[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 140 (Monday, November 17, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6007-S6012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CCDBG REAUTHORIZATION
Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, in a few minutes we will be voting on
the child care and development block grant reauthorization bill. I am
here to urge my colleagues to vote for final passage.
This bill is authored by myself, working shoulder to shoulder with
Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, under our chair and ranking
member, Senators Harkin and Alexander.
On this bill we showed that we can actually work together to get
things done. We worked across the aisle and across the dome with our
counterparts in the House. Today we have an opportunity to pass a bill
that will actually help American families with one of the biggest
challenges they face--affordable childcare.
Everywhere I go in Maryland I hear young mothers and not-so-young
mothers and grandmothers and actually dads saying that we need
childcare that is affordable, accessible, reliable, and safe. This
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act will meet those compelling
human needs. It focuses on families of modest means--parents who want
to work or get ready for work by going to school but can't afford
childcare.
I wish to take a second to talk about the process and where we stand.
This is
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a bipartisan bill. It is the result of more than 2 years of work, three
hearings on the HELP Committee, hundreds of meetings of stakeholders.
The House unanimously passed the bill, and last week the Senate voted
96 to 1 on a cloture vote. It is time now to take the bill over the
finish line and vote tonight.
This bill began in 1990, when we created the childcare program as
part of our first step towards welfare reform. Eligible families
received vouchers to pay for childcare of their choice, whether it is a
large daycare center, a small in-home daycare center or faith-based.
This program is important because childcare for parents is
significantly expensive. Childcare is the highest household expense
faced by dual-income families. The average childcare for two children
is about $15,000 a year. In some places that is tuition at a prep
school--$15,000 to $20,000 a year. It is expensive whether you are a
two-parent household or a single-parent household. For middle-class
families it is really tough, and for those earning the minimum wage it
is out of reach, and the costs keep increasing.
Last year, the cost of childcare actually grew eight times faster
than the average family income. It is not that childcare alone
increased, but of course we believe family income has been stagnant for
8 years. So we have to do something about raising the income as well as
raising childcare standards and the ability to provide childcare.
Childcare is important because it helps people. In my own State this
bill will give parents the kind of childcare vouchers needed, helping
1.5 million children be able to have childcare. In my own home State of
Maryland this bill will help as many as 19,000 families get childcare.
This is really a pretty big deal. In Maryland, childcare costs about
$13,000 a year.
I held roundtables across the State. I sat in classrooms, at
conference tables, and meetings listening in Baltimore County and
Allegany County. I heard from parents struggling to pay childcare in
this age of scrimp and save. I have heard from teachers worried about
children not being prepared for a lifetime of learning. I heard from
the American Academy of Pediatrics that is concerned about children
staying healthy. I heard from the good folks at the Maryland Family
Network, who are worried about quality, safety, and the certification
of childcare.
I believe that many of the best ideas and recommendations come from
the people, so I brought those ideas to Washington and sat down across
the table with my colleague Senator Richard Burr to really talk about
these issues and how we could hammer out a bill that was affordable to
the taxpayer and yet reliable for parents.
One size doesn't fit all when it comes to our kids. What I heard over
and over again were concerns about availability, about quality, and
also affordability. My bill--the Mikulski, Burr, Harkin, Alexander or
whatever order we can put it in--makes childcare better. It makes it
safer, it makes it more reliable, and it also focuses on helping
children to be school-ready, to be learning-ready.
It requires, first of all, in terms of safety, comprehensive
background checks. Only 13 States require comprehensive background
checks for childcare providers. We require more background checks for
mall security guards than we do for our own children. This is
unacceptable. Parents deserve peace of mind knowing that their children
are safe from anyone who could possibly have a criminal record. Under
our bill, 50 States will be required to do this.
It also strengthens health and safety standards. Listening to both
concerned parents and the American Academy of Pediatrics, we will have
health and safety standards. Childcare providers will be trained in
first aid and CPR, in the prevention of sudden infant death syndrome,
and also how to respond to food allergies. This is big. Our children
come and some of those little guys and girls really have some
significant health challenges.
