S. 2295 — Child Care for Working Families Act

This section establishes the Birth through Five Child Care and Early Learning Program by incorporating definitions from the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act and defining additional terms, including (1) child care certificate, which parents use as payment or deposit for licensed child care services (including sectarian providers if parent-chosen); (2) child experiencing homelessness, as defined under the McKinney-Vento Act; (3) eligible activity for parents, including employment, job search, education, health treatment, family violence prevention, workforce training, or family/medical leave; (4) eligible child, meaning an individual under age 6 not yet in kindergarten who resides with a parent in an eligible activity, is vulnerable (e.g., has disabilities, experiences homelessness, in foster/kinship care, or in families eligible for WIC, SNAP, or TANF), or lives with a parent over age 65, a child care provider employee, or an enrolled high school student, with eligibility lasting until age 6 or kindergarten entry without reverification; and (5) eligible child care provider, meaning licensed center-based, family, or other compensated providers that participate in state quality tiered systems within four years of funding and meet other CCDBG requirements, with existing CCDBG providers deemed eligible for 3.5 years.

This section establishes the purposes of this title to make child care services more accessible for families and support the stability and quality of eligible child care providers by (1) promoting the stability of the child care sector through stable funding to offset operating expenses; (2) supporting sustained and increased wages for early childhood educators and other staff to stabilize and grow the child care workforce; (3) expanding the supply and capacity of eligible child care providers to ensure working families have high-quality, affordable child care options in a variety of settings; and (4) supporting access to child care services for communities facing shortages, including services for infants and toddlers, nontraditional or extended hours, and inclusive services for children with disabilities.

This section establishes definitions for terms used in this title. Specifically, it (1) adopts the meanings of child care certificate, child with a disability, family child care provider, lead agency, Secretary, State, Indian tribe, and tribal organization from the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBG); (2) defines eligible child care provider as one meeting either the CCDBG definition or the definition in title I; (3) defines infant or toddler as an individual less than 3 years of age; (4) defines infant or toddler with a disability as per section 101(b); and (5) defines provider type as a center-based child care provider, family child care provider, or other non-center-based child care provider.

This section directs the Secretary to reserve not more than 3% of funds appropriated to carry out this title for federal administration of grants under section 204, which may include technical assistance to lead agencies.

This section directs the Secretary, from amounts appropriated for this title remaining after reservations under section 203, to award base grants to each state lead agency under specified authorities of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBG Act), without regard to state plan requirements in CCDBG Act section 658E(c)(3)(C) and (E) (i.e., set-asides for quality activities and infant and toddler care) or section 658G (i.e., expenditure limitations), using the CCDBG Act allotment formula in section 658O(a) but excluding reservations in paragraphs (3) through (5) (i.e., for Indian tribes, quality activities, and technical assistance). (Thus, states receive allotments from the full amount available for base grants, bypassing certain CCDBG Act mandates on fund use.) This section further authorizes base grants to Indian tribes or tribal organizations, in accordance with CCDBG Act section 658O, for child care programs consistent with this title.

This section requires a lead agency, to be eligible for a grant under section 204, to submit an application to the Secretary that includes (1) a description of the process for awarding subgrants to eligible child care providers; (2) a description of how subgrant amounts will be determined to ensure ongoing operations and sustainability, accounting for costs of high-quality services (including variations by geography, provider type, size, child age, nontraditional hours, disabilities, and group sizes/ratios) as well as workforce attraction, training, retention, and wages, with formulas based on enrollment capacity rather than attendance; (3) a description of collaboration with providers to improve child care quality, potentially including enhancements to the state's tiered quality recognition system; and (4) a description of using reserved funds under section 207(a)(1) for outreach and technical assistance to eligible providers (e.g., family child care providers, those with limited administrative capacity, and non-English primary language speakers), directly or via resource organizations, networks, or local governments.

This section authorizes states receiving grants under section 204 to administer funded activities either (1) directly through the state's lead agency or (2) through a subgrant or contract to another state government agency, a local or regional child care resource and referral organization, a community development financial institution, another nonprofit intermediary with experience supporting child care providers, or another appropriate entity.

This section requires a state lead agency receiving a BASE Grant under this title to (1) reserve not more than 10% of grant funds for administering subgrants, providing technical assistance and support to enable all provider types to apply for and manage subgrants and other public financial assistance, publicizing subgrants, and carrying out activities to increase child care supply; and (2) use remaining funds to make five-year subgrants to eligible child care providers for activities described in section 210. The section further requires the lead agency to make subgrant payments in advance, with adjustments for overpayments or underpayments.

