providers in the State;
``(B) build on State licensing standards and other State
regulatory standards for such providers;
``(C) be designed to improve the quality of different types
of child care providers and services;
``(D) describe the safety of child care facilities;
``(E) build the capacity of State early childhood programs
and communities to promote parents' and families'
understanding of the State's early childhood system and the
ratings of the programs in which the child is enrolled;
``(F) provide, to the maximum extent practicable, financial
incentives and other supports designed to expand the full
diversity of child care options and help child care providers
improve the quality of services; and
``(G) accommodate a variety of distinctive approaches to
early childhood education and care, including but not limited
to, those practiced in faith-based settings, community-based
settings, child-centered settings, or similar settings that
offer a distinctive approach to early childhood development.
``(4) Improving the supply and quality of child care
programs and services for infants and toddlers through
activities, which may include--
``(A) establishing or expanding high-quality community or
neighborhood-based family and child development centers,
which may serve as resources to child care providers in order
to improve the quality of early childhood services provided
to infants and toddlers from low-income families and to help
eligible child care providers improve their capacity to offer
high-quality, age-appropriate care to infants and toddlers
from low-income families;
``(B) establishing or expanding the operation of community
or neighborhood-based family child care networks;
``(C) promoting and expanding child care providers' ability
to provide developmentally appropriate services for infants
and toddlers through training and professional development;
coaching and technical assistance on this age group's unique
needs from statewide networks of qualified infant-toddler
specialists; and improved coordination with early
intervention specialists who provide services for infants and
toddlers with disabilities under part C of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.);
``(D) if applicable, developing infant and toddler
components within the State's quality rating system described
in paragraph (3) for child care providers for infants and
toddlers, or the development of infant and toddler components
in a State's child care licensing regulations or early
learning and development guidelines;
``(E) improving the ability of parents to access
transparent and easy to understand consumer information about
high-quality infant and toddler care; and
``(F) carrying out other activities determined by the State
to improve the quality of infant and toddler care provided in
the State, and for which there is evidence that the
activities will lead to improved infant and toddler health
and safety, infant and toddler cognitive and physical
development, or infant and toddler well-being, including
providing health and safety training (including training in
safe sleep practices, first aid, and cardiopulmonary
resuscitation) for providers and caregivers.
``(5) Establishing or expanding a statewide system of child
care resource and referral services.
``(6) Facilitating compliance with State requirements for
inspection, monitoring, training, and health and safety, and
with State licensing standards.
``(7) Evaluating and assessing the quality and
effectiveness of child care programs and services offered in
the State, including evaluating how such programs positively
impact children.
``(8) Supporting child care providers in the voluntary
pursuit of accreditation by a national accrediting body with
demonstrated, valid, and reliable program standards of high
quality.
``(9) Supporting State or local efforts to develop or adopt
high-quality program standards relating to health, mental
health, nutrition, physical activity, and physical
development.
``(10) Carrying out other activities determined by the
State to improve the quality of child care services provided
in the State, and for which measurement of outcomes relating
to improved provider preparedness, child safety, child well-
being, or entry to kindergarten is possible.
``(c) Certification.--Beginning with fiscal year 2016, at
the beginning of each fiscal year, the State shall annually
submit to the Secretary a certification containing an
assurance that the State was in compliance with subsection
(a) during the preceding fiscal year and a description of how
the State used funds received under this subchapter to comply
with subsection (a) during that preceding fiscal year.
``(d) Reporting Requirements.--Each State receiving funds
under this subchapter shall prepare and submit an annual
report to the Secretary, which shall include information
about--
``(1) the amount of funds that are reserved under
subsection (a);
``(2) the activities carried out under this section; and
``(3) the measures that the State will use to evaluate the
State's progress in improving the quality of child care
programs and services in the State.
``(e) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary shall offer
technical assistance, in accordance with section 658I(a)(3),
which may include technical assistance through the use of
grants or cooperative agreements, to States for the
activities described in subsection (b) at the request of the
State.
``(f) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed as providing the Secretary the authority to
regulate, direct, dictate, or place conditions (outside of
what is required by this subchapter) on a State adopting
specific State child care quality activities or progress in
implementing those activities.''.

SEC. 7. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section
658G the following:

``SEC. 658H. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS.

``(a) In General.--A State that receives funds to carry out
this subchapter shall have in effect--
``(1) requirements, policies, and procedures to require and
conduct criminal background checks for child care staff
members (including prospective child care staff members) of
child care providers described in subsection (c)(1); and
``(2) licensing, regulation, and registration requirements,
as applicable, that prohibit the employment of child care
staff members as described in subsection (c).
``(b) Requirements.--A criminal background check for a
child care staff member under subsection (a) shall include--
``(1) a search of the State criminal and sex offender
registry or repository in the State where the child care
staff member resides, and each State where such staff member
resided during the preceding 5 years;
``(2) a search of State-based child abuse and neglect
registries and databases in the State where the child care
staff member resides, and each State where such staff member
resided during the preceding 5 years;
``(3) a search of the National Crime Information Center;
``(4) a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint check
using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification
System; and
``(5) a search of the National Sex Offender Registry
established under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety
Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.).
``(c) Prohibitions.--
``(1) Child care staff members.--A child care staff member
shall be ineligible for employment by a child care provider
that is receiving assistance under this subchapter if such
individual--
``(A) refuses to consent to the criminal background check
described in subsection (b);
``(B) knowingly makes a materially false statement in
connection with such criminal background check;
``(C) is registered, or is required to be registered, on a
State sex offender registry or repository or the National Sex
Offender Registry established under the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.);
or
``(D) has been convicted of a felony consisting of--
``(i) murder, as described in section 1111 of title 18,
United States Code;
``(ii) child abuse or neglect;
``(iii) a crime against children, including child
pornography;

[[Page H7471]]

``(iv) spousal abuse;
``(v) a crime involving rape or sexual assault;
``(vi) kidnapping;
``(vii) arson;
``(viii) physical assault or battery; or
``(ix) subject to subsection (e)(4), a drug-related offense
committed during the preceding 5 years; or
``(E) has been convicted of a violent misdemeanor committed
as an adult against a child, including the following crimes:
child abuse, child endangerment, sexual assault, or of a
misdemeanor involving child pornography.
``(2) Child care providers.--A child care provider
described in subsection (i)(1) shall be ineligible for
assistance provided in accordance with this subchapter if the
provider employs a staff member who is ineligible for
employment under paragraph (1).
``(d) Submission of Requests for Background Checks.--
``(1) In general.--A child care provider covered by
subsection (c) shall submit a request, to the appropriate
State agency designated by a State, for a criminal background
check described in subsection (b), for each child care staff
member (including prospective child care staff members) of
the provider.
``(2) Staff members.--Subject to paragraph (4), in the case
of an individual who became a child care staff member before
the date of enactment of the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 2014, the provider shall submit such a request--
``(A) prior to the last day described in subsection (j)(1);
and
``(B) not less often than once during each 5-year period
following the first submission date under this paragraph for
that staff member.
``(3) Prospective staff members.--Subject to paragraph (4),
in the case of an individual who is a prospective child care
staff member on or after that date of enactment, the provider
shall submit such a request--
``(A) prior to the date the individual becomes a child care
staff member of the provider; and
``(B) not less than once during each 5-year period
following the first submission date under this paragraph for
that staff member.
``(4) Background check for another child care provider.--A
child care provider shall not be required to submit a request
under paragraph (2) or (3) for a child care staff member if--
``(A) the staff member received a background check
described in subsection (b)--
``(i) within 5 years before the latest date on which such a
submission may be made; and
``(ii) while employed by or seeking employment by another
child care provider within the State;
``(B) the State provided to the first provider a qualifying
background check result, consistent with this subchapter, for
the staff member; and
``(C) the staff member is employed by a child care provider
within the State, or has been separated from employment from
a child care provider within the State for a period of not
more than 180 consecutive days.
``(e) Background Check Results and Appeals.--
``(1) Background check results.--The State shall carry out
the request of a child care provider for a criminal
background check as expeditiously as possible, but not to
exceed 45 days after the date on which such request was
submitted, and shall provide the results of the criminal
background check to such provider and to the current or
prospective staff member.
``(2) Privacy.--
``(A) In general.--The State shall provide the results of
the criminal background check to the provider in a statement
that indicates whether a child care staff member (including a
prospective child care staff member) is eligible or
ineligible for employment described in subsection (c),
without revealing any disqualifying crime or other related
information regarding the individual.
``(B) Ineligible staff member.--If the child care staff
member is ineligible for such employment due to the
background check, the State will, when providing the results
of the background check, include information related to each
disqualifying crime, in a report to the staff member or
prospective staff member.
``(C) Public release of results.--No State shall publicly
release or share the results of individual background checks,
except States may release aggregated data by crime as listed
under subsection (c)(1)(D) from background check results, as
long as such data is not personally identifiable information.
``(3) Appeals.--
``(A) In general.--The State shall provide for a process by
which a child care staff member (including a prospective
child care staff member) may appeal the results of a criminal
background check conducted under this section to challenge
the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in
such member's criminal background report.
``(B) Appeals process.--The State shall ensure that--
``(i) each child care staff member shall be given notice of
the opportunity to appeal;
``(ii) a child care staff member will receive instructions
about how to complete the appeals process if the child care
staff member wishes to challenge the accuracy or completeness
of the information contained in such member's criminal
background report; and
``(iii) the appeals process is completed in a timely manner
for each child care staff member.
``(4) Review.--The State may allow for a review process
through which the State may determine that a child care staff
member (including a prospective child care staff member)
disqualified for a crime specified in subsection
(c)(1)(D)(ix) is eligible for employment described in
subsection (c)(1), notwithstanding subsection (c). The review
process shall be consistent with title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.).
``(5) No private right of action.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed to create a private right of action if a
provider has acted in accordance with this section.
``(f) Fees for Background Checks.--Fees that a State may
charge for the costs of processing applications and
administering a criminal background check as required by this
section shall not exceed the actual costs to the State for
the processing and administration.
``(g) Transparency.--The State must ensure that the
policies and procedures under section 658H are published on
the Web site (or otherwise publicly available venue in the
absence of a Web site) of the State and the Web sites of
local lead agencies.
``(h) Construction.--
``(1) Disqualification for other crimes.--Nothing in this
section shall be construed to prevent a State from
disqualifying individuals as child care staff members based
on their conviction for crimes not specifically listed in
this section that bear upon the fitness of an individual to
provide care for and have responsibility for the safety and
well-being of children.
``(2) Rights and remedies.--Nothing in this section shall
be construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights and
remedies provided for child care staff members residing in a
State that disqualifies individuals as child care staff
members for crimes not specifically provided for under this
section.
``(i) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `child care provider' means a center-based
child care provider, a family child care provider, or another
provider of child care services for compensation and on a
regular basis that--
``(A) is not an individual who is related to all children
for whom child care services are provided; and
``(B) is licensed, regulated, or registered under State law
or receives assistance provided under this subchapter; and
``(2) the term `child care staff member' means an
individual (other than an individual who is related to all
children for whom child care services are provided)--
``(A) who is employed by a child care provider for
compensation; or
``(B) whose activities involve the care or supervision of
children for a child care provider or unsupervised access to
children who are cared for or supervised by a child care
provider.
``(j) Effective Date.--
``(1) In general.--A State that receives funds under this
subchapter shall meet the requirements of this section for
the provision of criminal background checks for child care
staff members described in subsection (d)(1) not later than
the last day of the second full fiscal year after the date of
enactment of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
of 2014.
``(2) Extension.--The Secretary may grant a State an
extension of time, of not more than 1 fiscal year, to meet
the requirements of this section if the State demonstrates a
good faith effort to comply with the requirements of this
section.
``(3) Penalty for noncompliance.--Except as provided in
paragraphs (1) and (2), for any fiscal year that a State
fails to comply substantially with the requirements of this
section, the Secretary shall withhold 5 percent of the funds
that would otherwise be allocated to that State in accordance
with this subchapter for the following fiscal year.''.