It also requires inspection of facilities. Currently, many States do
not require inspection of all childcare facilities. The Washington Post
recently found that 43 children have died since 2004 in unregulated
childcare centers in Virginia. We have now corrected that where
facilities will actually be inspected to make sure they are safe. It
also will make sure that inspectors will be looking for anything that
presents a danger to a child--an unsecured swimming pool, unsafe
sleeping arrangements, and fire hazards. It will improve reliability
and stability of care.
Now, we really focused on improving quality of child care. What that
means is we have significant sums, which means that States have to
invest in training and professional development of childcare workers.
It also will evaluate what is working and what isn't. We developed an
improved quality rating system to give parents--the consumer--
information to pick the right care.
This bill will provide vouchers to people who are at the minimum wage
or lower. In my own State, to qualify for this type of voucher subsidy,
it is income-based. In Maryland, for a family of two to be eligible for
the CCDBG, their incomes cannot exceed $24,000. A family of four cannot
have an income that exceeds $35,700. The children must be less than 13
years old, and the children must live with parents who are working or
enrolled in an education program that is leading to a job.
This is really good. But this bill--as good as it is--it is only the
first step in childcare. It can't be the only step. So while we are
looking for how to help parents be able to work, particularly those at
the minimum-wage level, we have to be able to look also at our middle-
class families. That is why I was happy to join Senator Kirsten
Gillibrand in introducing the childcare tax deduction bill, S. 1975.
This bill would allow all families to deduct the cost of childcare as a
business expense. Imagine that--to actually be able to do this. So many
women in the middle class also find that the cost of childcare is so
expensive. With this bill families can deduct up to $14,000 in child
care expenses from the amount of taxes they owe. We have to show that
we are on the side of families, that we are on the side of the middle
class, by offering a substantial tax deduction for childcare; and we
have to show that we are on the side of the people who want to be
middle class, who are working harder, going to school to be able to
move ahead and move into that middle class, and that they have the
childcare bill. This legislation, the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act, will make a significant step forward. I urge my colleagues
to help and support this.
When I worked on this bill, to me it is not about numbers and
statistics--19,000 or 1 million children or so on. It is about people
in my own home State--whether it is the single mom in Baltimore County
who, due to some major changes, found that she was needing to work full
time instead of part time but was barely above the minimum wage. She
wondered how she was going to have that job at the minimum wage but
have childcare that was safe. When she went to the department of social
services, she found a childcare subsidy that could help her be able to
work today, have her children in daycare today, and lay the groundwork
for a better job tomorrow.
Then there was Theresa, a single mom in Prince George's County. She
has four children. They were enrolled in a childcare program while she
worked in another. She was making $23,000 a year--again, below the
minimum wage. Thanks to the voucher program, she was able to provide
her children with childcare, actually work in the field, and begin to
get the kind of training that could enable her to move on up to being a
childcare worker.
It is about these people who want their child to be safe and secure.
They want to make sure they are going to do the best and be able to
continue to work in our society, make sure their children are taken
care of, and also that we are able to provide this important step.
I hope we pass this bill tonight. I also hope that we develop a
comprehensive childcare approach so that we are helping those at the
minimum wage and slightly above tonight, but we also want to be able to
help the middle class.
Remember what our goal is. We need to focus on the day-to-day needs
of our constituents. What does that mean in terms of national policy?
What we need to look at is for those who are middle class--through
their hard work, their
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education and determination, however they get to be there--that they
have a government and a Tax Code on their side, and for those who are
trying to get to the middle class, that they have an opportunity ladder
and the self-help tools that enable them to move ahead.
I really hope my colleagues vote for this bill and we move it to the
President's desk for signature.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that a CCDBG fact sheet be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
CCDBG Fact Sheet
S. 1086--The Child Care & Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014
The Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014
This bipartisan bill (S. 1086) was introduced by Senators
Mikulski, Burr, Harkin, and Alexander. It reauthorizes,
refreshes, reforms, and revitalizes the Child Care
Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program.
What the CCDBG Program Does
The CCDBG program was first signed into law by President
George H.W. Bush in 1990 to assist working families with the
cost of providing child care. It has not been reauthorized
since 1996.
CCDBG is the primary source of federal funding for child
care assistance. CCDBG is administered to states in formula
block grants. States use the funding to help low-income
families gain access to quality, affordable child care and
after-school programs while parents work, train for work, or
attend school. Assistance is administered through vouchers or
certificates, which can be used by parents for the provider
or program of their choice--whether in a family child care
home, with a relative or friend, or in a child care center.