This section requires the lead agency, in making subgrants under this title, to prioritize eligible child care providers that (1) offer services during nontraditional or extended hours; (2) serve infants and toddlers; (3) serve dual language learners, children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, children in foster care, or children from low-income families; (4) serve children whose families received subsidies under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) or title I; (5) operate in communities—including those with high proportions of children in households below the poverty line or rural communities—with low child care supply; or (6) qualify as small business concerns, as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632), or as tax-exempt nonprofit organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The section defines the poverty line by reference to section 673 of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902).

This section requires an eligible child care provider, to qualify for a subgrant under this title, to submit an application to the lead agency containing the following: (1) a description of how the provider meets priority requirements in section 208, if applicable; (2) an assurance that the provider accepts child care subsidies in the form of certificates, grants, or contracts under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) or title I as payment, regardless of whether subsidized children are enrolled; (3) an assurance that the provider will remain open and available to serve children during the grant period under section 204, except for temporary closures due to building safety issues or maintenance, widespread illness or staff shortages, holidays or scheduled professional development, or a state of emergency, major disaster, or emergency as defined in section 658E(c)(2)(U) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)(U)); (4) a description of how subgrant funds will improve child care quality and operations (e.g., through a state's tiered quality recognition system); and (5) a description of how the provider will provide staff increased compensation during the grant period, including annual cost-of-living adjustments and graduated pay increases based on credentials, experience, and responsibilities—and, for providers with 15 or more staff, a wage ladder based on those factors.

This section requires eligible child care providers receiving subgrants to use at least 70% of funds for personnel costs, including wages (or similar compensation) aligned with wage standards for staff, sole proprietors, and independent contractors; annual cost-of-living adjustments; and graduated pay increases based on credentials, experience, and responsibilities (including wage ladders for providers with 15 or more staff). Providers may use remaining funds for specified program-related activities, including (1) professional development and instructional coaching; (2) recruitment and retention bonuses; (3) staff benefits such as health insurance, paid leave, and retirement funds; (4) hiring staff (including background checks and to reduce staff-to-child ratios or cover leave); (5) occupancy costs such as rent, mortgages, utilities, insurance, and maintenance; (6) equipment, repairs, supplies, services, and training for health, safety, quality, and licensure compliance; (7) comprehensive services for underserved families' health and well-being; (8) age- and provider-appropriate quality improvements; and (9) inclusive care for children with disabilities (e.g., accommodations, accessibility, additional staffing, and early intervention coordination). This section authorizes lead agencies in states participating in title I—with Secretary approval—to permit alternative uses of funds that support title I goals such as high-quality affordable child care, educator compensation, supply expansion, or quality improvements for eligible providers. It clarifies that "staff" and "staff member" include persons described in subsection (a)(1)(A).

This section requires each lead agency receiving a grant under section 204 to submit a report to the HHS Secretary not later than one year after grant receipt and annually thereafter, including at a minimum—(1) numbers of eligible child care providers applying for subgrants relative to total eligible providers, and numbers receiving subgrants, disaggregated by provider type, race and ethnicity of provider, and geographic area; (2) subgrant amount determination methodology under section 207(a)(2); (3) average and range of subgrant amounts, disaggregated as above; (4) percentages of subgrant recipients providing nontraditional-hour care or serving specified populations (e.g., dual language learners, children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, children in foster care, children from low-income families, infants and toddlers, children whose families receive Child Care and Development Block Grant Act subsidies, children in specified communities, or specified small business concerns); (5) enrollment capacity and average monthly attendance by child age; (6) average family tuition, disaggregated by child age and provider type; (7) average staff wages or compensation, disaggregated by provider type; (8) percentages of recipients by provider type and with union-represented staff; (9) subgrant fund uses, including for personnel costs; (10) lead agency reserved fund uses under section 207(a)(1); (11) subgrant publicity, multilingual access, and technical assistance efforts; and (12) data on recipients with multi-location business relationships serving more than 5,000 children and such children's share of total enrollment. The Secretary must submit an annual summary of these reports to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and House Committee on Education and Workforce and the Appropriations Committees of both chambers and make the summary publicly available on the HHS website.

