Reforming U.S. Child Care Services (S. 1086)

What is S. 1086?

(Updated April 14, 2017)

This bill was enacted on November 19, 2014

This bill would reauthorize the child care and development block grant program (CCDBG), which has been in effect since 1990 as part of the CCDBG Act.

The CCDBG Act funds child care services for low-income families in U.S. states, tribes and territories. This bill would revise the CCDBG in the following ways:

• Requires state child care and development plans to cover a three year period.
• Mandates that child care development plans comply with state and local licensing requirements regarding:
•     Health and safety
•     Reporting child abuse
•     Protection for working parents
•     Coordination with other programs
•     Ensuring child services during and after states of emergency
• Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on child care providers and prohibits licensing for anyone who fails a check or is a registered sex offender.
• Orders the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families to report on whether each state is using all of the funds granted to it.
• Requires each plan to include provisions for child care during major emergencies and disasters. Each plan would need to coordinate the efforts of various state and local agencies.
• Requires each state to spend no less than 6% of their funds within the first two years that this bill is passed; no less than 8% in the 3rd and 4th years; no less than 10% in the 5th — forcing states to implement these funds. 
• Orders the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give states technical assistance so they can carry out the CCDBG Act and disseminate educational information.
• Authorizes states to request exemption from any provisions in the CCDBG that negatively affect child care services.
• Requires the collection of data on CCDBG recipients.
• Sets aside funding for a toll-free hotline and public website.
• Develops minimum child care standards for Indian tribes, and allows CCDBG funds to be used for constructing child care facilities.
• Re-defines “child with a disability” as any youth under 13 who is disabled.
• Permits federal child care facilities to serve children whose parents aren’t employed by the federal government if they hold degrees in higher education or have conducted research on behalf of a federal agency.
• Expresses strong desire for Congress to create a comprehensive plan for significantly reducing child poverty in the U.S. by 2019.

Argument in favor

Creates safer standards for child care, improving services for millions of young children from low-income families.

Argument opposed

Imposes extra layers of federal oversight on child care providers that are already coping with numerous regulations.

Impact

Children of low income families, their caregivers, child care providers, state and tribal child care agencies, the CCDBG Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.

Cost of S. 1086

A CBO cost estimate found that implementing S. 1086 would cost roughly $13.1 billion between 2015-2019.

Additional Info

In Depth:

The demand for child-care services is rising as a growing number of single-parents join the workforce. The demand for subsidized child care is even greater, especially because a third of families with young children earn $25,000 or less a year, while child care costs can range from $4,000 to $10,000.

Proponents of S. 1086 argue that it would provide low-income families with numerous tangible benefits. These include things like extended child-care subsidies for parents who have been laid off from work. It would also create better coordination between child care programs run by state agencies. Supporters hope these efforts will standardize high-quality child services across the country. Coordination is a serious issue, since roughly 1.8 million children are recipients of child care services funded by the CCDBG each month.

Media:

Political News

Forbes

(Photo Credit: Flickr user USDAgov)