[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7498 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7498
To establish and expand child care programs for parents who work
nontraditional hours, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 11, 2026
Mrs. Hinson (for herself, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Mackenzie, Mr. Pappas, Ms.
Stefanik, and Mr. Pocan) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish and expand child care programs for parents who work
nontraditional hours, 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 ``After Hours Child Care Act''.
SEC. 2. CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION FUND.
(a) Establishment.--The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 658P as section 658T, and
moving that section 658T to follow section 658S; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 658U. CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION FUND.
``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to--
``(1) improve child care access for parents working hours
outside of traditional 9 to 5 work hours, such as parents
working an evening, night, or weekend shift; and
``(2) address the needs of working parents with young
children, so that the parents are able to stay attached to the
workforce, attain eligibility for promotions and salary
increases, and amass savings.
``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Child care program.--The term `child care program'
means the child care activities of an eligible child care
provider.
``(2) Nontraditional work hours.--The term `nontraditional
work hours' means work hours at least 25 percent of which--
``(A) are before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on a
weekday;
``(B) are on a Saturday or Sunday; or
``(C) are scheduled within 7 days before required
attendance at work for those work hours.
``(3) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
``(c) General Authority.--
``(1) Grants.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of the After Hours Child Care Act, the Secretary
shall establish a pilot program, through which the Secretary
shall award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities
to pay for the Federal share of the cost of--
``(A) expanding capacity for an existing (as of
January 1, 2027) child care program, including such a
program of a family child care provider to serve
families in which a parent is working nontraditional
work hours;
``(B) entering into an enrollment-based contract
with--
``(i) an eligible child care provider to
serve such families; or
``(ii) a fiscal intermediary such as a
staffed network of family child care providers,
child care resource and referral organization,
or entity operating a child care facilities
fund for the services of multiple eligible
child care providers to serve such families;
``(C) planning activities, including conducting a
needs assessment and outreach to existing eligible
child care providers (existing on the date of the
outreach);
``(D) establishing an onsite child care program at
a workplace to serve such families;
``(E) expanding capacity for an onsite child care
program at a workplace to serve such families; or
``(F) establishing a child care program, including
a program of a family child care provider with the
primary goal of serving such families.
``(2) Duration.--The Secretary shall award the grant for a
period of 5 years. A grant awarded under this section may not
be renewed.
``(3) Amount.--The Secretary shall award the grant in an
amount of not less than $25,000 and not more than $500,000.
``(d) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, an entity shall be--
``(1) an eligible child care provider; or
``(2) a partnership of--
``(A) an eligible child care provider; and
``(B) a lead agency, business, child care resource
and referral organization, community development
financial institution, staffed network of family child
care providers, another intermediary with experience
supporting child care providers, or another appropriate
entity.
``(e) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this
section, an entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and containing--
``(1) a description of the activities to be funded under
the grant;
``(2) a description of the objective for the activities,
which may be an objective described in a paragraph of
subsection (f), including--
``(A) whether the objective is to increase the
quantity or quality of a good or service, specified in
the description; and
``(B) information on that quantity or quality of
that good or service, on the date of submission of the
application; and
``(3) the population to be served through the activities.
``(f) Use of Funds.--An entity that receives a grant under this
section may use the grant funds for activities that may include--
``(1) staffing the child care program involved;
``(2) improving the child care facility and related
equipment;
``(3) establishing or improving the curriculum of the child
care program;
``(4) assisting eligible child care providers in meeting
health and safety requirements, achieving licensure or
registration as a child care provider, or improving quality;
``(5) acquiring other items needed for the child care
program; and
``(6) providing training in the prevention of sudden infant
death syndrome and safe sleep practices.
``(g) Match.--The non-Federal share of the cost described in
subsection (c)(1) shall be 25 percent.
``(h) Report.--Not less often than every 2 years, the Secretary
shall prepare and submit to Congress a report that includes--
``(1) information on the number of children served under
this section and the employment status of their parents;
``(2) general information to demonstrate the impact of
activities carried out under grants under this section on child
care availability;
``(3) for each objective referred to in subsection (e)(2)
that is described in an application submitted by a grant
recipient, a summary of information obtained by--
``(A) collecting, from each recipient, information
on the quantity or quality of the good or service
referred to in subsection (e)(2)(B), as of the last day
of the grant period;
``(B) comparing the information described in
subsection (e)(2)(B) with the information described in
subparagraph (A), for each such recipient; and
``(C) summarizing that collected information and
those comparisons for all the recipients who described
the objective in such an application; and
``(4) other information relevant to the grants made under
this section.
``(i) Relationship to Other Requirements.--None of the requirements
of this subchapter, other than section 658T, shall apply to this
section. No reference in this subchapter to `this subchapter' shall be
considered to include this section.
``(j) Reservation of Funds.--The Secretary may reserve up to \1/4\
of 1 percent of the amount appropriated under this subchapter to carry
out this section for each of the fiscal years 2027 through 2031.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Application provisions.--Section 658E(c)(2) of the
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9858c(c)(2)) is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(II), by striking
``658P(2)'' and inserting ``658T(2)''; and
(B) in subparagraph (K)(i)(IV), by striking
``658P(6)(B)'' and inserting ``658T(6)(B)''.
(2) Report provisions.--Section 658K(a)(2) of the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9858i(a)(2)) is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``658P(6)''
and inserting ``658T(6)''; and
(B) in subparagraph (F), by striking ``658P(6)(B)''
and inserting ``658T(6)(B)''.
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