The Senate reauthorized on Thursday in a bipartisan vote a program that issues childcare vouchers to low-income parents so they can rejoin the workforce.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act was sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and cosponsored by Sens. Richard Burrr (R-N.C.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The measure would reauthorize the program that provides childcare for more than 1.5 million children and implement reforms.
“(The Senate) working together made sure that our hardest working parents have access to quality, safe child care,” Burr said. “Through years of negotiations, meetings with hundreds of interested stakeholders and honest conversations with my colleagues in the Senate, we have taken a positive step toward ensuring our kids are protected while in child care. This is a good day for the United States Senate, our working parents and their children. I urge my colleagues in the House to pass this legislation.”
Alexander said the CCDBG program has allowed low-income parents to choose the childcare that best fits their needs for more than two decades.
“This year (CCDBG) helped the parents of about 1.5 million children receive child care so they could go to work or get an education and move up the economic ladder and reach the American dream,” Alexander said. “I am pleased the Senate passed it today after a good debate, during which senators had the opportunity to offer amendments and get votes on those amendments, and I hope we can achieve more good results like this.”
The reauthorization bill would require CCDBG providers to meet health and safety requirements and require states to focus on infant and toddler care initiatives. Mandatory background checks would also be required for childcare providers under the bill.
The bill approved by the Senate also included two amendments offered by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).
One amendment would require that individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes against children would be singled out in the background check process. Another amendment would prioritize childhood literacy by requiring states to implement a training framework to promote child learning, development and school readiness under the CCDBG program.
“Improving early language and literacy development is a key strategy to improving kindergarten readiness in Ohio and across the country,” Portman said. “This amendment will help ensure that our children have a solid learning foundation by the time they begin school.”