Who the CCDBG Program Serves
CCDBG serves more than 1.6 million children every month.
Eligibility Requirements for CCDBG Assistance
There are certain requirements that must be met for
families to be eligible for CCDBG assistance:
Family income cannot exceed 85% of the state median (states
have flexibility to adopt income eligibility limits below
this federal maximum, and generally do)
Example: In MD, for a family of two to be eligible for
CCDBG funds, their annual income cannot exceed $24,277; a
family of four cannot have an income that exceeds $35,702
Kids must be less than 13 years old
Kids must live with parents who are working, enrolled in
school/training, or be in need of protective services
Amount of Subsidy
The CCDBG program generally requires that families
contribute to the cost of care on a sliding fee scale basis.
Federal regulations do allow states to waive child care fees
for families with incomes at or below poverty guidelines. HHS
has suggested that a family's fee should be no more than 10%
of its income.
In FYI2, the average monthly subsidy paid to a family with
an infant younger than 1 year was $467. The average monthly
subsidy paid to a family with a child between the age of 5-6
years of age was $365.
Funding Level for the CCDBG Program
In the FY14 omnibus, the CCDBG program was funded at $2.36
billion. This is an increase of $154 million above FY13. This
funding increase will ensure 22,000 additional children will
receive child care assistance.
In addition to discretionary funding, mandatory funding
exists for child care subsidies (authorized in Social
Security Act). In FY14, there were $2.9 billion in mandatory
funds--for a total of approximately $5.3 billion for child
care subsidies.
Cost of Child Care
Child care is the highest household expense faced by dual
income households, averaging $14,872 a year for 2 kids.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the
absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I want to speak in support of the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, the bill that is before
us. It has taken us a long time to get to this point. I cannot be more
pleased that we are on the verge of sending this legislation to the
President for his signature.
We know--we know--that learning begins at birth and the preparation
for education begins even before birth. That is why I am very excited
about my committee's bill to reauthorize the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act. This bill will lead to important reforms and
improvements to the early care and education of our Nation's children.
This bipartisan legislation is also a big win for working families.
It helps make it possible for over 1.5 million kids to receive quality
childcare every month. The last time we reauthorized the child care
block grant was 1996. When we did that, childcare was seen principally
as a work support activity and only incidentally as something that
could have a great impact on the development of children. Today, backed
by impressive scientific research, we know that childcare settings can
and should be much more. In addition to providing critical work support
for the parents, early childhood settings are now widely recognized as
a rich early learning opportunity for all children.
So it is not just childcare--we are taking care and watching them so
they don't get in trouble--it is now childcare that is part of the
learning process. As I said, it begins at birth and even before birth.
Because much of a child's intellect and skills development begin before
he or she begins kindergarten, we need to give all children every
opportunity to reach their full potential at this early stage. This
means supporting access to high-quality early learning programs,
including high-quality childcare. That is why reauthorizing the child
care development block grant with the array of reforms and improvements
is so important.
This bill contains many commonsense improvements to a program that
hasn't been reauthorized, as I said, since 1996. That is nearly a whole
generation. We have improved the health and safety requirements by
asking States to increase the amount of funding they set aside to serve
infants and toddlers. We require pre-service training and ongoing
professional development for childcare workers. We ask that States
inspect childcare providers at least once a year--hopefully more, but
at least once a year.
I am particularly excited about the set-aside that we have in the
bill to improve access to and quality of care for infants and toddlers.
This is something I included for several years in my appropriations
subcommittee bill, and I am pleased that it is now an important
component of this reauthorization. These are the kinds of commonsense,
research-based activities and services that any parent would want for
their child, and they deserve it. That is why I am so pleased we are
now on the cusp of passing this important reauthorization.
I should note that this legislation passed the Senate in March of
this year by a vote of 96 to 2, and after a few changes by the House,
it passed that Chamber by acclamation in September. I believe we had
the cloture vote last week, and even then I think there was only one
vote against it.
I encourage every Member of the Senate to vote in favor of final
passage and finally get this bill to the President's desk.
