For other versions of this document, see http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RL32241 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Order Code RL32241 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Child Care Reauthorization: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Child Care Provisions in H.R. 4, S. 880 (108th Congress), and Current Law Updated January 3, 2005 Melinda Gish Specialist in Social Legislation Domestic Social Policy Division Congressional Research Service ~ The Library of Congress Child Care Reauthorization: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Child Care Provisions in H.R. 4, S. 880 (108th Congress), and Current Law Summary The 108th Congress did not complete action to reauthorize child care legislation that expired at the end of FY2002, but funding has continued via a series of temporary measures, and annual appropriations. "Child care reauthorization" is composed of two parts: legislation to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act and legislation to extend mandatory funding appropriated under Section 418 of the Social Security Act. In February 2003, the House passed a consolidated bill, H.R. 4, which encompassed both parts of reauthorization by including provisions that would have addressed mandatory appropriations, discretionary funding authorization levels, and other amendments to the CCDBG Act. The Senate Finance Committee reported its own version of H.R. 4, which included mandatory child care funding, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee reported a separate bill, S. 880, which included all provisions pertaining to discretionary funding authorization, and amended the CCDBG Act itself. The full Senate began consideration of H.R. 4 on March 29, 2004, passing one amendment to it (to increase child care funding), but then failed to resume consideration of the bill. Both versions of H.R. 4 originally proposed to appropriate $2.917 billion in mandatory CCDBG funding for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008, which would have reflected an increase of $1 billion over five years above current (FY2002) funding. (The amendment approved on the Senate floor would have provided an additional $6 billion, on top of the $1 billion.) Discretionary funding levels are authorized within the CCDBG Act, and both the House version of H.R. 4 and S. 880 proposed to authorize $2.3 billion in FY2004, rising up to $3.1 billion in FY2008. Also of note, H.R. 4 (House) would have allowed states to transfer up to 50% of their TANF block grants to the CCDBG (rather than current law's limit of 30%). Both H.R. 4 (House) and S. 880 would have revised and expanded the CCDBG program goals to include and emphasize school readiness. Of the two bills, S. 880 provided the greater detail in terms of defining the skills and development to be fostered in efforts to prepare children for school. Both bills included provisions to increase the minimum quality set-aside from 4% to 6%, and to define "quality activities" in more detail. Both bills proposed to eliminate the federal eligibility ceiling (85% of state median income); and to place new requirements on state plans to emphasize coordination, consumer education, and program quality. S. 880 would have also strengthened requirements (currently only in regulation) that states set provider payment rates in accordance with a recent market rate survey. Other provisions in S. 880 included amending the list of data elements collected on a monthly basis; enhancing security at federal child care facilities, and establishing a small business child care grant program. This report provides a side-by-side comparison of the proposed bills, and will not be updated. Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Summary of Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Discretionary Authorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mandatory Appropriation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Authority to Transfer TANF Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Use of Funds for Direct Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Option to Use Excess Funds for Increasing Payment Rates . . . . . . . . . 3 Quality Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Quality Set-Aside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Definition of "Quality Activities" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 State Plan Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Data Collection and Reporting Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Other Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Detailed Comparison of Child Care Provisions of both House and Senate Versions of H.R. 4, S. 880, and Current Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Authorization of appropriations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Application and plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Consumer education information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Payment rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Certification of compliance with quality set-aside percentage . . . . . . . . . . 10 Strategy for addressing quality of child care available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Addressing special needs child care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Meeting the needs of TANF population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Redetermination procedures; protection for working parents . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Description of requirements for training in early childhood development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Use of funds for a resource and referral system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Use of funds for direct services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Activities to improve the quality of child care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Training and professional development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 School readiness activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Provider retention and compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Certification requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Report by Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Submission deadline and other requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Use of resource and referral organizations for data collection . . . . . . . . . . 