[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7723 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7723
To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to
debar child care providers that committed fraud from receiving
financial assistance under the Act, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 26, 2026
Ms. Foxx introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to
debar child care providers that committed fraud from receiving
financial assistance under the Act, 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 ``Safeguarding Taxpayer Dollars in
Child Care Act''.
SEC. 2. PREVENTING FRAUD IN THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT
PROGRAM.
Section 658I(b) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858g(b)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Determination of fraud.--
``(A) Investigation.--The Secretary shall
investigate fraud with respect to financial assistance
available under this subchapter.
``(B) Debarment.--In the case that the Secretary
makes, or finds that there has been, a final
determination of fraud against a child care provider
that received financial assistance available under this
subchapter, the Secretary shall permanently debar such
child care provider from receiving such financial
assistance.
``(C) Providers debarred from child and adult care
food program.--In the case that a child care provider
has been debarred from participating in the Child and
Adult Care Food Program under section 17 of the Richard
B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766)
in accordance with subsection (d)(5)(E)(i) of such
section, the Secretary shall permanently debar such
child care provider from receiving financial assistance
under this subchapter.
``(D) Final determination of fraud definition.--In
this paragraph, the term `final determination of fraud'
means a determination reached in an administrative
order or as part of a judicial decision, for which any
rights to review or appeal have been exhausted or
waived, that a child care provider--
``(i) knowingly submitted a false statement
or documentation to obtain financial assistance
available under this subchapter;
``(ii) misrepresented ownership of,
enrollment at, attendance at, or services
provided through a program of child care
services, or the eligibility of the provider to
provide such services, to obtain such financial
assistance;
``(iii) to obtain such financial
assistance, operated without the State
licensing under section 658E(c)(2)(F) and
without receiving an exception to such
licensing;
``(iv) made a knowing and improper
expenditure of such financial assistance; or
``(v) engaged in any other conduct related
to such financial assistance that constituted
fraud under Federal or State law.''.
SEC. 3. PREVENTING FRAUD IN THE CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM.
Section 17(d)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(d)(5)(E)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F);
and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:
``(E) Termination due to fraud.--
``(i) Debarment.--In the case that the
participation of an institution or family or
group day care home under the program is
terminated due to a final determination of
fraud, the Secretary shall permanently debar
such institution or family or group day care
home from participating in the program.
``(ii) Providers debarred from child care
and development block grant program.--In the
case that an institution or family or group day
care home has been debarred from receiving
financial assistance under the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
9857 et seq.) in accordance with section
658I(b)(3)(A) of such Act, the Secretary shall
permanently debar such institution or family or
group day care home from participating in the
program.
``(iii) Final determination of fraud
definition.--In this subparagraph, the term
`final determination of fraud' means a
determination reached in accordance with the
procedures and requirements of this section,
for which any rights to review or appeal have
been exhausted or waived, that an institution
or family or group day care home--
``(I) knowingly submitted a false
statement or documentation to obtain
funds disbursed under subsection
(f)(1)(A);
``(II) misrepresented ownership,
enrollment, attendance, or services in
connection with the operation of the
program by such institution or family
or group day care home, or the
eligibility of such institution or
family or group day care home to
operate the program, to obtain such
funds;
``(III) made a knowing and improper
expenditure of such funds; or
``(IV) engaged in any other conduct
related to such funds that constituted
fraud under Federal or State law.''.
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