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This bill sets up a federal grant program to place child care centers in or near housing buildings, so families can find care where they live. The program pays for planning, building, fixing, or converting these shared sites, and gives help and best practices to make them work well . Grants can be up to $10 million per recipient and can cover design, construction, acquisition, renovation, or long-term leasing; up to 10% may go to early planning and 10% to technical help through community development financial institutions. Applicants must show the project will not cause residents to be evicted and must include a plan to inform and involve residents. Priority goes to places with little or no child care, low-income communities, rural areas, Head Start providers, or providers serving very low-income families, and to projects partnering with community development financial institutions. The bill defines “child care desert” and other key terms to guide who can qualify.
The agency must report each year on how many grants were given, what they funded, and how many child care slots were created or saved, including those for low‑income children, plus other measures like resident use and provider staffing. It authorizes $100 million per year for 2025 through 2030. The Government Accountability Office must also study child care access for people living in public housing and report within 12 months, including how other funding tools are used, how housing and child care costs affect families, how Section 8 and tax credits help, what state or local rules get in the way, and recommendations to improve access and awareness .
Key points
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced January 23, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress 1 year ago