I wish to especially thank Senators Mikulski and Burr--two members of
our committee and the original sponsors of this legislation--for their
persistence and commitment in getting this bill done.
I would also like to thank many of the staff for their years of work
on this legislation.
I would like to thank Brent Palmer and Jessica McNiece of Senator
Mikulski's staff; David Cleary, Peter Oppenheim, and Patrick Murray of
Senator Alexander's staff; Chris Toppings and Celia Simms of Senator
Burr's staff.
I would like to thank current and past members of my staff: Pam
Smith, Derek Miller, Mildred Otero, and Mario Cardona. Of course, I
also wish to thank our HELP Committee's ranking member Senator
Alexander for his key role in reauthorizing this vital program. And my
debt of gratitude to Senator Alexander extends far beyond this
particular bill.
This will likely be the last bill originating in the HELP Committee
to see floor time in this Congress, and thus, this is the last bill
that will come to the Senate floor out of the committee I so proudly
chair.
I wish to take this opportunity to express not only my gratitude to
Senator Alexander but my respect and admiration for the senior Senator
from Tennessee. In the new Congress in January, Senator Alexander will
assume
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the chairmanship of this HELP Committee, and I know this important
committee will be in very able hands.
Throughout my 30 years in the Senate, I have been blessed to share
many excellent working relationships with Republican colleagues, both
when I served as chair or ranking member on various committees. Senator
Arlen Specter was my partner for many years on the Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies. In fact, from 1989 until the day he left the Senate,
Senator Specter and I were either chair or ranking member of that
important Appropriations subcommittee.
I had great relationships on the agriculture committee with Senator
Dick Lugar, Senator Thad Cochran, and Senator Saxby Chambliss. Since
2009, as chair of the HELP Committee, I have enjoyed very productive
relationships, first with Senator Mike Enzi, who had been both the
chair and then ranking member of that committee, and more recently with
Senator Lamar Alexander, with whom I have worked on CCDBG--the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Program that we are now authorizing.
In fact, I am proud to note that when this bill is signed into law by
the President, this will be the 21st HELP Committee bill enacted into
law in this Congress. In a Congress that has been criticized,
rightfully or wrongfully, for its lack of productivity, Senator
Alexander and I have forged a partnership that has enabled us to chart
a different course--a course of bipartisan productiveness. To cite
several examples, we worked together to pass major legislation to
revamp and modernize America's job training system, overhaul and
improve America's food safety system, improve drug safety and speed the
approval of potentially lifesaving drugs--so 21 bills.
Someone said that our committee really represents probably one of the
widest spectrums ideologically in the Senate--both from very
conservative to very progressive on our committee. Yet we forged these
relationships to get things done. Now, just because these relationships
have helped us to get these bills through, it doesn't mean that we
always agreed on everything.
The fact is our disagreements have been oftentimes and vigorous.
After all, I am a proud progressive and Senator Alexander is a proud
conservative, but our disagreements have never been personal and they
were never the last word. We have consistently sought areas of
agreement, and more often than not, we found them. As a result, we have
forged a remarkable record of accomplishment in the HELP Committee with
21 bills in 2 years signed into law.
More importantly, we have accomplished big things for the American
people. Thanks to legislation passed by our committee, lives will be
improved and lives will be saved. Drugs will be approved faster and
they will be safer. Workers will have access to quality job training
and retraining opportunities, including young people with disabilities
who will now have provisions to support them in school to get them
ready for competitive, integrated employment or for higher education or
for technical education, which they have not really had before. That is
one big part of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act that we
passed that not too many people know about. So from now on, kids in
school who have an IEP--an Individualized Education Program--will now
have internships, summer jobs, and job coaching that will, again, raise
their expectations and hope of what they can do. They will be able to
visit colleges and have college internships or college support systems,
which they have never had before, to enable them to seek a higher
education or perhaps to go to community colleges. Those are a few of
the things we have done on our committee. Soon, with this bill, babies
and kids across the country will have better access to safe, high
quality, and affordable care.
It has been with great pride that I have been chair of this HELP
Committee. I still think it is the best committee in the Congress. I
remember once Dan Inouye--Senator Inouye--said that I chaired the
committee that helped define America. He chaired the committee that
defended America, but I chaired the committee that defined America. I
would like to think of the HELP Committee as doing that--an America
where every kid has the possibility of going up that ladder or ramp of
opportunity no matter the circumstances of his or her birth, where
health care is a right and not a privilege, where everyone will have
affordable health care coverage.