16 Definition of income eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Entitlement funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Puerto Rico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Transfer of TANF funds to CCDBG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Lead agency designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Optional priority use of additional funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Reports and audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Quarterly reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Annual reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Amounts reserved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Territories and tribes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Infants and toddlers; telephone hotline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Rule of construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Enhancing security at child care centers in federal facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Small business child care grant program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 List of Tables Table 1. Comparison of Current Law with Child Care Provisions in H.R. 4 as Passed by the House, as Reported by the Senate Finance Committee, and S. 880 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Child Care Reauthorization: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Child Care Provisions in H.R. 4, S. 880 (108th Congress), and Current Law Introduction "Child care reauthorization" is composed of two parts: legislation to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act and legislation to extend mandatory funding appropriated under Section 418 of the Social Security Act. The CCDBG Act authorizes discretionary funds and contains all provisions pertaining to the administration of CCDBG programs. Section 418 of the Social Security Act appropriates mandatory money to be administered under provisions included in the CCDBG Act. The 108th Congress did not complete action to reauthorize either the CCDBG Act itself, or the mandatory child care funding appropriated under the Social Security Act (along with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant). Both expired at the end of FY2002. However, funding for the CCDBG has been continued via a series of temporary extensions (in the case of the mandatory funding) and annual appropriations law (for the discretionary funding portion). In terms of reauthorization legislation, the House passed a consolidated bill, H.R. 4 (Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2003), which included discretionary funding authorization, a mandatory appropriation, and amendments to the CCDBG Act (alongside provisions to amend and extend funding for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]1). In the Senate, two separate bills were reported from their respective committees, but ultimately failed to reach a final vote on the full Senate floor. The Senate Finance Committee's reported substitute version of H.R. 4 (Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone Act [PRIDE]) included mandatory funding for child care, while the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee's reported bill, S. 880 (The Caring for Children Act of 2003), included all provisions pertaining to discretionary funding authorization, and would have amended the 1 For a discussion of TANF provisions in the House and Senate versions of H.R. 4, see CRS Report RL32210, TANF Reauthorization: Side-by-Side Comparison of Current Law and Two Versions of H.R. 4, by Vee Burke and Gene Falk. CRS-2 CCDBG Act itself. Although the Senate bills never made it to a final floor vote, it should be noted that when the legislation was brought to the floor, one amendment, offered by Senator Snowe, was accepted (78-20). That amendment proposed to increase mandatory child care funding above the amounts proposed in the House- passed, and Senate committee bill. Below is a summary of key provisions in all three bills (and the Snowe amendment, as passed on the floor), followed by Table 1, a detailed side-by-side comparison of each bill's provisions with current law.2 Summary of Provisions Funding Discretionary Authorization. The discretionary portion of child care funding is authorized by the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (as amended in 1996). Under current law, discretionary CCDBG funding is authorized at $1 billion annually. However, actual appropriation levels, determined during the annual appropriations process, have exceeded the authorized level (e.g., FY2004 = $2.1 billion). Both the House version of H.R. 4 (The Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2003), and S. 880 (The Caring for Children Act of 2003) proposed to authorize discretionary funding at $2.3 billion in FY2004, rising by $200 million each year, up to $3.1 billion in FY2008. (The discretionary funding authorization does not fall under the Senate Finance Committee's jurisdiction, and therefore was not addressed in the Senate committee-reported version of H.R. 4.) Mandatory Appropriation. Mandatory funding for the CCDBG was preappropriated in Section 418 of the Social Security Act for FY1997-2002, as part of the welfare law of 1996 (P.L. 104-193). A series of temporary extensions have continued that funding since the close of FY2002. Funding has been maintained at the FY2002 annual rate of $2.717 billion. The House-passed version of H.R. 4 would have set mandatory child care