To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to ensure access to high-quality child care for homeless children and families, and for other purposes.

August 1, 2012

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. FRANKEN, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to ensure access to high-quality child care for homeless children and families, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Improving Access to Child Care for Homeless Families Act of 2012’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

(a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Child and youth homelessness has increased by 38 percent during the period since 2006, and Head Start programs have registered a 44 percent increase in the number of homeless children served over that same period.

(2) Among homeless children living in shelters supported by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 50 percent are under 5 years old.

(3) A 2010 study by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that children who had received high-quality care in the first few years of life scored higher on measures of academic and cognitive achievement when the children were 19 years old, and were less likely to misbehave, than children who had been enrolled in low-quality care in those years.

(4) Homelessness has a negative impact on child development that surpasses the harmful impacts of poverty. A Head Start demonstration project serving homeless families indicated that the homeless children served had more instances of developmental delay, learning disabilities, and physical or mental health problems, compared with their low-income peers in stable housing.

(5) For homeless families, residential instability, high mobility, documentation requirements, and lack of transportation are significant obstacles to accessing and retaining child care services.

(6) According to a study by the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, homeless families are less likely to receive government financial assistance for child care than families that are not homeless.

(7) Without child care, homeless parents of young children struggle to search for employment, maintain employment, and enter job training programs.

(8) Many parents who are domestic violence survivors who flee their homes try to find employment, but the parents are often limited by a lack of child care. In a survey of nearly 1,500 domestic violence survivors in domestic violence shelters, 29 percent indicated that they needed help with child care.

(b) Sense of Congress- It is the sense of Congress that--

(1)(A) Congress has enacted successful policies to increase homeless children’s access to and stability in public elementary and secondary schools and Head Start programs; and

(B) in order to increase homeless families’ access to and continuity in child care, similar policies should be applied to Federal child care programs; and

(2) such policies will assist homeless parents in maintaining employment and regaining housing, and will provide critical interventions to support that vulnerable population of children.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this Act is to ensure access to high-quality child care for homeless children and families.

SEC. 4. CHILD CARE FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN.

(a) Lead Agency Duties- Section 658D(b)(1)(D) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b(b)(1)(D)) is amended by striking ‘Federal, State and local child care and early childhood development programs.’ and inserting ‘Federal, State, and local child care, early childhood development, and social service programs that shall include--

‘(1) Head Start and Early Head Start programs under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.);

‘(2) programs, and services of partners, that serve vulnerable populations, including programs serving homeless children and services of local educational agency liaisons for homeless children and youths designated under subsection (g)(1)(J)(ii) of section 722 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432); and

‘(3) programs, and services of entities receiving grants, to provide to homeless veterans services authorized under chapter 20 of title 38, United States Code, consisting of housing, employment-related services (such as services under section 2021 or 2021A of such title), or supportive services (such as services authorized under section 2044 of such title).’.

(b) Plan Requirements- Section 658E(c) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (2)--

(A) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘, Head Start and Early Head Start agencies under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), State Coordinators designated under subsection (d)(3), and local educational agency liaisons for homeless children and youths designated under subsection (g)(1)(J)(ii), of section 722 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432), local educational agencies and providers of early intervention services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.),’ after ‘children’;

(B) in subparagraph (F)(i), by striking the semicolon and inserting ‘and the establishment of a grace period that allows homeless children to receive services under this subchapter while their families are taking any necessary action to comply with immunization and other health and safety requirements;’; and

(C) in subparagraph (H)--

(i) by striking ‘and families’ and inserting ‘families’; and

(ii) by inserting ‘, and families of homeless children’ before the period;

(2) in paragraph (3)(B)--

(A) by inserting ‘activities that improve access to such services (including transportation to child care services, procedures to permit immediate enrollment of homeless children while required documentation is obtained, training and technical assistance on identifying and serving homeless children and their families, and specific outreach to families described in paragraph (2)(H)),’ after ‘availability of such services,’; and

(B) by inserting ‘, to homeless children,’ after ‘family size)’; and

(3) in paragraph (5), by adding at the end the following: ‘Each sliding fee scale shall be applied using measures to ensure that cost sharing is not a barrier to the enrollment of families of homeless children.’.

(c) Access and Outreach to Families of Homeless Children- Section 658G of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended--

(1) by inserting ‘(such as resource and referral services)’ after ‘and activities’; and

(2) by striking ‘(such as resource and referral services).’ and inserting ‘, including developing strategies and partnerships to provide transportation to child care services and specific outreach to families described in section 658E(c)(2)(H)).’ after ‘availability of child care’.

(d) Reports- Section 658K(a)(1)(B) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i(a)(1)(B)) is amended--

(1) in clause (ix), by striking ‘and’ at the end;

(2) in clause (x), by adding ‘and’ at the end; and

(3) by inserting after clause (x) the following:

‘(xi) whether the children receiving assistance under this subchapter are homeless children;’.

SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM.

(a) Redesignation- Section 658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858j) is amended--

(1) by striking the section heading;

(2) by inserting ‘(c) Report by Secretary- ’ before ‘Not later’;

(3) by striking ‘section 658K’ and inserting ‘this section’; and

(4) by moving subsection (c) (as redesignated by paragraph (2)) to the end of section 658K.

(b) Establishment of Program- The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 658K (42 U.S.C. 9858i), as amended by subsection (a), the following:

‘SEC. 658L. PILOT PROGRAM.

‘(a) In General- The Secretary shall carry out a pilot program to identify and implement best practices for increasing access to and continuity of child care for homeless children.

‘(b) Grants- In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall award to States not more than 5 grants of not more than $5,000,000 per grant. Each grant shall be for a period of not more than 3 years, beginning not later than March 31, 2013.

‘(c) Application- In order to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a State shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary shall require.

‘(d) Use of Funds- A State that receives a grant under this section shall use the funds made available under the grant--

‘(1) to establish a pilot project for--

‘(A) implementing promising practices for increasing access to and continuity of child care for homeless children; and

‘(B) identifying the best practices; and

‘(2) to carry out subsection (e)(1).

‘(e) Assessments and Reports-

‘(1) STATE RESPONSIBILITIES-

‘(A) ASSESSMENT- A State that receives a grant under this section shall carry out data collection for and an assessment of its pilot project described in subsection (d)(1).

‘(B) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY- Not later than 42 months after the first day of the grant period for a pilot project described in subsection (d)(1), the State carrying out the pilot project shall submit to the Secretary a report containing a summary of the results of the assessment described in subparagraph (A), including a description of the best practices identified.

‘(2) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITIES- Not later than 4 years after the first day of the latest grant period for a pilot project, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing a summary of the reports received under paragraph (1) and a recommendation concerning whether and how to expand the pilot projects carried out with best practices.

‘(f) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2015, which shall remain available through fiscal year 2017.’.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

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

(1) in paragraph (4)(C)--

(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘or’ at the end;

(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period and inserting ‘; or’; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

‘(iii) is a homeless child.’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

‘(15) HOMELESS CHILD- The term ‘homeless child’ means a homeless child or youth, as defined under section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a).’.