SEC. 8. REPORTS AND INFORMATION.

(a) Administration.--Section 658I(a) of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858g(a)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by inserting a comma after ``publish''; and
(B) by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
``(3) provide technical assistance, such as business
technical assistance, as described in section 658E(c)(2)(V),
to States (which may include providing assistance on a
reimbursable basis) which shall be provided by qualified
experts on practices grounded in scientifically valid
research, where appropriate, to carry out this subchapter;'';
and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) disseminate, for voluntary informational purposes,
information on practices that scientifically valid research
indicates are most successful in improving the quality of
programs that receive assistance with this subchapter; and
``(5) after consultation with the heads of any other
Federal agencies involved, issue guidance and disseminate
information on best practices regarding the use of funding
combined by States as described in section 658E(c)(2)(O)(ii),
consistent with laws other than this subchapter.''.
(b) Request For Relief.--Section 658I of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858g), as
amended by

[[Page H7472]]

subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end of
the following:
``(c) Request for Relief.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may waive for a period of
not more than three years any provision under this subchapter
or sanctions imposed upon a State in accordance with
subsection (b)(2) upon the State's request for such a waiver
if the Secretary finds that--
``(A) the request describes one or more conflicting or
duplicative requirements preventing the effective delivery of
child care services to justify a waiver, extraordinary
circumstances, such as natural disaster or financial crisis,
or an extended period of time for a State legislature to
enact legislation to implement the provisions of this
subchapter;
``(B) such circumstances included in the request prevent
the State from complying with any statutory or regulatory
requirements of this subchapter;
``(C) the waiver will, by itself, contribute to or enhance
the State's ability to carry out the purposes of this
subchapter; and,
``(D) the waiver will not contribute to inconsistency with
the objectives of this law.
``(2) Contents.--Such request shall be provided to the
Secretary in writing and will--
``(A) detail each sanction or provision within this
subchapter that the State seeks relief from;
``(B) describe how a waiver from that sanction or provision
of this subchapter will, by itself, improve delivery of child
care services for children in the State; and
``(C) certify that the health, safety, and well-being of
children served through assistance received under this
subchapter will not be compromised as a result of the waiver.
``(3) Approval.--Within 90 days after the receipt of a
State's request under this subsection, the Secretary shall
inform the State of approval or disapproval of the request.
If the plan is disapproved, the Secretary shall, at this
time, inform the State, the Committee on Education and the
Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the Committee
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate of
the reasons for the disapproval and give the State the
opportunity to amend the request. In the case of approval,
the Secretary shall, within 30 days of granting such waiver,
notify and submit a report to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate on the circumstances of the waiver including each
specific sanction or provision waived, the reason as given by
the State of the need for a waiver, and the expected impact
of the waiver on children served under this program.
``(4) External conditions.--The Secretary shall not require
or impose any new or additional requirements in exchange for
receipt of a waiver if such requirements are not specified in
this subchapter.
``(5) Duration.--The Secretary may approve a request under
this subsection for a period not to exceed three years,
unless a renewal is granted under paragraph (7).
``(6) Termination.--The Secretary shall terminate approval
of a request for a waiver authorized under this subsection if
the Secretary determines, after notice and opportunity for a
hearing, that the performance of a State granted relief under
this subsection has been inadequate, or if such relief is no
longer necessary to achieve its original purposes.
``(7) Renewal.--The Secretary may approve or disapprove a
request from a State for renewal of an existing waiver under
this subchapter for a period no longer than one year. A State
seeking to renew their waiver approval must inform the
Secretary of this intent no later than 30 days prior to the
expiration date of the waiver. The State shall re-certify in
its extension request the provisions in paragraph (2) of this
subchapter, and shall also explain the need for additional
time of relief from such sanction(s) or provisions approved
under this law as provided in this subchapter.
``(8) Restrictions.--Nothing in this subchapter shall be
construed as providing the Secretary the authority to permit
States to alter the eligibility requirements for eligible
children, including work requirements, job training, or
educational program participation, that apply to the parents
of eligible children under this subchapter. Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to allow the Secretary to waive
anything related to his or her authority under this
subchapter.''.
(c) Reports.--Section 658K(a) of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i(a)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)--
(A) in clause (ix), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in clause (x), by striking the semicolon at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(xi) whether the children receiving assistance under this
subchapter are homeless children;''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``December 31, 1997'' and all that follows through
``thereafter'', and inserting ``1 year after the date of the
enactment of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
of 2014, and annually thereafter,'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``section 658P(5)''
and inserting ``section 658P(6)'';
(C) in subparagraph (E) by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(F) the number of child fatalities occurring among
children while in the care and facility of child care
providers receiving assistance under this subchapter, listed
by type of child care provider and indicating whether the
providers (excluding child care providers described in
section 658P(6)(B)) are licensed or license-exempt.''.
(d) Report by Secretary.--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 and inserting the
following:

``SEC. 658L. REPORTS, HOTLINE, AND WEB SITE.'';

(2) by striking ``Not later'' and inserting the following:
``(a) Report by Secretary.--Not later'';
(3) by striking ``1998'' and inserting ``2016'';
(4) by striking ``to the Committee'' and all that follows
through ``of the Senate'' and inserting ``to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
of the Senate'';
(5) by inserting after ``States.'' the following:

``Such report shall contain a determination around whether
each State that uses amounts provided under this subchapter
has complied with the priority for services described in
sections 658E(c)(2)(Q) and 658E(c)(3)(B).''; and
(6) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) National Toll-Free Hotline and Web Site.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall operate, directly or
through the use of grants or contracts, a national toll-free
hotline and Web site, to--
``(A) develop and disseminate publicly available child care
consumer education information for parents and help parents
access safe and quality child care services in their
community, with a range of price options, that best suits
their family's needs; and
``(B) to allow persons to report (anonymously if desired)
suspected child abuse or neglect, or violations of health and
safety requirements, by an eligible child care provider that
receives assistance under this subchapter or a member of the
provider's staff.
``(2) Requirements.--The Secretary shall ensure that the
hotline and Web site meet the following requirements:
``(A) Referral to local child care providers.--The Web site
shall be hosted by `childcare.gov'. The Web site shall enable
a child care consumer to enter a zip code and obtain a
referral to local child care providers described in
subparagraph (B) within a specified search radius.
``(B) Information.--The Web site shall provide to
consumers, directly or through linkages to State databases,
at a minimum--
``(i) a localized list of all eligible child care
providers, differentiating between licensed and license-
exempt providers;
``(ii) any provider-specific information from a Quality
Rating and Improvement System or information about other
quality indicators, to the extent the information is publicly
available and to the extent practicable;
``(iii) any other provider-specific information about
compliance with licensing, and health and safety requirements
to the extent the information is publicly available and to
the extent practicable;
``(iv) referrals to local resource and referral
organizations from which consumers can find more information
about child care providers; and
``(v) State information about child care subsidy programs
and other financial supports available to families.
``(C) Nationwide capacity.--The Web site and hotline shall
have the capacity to help families in every State and
community in the Nation.
``(D) Information at all hours.--The Web site shall
provide, to parents and families, access to information about
child care services 24 hours a day.
``(E) Services in different languages.--The Web site and
hotline shall ensure the widest possible access to services
for families who speak languages other than English.
``(F) High-quality consumer education and referral.--The
Web site and hotline shall ensure that families have access
to easy-to-understand child care consumer education and
referral services.
``(3) Prohibition.--Nothing in this subsection shall be
construed to allow the Secretary to compel States to provide
additional data and information that is currently (as of the
date of enactment of the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 2014) not publicly available, or is not required
by this subchapter, unless such additional data are related
to the purposes and scope of this subchapter, and are subject
to a notice and comment period of no less than 90 days.''.
(e) Protection of Information.--Section 658K(a)(1) of the
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9858i(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(E) Prohibition.--Reports submitted to the Secretary
under subparagraph (C) shall not contain personally
identifiable information.''.

SEC. 9. RESERVATION FOR TOLL-FREE HOTLINE AND WEB SITE;
PAYMENTS TO BENEFIT INDIAN CHILDREN; TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE AND EVALUATION.

Section 658O of the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m) is amended--

[[Page H7473]]

(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting the
following:
``(A) In general.--The Secretary'';
(ii) by striking ``1 percent, and not more than 2
percent,'' and inserting ``2 percent''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Limitations.--Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the
Secretary shall only reserve an amount that is greater than 2
percent of the amount appropriated under section 658B, for
payments described in subparagraph (A), for a fiscal year
(referred to in this subparagraph as the `reservation year')
if --
``(i) the amount appropriated under section 658B for the
reservation year is greater than the amount appropriated
under section 658B for fiscal year 2014; and
``(ii) the Secretary ensures that the amount allotted to
States under subsection (b) for the reservation year is not
less than the amount allotted to States under subsection (b)
for fiscal year 2014.''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) National toll-free hotline and web site.--The
Secretary shall reserve up to $1,500,000 of the amount
appropriated under this subchapter for each fiscal year for
the operation of a national toll-free hotline and Web site,
under section 658L(b).
``(4) Technical assistance.--The Secretary shall reserve up
to \1/2\ of 1 percent of the amount appropriated under this
subchapter for each fiscal year to support technical
assistance and dissemination activities under paragraphs (3)
and (4) of section 658I(a).
``(5) Research, demonstration, and evaluation.--The
Secretary may reserve \1/2\ of 1 percent of the amount
appropriated under this subchapter for each fiscal year to
conduct research and demonstration activities, as well as
periodic external, independent evaluations of the impact of
the program described by this subchapter on increasing access
to child care services and improving the safety and quality
of child care services, using scientifically valid research
methodologies, and to disseminate the key findings of those
evaluations widely and on a timely basis.''; and
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following:
``(D) Licensing and standards.--In lieu of any licensing
and regulatory requirements applicable under State or local
law, the Secretary, in consultation with Indian tribes and
tribal organizations, shall develop minimum child care
standards that shall be applicable to Indian tribes and
tribal organizations receiving assistance under this
subchapter. Such standards shall appropriately reflect Indian
tribe and tribal organization needs and available resources,
and shall include standards requiring a publicly available
application, health and safety standards, and standards
requiring a reservation of funds for activities to improve
the quality of child care services provided to Indian
children.''; and
(B) in paragraph (6), by striking subparagraph (C) and
inserting the following:
``(C) Limitation.--
``(i) In general.--Except as provided in clause (ii), the
Secretary may not permit an Indian tribe or tribal
organization to use amounts provided under this subsection
for construction or renovation if the use will result in a
decrease in the level of child care services provided by the
Indian tribe or tribal organization as compared to the level
of child care services provided by the Indian tribe or tribal
organization in the fiscal year preceding the year for which
the determination under subparagraph (B) is being made.
``(ii) Waiver.--The Secretary shall waive the limitation
described in clause (i) if--

``(I) the Secretary determines that the decrease in the
level of child care services provided by the Indian tribe or
tribal organization is temporary; and
``(II) the Indian tribe or tribal organization submits to
the Secretary a plan that demonstrates that after the date on
which the construction or renovation is completed--

``(aa) the level of child care services will increase; or
``(bb) the quality of child care services will improve.''.

SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

Section 658P of the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
``(3) Child with a disability.--The term `child with a
disability' means--
``(A) a child with a disability, as defined in section 602
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
1401);
``(B) a child who is eligible for early intervention
services under part C of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.);
``(C) a child who is less than 13 years of age and who is
eligible for services under section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); and
``(D) a child with a disability, as defined by the State
involved.
``(4) Eligible child.--The term `eligible child' means an
individual--
``(A) who is less than 13 years of age;
``(B) whose family income does not exceed 85 percent of the
State median income for a family of the same size, and whose
family assets do not exceed $1,000,000 (as certified by a
member of such family); and
``(C) who--
``(i) resides with a parent or parents who are working or
attending a job training or educational program; or
``(ii) is receiving, or needs to receive, protective
services and resides with a parent or parents not described
in clause (i).'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (9) as
paragraphs (6) through (10), respectively;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (4), the following:
``(5) English learner.--The term `English learner' means an
individual who is limited English proficient, as defined in
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) or section 637 of the Head Start Act
(42 U.S.C. 9832).'';
(4) in paragraph (6)(A), as redesignated by paragraph (2)--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``section 658E(c)(2)(E)''
and inserting ``section 658E(c)(2)(F)''; and
(B) in clause (ii), by striking ``section 658E(c)(2)(F)''
and inserting ``section 658E(c)(2)(I)'';
(5) in paragraph (9), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by
striking ``designated'' and all that follows and inserting
``designated or established under section 658D(a).'';
(6) in paragraph (10), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by
inserting ``, foster parent,'' after ``guardian'';
(7) by redesignating paragraphs (11) through (14) as
paragraphs (12) through (15), respectively; and
(8) by inserting after paragraph (10), as redesignated by
paragraph (2), the following:
``(11) Scientifically valid research.--The term
`scientifically valid research' includes applied research,
basic research, and field-initiated research, for which the
rationale, design, and interpretation are soundly developed
in accordance with principles of scientific research.''.

SEC. 11. PARENTAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

Section 658Q of the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858o) is amended--
(1) by inserting before ``Nothing'' the following:
``(a) In General.--''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Parental Rights To Use Child Care Certificates.--
Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed in a manner--
``(1) to favor or promote the use of grants and contracts
for the receipt of child care services under this subchapter
over the use of child care certificates; or
``(2) to disfavor or discourage the use of such
certificates for the purchase of child care services,
including those services provided by private or nonprofit
entities, such as faith-based providers.''.

SEC. 12. STUDIES ON WAITING LISTS.

(a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States
shall conduct studies to determine, for each State, the
number of families that--
(1) are eligible to receive assistance under the Child Care
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et
seq.);
(2) have applied for the assistance, identified by the type
of assistance requested; and
(3) have been placed on a waiting list for the assistance.
(b) Report.--The Comptroller General shall prepare a report
containing the results of each study and shall submit the
report to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and
the Workforce of the House of Representatives--
(1) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act; and
(2) every 2 years thereafter.
(c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``State'' has
the meaning given the term in section 658P of the Child Care
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n).

SEC. 13. REVIEW OF FEDERAL EARLY LEARNING AND CARE PROGRAMS.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services, in conjunction with the Secretary of Education,
shall conduct an interdepartmental review of all early
learning and care programs for children less than 6 years of
age in order to--
(1) develop a plan for the elimination of overlapping
programs, as identified by the Government Accountability
Office's 2012 annual report (GAO-12-342SP); and
(2) make recommendations to Congress for streamlining all
such programs.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Education and
the heads of all Federal agencies that administer Federal
early learning and care programs, shall submit to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of
the House of Representatives, a detailed report that outlines
the efficiencies that can be achieved by, as well as specific
recommendations for, eliminating overlap and fragmentation
among all Federal early learning and care programs.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Kline) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.