funding at $2.917 billion for each of FY2004-2008 (for an increase of $1 billion over five years above current funding). The version of H.R. 4 reported by the Senate Finance Committee contained the same $1 billion increase in mandatory child care funding over five years; however, Senator Snowe expressed plans at the time of voting for the committee bill to offer an amendment for a greater child care increase when the bill was brought to the Senate floor. (The mandatory funding does not fall under Senate HELP Committee jurisdiction, and therefore was not addressed in S. 880.) When the bill was considered on the floor (March 30, 2004), S.Amdt. 2937 (Snowe) was offered and approved by a vote of 78-20. The amendment would have provided an additional $6 billion (over five years) in mandatory child care funding, above the $1 billion ($200 million in each of five years) provided in the underlying bill, H.R. 4 (as passed by the House, and as passed by the Senate Finance 2 For a general discussion of child care legislation in the 108th Congress, see CRS Report RL31817, Child Care Issues in the 108th Congress, by Melinda Gish. CRS-3 Committee). The additional $6 billion would have been allotted among the years as follows: $700 million in FY2005; $1 billion in FY2006; $1.2 billion in FY2007; $1.4 billion in FY2008; and $1.7 billion in FY2009. Authority to Transfer TANF Funds. Under current law, states have the authority to transfer up to 30% of their annual TANF block grant to the CCDBG (only 20% if they choose to transfer 10% to the Social Services Block Grant). The House-passed version of H.R. 4 would have allowed states to transfer up to 50% of their annual TANF grants to the CCDBG. The Senate version of H.R. 4 proposed to maintain current law. Use of Funds for Direct Services. Current law includes no provision requiring a given percentage of funds appropriated under the CCDBG Act to be spent on direct services. S. 880 would have required that after the reservation of set-asides, at least 70% of the funds remaining be used to fund direct services (as defined by the state). The House bill had no comparable provision. Option to Use Excess Funds for Increasing Payment Rates. S. 880 would have allowed states that receive funding above their FY2003 levels to use a portion of the excess to support payment rate increases for providers and to establish tiered payment rates. Under S. 880, stricter requirements to set payment rates in accordance with biennial market rate surveys would have been added to the statute. Quality Activities Quality Set-Aside. Current law requires that at least 4% of each state's total CCDBG expenditures (from all sources -- e.g., mandatory, discretionary, matching funds) be used for quality activities, described as: providing comprehensive consumer education to parents and the public, activities that increase parental choice, and activities designed to improve the quality and availability of child care in the state. Both the House-passed version of H.R. 4 and the HELP Committee's S. 880 would have raised the percentage of CCDBG funds that must be spent for quality activities to a minimum of 6%. Definition of "Quality Activities". Both bills provided greater detail than current law in terms of defining what classifies as a "quality activity." In each, categories of activities were outlined to include school readiness activities (including activities to enhance early literacy); training and professional development for staff; and initiatives or programs to promote or increase retention of qualified staff. The categories reflected a new emphasis on school readiness as a goal of the CCDBG. The Senate bill (S. 880) also specified that quality funds could have been spent on evaluating and assessing the quality of programs, and their effectiveness in improving overall school preparedness. While S. 880 clearly stated that quality funds must be spent for any of the six listed purposes, H.R. 4 (House) provided three broad categories, similar in topic to those in S. 880, with a fourth, more general category of "other activities as approved by the state." CRS-4 Eligibility Federal law currently requires that children eligible for services under the CCDBG must have family income that does not exceed 85% of the state median (for a family of that size). However, states have the discretion to adopt income eligibility limits below this federal maximum. Both the House-passed version of H.R. 4 and S. 880 proposed to eliminate the federal maximum of 85% of state median income (SMI) from the CCDBG law, replacing it with a provision allowing states to set income eligibility levels (with no federal ceiling), with priorities based on need. State Plan Requirements Under current CCDBG law, states are required to submit plans every two years, certifying that their CCDBG programs include specified elements addressing areas such as parental choice, parental access, consumer education, licensing, and health and safety requirements. Both the House version of H.R. 4 and the HELP Committee's S. 880 would have amended current law to require that additional elements be certified in their state plans. Areas that would have been modified or added related to providing consumer education information; describing or demonstrating state coordination of child care services with other early childhood education programs; certifying compliance with the quality set-aside percentage requirement; and addressing special needs child care. Unlike the House version of H.R. 4, S. 880 included provisions requiring that in their state plans, states demonstrate that the process for redetermining eligibility occur no more frequently than every six months (with limited exceptions), and also that the state plan describe any training requirements in effect for child care providers. The Senate bill would also have put into statute the requirement that the provider payment rates, described in the state plan, be set in accordance with a statistically valid and reliable biennial survey of market rates (without