This committee has even helped those who have fallen off of that
ladder of opportunity because of an illness or injury to get back on it
with job retraining and support services. This committee has ensured
that every person with a disability--either through an accident or
through birth or illness--can have a full and meaningful and productive
life. Our elderly know they are going to have the kind of support
systems that will enable them to also be productive in their retirement
years--in their golden years, as they say.
The Labor, Education, Health, and Pensions Committee covers a broad
array of how we define America as a caring, compassionate, and
productive society. It has been a challenge, but it has also been a
great honor and privilege to chair this committee.
As I leave, I can say we are fortunate to have someone of Senator
Alexander's depth and breadth of experience. In fact, he has been the
Secretary of Education, Governor of Tennessee, and President of the
University of Tennessee. He is well qualified, and I know he will do a
great job in leading this committee in the future.
I wish to thank all of my committee members, but especially Senator
Lamar Alexander from Tennessee, and let him know on the record how much
I valued our collaboration and how much I benefited from his counsel
and his wisdom.
I urge all Senators to support this new reauthorization--the first
time since 1996--of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program.
With that, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I see my distinguished friend the
Senator from Iowa on the floor. I am here, very simply, to say that we
are about to vote on the Child Care and Development Block Grant, a
piece of legislation that would provide childcare to 1.5 million
children so that their mothers can work or continue their education or
training.
I have repeated on this floor several times the story of a young
woman in Memphis, TN, who attended LeMoyne-Owen College and received
about $500 a month to pay for childcare for her child so she could get
her degree. She then graduated from LeMoyne-Owen with a business degree
and was able to work her way up to the position of assistant manager at
a local Walmart. The block grant helped her be able to continue her
education and obtain a good job so that she can now pay for the
childcare costs of her second child on her own.
This bill has strong support on both sides of the aisle, but we
Republicans especially like it because it is a block grant to the
States. The grant gives States flexibility with minimal Federal rules.
It also encourages the use of vouchers allowing that young mother I
just mentioned to choose among her various options for childcare.
It doesn't mandate from Washington, it enables from Washington. It
recognizes that leaders in States have very good judgment, and what
might work in Hawaii might not in Tennessee or Iowa. Different programs
may work better in different jurisdictions, and that mothers themselves
ought to be able to make the judgment of where their child receives
care.
I wish to thank Senator Harkin, who is retiring this year, and who is
chairman of the committee that has produced this bill. He and Senator
Mikulski and Senator Burr have worked for years on this piece of
legislation. It received a lot of consideration in the Senate and in
the House. We all would like to see the Senate function better, and it
did function better for this bill. When we first brought this to the
Senate floor in March, the majority leader
[[Page S6011]]
didn't fill the tree or file cloture. We considered 50 amendments and
adopted 18 of them. Fourteen of them we agreed to adopt by voice vote,
four of them received roll call votes, and then we passed the bill 96
to 2. The House made a few minor changes in it. They did it while
consulting with Senator Harkin and me and others who did work on the
bill, and we have come to this point today.
This is a very important piece of legislation, helping 900,000
families, 1.5 million children across the country. In Tennessee alone,
21,000 families will be helped by this. In our society today, worksite
daycare is not available to every single mother or father who has a
child, and this helps with that.
I thank the Senate for its consideration of this very important bill.
I thank the House for working with the Senate and I congratulate
Senator Harkin. I imagine he has mentioned it, but if he hasn't, this
will be the 21st piece of legislation the Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee has produced this year that will become law under
his leadership. As Senator Harkin goes back to Des Moines, IA, and
rocks on his front porch and pursues the next chapter of his life, he
can say that in the Senate, which didn't always work that well in this
Congress, his committee did, and it has benefited lots of families and
lots of children.
I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the bill, and I am glad to see it
as a good example of what I hope to see more of as we move into the new
year.
Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor.
Recognizing Homeless Children and Families in the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I come to the floor today to speak
about the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. I'm glad to say
that the bill before us today contains a number of provisions intended
to facilitate homeless families' access to quality child care. I
appreciate the work of my colleagues, particularly Chairman Harkin,
Senator Mikulski and Ranking Member Miller, in supporting these
important new provisions.