General Leave

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may

[[Page H7474]]

have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on S. 1086.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Minnesota?
There was no objection.
Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 1086, the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014.
Mr. Speaker, across the country countless men and women are trying to
build a better life for their families. Some are working more for less
in order to make ends meet; others are pursuing a degree at a local
university or improving their skills at a nearby community college.
Whether going to work or school, most parents face a difficult
question: Who will care for my child? Is there a trusted child care
provider who will keep my son or daughter safe? And if there is, can I
afford it?
For nearly two decades, the Child Care and Development Block Grant
program has helped low-income families answer these tough questions.
The program funds State efforts to provide vulnerable families access
to child care. Parents receive assistance in the form of a voucher or
certificate to pay the child care provider of their choice.
Approximately 1.5 million children under the age of 13 are in a child
care arrangement funded through the program, including over 25,000
children in my home State of Minnesota. It is a vital safety net for
moms and dads trying to lift their families out of poverty.
At a hearing held earlier this year, one witness told the story of a
woman named Rita. Speaking of the Child Care and Development Block
Grant program, Rita said: ``These Federal investments were quite a
serious lifeline for me. I know where I came from, and I do not want to
go back.''
Rita's experience is shared by many Americans. Yet despite the
importance of the program, it has been almost 20 years since Congress
reformed the law. As with any Federal program left on autopilot,
problems will emerge, and this program is no different.
Poor coordination across related services and a lack of information
make it difficult for parents looking for the best provider to know the
full range of options. Perhaps most troubling, a patchwork of State
licensing, monitoring, and related safety requirements means some
children aren't protected like they should be.
These families deserve better, which is why I am proud to support
this important legislation. The bill before us includes a number of
commonsense reforms that will strengthen the program and our support of
these at-risk families.
For example, the legislation requires all participating child care
providers to undergo, at a minimum, an annual inspection to ensure
compliance with health, safety, and fire standards. The bill enhances
existing training for providers and their workers; so every child is
under the care of a well-trained professional.
The legislation also reins in the authority of the Secretary of
Health and Human Services to prevent this and future administrations
from writing onerous rules that would limit access to this important
service.
Mr. Speaker, we have a long way to go before every American enjoys
the opportunity and prosperity they and their family deserve. By
supporting this bipartisan legislation, we have a chance to help these
families succeed and set their children on the path to a bright future.
Before closing, I would like to recognize a number of my colleagues
who helped make this legislative achievement possible, including
Senators Tom Harkin and Lamar Alexander, the chairman and senior
Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Committee.
I would also like to thank the senior Democrat on the Education and
the Workforce Committee, George Miller, and Representatives Todd Rokita
and David Loebsack.
Last, but certainly not least, Senators Richard Burr and Barbara
Mikulski laid the foundation for the bipartisan, bicameral agreement we
are discussing today, and we are all grateful for their years of
dedication to this really important issue.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, we would not be here today were it not for the
hard work and dedication of our staff. I wish time permitted an
opportunity to recognize each and every one of them. We are forever
grateful for their service.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the motion to pass S. 1086, as
amended. This bill represents a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to
reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant, or CCDBG, which
is the largest funding source for child care programs. It has been
almost 20 years since this CCDBG was reauthorized, and working families
and young children should not have to wait any longer.
This block grant provides Federal resources to States to help low-
income families pay for child care while a parent works or is in an
educational or job training program. This program supports self-
sufficiency and promotes workforce stability.
Just as important, this funding offers children vital early learning
experiences that set them on a path toward success in school, in the
workforce, and the rest of their lives. However, the current law,
besides being outdated, has some limitations in ensuring low-income
children access to this important program.
For example, the law currently has very few specific requirements on
the quality of child care, and States have significant latitude to set
quality standards. This results in a great deal of low-quality child
care being funded. Recent research has found that about only one-third
of child care programs funded by the block grant is actually of good
quality.

{time} 1645

Access is another concern. Only one in six children eligible for the
program is actually enrolled.
This reauthorization seeks to address these problems by improving
child care access, making critical new investments, and helping to
ensure that children are safe and receive quality care.
For example, this bill increases the number of funds that States must
spend on activities to improve the quality of child care, including
care for infants and toddlers. It also requires States to conduct a
statewide assessment of their needs for quality improvement and to
align their quality initiatives with the results of that assessment.
The bill provides States with nearly a dozen proven initiatives that
they can deploy to improve quality, ranging from training and
professional development to quality rating systems and health and
nutrition policies.
The bill also adds State requirements on training and professional
development for child care providers, for child-to-staff ratios, annual
inspections for providers that receive Federal assistance, coordination
with other federally funded early childhood programs, the development
and maintenance of early learning and development guidelines, and
background checks to keep violent and sexual offenders away from our
Nation's children.
This bill expands the requirements for health and safety, and
consumer education, including funding for a toll free hotline and a Web
site to report suspected child abuse or safety violations.
This legislation also improves access to care by expanding the
eligibility of participating families to at least a year, regardless of
changes in their income or work schedules or training or educational
status. It prioritizes services for families with the lowest incomes.
It eases enrollment requirements for homeless children. It helps
families connect with quality programs and reduces expulsions from
early childhood learning programs by training providers about positive
behavior supports and interventions with young children. Finally, it
enhances the transparency of the cost of care.
This important legislative update to the CCDBG is long overdue.
Improvements made by this legislation are critical for millions of
children and their families, and for the future of our Nation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs.

[[Page H7475]]

McMorris Rodgers), the chairwoman of the Republican Conference and a
member of our leadership team.
Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, the ranking members,
and everyone on both sides for their tremendous work on this important
legislation.
Mr. Speaker, right before the August recess the Republican women of
the House joined together to highlight a family empowerment package, of
which this bill is a critical piece, and I am proud to stand here and
say that we are passing another bill in that agenda that empowers women
and families.
Women now make up nearly half of our workforce, and in many cases
they are the primary breadwinners and the heads of their households.
Yet so many of our labor laws and workplace laws were written at a
different time--at a time when very few women worked. As moms and dads
are seeking their way to get back to where they were after a stagnant
economic time, work and job training programs are so important. Moms
and dads across the country are still worried about paying their bills,
affording the costs needed at home, and securing their kids' futures.
They need help, and that is what this bill does.
It empowers and supports families who are seeking better lives for
their families. It allows them peace of mind about their children's
safety and well-being while they are at work, allowing parents to focus
on securing a better future. I urge my colleagues to support this
important legislation.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes
to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking
member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of Chairman Kline's amendment
in the nature of a substitute to S. 1086.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant, or the CCDBG, is an
indispensable resource for millions of children and families
nationwide. This enables parents to send their kids to safe, high-
quality, and affordable child care so they can work or attend training
programs or provide for their families. Meanwhile, the program helps
place children in the sorts of environments they need for healthy
growth and development.
However, it has been almost 20 years since last we updated this
program. In that time, we have learned that we need to do more to
ensure that children receive high-quality care in safe settings. That
is why this vote is so very important. That is why I am so pleased to
have reached bipartisan-bicameral consensus on this legislation.
I would like to thank all of the organizations for their support of
this legislation in the process of finalizing this legislation, which
has been done over the last several weeks. This bill is not on
suspension because it is unimportant; it is on suspension because we
recognize the urgency of getting this done this year, and we also
recognize a growing national bipartisan consensus about the value of
children being placed in high-quality, safe environments during their
early learning years.
I would like to include letters from the following organizations:
Save the Children; Child Care Aware of America; the National Women's
Law Center; the Center For Law and Social Policy; Zero to Three; the
Early Care and Education Consortium; the National Association for the
Education of Young Children; the Children's Defense Fund; the National
Education Association; and the American Federation of Teachers.

American Federation of Teachers,

Washington, DC, September 15, 2014.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the more than 1.6 million
members of the American Federation of Teachers--including
approximately 90,000 early childhood education professionals
who work in diverse settings, such as preschool classrooms,
family child care, child care centers, Head Start and Early
Head Start--I urge you to support, as amended, S. 1086, the
bipartisan Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of
2014.
The CCDBG helps low-income parents pay for child care so
they can work or pursue an education. S. 1086 guarantees a
family's child care eligibility for at least 12 months,
regardless of any fluctuation in income, job or education.
This offers a vital lifeline and a path to the middle class
for millions of families across the nation.
It has been nearly 20 years since the CCDBG was last
reauthorized. Since that time, early childhood education and
child care programs have been transformed by research on
child development. This bill reflects the advancement of this
knowledge and will truly modernize the program.
S. 1086 brings child care standards into this century by
focusing on the health and safety of children, and by giving
parents more confidence that their child is being well cared
for while they are at work or school. In addition, the bill
ensures our youngest and most vulnerable are safe by making
inspections annual and requiring that all providers and
employees obtain background checks and training before they
care for children. S. 1086 also makes all this information
more transparent and available to the public, especially to
parents and family members.
This bill acknowledges that a component of a high-quality
child care program includes having a workforce that is well-
prepared and well-trained. This bill requires states to
establish a professional development progression and dedicate
more funding for training, professional development and
advancement of the child care workforce. In particular, the
bill, as amended, also addresses the latest data on
expulsions from early education programs by requiring that
part of the staff training focuses on child behavioral
supports. The training and professional development
requirements not only will benefit educators and staff
working in child care, but also will have lasting, positive
effects for the children in their care and those children's
families.
However, while this bill is a significant first step toward
providing every child in our nation with a high-quality early
learning and care program, we know we can't do it right on
the cheap. Without the necessary federal resources to
implement these important health and safety standards and
trainings, states either will be unable to increase the
quality of child care and education or will simply have to
cut access to high-quality child care to children and
families that need it the most. States should not have to
choose between quality and access. We look forward to working
with Congress to pass this legislation and secure the
resources needed for its successful implementation.
Finally, we are equally committed to partnering with
Congress to expand high-quality early education for all
children from birth to kindergarten.
Thank you for your consideration of our views on this
matter. The AFT urges you to vote yes when S. 1086 comes to
the House floor.
Sincerely,
Randi Weingarten,
President.
____