reducing the number of families served). State plans would also have been required to include the results of those surveys and to contain a description of how the state will provide for timely payment to providers. Results of the survey would also have been required to be made available to the public no later than 30 days after the survey's completion. Data Collection and Reporting Requirements Current law specifies a set of data reporting requirements for states to collect in the administration of their CCDBG programs. States collect data on a monthly basis and submit to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) disaggregated data on a quarterly basis. An aggregate report is required to be submitted to HHS on an annual basis. S. 880 would have retained the quarterly reporting in current law, but would have amended the list of data elements that states would be required to collect on a monthly basis. (See Table 1 for details.) It would also have eliminated the separate annual report, instead requiring that the fourth quarterly report include information CRS-5 on the annual number and type of child care providers and the method of payment they receive. The House version of H.R. 4 would have retained current law, containing none of these provisions. Other Provisions Titles II and III of S. 880 proposed provisions that stood apart from CCDBG law or Section 418 of the Social Security Act. Title II of the bill contained provisions to enhance security at child care centers in federal facilities, and Title III would have established a small business child care grant program, through which competitive grants would have been awarded to states for establishment and operation of employer-operated child care programs. Detailed Comparison of Child Care Provisions of both House and Senate Versions of H.R. 4, S. 880, and Current Law Table 1 provides a detailed comparison of the child care provisions included in the House-passed and Senate Finance Committee-reported versions of H.R. 4, the Senate HELP Committee-reported S. 880, with current law. In some cases, current law refers to the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, while current law provisions pertaining to the mandatory child care funding are included in Section 418 of the Social Security Act. The bracketed references in each of the cells refer to the section of the applicable law or proposed bill. In the section regarding the mandatory (entitlement) funding, the Snowe amendment, as passed during the short- lived Senate floor consideration is noted. CRS-6 Table 1. Comparison of Current Law with Child Care Provisions in H.R. 4 as Passed by the House, as Reported by the Senate Finance Committee, and S. 880 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Short title Social Security Act includes Personal Responsibility, Work, and The Personal Responsibility and The Caring for Children Act of provisions for mandatory funding. Family Promotion Act of 2003. Individual Development for 2003. [Section 1] [Section 418] Title II of this bill is entitled the Everyone Act. No separate title for Child Care and Development Block Caring for Children Act of 2003. child care. (Child care provisions Grant Act of 1990, as amended, [Section 201] are included in Section 116 of Title includes discretionary funding I.) authorization, and program provisions. Goals The five goals of the CCDBG are: Amends the third goal of the No provisions. Same as House bill. (1) to allow states the maximum CCDBG to "assist" states to provide flexibility in developing child care consumer education information programs; (2) to promote parental (rather than to "encourage" states). choice for working parents making Modifies fourth goal, eliminating child care decisions; (3) to specific reference to providing child encourage states to provide care for parents trying to achieve consumer education information to ind e p e nd e nc e f r o m p ub lic help parents make informed child assistance, and replacing with care choices; (4) to assist states to providing child care to low-income provide child care to parents trying parents. to achieve independence from public assistance; and (5) to assist states in implementing the health, safety, licensing, and registration standards established in state regulations. [Section 658A of CCDBG Act] CRS-7 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Adds two new goals for the Adds three new goals to the CCDBG: (1) to encourage states to CCDBG: (1) to assist states in improve the quality of child care improving the quality of child care available to families; and (2) to available to families (same as House promote school readiness. [Section bill); (2) to promote school 202] preparedness by encouraging children, families, and caregivers to engage in develo p mentally appropriate and age-appropriate activities in child care settings that will -- (a) improve the children's social, emotional, and behavioral skills; and (b) foster their early cognitive, pre-reading, and language development (more detailed than House bill); and (3) to promote parental and family involvement in the education of young children in child care settings. [Section 101] Authorization of The CCDBG Act authorized $1 Authorizes discretionary funding for No provision. Same as House bill (although Senate appropriations billion in discretionary CCDBG the CCDBG at the following levels: bill does not include a funding level funding for each of fiscal years FY2003 = $2.1 billion for FY2003). [Section 102] 1996-2002. (Actual appropriations FY2004 = $2.3 billion in recent years have surpassed FY2005 = $2.5 billion authorized levels. Most recently, FY2006 = $2.7 billion for FY2004, with an expired FY2007 = $2.9 billion authorization, $2.1 billion was FY2008 = $3.1 billion appropriated.) [Section 658B of [Section 203] CCDBG Act] CRS-8 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Application and plan Consumer education In order for a state to be eligible to Amends current law to specify that No provision. Same as House