This section requires amounts made available to carry out this title to supplement and not supplant other federal, state, and local public funds expended to provide child care services for eligible individuals.

This section appropriates $9 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services, in addition to amounts otherwise available, for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031 to carry out this title.

This section establishes definitions for 14 terms used in this section, including "(1) eligible child" as a child age 3 or 4 on the kindergarten entry date established by the applicable local educational agency; "(2) eligible provider" as a local educational agency (acting alone, in a consortium, or with an educational service agency), Head Start agency, licensed center-based or family child care provider (or network thereof), or consortium of such entities; "(3) dual language learner" as a child learning two or more languages simultaneously or a second language while developing the first; and "(4) other terms (e.g., 'child with a disability,' 'child experiencing homelessness,' 'comprehensive services,' 'poverty line') by cross-reference to existing law such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and Head Start Act.

This section appropriates to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as necessary for payments to states for universal preschool activities under this title for each of FY2026 through FY2031 (except activities covered below). In addition, the section appropriates the following amounts for FY2026, to remain available until September 30, 2031: (1) $2.5 billion for payments to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations for such activities; (2) $1.25 billion for payments to territories, allocated by relative need as determined by the HHS Secretary; (3) $300 million for payments to eligible local entities serving children in families engaged in migrant or seasonal agricultural labor; (4) $995 million for federal activities supporting the title, including administration, monitoring, technical assistance, and research in FY2026 through FY2031; and (5) $20 billion for grants to localities under section 306(b) and (c).

This section establishes payments to states with approved plans for universal, high-quality, free, and inclusive preschool services provided under section 304. For FY2026 through FY2031, the Secretary shall pay states (A) 90% of state expenditures for such preschool services in FY2026 and FY2027, 80% in FY2028, 75% in FY2029, 65% in FY2030, and 60% in FY2031; and (B) 50% of state expenditures for specified activities (e.g., program administration, quality improvement systems, outreach, data systems, professional development, inclusive services for children with disabilities, transportation including for homeless and foster care children, and needs assessments), capped at 10% of preschool services expenditures for the year. The Governor of each participating state shall designate a lead agency to administer the program. To receive payments, a state must submit to the Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Education, a state plan certifying developmentally appropriate standards at least as rigorous as specified Head Start standards (including class sizes and ratios), assuring universal availability without additional eligibility requirements, at least 1,020 annual hours of programming, and expedited enrollment prioritization for certain children (e.g., those experiencing homelessness), with local programs meeting standards within 18 months of funding. Payments are made in advance based on state estimates, with retrospective adjustments for over- or underpayments; remaining costs constitute the non-federal share.

This section directs states receiving payments under section 303(b) to award subgrants or contracts of at least three years to eligible providers to operate universal, high-quality, free, and inclusive preschool programs, with award amounts sufficient to meet program standards and reflecting variations in costs by geographic area, provider type, child age, and services for children with disabilities; requires adjustments for prior over- or underpayments; and provides enhanced payments to providers serving a high percentage of low-income children for comprehensive services. The section further requires states to prioritize such awards for establishing and expanding programs in high-need communities—identified via a Secretary-approved methodology using poverty rates, preschool access rates, and other need indicators—ensuring a majority of children in those communities are served first, with funds usable for personnel compensation, curriculum and standards implementation, professional development, health and safety standards, materials, and facilities costs (including rent and maintenance); once high-need requirements are met, states must expand to additional communities using the same metrics and allowable uses.

This section directs the Secretary, for FY2026 through FY2031, to make payments from specified appropriations to Indian Tribes and tribal organizations and to territories with approved applications, for carrying out universal preschool programs consistent, to the extent practicable, with state requirements. It further requires such recipients to designate a lead agency (e.g., a tribal or territorial agency or joint interagency office) for program administration.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, using funds reserved under section 302(b)(5), to (1) allot amounts to States without universal preschool payments under section 303—proportional to the number of children under age 6 from families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty line—and award local universal preschool grants from those allotments to eligible localities (i.e., cities, counties, local educational agencies, or Head Start agencies) for high-quality, free, inclusive preschool programs with requirements consistent with State-level standards; and (2) award funds to Head Start agencies in such States to expand Head Start programs (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), excluding those funds from base grant calculations under section 640(a)(7)(A) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)(7)(A)). (Thus, the expansion funds do not increase future base grant allotments, which are tied to prior-year levels.) In awarding grants or funds, the Secretary must prioritize entities serving communities with high percentages of children from families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty line.