Save the Children,

September 14, 2014.
Hon. John Kline,
Hon. George Miller,
House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Washington,
DC.
Dear Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Miller: On behalf of
Save the Children, the leading independent organization
dedicated to creating real and lasting change in the lives of
children in need in the United States and around the world,
we are proud to support your efforts to improve the safety,
health and quality of child care through the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 2014. As you well know, Save
the Children has dedicated nearly a century of service in
America to helping children affected by disasters. And we
have valued our tremendous partnership with you to make sure
children's safety in emergencies remains a priority--
particularly in the child care setting.
We support the proposed CCDBG improvements focused on
safety, health and quality improvements. In particular, with
69 million children separated from their parents every work
day, we support and commend your inclusion of the disaster
preparedness section and disaster plan components
Sec. 5(u)(iii) which are in line with the recommendations
from the National Commission on Children and Disasters which
serve as the basis for Save the Children's annual report card
on children and disasters, now in its seventh year.
We applaud your leadership on keeping children safe in
emergencies and thank you for all you have done and continue
to do to create lasting positive change in the lives of
children.
Sincerely,

Richard Bland,

National Director, Policy & Advocacy,
U.S. Programs, Save the Children.

[[Page H7476]]

Child Care Aware of America,

ChildCare Aware of Virginia,

Richmond, VA, September 15, 2014.
Hon. George Miller,
Ranking Member, U.S. House Education and the Workforce
Committee, Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Miller: As Executive Director of Child
Care Aware of Virginia, a nonprofit statewide child care
resource and referral network, I am writing to thank you and
to express full support for the bipartisan, bicameral
legislation to reauthorize the Child Care and Development
Block Grant (CCDBG).
As an organization that works every day to assist parents
in finding child care and to assist child care providers in
offering quality child care settings, I see first-hand both
the demand for and the need for quality child care. Over
Labor Day weekend, the Washington Post ran several stories
about the deaths of 60 children in child care in Virginia, 43
in unlicensed care over the past several years. When any
child dies it is certainly a tragedy, but it is a double
tragedy when you know that the deaths could be prevented by
better training for child care providers and more oversight
from states.
The bicameral, bipartisan, Child Care and Development Block
Grant Reauthorization Act will combine important safety
protections for children in child care with more
accountability for the expenditure of public dollars.
I commend your leadership and the efforts of Chairman John
Kline, Representative Todd Rokita, and Representative David
Loebsack as well as the leadership of the Senate Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee for setting
aside partisan politics and reaching agreement on CCDBG
reauthorization to ensure that children are safe in child
care. Parents want quality child care. The reauthorization
bill is the right policy to both ensure children's safety and
strengthen the quality of the workforce.
Choices among quality child care settings is critical for
working parents. This legislation is an important milestone
in support of working families. Thank you for all that you do
in support of working families with children.
Sincerely,
Sharon Veatch,
Executive Director.
____

National Women's Law Center,

Washington, DC, September 12, 2014.
Hon. George Miller,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Ranking Member Miller: The National Women's Law Center
is pleased that the U.S. House of Representatives is moving
forward with the reauthorization of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 2014. Your leadership has
resulted in a reauthorization bill that would improve the
safety, quality, and accessibility of child care and after-
school care for children from birth to age 13. High-quality,
well-funded child care helps families work and children
learn--both of which are important goals for the nation.
Since the last reauthorization of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant in 1996, we have learned much about
how to improve the quality of child care and after-school
care and how to make child care assistance more accessible to
families. Research on the importance of quality has spurred
greater efforts to support providers in promoting children's
positive development from birth. State initiatives have shown
ways to encourage quality improvements through incentives and
well-designed reimbursement policies. This bill incorporates
these lessons from the research and state innovations in an
effort to better protect the health and safety of children in
care, improve the quality of care overall and for infants and
toddlers in particular, facilitate children and families'
sustained access to help in paying for care and more stable
child care arrangements, and support providers serving
families receiving child care assistance.
We strongly support the goals of this legislation. We will
work with you to obtain the funding needed to make these
improvements and to allow more children to benefit from these
improvements. Between 2006 and 2012, 260,000 fewer eligible
children received assistance through the Child Care and
Development Block Grant. In addition, most states' payment
rates for child care providers are too low to support high-
quality care. To reverse the decline in children served and
to successfully implement the much-needed improvements
included in this legislation, we urge Congress to increase
mandatory and discretionary child care funding.
Thank you for all your work on this reauthorization, which
is so important for our country's children and families.
Sincerely,
Helen Blank,
Director of Child Care and Early Learning.
Joan Entmacher,
Vice President for Family Economic Security.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Rokita), the chairman of the Early Childhood, Elementary,
and Secondary Education Subcommittee.
Mr. ROKITA. Thank you, Chairman Kline, for your leadership on this
issue.
I also want to thank Ranking Member Miller, Ranking Member Loebsack,
our colleagues across the rotunda, and, of course, the staff, who put
so much effort into this pro-work, pro-family bill today.
Mr. Speaker, the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Program is an example of what both parties and Houses of
Congress can do when we are working together to find commonsense
solutions to national issues.
I came to Congress to help all people build better lives for
themselves and their families, and now, here with this bill, on this
floor today, we get a chance to do that. We work together to protect
children's early development and safety, as well as their parents'
employment, by preserving State control over a Federal program that
serves over a million and a half young Americans. This agreement
prevents the administration from imposing early learning guidelines on
our States, and it also limits the collection of unnecessary data on
our children. At the same time, we have strengthened oversight and
accountability at multiple levels of government.
Early childhood care quality will improve because we are enhancing
families' access to provider information

[[Page H7477]]

while maintaining choice of provider. Families can choose between
public and private providers, including religious providers. They can
choose larger institutional settings or smaller, or even in-home
operations.
As a Member of Congress and as a parent, I know that parents, not the
Federal Government, are best positioned to choose child care providers,
and this legislation ensures parents will have power over Federal
bureaucracies, which are no substitute for a family. We are holding
providers to strict safety standards, making sure child care
professionals have the most up-to-date training. Parents who must
either be working or seeking employment in order to take advantages of
this program will have better information to guide their decisions.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. KLINE. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. ROKITA. Mr. Speaker, I certainly didn't learn about these
improvements before working on the legislation from the ether. The day
nursery in Avon, Indiana, was one of my first stops, and we were able
to incorporate a lot of what we learned that day and every day after in
our work and into this bill.
I thank those whom I met with in the Fourth District of Indiana,
where commonsense solutions are part of everyday life, for their help
in getting this legislation and the content of it crafted.
As chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and
Secondary Education, it is not only my duty to vote for good
legislation but for results. Mr. Speaker, I am simply here today to ask
my colleagues to vote for this legislation because it will get results.
It is one of the things that we can do around here in a bipartisan-
bicameral way to show the American people that we are worth our
paychecks.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes
to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark).
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, 3 weeks ago I held a policy
panel on Women's Economic Equality in my district, and when the
audience was asked how many of you have worried about the cost of child
care, nearly every hand shot up in the air.
While the skyrocketing cost of quality child care in Massachusetts is
among the most expensive in the country, with an average annual cost
above $16,000, the problem is not limited to my home State. Across our
country, millions of American families report child care as their
highest expense--higher than rent or a college education for their
children. Without a doubt, the cost of quality child care is now one of
the biggest barriers to economic success facing women and families.
Knowing how critical child care is to American families, I am so
heartened to see the House take action to reauthorize the Child Care
Development Block Grant program, which provides grants to States to
offer quality child care that is accessible to low- and moderate-income
families. I am grateful that the quality child care provisions of my
bill, the Infant and Toddler Care Improvement Act, have been
incorporated into this reauthorization.
As a working mom of three, I understand that parents want nothing
more than when their children are in child care they are happy,
learning, safe, and healthy. Millions of moms and dads across the
country, however, are faced with impossible choices because of the lack
of access to quality child care. More than 6 million children under the
age of 3 are in care of someone other than their parents each week, and
46 percent of the children under 3 live in low-income families.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant and the quality provisions
of the Infant and Toddler Care Improvement Act offer a vital lifeline
and a path to the middle class for millions of families across the
Nation. It is a necessary step towards true economic equality for
women, and it gives our kids a great start.
Today's compromised bill is a strong first step, and I look forward
to working together to strengthen access to quality child care. This
vote is not controversial, nor is it partisan. It is a win for American
families. I urge my colleagues to support the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 2014, S. 1086, as amended, and I submit
for the Record some support letters.