bill, with an information receive CCDBG funds, it must resource and referral services and additional requirement that the state submit an application and plan that other means be used for the report to the Secretary (of HHS) meet with approval from HHS. collection and dissemination of both the manner in which the Among other things, the state plan consumer education information, and consumer information was provided, certifies that the state will collect that child care providers be and the number of parents to whom and disseminate to parents of recipients of this information (in it was provided during the period of eligible children and the general addition to parents and the general the previous state plan. [Section public, consumer education public). Information is outlined to 104] information that will promote include: information about quality informed child care choices. and availability of child care; [Section 658E(c)(2)(D) of CCDBG research and best practices on Act] children's development; and other assistance programs for which families receiving child care services may be eligible. [Section 204] Payment rates States must certify in their state No provision (retains current law). No provision. Requires state plan to demonstrate plans that CCDBG provider that the state has developed and payment rates are sufficient to conducted a statistically valid and ensure families receiving subsidies reliable market rate survey for child have equal access to comparable care services within the two years child care services in the state prior to its submission. The state provided to non-CCDBG-eligible will also detail the results of the children. States are also required to market rate survey; describe how the provide a summary of the facts they state will provide for timely relied upon to determine that the set payment for child care services, and rates are sufficient to ensure equal set payment rates for child care access. [Section 658E(c)(4)] services in accordance with the survey results, without reducing the (Note: Regulations require that the number of families in the state above-mentioned summary of facts receiving assistance. Eliminates the be based on a local market rate requirement that the state submit a survey conducted no more than two summary of the facts relied upon to years prior to the effective date of determine that the set rates are CRS-9 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) the currently approved plan.) sufficient to ensure equal access. Results are to be made available to the public no later than 30 days after survey's completion. [Section 104] No provision. No provision. No provision. Includes a rule of construction stating that nothing shall prevent a state from differentiating the payment rates to providers on the basis of geographic location, the age or particular needs of children, and whether the providers provide child care during weekend and other nontraditional hours. [Section 104] Coordination (While not required to be addressed Adds provision requiring the state No provision. Same as House bill, except in the state plan under current law, plan to demonstrate how the state coordination is to be "described" one the four stated duties of the will coordinate child care services rather than "demonstrated," and CCDBG lead agency is to with other early childhood additional programs specified to be coordinate the provision of CCDBG education programs, to expand coordinated with include Title I services with other federal, state, accessibility to and continuity of preschool programs and programs and local child care and early care and early education without under IDEA Section 619 and Part C. childhood development program.) displacing services provided by the [Section 104] [Section 658D(b)(1)(D)] current system. [Section 204] Adds provision requiring the state No provision. Same as House bill, except the state plan to demonstrate how the state plan is to "describe" rather than encourages partnerships with "demonstrate," and this bill specifies private and other public entities to that the child care services provided leverage existing service delivery be for children age 13 and under. systems and increase the supply and [Section 104] quality of child care. [Section 204] CRS-10 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Certification of Regulations require that the state Adds provision requiring state plan No provision. Certification is not required as part compliance with plan describe activities a state to certify (every two years) its of state plan, however, states are quality set-aside intends to fund with "quality set- compliance with the quality set- required annually to provide the percentage aside" money, but neither law nor aside percentage requirement, Secretary with certification regulation requires certification of including a description of the use of regarding compliance with quality compliance. funds, beginning in FY2004 (for the activity requirements. (See "quality preceding fiscal year). [Section activities" provision below.) 204] Strategy for No provision. Adds provision requiring state plan No provision. Requires same information as House addressing quality of to outline the strategy the state will bill, but as an annual submission to child care available implement to address the quality of the Secretary, rather than in the state child care services available to low- plan. [Section 105] income families from eligible providers. The strategy is to include a description of quantifiable, objective measures for evaluating progress in quality improvement, and a list of state-developed targets for the plan's fiscal year. For each year after FY2004, the plan shall include a progress report with respect to achieving the targets. [Section 204] Addressing special No provision. Adds provision requiring state plan No provision. Same as House bill. [Section 104] needs child care to demonstrate how the state is addressing the needs of eligible parents who have children with special needs; work non-traditional