Unfortunately, young children who are homeless are more likely to
have developmental delays, and more health and mental health problems,
than low-income housed children. At the same time, their mothers are
less likely to receive childcare subsidies than are poor mothers at-
risk of homelessness. So I believe that this legislation will be
important in helping rectify this inequity.
However, I want to ensure there is a common understanding of who we
intend to include within the definition of homeless families or
homeless children. The most common Federal definition of homelessness
is found in the McKinney-Vento Act's Education for Homeless Children
and Youth Program, at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434A. That definition applies to
public schools, including local educational agency preschool programs,
and is used in the Head Start Act, Higher Education Act, and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, among others. The
definition includes children and youth who are staying in motels, or
with others temporarily because they have nowhere else to go. Eighty
percent of the homeless children and youth enrolled in public schools
last year were staying in these situations when they were first
identified.
Is it the chairman's intention that the definition of homeless to be
applied to the provisions of this bill be the definition from subtitle
VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Act, the Education for Homeless Children
and Youth program?
Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I thank the Senator for her important
question. Her understanding is correct. The definition of homeless
children and youth found at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434A is the definition we
intend to apply to homeless children and families where those terms are
used in this bill.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I thank the Senator for that
clarification, which will assist States in implementing the provisions
of this bill by aligning definitions across Federal programs serving
homeless families.
This bill overlaps with the McKinney-Vento Act in another way which I
would like to clarify. This bill requires State plans to describe how
the State will coordinate childcare services with programs for children
in preschool programs and other early childhood programs serving
homeless children and children in foster care, in order to expand
accessibility and continuity of care and assist children enrolled in
early childhood programs to receive full-day services.
The McKinney-Vento Act's Education for Homeless Children and Youth
program is the only education program specifically designed to promote
academic success for homeless students. The McKinney-Vento Act requires
every local educational agency to designate a homeless education
liaison, whose job includes identifying homeless children and youth and
ensuring homeless children and families receive educational services
for they are eligible, including Head Start and preschool programs
administered by the local educational agency. In order for States to
expand accessibility and continuity of care for homeless children, it
is critically important that McKinney-Vento liaisons are among the
professionals with whom States and child care providers coordinate.
Is it Senator Mikulski's understanding and intention that McKinney-
Vento homeless education liaisons be included among those programs for
children in preschool programs and other early childhood programs
serving homeless children with which States should coordinate child
care services?
Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I thank the Senator for raising the
issue of local educational agency McKinney-Vento homeless education
liaisons. Given their central role and responsibility in identifying
homeless children and ensuring they receive education and early
childhood education services for which they are eligible, liaisons are
important partners in coordinating childcare services. The Senate-
passed version of this legislation had called for coordination with
McKinney-Vento homeless education liaisons. It is indeed our intention
that State plans include a description of how the State will coordinate
childcare services with McKinney-Vento homeless education liaisons.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I thank the Senator for clarifying the
bill's intent that McKinney-Vento liaisons be part of States'
coordination of childcare services.
I would also like to clarify the intent behind two related bill
provisions. First, this bill requires State plans to include a
certification that there are in effect in the State requirements
applicable to childcare providers which are designed to protect
children's health and safety, including the establishment of a grace
period that allows homeless children and children in foster care to
receive services while their families are taking any necessary actions
to comply with immunization and other health and safety requirements.
This provision is similar to language found in the McKinney-Vento Act
and the Head Start Act. It recognizes that families experiencing
homelessness have particular challenges in producing health records and
other documents, due largely to their poverty and unstable living
situations.
At the same time, the bill requires States to use funds for
activities that improve access to childcare services, including the use
of procedures to permit enrollment--after an initial eligibility
determination--of homeless children while required documentation is
obtained. I would ask the chairman, is it the intent of the bill
language that regardless of the procedures States use to permit
enrollment while required documentation is obtained, States still must
establish a grace period that allows homeless children to receive
services while their families are taking any necessary actions to
comply with immunization and other health and safety requirements?
Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, again, I thank the Senator for this
clarifying question. Under this bill, State plans must include a
certification that there are in effect in the State requirements that
include the establishment of a grace period that allows homeless
children to receive services while their families are taking any
necessary actions to comply with immunization and other health and
safety requirements. That requirement stands apart from procedures the
State uses to permit enrollment of homeless children while other
required documentation is obtained.
[[Page S6012]]
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, Thank you for that explanation. I am
pleased to hear that homeless children will be able to receive services
while their families are taking actions to comply with immunization and
other health and safety requirements.
Regarding enrollment while other required documentation is obtained,
the bill language requires that States use procedures to ensure such
enrollment occurs after an initial eligibility determination is made.
Yet, eligibility documentation is among the required documentation
homeless families must produce. However, we know that homeless families
struggle to produce documents, due to their poverty and mobility. Can
Senator Mikulski, please clarify the intent of the phrase ``after an
initial eligibility determination?''
Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, The language calls for procedures to
permit enrollment of homeless children, after an initial eligibility
determination, while required documentation is obtained. To implement
this language and its intent, States will need to implement procedures
to make abbreviated initial eligibility determinations of homeless
children and enroll them immediately, while required documentation,
including some documentation to prove eligibility, is obtained.
For example, a State could adopt a procedure that a child referred by
a local educational agency McKinney-Vento homeless liaison would be
determined to be initially eligible and enrolled in services
immediately, while required documentation is obtained. The family then
would have to take necessary steps to provide standard documentation to
establish eligibility.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I thank Senator Mikulski for that
important clarification. The intent of the bill as she describes it
will greatly improve homeless children's access to childcare. I
appreciate the Senator's dedication to this legislation, which helps
expand opportunity for families and enhance the quality of childcare
for young people across the country.
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I support the Child Care and Development
Block Grant, CCDBG, reauthorization bill, S. 1086, which is now pending
before the Senate. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation, which
would send it to the President for his signature. I want to
congratulate my colleagues, Senator Mikulski for her leadership on this
bill, and Senator Harkin, Senator Alexander, and Senator Burr. This
reauthorization has truly been a bipartisan effort and illustrative of
the Senate HELP Committee's effectiveness this Congress, and I
congratulate Senator Harkin on his leadership of this committee as he
retires from Congress next month. Through the HELP Committee's
leadership and work with their House counterparts, this legislation
will serve to better support working families and children and make a
significant improvement to our current childcare programs.
The last time we authorized this program was in 1996. I know that
very well because I was serving in the House of Representatives at the
time and had the opportunity to be the ranking member on the Human
Resources Subcommittee in the House Ways and Means Committee that was
considering welfare reform and childcare, and how we could reward
families for work, and how our welfare system could become a
transitional program rather than a permanent program that would allow
people, particularly moms, to be able to get into the workforce, stay
in the workforce and climb up the economic ladder.
Today, under CCDBG, there are 1.6 million children eligible for
program services. CCDBG provides not only a safe environment for those
children, but allows 70 percent of their parents to work and an
educational opportunity for the child at the same time. A Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, study showed that parents who had
their children in childcare for 2 years or more were more likely to
remain employed. CCDBG provides stable employment, help for the child,
and a positive economic situation for the family.
This bi-cameral, bi-partisan CCDBG reauthorization bill before us
makes improvements to this successful program, as it should. It allows
the States to develop 13 specific health and safety standards, such as
first aid and CPR, and SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome. It is
keeping our children safer in childcare by having safety standards that
are developed. This legislation: requires the States to do annual
health, safety, and fire inspections of nearly all childcare providers;
expands comprehensive background checks for those who are involved in
childcare; steadily increases the annual authorization of
appropriations; phases in a doubling of the annual set-aside for
quality initiatives to 9 percent by 2019; makes information available
online for parents to make informed childcare decisions; promotes more
transparency in the program; and provides additional State flexibility
on how they can set priorities within the childcare program. This
program is a model of how federalism should operate, with the Federal
Government and the States collaborating together to improve the quality
of life for many middle-class American families.
This legislation will accomplish our objectives so we can get more
people into the workforce and provide access to early childhood
education to help children succeed in life. This program will allow us
to help American families and strengthen the economic security of
America.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. ALEXANDER. I suggest the absence fo a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
Mr. ALEXANDER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum
call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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