CLASP,

September 12, 2014.
Hon. John Kline,
Hon. George Miller,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Kline and Representative Miller: The
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is pleased that the
House is considering the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 2014. The Center for Law and Social Policy
(CLASP) seeks to improve the lives of low-income people by
advocating for policies that deliver results that matter.
Child care assistance is an essential work support for low-
income parents who struggle to find and keep employment to
provide for their families. The Child Care and Development
Block Grant (CCDBG) is unique among many federal programs in
that its two-generation focus has the ability to support both
parents' economic success and children's healthy development.
The CCDBG Act of 2014 is an important step forward for
improving the health and safety of child care. It also would
make crucial improvements to the program that would allow
children to have more sustained access to child care
assistance, which helps parents stay in their jobs and move
up and supports children's development by providing more
continuity in their child care arrangement. The Act seeks to
improve the quality of child care overall, with a particular
focus on infants and toddlers. Quality infant-toddler child
care is rare and particularly out of reach for low-income
families. Given the robust body of research on the importance
of the earliest years of life for children's growth and
success, CLASP supports this effort to improve the quality
and availability of infant-toddler care.
While we are pleased to lend our support to this
legislation, we note that increasing resources for child care
must also be a top Congressional priority. Our most recent
analysis shows spending on child care assistance at a 10-year
low. Insufficient federal funds have led states to make
reductions in their child care programs, with the number of
children served falling to a 14-year low. States will need
additional resources to meet the goals of the legislation and
to ensure that low-income families are able to retain access
to this vital program. Expanding economic opportunity for
low-income adults today and strengthening the foundation for
their children's success in school and in life are worthy
investments.
Thank you for your efforts in moving forward this
important, bipartisan legislation.
Sincerely,
Olivia Golden,
Executive Director.
____

Zero to Three, National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and
Families,
September 15, 2014.
Hon. John Kline,
Chairman, Committee on Education and the Workforce,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Todd Rokita,
Chairman, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and
Secondary Education, Committee on Education and the
Workforce, Washington, DC.
Hon. George Miller,
Ranking Member, Committee on Education and the Workforce,
Washington, DC.
Hon. David Loebsack,
Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary,
and Secondary Education, Committee on Education and the
Workforce, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Kline, Ranking Member Miller, Chairman
Rokita, and Ranking Member Loebsack: ZERO TO THREE
appreciates your leadership in forging a bipartisan agreement
that will allow the Child Care and Development Block Grant
Act of 2014 to move forward in the House of Representatives
and be enacted before the end of the 113th Congress. Your
efforts will have a positive impact on a program critical not
only to working parents but to the 6 million infants and
toddlers who currently spend some portion of their days in
child care.
I commend you for the attention paid to ensuring the health
and safety of young children in child care as well as to
improving providers' ability to support positive development
of the children in their care. We know from research that the
quality of child care--whether excellent or poor--is
influential in shaping early brain development.
ZERO TO THREE lauds your inclusion of a statutory funding
set-aside specifically directed toward improving the quality
of care for infants and toddlers. Creating these targeted
resources explicitly recognizes what we have long known: the
first three years of life are of critical importance to
preparing children for success in school and in life. Many of
the infants and toddlers in families receiving child care
subsidies are the same ones we speak of having a ``word gap''
and development undermined by toxic stress. High-quality care
can help them overcome these obstacles. The set-aside will be
a clear signal to states that quality services for infants
and toddlers are an essential part of the early learning
continuum needed to prevent children from falling behind long
before they reach prekindergarten age.

[[Page H7478]]

ZERO TO THREE strongly supports the goals of this
legislation to increase oversight, safety assurances, and
quality initiatives for child care programs. To help realize
the improvements in this bill, and in order to build the
early learning system necessary to put our children on the
path to school readiness, starting from birth, a greater
infusion of resources is needed. As the real purchasing power
of child care funding has eroded over the past few years,
many fewer children have been served and provider payments
have fallen to such levels that, in most states, high-quality
care is largely out of reach of families whose children could
most benefit.
We urge you to work with your colleagues in Congress to
fulfill the promise of this bipartisan agreement by making
additional investments in child care through both the annual
appropriations process and through mandatory funding streams
in order to provide stability in meeting the needs of the
nation's families today and in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Matthew Melmed,
Executive Director, ZERO TO THREE.
____

Early Care and

Education Consortium,

Washington, DC, September 15, 2014.
Representative John Kline,
Washington, DC.
Representative Todd Rokita,
Washington, DC.
Senator Barbara Mikulski,
Washington, DC.
Senator Tom Harkin,
Washington, DC.
Representative George Miller,
Washington, DC.
Representative David Loebsack,
Washington, DC.
Senator Richard Burr,
Washington, DC.
Senator Lamar Alexander,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representatives Kline, Miller, Rokita, and Loebsack,
and Senators Mikulski, Burr, Harkin and Alexander, The Early
Care and Education Consortium (ECEC) strongly supports the
reauthorization of S. 1086, the Child Care & Development
Block Grant (CCDBG). We thank you for your leadership in this
bipartisan effort to reauthorize the Act. Reauthorizing CCDBG
this year will allow states to allocate increased FY2014
funding to improve access to high-quality early care and
education programs for low-income children and families.
High-quality care and learning programs provide
opportunities for healthy growth and development that produce
positive educational achievement and high economic returns on
investment through adulthood. Additionally, CCDBG serves as
essential support to working families who need to ensure
their children are cared for and learning in a safe and high-
quality setting during parents' hours of employment, which
often exceed the regular school day and extend into the
evening.
As the nation's leading trade association of high-quality,
non-profit and tax-paying, licensed child care centers, state
child care associations, and educational services
organizations, ECEC members share a commitment to high
quality, meeting the needs of children from infants through
school age, and supporting working families in communities
across the country. Representing the voice of more than 8,200
centers operating in all 50 states and the District of
Columbia, ECEC is also the largest organized alliance of
licensed child care centers in the country. A substantial
proportion of the children served by ECEC providers are able
to access high-quality care because of the support of CCDBG
subsidy dollars.
CCDBG has not been reauthorized since 1996. We strongly
urge Congressional action to enact important reforms that
will directly addresses quality improvement, affordability,
continuity of care, and cost stabilization measures that will
benefit families and support providers, including:
Stronger health and safety standards for all child care
programs that receive federal funding, including required
annual inspections of all licensed providers, and annual
fire, health and safety inspections of license-exempt, non-
family providers.
Technical assistance given to providers on effective
business practices;
De-linking provider reimbursement from absence policies
that destabilize the cost of care for both families and
providers;
Extended subsidy eligibility redetermination periods (12
months);
A new emphasis on technical assistance to providers around
effective business practices, and
Increased investment in program quality, with additional
activities that include wage incentives, tiered
reimbursement, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems,
accreditation, and focus on school readiness.
Additionally, this bill will help ensure that low income
families can access high quality care by benefiting from a
mixed delivery model, and choosing high-quality options
within their own community.
We thank you for your leadership in this bipartisan effort
to reauthorize the Act, which provides a critical pathway to
the middle class for serving as a highly productive workforce
of today and the becoming the prepared and productive
workforce of tomorrow.
Sincerely,
M.-A. Lucas,
Executive Director.
____

Early Learning Policy Group, LLC,

September 15, 2014.
Hon. George Miller,
Ranking Member, U.S. House Education and the Workforce
Committee, Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Miller, As President of the Early
Learning Policy Group, I am writing to express my strong
support for the bipartisan, bicameral legislation to
reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant
(CCDBG).
The reality of today's economy is that working parents
depend on child care in order to support their families.
Nearly 11 million children under age 5 with working mothers
spend time every week in some type of child care setting.
Families, regardless of income, have trouble finding quality
child care.
Child care policies vary greatly by state and until this
legislation, there were no minimum health and safety
protections for children. The CCDBG Reauthorization Act is
truly historic. For the first time, federal policy will
support the safety of children in child care by ensuring that
licensed providers and those receiving a subsidy to care for
low income children will be subject to a comprehensive
background check, that programs will be inspected at least
once a year, and that parents will have choices among quality
settings through a stronger child care workforce and greater
focus on activities that improve the quality of child care.
Children should be safe in child care. Parents should feel
comfortable that when they choose child care for their
children, providers have the training they need to offer
settings that will promote the healthy development of
children. The federal government should expect accountability
from states that set child care policy so that federal money
is not used to support unsafe or potentially harmful settings
for low income children.
I wholeheartedly commend your efforts and dedication as
well as the efforts of Chairman John Kline, Representative
Todd Rokita, and Representative David Loebsack along with the
efforts of the Senate HELP Committee leadership--Chairman Tom
Harkin, Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Barbara Mikulski,
and Senator Richard Burr, for putting aside partisan ideology
and politics to agree to common sense public policy
improvements to support working families who need child care.
The CCDBG Reauthorization Act is a historic policy marker
to enable parents to have quality child care choices in their
community. Thank you for supporting working families with
children.
Sincerely,
Grace Reef,
President, Early Learning Policy Group, LLC.
____