hours; or require child care for infants or toddlers. [Section 204] CRS-11 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Meeting the needs of In their state plans, states must No provision. No provision. The state plan must also describe TANF population demonstrate the manner in which how the state will inform parents the specific child care needs of receiving TANF, and other low- families on, leaving, or at-risk of income parents, about eligibility for receiving TANF will be met. CCDBG assistance. [Section 104] [Section 658E(c)(2)(H)] Redetermination No provision. No provision. No provision. State plan must demonstrate that procedures; redetermination of eligibility for protection for assistance is not to be conducted any working parents more frequently than every six months, except in the case of a parent's loss of employment. States a r e given the o p t i o n o f demonstrating that they will not terminate child care assistance based on a parent's loss of work without first continuing assistance for at least one month while the parent looks for work. Also requires the state plan to show that procedures and policies are in place to ensure that working parents are not required to unduly disrupt their employment in order to comply with the state's requirements for eligibility and re-determination. [Section 104] Description of No provision. No provision. No provision. Requires state plan to describe any requirements for training requirements in effect that training in early are applicable to CCDBG providers childhood and that are designed to enable child development care providers to promote the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children. [Section CRS-12 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) 104] Use of funds for a Current law broadly states that No provision. No provision. Adds specific language to current resource and referral CCDBG funds are to be used for law regarding use of funds: allows system child care services, activities that a state to use CCDBG funds to improve the quality or availability establish or support a system of of such services, and any other local child care resource and referral activity that the state deems organizations coordinated by a appropriate to realize the goals of statewide private, non-profit, the program. [Section community-based lead child care 658E(c)(3)(B)] resource and referral organization. The resource and referral organizations will provide parents with information on child care options; and collect and analyze data on supply and demand for child care in political subdivisions within the state, and submit reports to the state. [Section 104] Use of funds for No provision. No provision. No provision. Requires that after reservation of direct services set-asides, at least 70% of funds remaining must be used to fund direct services (as defined by the state). [Section 104] CRS-13 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Activities to improve the quality of child care Funding Not less than 4% of a state's annual Increases the "quality set-aside" to No provision. Same as House bill. [Section 105] funding for the CCDBG is to be not less than 6%. [Section 205] used for quality activities (described below). [Section 658G of CCDBG Act] Definitions The law describes funded activities Provides more detail than current No provision. Similar to House bill with respect to as those designed to provide law, specifying four categories of some categories of activities, but comprehensive consumer education quality activities (see below). greater detail in others (see below). to parents and the public, activities Senate bill specifies that quality that increase parental choice, and funds be used only for the listed activities designed to improve the purposes (see below). quality and availability of child care (such as resource and referral services). [Section 658G of CCDBG Act] (Training and (1) programs providing training, (1) Same as House bill. professional education and other professional development) development for child care workers; (School readiness (2) activities within child care (2) develop and implement activities) settings to enhance early learning, voluntary guidelines on pre-reading early literacy, and school readiness; and language skills and activities that are aligned with state goals for school preparedness; (3) support activities and provide technical assistance in child care settings to enhance early learning for young children, to promote literacy, and to foster school preparedness; CRS-14 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) (Provider retention (3) initiatives to increase the (4) engage in programs designed to and compensation) retention and compensation of child increase the retention and improve care providers, including tiered the competencies of child care reimbursement rates for providers; providers, including wage incentive and programs and initiatives that establish tiered payment rates for providers that meet or exceed child care services guidelines, as defined by the state; (Other) (4) other activities as approved by (5) evaluate and assess the quality the state. and effectiveness of child care programs and services on improving overall school preparedness; and (6) carry out other activities determined by the state to improve the quality of child care services for which measurement of outcomes relating to improved child safety, child well-being, or school preparedness is possible. Certification Regulations require that the state As stated above, adds provision No provision. Requires that beginning with requirements plan describe activities a state requiring state plan to certify (every FY2004, the state will certify intends to fund with "quality set- two years) its compliance with the annually to the Secretary its aside" money, but neither law nor quality set-aside percentage compliance with the quality activity regulation requires certification of requirement, including a description requirements; will describe how the