This section specifies allowable sources and limitations for a state's non-Federal share, as determined under section 303(b)(3) for payments under section 303(b). The non-Federal share (1) may be cash or in-kind (fairly evaluated, including facilities, property, equipment, or services); (2) includes increases in state spending to expand half-day kindergarten programs, as of the day before enactment, into full-day programs; (3) excludes contributions used as a non-Federal share or match for another federal award; (4) must be from state or local sources, philanthropic or other private contributions, or combinations thereof; and (5) counts no more than 100% of the state's average spending on prekindergarten programs for FY2023 through FY2025.

This section establishes a maintenance-of-effort requirement for states receiving payments under section 303(b). If a state reduces its combined fiscal effort per child on state preschool programs (publicly funded or under this title), state supplemental assistance for Head Start programs, or other state spending on early childhood programs or preschool services relative to the prior fiscal year, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with the Secretary of Education, must reduce the state's federal support under section 303(b) by an equivalent amount. The Secretaries may waive this requirement if either (1) the state experiences a precipitous decline in financial resources due to unforeseen economic hardship or natural disaster necessitating across-the-board reductions, including in early childhood education, during the prior five years; or (2) the state demonstrates that other programs could not be reduced instead without disproportionately harming early childhood education programs.

This section establishes a supplement-not-supplant requirement, mandating that funds received under this title supplement—and not replace—other Federal, State, and local public funds expended on prekindergarten programs in the state, using as the baseline the average amount expended in FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025.

This section applies four federal nondiscrimination laws to any program or activity receiving funds under this title: (1) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education programs; (2) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs; (3) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), prohibiting disability discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance; and (4) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).

This section directs the Secretary to review and monitor compliance by states, territories, Tribal entities, and local entities with this title and by states with plans under section 303(e), including progress updates on requirements under section 303(e)(1). The section further requires the Secretary to establish by rule procedures for (1) receiving, processing, and determining the validity of complaints or findings of state noncompliance with the state plan or title requirements; (2) notifying states of determined noncompliance; and (3) imposing sanctions for such noncompliance.

This section requires each state receiving a payment under section 303 to submit an annual report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services containing, at a minimum, (1) a description of the use of funds and expenditures; (2) progress toward providing access to high-quality preschool programs for eligible children; (3) the number and percentage of children participating in eligible preschool programs, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, family income, child age, disability, and status as homeless children, children in foster care, or dual language learners; (4) the number and percentage of children participating in public kindergarten programs, disaggregated by race, family income, child age, disability, and status as homeless children, children in foster care, or dual language learners, including whether such programs are full-day and at no cost to families; (5) data on kindergarten readiness statewide; (6) data on recruitment and retention of early childhood staff, disaggregated by provider type and age of children served; and (7) data on coordination with other child care and early childhood education programs, including those under the Head Start Act.

This section establishes a new grant program under the Head Start Act to enable Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) to (1) provide a full school day (at least 1,020 hours per year for center-based Head Start preschool programs) and full school year of services; (2) for migrant and seasonal Head Start agencies, provide additional hours for continuous services; or (3) for agencies already meeting full-day/full-year needs in their community, enhance service quality using activities authorized under existing law (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)(5)(B)). Agencies must apply with evidence of current full-day/full-year slots (at least 1,380 hours per year for Early Head Start center-based and family child care programs), a transition plan based on their community needs assessment, and a budget for incremental operating costs; migrant/seasonal and full-day/full-year agencies have simplified application processes, with priority to migrant/seasonal programs operating under 8 months per year. Grant funds may cover extended-hours costs such as facilities, supplies, staff, and professional development but may not expand enrollment. From amounts appropriated for the program, the Secretary must reserve $4 billion in FY2026 for facilities-related costs; for other extended-hours costs, $833 million in FY2026, $852 million in FY2027, and $872 million in FY2028; and 4.5% of the latter reserved amounts for migrant/seasonal Head Start programs, with priority to agencies seeking full-day/full-year extension.

This section appropriates $2.7 billion for FY2026 and each subsequent fiscal year to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assist Head Start agencies—including those operating Early Head Start—in ensuring their teachers and staff receive wages comparable to elementary educators with similar credentials and experience in the state or, at a minimum, a living wage. (Head Start, authorized under the Head Start Act, provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families.)