Knowledge Universe,

September 15, 2014.
Hon. John Kline,
Chairman, Committee on Education & the Workforce, Washington,
DC.
Dear Chairman Kline: Knowledge Universe enthusiastically
offers its support for The Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 2014 (S. 1086). The Child Care and Development
Block Grant (CCDBG) plays a critical role in ensuring working
parents have access to a quality provider of their choice.
Knowledge Universe is honored to provide high-quality
education and care to over 150,000 children across the United
States who range in age from six weeks to 12 years of age. We
are proud of the diverse group of children whom we serve.
Approximately one-third of our children are from low-income
working families who receive assistance under CCDBG. The core
focus of Knowledge Universe is the quality of each child's
educational experience. When parents choose our KinderCare
centers, in addition to wanting their child to be safe and
well-cared for, they also expect their child to receive the
highest-quality educational experience possible.
In the almost two decades since Congress last reauthorized
CCDBG, we as a nation have learned much more about the
importance of health and safety and quality educational
programming, especially for low-income children. The Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 makes important
changes to the current CCDBG statute that support quality
improvements in the early developmental and educational
experiences children will receive through the program.
One of the most important changes The Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 2014 makes to current law
relates to continuity of care. For children of low-income
working families, the 12-month determination period for
eligibility will serve as a critical element for ensuring
greater consistency and better kindergarten readiness
outcomes. Further, the legislation's health and safety
standards requiring all programs, including those that are
license-exempt, to undergo annual health, safety, and tire
inspections are critical for raising the quality of care
provided through CCDBG. Finally, the legislation's focus on
the importance of teacher training and professional
development to promote children's development and
kindergarten readiness, as well as provisions that support
Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, national
accreditation, and tiered reimbursement are all essential
elements for enabling working families to access a high-
quality child care provider of their choice.

[[Page H7479]]

Knowledge Universe and the families whom we serve thank you
for your hard work and dedication to this important CCDBG
reauthorization. The quality improvements included in The
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 will work
to ensure that more children of low-income working families
have access to a high-quality early care and learning
experience that best meets their needs.
Sincerely,
Celia Hartman Sims,
Vice President, Government Relations.
____

September 15, 2014.
Hon. George Miller,
Ranking Member, U.S. House Education and the Workforce
Committee, Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Miller, As President and Chief
Executive Officer of First Children's Finance in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, I am writing to express full support for the
bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reauthorize the Child
Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).
Working families with young children depend on child care
so that they can obtain and retain a job. At the same time,
children need a safe place to be. In too many communities,
quality child care is hard to find. The Child Care and
Development Block Grant Reauthorization Act will combine
important safety protections for children in child care with
more accountability for the expenditure of public dollars.
As you know, child care programs are small businesses. From
my on the ground experience in working with child care
programs, I know that many child care directors have
experience in child development but have not had training in
best business practices. The inclusion of business technical
assistance in the reauthorization bill will lead to more
programs operating in an efficient and cost effective manner.
No program can offer families a quality setting unless it is
fiscally sound.
I commend you as well as Chairman John Kline,
Representative Todd Rokita, and Representative David Loebsack
for your hard work and dedication on behalf of working
families who need child care.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant Reauthorization
Act is a giant step toward ensuring that parents have quality
choices in their community. Thank you for supporting working
families with children.
Sincerely,

Gerald M. Cutts,

Presidednt and CEO,
First Children's Finance.
____

Childcare resources,

September 15, 2014.
Hon. George Miller,
Ranking Member, U.S. House Education and the Workforce
Committee, Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Miller, As President of Child Care
Resources Inc. (CCRI), a nonprofit child care resource and
referral agency in Charlotte, North Carolina, I am writing to
express my strong support of the bicameral, bipartisan Child
Care and Development Block Grant Reauthorization Act.
On July 26, 2012, I testified before the Senate Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Children about
the need to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block
Grant. My testimony focused on the need to improve children's
safety in child care programs (through both requiring
fingerprint background checks for child care providers and
requiring minimum health and safety protections for
children), increasing the quality set-aside, strengthening
the child care workforce, conducting at least annual
inspections of child care programs, as well as addressing
shortcomings of the market rate survey in setting subsidy
rates. I am thrilled to see that the child care
reauthorization bill addresses each of these areas!
I have been in the child care resource and referral field
for 30 years. For more than half of that time, I have been
working to reauthorize this measure. Your efforts, along with
those of Chairman John Kline, Representative Todd Rokita, and
David Loebsack, and your Senate counterparts--Senate HELP
Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, Ranking Member Lamar
Alexander, Senator Barbara Mikulski, and Senator Richard
Burr, to reach a bipartisan agreement on good policy for
children in child care are truly to be commended.
Working families with young children need child care, and
children need a place to be safe and a setting that promotes
their healthy development. Thank you for your continuous
efforts over many years on behalf of working families.
Sincerely,
Janet Singerman,
President, Child Care Resources Inc.

Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Before we close, I want to thank my colleagues in both the House and
the Senate for their hard work on this legislation. In the Senate, I am
particularly grateful to Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Alexander,
Senator Mikulski, Senator Burr, and their staffs.
I want to thank Ranking Member Miller and our committee staff members
who have helped to steer the passage of this bill, particularly Scott
Groginski, Jamie Fasteau, John Hammond, and Brian Levin.
I would like to thank Chairman Kline and his staff members who worked
hard on this bill, including Cristin Kumar, Mandy Shaumburg, and
Kathlyn Ehl.
I also want to thank the gentleman from Illinois, Congressman Danny
Davis, for his strong efforts to reduce early childhood expulsions, and
the many advocates and stakeholders who weighed in on the legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I enter for the Record additional letters of support.

Results for America,

September 15, 2014.

Results for America Statement on CCDBG Reauthorization

RFA's Michele Jolin Hails Effort to Set Aside Funds for Research and
Evaluation, Bipartisan Support for Using Data, Evidence and Evaluation
to Improve Outcomes

Washington.--Today, following the passage of the Child Care
and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act in the House of
Representatives, Results for America managing partner Michele
Jolin issued the following statement. Jolin praised a
provision in the legislation that would set aside .5% of
funds for evaluating programs to improve the access to,
quality, and safety of childcare services, calling it a
``Moneyball'' approach to government that improves outcomes
for young people, their families, and communities.
Results for America applauds the passage of the Child Care
and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act by the House,
following the passage of a similar bill in the Senate earlier
this year. The inclusion of dedicated funds for research and
evaluation will provide vital information for improving the
effectiveness of childcare. The strong bipartisan support for
this bill shows that lawmakers across the aisle support
leveraging less than a penny on the dollar to improve how the
rest of the dollar is spent.
``Congress and the Administration are increasingly using
data, evidence and evaluation to improve the lives of
children, their families and communities, what we call a
Moneyball approach to government. Today's reauthorization of
CCDB shows that investing in what works is clearly a
bipartisan way to address long-term challenges and is another
positive step toward improving outcomes,'' said Michele
Jolin, Managing Partner, Results for America.
____

National Education Association,

Washington, DC, September 15, 2014.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC 20515.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the three million members
of the National Education Association and the students they
serve, we urge you to vote YES on the Child Care and
Development Block Grant (S. 1086 as amended), which is on the
suspension calendar for today. Votes associated with this
bill may be included in the NEA Legislative Report Card for
the 113th Congress.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program
helps low-income working families and parents transitioning
from welfare to work find safe, supportive, caring
environments for their children. It is impossible to have
successful early childhood education without good childcare
options. Moreover, quality childcare options help ensure that
children enter school ready to learn.
S. 1086 incorporates lessons learned from research and the
states, improving the likelihood that more children will
enter school ready to succeed, by:
Investing in the early childhood workforce. The bill
promotes workforce competency, training, and a progression of
professional development designed to promote the social,
emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children.
Focusing on early learning. States would be required to
develop or implement research-based, developmentally
appropriate early learning and developmental guidelines for
children.
Ensuring the health and safety of children served by the
program. The bill strengthens health and safety guidelines
for child care providers.
S. 1086 is a good first step towards providing more
comprehensive early learning opportunities for low-income
children. We urge you to support it.
Sincerely,
Mary Kusler,
Director, Government Relations.
____

National Association for the

Education of Young Children,

Washington, DC, September 15, 2014.
Hon. John Kline,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. George Miller,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Miller: On behalf of
the National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC), the nation's leading early childhood professional
association for quality learning from birth through age 8, I
want to thank you for the improvements for access and quality
in the reauthorization legislation for the Child Care and
Development Block Grant.