compliance. of the use of funds, beginning in state used quality funds during the FY2004 (for the preceding fiscal preceding year; will outline the year). [Section 204] state's strategy for addressing the quality of child care in the state, including a description of quantifiable, objective measures, that the state will use to evaluate the state's progress in improving child CRS-15 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) care services. Beginning in FY2005, the state will submit a report on its progress in achieving targets for the preceding fiscal year. [Section 105] Report by Secretary Frequency The Secretary of HHS is required to Amends current law to require that No provision. Amends current law to replace prepare and submit a biennial report the biennial report to Congress biennial report to Congress with an to Congress. contain additional elements (see annual report (see below for below). contents). Content The biennial report includes a Adds new required contents to be Like the House bill, adds a new summary and analysis of the data included in the biennial report: requirement that aggregated submitted by states (as required by aggregated statistics on the supply statistics on the supply of, demand Section 658K). The report is also to of, demand for, and quality of child for, and quality of child care, early include an assessment, and where care, early education, and non- education, and non-school-hours appropriate, recommendations for school-hours programs. [Section programs be included in a report to the Congress with respect to 206] HHS. However, under this bill the improving the access of quality and report would be submitted annually affordable child care. [Section rather than biennially. 658L of CCDBG Act] Also requires that the following additional information be included: -- a summary and analysis of the data and information provided to the Secretary in the state plan (Section 658E), the strategy addressing quality activities (Section 658G(c)), and the quarterly reports (Section 658K). -- a progress report describing the progress of the states in streamlining CRS-16 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) data reporting, the Secretary's plans and activities to provide technical assistance to states, and an explanation of any barriers to getting data in an accurate and timely manner. [Section 108] Submission deadline Current law required first report not Report will continue to be submitted No provision. Report will be required annually, and other later than July 31, 1998, and biennially, as under current law, but beginning with the first submitted requirements biennially thereafter. [Section will be required to include the new no later than April 30, 2004. 658L] aggregated information (described above) beginning with report Also, not later than 30 days after the submitted no later than October 1, date of such submission, the report 2005. [Section 206] is required to be posted on the HHS website. Use of resource and No provision In order to collect this newly No provision. Same as House bill. [Section 108 - referral organizations required information, the bill "National Activities"] for data collection authorizes the Secretary to use the national child care data system available through resource and referral organizations. [Section 206] Definition of income Under federal law, the maximum Eliminates the federal maximum No provision. Same as House bill. [Section 110] eligibility family income of a CCDBG-eligible income limit of 85% of state median child may not exceed 85% of its income, and allows each state to state median income for a family of establish income eligibility levels, the same size. (States may set their prioritized by need (as defined by own eligibility levels below the the state). [Section 207] federal maximum.) [Section 658P(4)(B)] CRS-17 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Entitlement funding Entitles states to a basic block grant Appropriates $2.917 billion in Appropriates $2.917 billion in No provision. based o n FY1 9 9 2 -FY1995 entitlement (mandatory) funds for entitlement (mandatory) funds for expenditures in welfare-related each of fiscal years 2004 through each of fiscal years 2004 through child care. Mandatory funds above 2008. [Section 208] 2008. [Section 116] this amount are provided to states on a matching basis. Appropriates Note: Although the full Senate did entitlement (mandatory) funds for not complete debate of H.R. 4, FY1997 through FY2002 ($2.717 during its consideration, one billion for FY2002). Funding for amendment (offered by Senator FY2003 and the first two quarters of Snowe) did pass (78-20). That FY2004 has been extended by amendment would have provided an continuing resolutions on a additional $6 billion (over five temporary basis, at the FY2002 rate. years) in mandatory funds, above [Section 418 of the Social Security the $1 billion additional provided in Act; and most recent extension P.L. the committee-passed bill. The 108-89] additional $6 billion would have been allotted among the years as follows: $700 million in FY2005; $1 billion in FY2006; $1.2 billion in FY2007; $1.4 billion in FY2008; and $1.7 billion in FY2009. Puerto Rico Puerto Rico receives no entitlement No provision. Reserves $10 million of each year's No provision. (mandatory) child care funding entitlement (mandatory) under current law. appropriation (FY2004-2008) for Puerto Rico to use in providing child care assistance. Transfer of TANF States may transfer up to 30% of The allowable transfer of the TANF No provision. No provision. funds to CCDBG their annual TANF block grants to block grant to CCDBG is increased the CCDBG. (The maximum is from 30% to 50%. [Section 107(c)] 20% if a state opts to transfer 10% of its TANF grant to the Social Services Block Grant.) [Section 404(d)(1) of Social Security Act] CRS-18 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Lead agency The chief executive officer of a state No provision. No provision. Allows a state receiving CCDBG designation