Sponsors (18)
Official title: To establish and expand child care programs for parents who work nontraditional hours, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 11, 2026 by Ashley Hinson · Last progress February 11, 2026
The bill aims to expand and improve child care for parents with nontraditional work hours through targeted grants and oversight, but limited funding, match requirements, one-time awards, and competitive application rules mean benefits may be small, short-lived, and skewed toward better-resourced providers.
Parents who work evenings, weekends, or variable shifts gain better access to child care options designed for nontraditional hours, making it easier for these families to maintain employment and stable care.
Child care providers can receive one-time grants ($25,000–$500,000) to expand capacity, enabling more children to be served and potentially supporting jobs and business growth for providers.
Grant funds can be used for health and safety improvements and training (including SIDS/safe-sleep training), which can raise program quality and improve child safety in participating programs.
Smaller providers and programs in low-income areas may be deterred from applying because the grant requires a 25% non‑Federal match, limiting participation by the providers who most often serve underserved communities.
The pilot is capped at up to 0.25% of CCDBG appropriations for FY2027–2031, so only a small number of providers and families are likely to benefit, limiting the program's reach and statewide/systemwide impact.
Grants are one-time awards (nonrenewable for up to five years), so expanded capacity and improvements funded by the pilot may lack sustained funding once the award ends, risking program instability or rollback of services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a competitive five-year grant pilot to expand after‑hours child care for parents working nontraditional hours, with grants $25k–$500k and a 25% match.
Creates a new five-year competitive grant pilot under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act to expand or create child care that serves parents working nontraditional hours. Grants will be one-time awards of $25,000–$500,000, require a 25% non‑Federal match, and be administered by HHS with biennial reporting to Congress. The Secretary of HHS must establish the Child Care and Development Innovation Fund within 90 days, may reserve up to 0.25% of CCDBG appropriations for FY2027–2031 to run the pilot, and the law narrows the applicability of certain existing CCDBG provisions to the pilot while making technical renumbering edits to the statute.