[[Page H7480]]

When families look for child care for their children, they
have two questions in mind: What programs offer the high-
quality approach best for my child, and what can we afford to
pay? Each day, millions of families wonder how they will pay
for child care and will their children be safe and learning
in the child care that they select. Employers know that child
care is important to a stable and productive workforce. Child
care providers want training and professional development to
serve children well, and a subsidy system that will support
the cost of quality and continuity of care.
NAEYC is the nation's largest early childhood program
accreditor, setting standards for high-quality programs. Many
child care centers and schools seek NAEYC early childhood
program accreditation and the U.S. military child care
centers also strive to meet our standards. We are pleased to
see more attention to the quality of children's experiences
and ways to help providers meet and sustain standards for
health, safety and children's learning. The promise of early
childhood education depends on using the research we know
about how children learn and develop and providing access to
those early learning experiences for all young children. Your
bill makes advances in delivering on that promise, and with
the resources to implement these changes and to serve more
children, we will come closer to our shared goal of healthy,
learning children who are ready for success in school and
life.
NAEYC is particularly pleased to see in the bill: Support
for quality and compensation improvements for the early
childhood workforce; more focus on quality care for infants
and toddlers at that crucial period of neurological
development; consistency of care and assistance over a 12-
month period; the use of child assessments in appropriate
ways and explicit prohibition on inappropriate uses; more
attention to health and safety in licensed and legally exempt
from licensing providers; and an explicit mention of the use
of the quality set aside funds for helping programs meet
national accreditation standards of quality.
We look forward to working with you for the additional
discretionary and mandatory funding that will be needed to
make high-quality programs affordable to a larger share of
families and to help more early-childhood programs provide
superior experiences.
Thank you again for your leadership.
Sincerely,
Rhian Evans Allvin,
Executive Director.
____

Easter Seals,

Washington, DC, September 15, 2014.
Dear Representative: Easter Seals urges you to support the
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. Easter Seals
believes this legislation includes many policies that will go
a long way to help families of children with disabilities to
contribute to their family's financial well-being by creating
more opportunities for young children to access quality child
care services.
The bill recognizes the national need to expand training
supports to child care providers on how to meet the unique
needs of children with disabilities. This training will
increase the quality of services available to all children.
The National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, From
Neurons to Neighborhoods landmark report validated the
overwhelming need in this area:
``Like all families with young children, those whose
children have a disability or other special health care need
are faced with the challenges of finding good-quality,
affordable child care. But the inability or unwillingness of
many child-care providers to accept children with
disabilities (Berk and Berk, 1982; Chang and Teramoto 1987),
transportation and other logistical problems, difficulties
with coordinating early intervention and child care services,
and the scarcity of appropriately trained caregivers (Kelly
and Booth, 1999; Klein and Sheehan, 1987, make the effort to
find any child care a tremendous challenge for these
families. One multisite student reported that 45 percent of
mothers of an infant with a disability reported they were not
planning to work because they could not find child care, and
31 percent indicated that they could not find affordable
child care (Booth and Kelly 1998, 1999). The severity of the
child's disability or illness greatly compounds these
problems. (Breslau et al., 1982; Warfield and Hauser-Cram,
1996). Page 324''
Easter Seals affiliates across the country operate nearly
100 full-day, full-year child care programs that meet the
needs of children with and without disabilities. These high
quality programs are designed to foster the development of
all children and support their families. There are simply too
few quality choices available to working families. This bill
will help increase their options.
Thank you for considering our views.
Sincerely,
Katy Beh Neas
Senior Vice President, Government Relations.
____

American Federation of Teachers,

Save the Children,

Richard Bland,

National Director, Policy & Advocacy,
U.S. Programs, Save the Children.
____

National Women's Law Center

[[Page H7481]]

reauthorization bill that would improve the safety, quality,
and accessibility of child care and after-school care for
children from birth to age 13. High-quality, well-funded
child care helps families work and children learn--both of
which are important goals for the nation.
Since the last reauthorization of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant in 1996, we have learned much about
how to improve the quality of child care and after-school
care and how to make child care assistance more accessible to
families. Research on the importance of quality has spurred
greater efforts to support providers in promoting children's
positive development from birth. State initiatives have shown
ways to encourage quality improvements through incentives and
well-designed reimbursement policies. This bill incorporates
these lessons from the research and state innovations in an
effort to better protect the health and safety of children in
care, improve the quality of care overall and for infants and
toddlers in particular, facilitate children and families'
sustained access to help in paying for care and more stable
child care arrangements, and support providers serving
families receiving child care assistance.
We strongly support the goals of this legislation. We will
work with you to obtain the funding needed to make these
improvements and to allow more children to benefit from these
improvements. Between 2006 and 2012, 260,000 fewer eligible
children received assistance through the Child Care and
Development Block Grant. In addition, most states' payment
rates for child care providers are too low to support high-
quality care. To reverse the decline in children served and
to successfully implement the much-needed improvements
included in this legislation, we urge Congress to increase
mandatory and discretionary child care funding.
Thank you for all your work on this reauthorization, which
is so important for our country's children and families.
Sincerely,
Helen Blank,
Director of Child Care and Early Learning.
Joan Entmacher,
Vice President for Family Economic Security.
____

Child care Aware of America,

Arlington, VA, September 15, 2014.
Hon. Tom Harkin,
Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions, Washington, DC.
Hon. Barbara Mikulski,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Lamar Alexander,
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions, Washington, DC.
Hon. Richard Burr,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. John Kline,
Chairman, House Education and the Workforce Committee,
Washington, DC.
Hon. George Miller,
Ranking Member, House Education and the Workforce Committee,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Todd Rokita,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Dave Loebsack,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Alexander, Senator
Mikulski, and Senator Burr, Chairman Kline, Ranking Member
Miller, Representative Rokita, and Representative Loebsack: I
am writing on behalf of Child Care Aware^' of
America (formerly the National Association of Child Care
Resource & Referral Agencies, NACCRRA) to express support for
your legislation, the Child Care & Development Block Grant
Act of 2014, which would reauthorize the Child Care and
Development Block Grant and would better protect the health
and improve safety of children in child care settings across
America.
Families want their children to be safe in child care. They
reasonably assume that a child care license means the state
has approved some minimum level of protection for children
and that the program will promote their healthy development.
Our nationwide polling shows that parents also believe there
is oversight by the state. However, most state licensing
requirements are weak and oversight is weaker.
For over 15 years, reauthorization of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant has been Child Care Aware^'
of America's top legislative priority and we have been
working on both the federal and state levels to improve the
quality of child care.
Child Care Aware^' of America has issued seven
licensing studies that show state laws regarding child care
settings vary greatly. The most recent report, We Can Do
Better: 2013 Update, scored and ranked the states on their
child care center program requirements and oversight
policies. The average score was 92 out of a total possible
score of 150--for a grade of 61 percent.
Children's early years are proven to be the most impactful
time to create strong learners. This reauthorization bill is
a huge step to move the nation forward ensuring children are
safe and receiving the best early learning experiences while
in child care. This bill sets the standard all families
expect for their children by requiring providers to undergo
comprehensive background checks, annual and pre-licensure
inspections, and training.
This bill includes significant measures to improve the
quality of child care and ensure that all children in child
care settings are safe.
Child Care Aware^' of America looks forward to
working with you to pass this legislation into law. Thank you
for your continued leadership in support of our nation's
children.
Sincerely,
Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D.,
Executive Director.
Michelle Noth McCready,
Director of Policy.
L. Carol Scott, Ph.D.
President, Board of Directors.
Nicholas P. Vucic,
Senior Government Affairs Associate.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Finally, I would like to thank all of the
Members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and their
staffs for their continued commitment to the well-being of American
families.
Mr. Speaker, both Chambers and both parties have come together on a
bipartisan basis to improve the Child Care and Development Block Grant.
This bill is a strong example of what Congress can achieve by working
together. The critical updates in the program will give American
families the more support that they need and will better prepare our
children for the future.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. KLINE. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to thank my colleagues here on both sides of the aisle. It is
not every day on this floor that we get to do that, but I thank them
for their remarks and for the debate today.
I want to reiterate my appreciation for the work done on the other
side of the Capitol. Again, it is not something we get to talk about
every day, but this is an example of a time when we saw a need. Some
could argue that we are a little overdue, since it has been 20 years
since this has been reauthorized, but as the ranking member, Mr.
Miller, said, this is on the suspension calendar because we recognize
that it needs to be done and because we have come together in a
bipartisan-bicameral way to address this need.
So I urge my colleagues to support S. 1086, as amended, the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I support S. 1086, reauthorizing the Child
Care and Development Block Grant program.
We all talk about jobs bills.
Well, in my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, mothers and
fathers in 200 families can go to their jobs every day because their
children are being cared for through this program.
That's why it is important to reauthorize Child Care, because it
helps people who want to work.
Especially in the Northern Marianas, where we are replacing foreign
workers with U.S. workers, we need good child care to make that
transition.
And the bill accounts for sudden changes of income, so even when the
minimum wage increases in the Marianas this month--as I am glad to say
it will--families will keep getting child care--and parents will keep
working.
Lastly, S. 1086 improves standards, because all parents want to work
without worry, knowing their children are well cared for and safe.
I urge passage of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, S. 1086, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

____________________