designates an appropriate state funds to designate an agency (which agency as the lead agency. [Section may be a collaborative agency), or 658D(a) of the CCDBG Act] establish a joint interagency office to serve as the lead agency for the state. [Section 103] Optional priority use No provision. No provision. No provision. Amends the CCDBG Act to add of additional funds Section 658H, which would allow states that receive funding of an amount greater than that received in FY2003, to use a portion of the excess to support payment rate increases and to establish tiered payment rates. [Section 106] Reports and audits Quarterly reports States receiving CCDBG funds are No provision (retains current law). No provision. Retains quarterly reporting of required to report to the Secretary current law, but amends the list of on a quarterly basis the following data elements that states are required data collected monthly with respect to collect on a monthly basis. to CCDBG families: family income; Changes include requiring that county of residence; gender, race, states: show the cost of each and age of child(ren) receiving family's subsidy broken down into assistance; sources of family income subsidy amount and co-payment (including employment, TANF, amount; report household size; housing assistance, Food Stamps, identify the reason for any and other programs); duration of termination in benefit; and report benefit receipt; type of child care whether the child has an used; cost of child care; and average individualized education plan. number of hours of child care. In States no longer would report order to collect data, states may use receipt of housing assistance or food sampling methods (approved by the stamps. [Section 107] Secretary). [Section 658K] CRS-19 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Annual reports States must submit annual reports of No provision (retains current law). No provision. Eliminates separate annual report, aggregate data concerning number but requires in fourth quarterly of providers that received CCDBG report of each year that the state funding; monthly cost of child care submit information on the annual services, and the portion paid number and type of child care through subsidy; the number of providers that received funding payments made through vouchers; under this subchapter and the annual the manner in which consumer number of payments made by the education informatio n was state through vouchers, under provided, and the number of parents contracts, or by payment to parents, receiving it; and the total by type of child care provider. unduplicated number of children [Section 107] and families served during the reporting period. [Section Information on the number of 658K(a)(2)] children and families receiving CCDBG assistance is to be posted on the website of each state. [Section 107] States must comply with the changes in data collection and reporting requirements within two years from the date of this Act's enactment. A waiver can be granted (by HHS) to states with plans to procure data systems. [Section 107] CRS-20 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) Amounts reserved Territories and tribes Current law provides for the No provision (retains current law). No provision. No provision. (Retains current law following reservation of funds from set-asides for territories and tribes.) the total CCDBG discretionary appropriation: Up to one half of 1% annually for payments to Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands; Not less than 1% and not more than 2% for Indian tribes and tribal organizations. [Section 658] Infants and toddlers; The CCDBG Act itself does not No provision. No provision. Amends Section 658 of the CCDBG telephone hotline contain any specific provision to Act to require the Secretary to reserve funds for increasing infant reserve an amount not to exceed and toddler care, however, $100 million each fiscal year for appropriations law (for FY2004, improving quality of and access to P.L. 108-199) includes $100 million care for infants and toddlers. Also from the discretionary CCDBG requires an amount not to exceed $1 appropriation for states to increase million to be reserved for a national the supply of quality care for infants toll-free child care hotline. [Section and toddlers, as well as $1 million 109 -- Grants and Hotline] for the Child Care Aware toll free hotline. Rule of construction No provision. No provision. No provision. Amends CCDBG Act to include a rule of construction stating that nothing in the act shall be construed to require a state to impose state child care licensing requirements on any type of early childhood provider, including any such CRS-21 H.R. 4 (Senate Finance Current law H.R. 4 (House-passed) Committee) S. 880 (Senate HELP Committee) provider who is exempt form state child care licensing requirements on the date of enactment of the Caring for Children Act of 2003. [Section 111] Enhancing security Current law does not contain this No provision. No provision. This bill includes a separate title at child care centers title. with provisions aimed at enhancing in federal facilities security at child care centers in federal facilities. The bill requires that the Administrator of General Services, among others, issue regulations relating to emergency plans and relocation sites. [Title II, Sections 201 and 202] Small business child Current law does not contain this No provision. No provision. This separate title requires the care grant program title. Secretary of HHS to establish a program to award competitive grants to states, which are to be used by states (or eligible consortia of small businesses or entities) to encourage the establishment and operation of employer-operated child care programs. The section authorizes $30 million for the period of FY2004-2008 to carry out the program. [Title III, Section 301] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For other versions of this document, see http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RL32241