Rural Child Care Access Act
Sponsored By: Representative Pappas, Chris [D-NH-1]
Introduced
Summary
Creates a grant program to help small and rural child care facilities build and upgrade their buildings. The bill would let the Department of Health and Human Services make grants for construction, renovation, training, staff recruitment, and community engagement in places with fewer than 50,000 residents.
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- Families: Families in small towns could get improved child care spaces and services closer to home.
- Providers: State and local child care facilities could apply for grants up to $4.0 million for projects tied to improving care, workforce training, recruitment, or community engagement. Applicants must include an estimated project cost and evidence of financial need.
- Federal oversight and communities: HHS would issue guidance within 120 days, try to spread grants across regions, and report to Congress every two years for six years on project progress and community impacts. The bill also requires a periodic national study of construction and renovation needs.
*Would authorize $250.0 million per year for fiscal years 2027–2029 for the grant program, totaling $750.0 million if fully appropriated, which would increase federal outlays by that amount.*
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Grants for rural child care centers
This bill would create an HHS grant program for small and rural child care centers. Grants would be for centers serving areas with fewer than 50,000 people. The program would authorize $250 million for each of fiscal years 2027, 2028, and 2029. No single grant could be larger than $4,000,000. Grants would pay to build, modify, or upgrade facilities. Funded projects would have to clearly improve child care, train or develop providers, help recruit and keep providers, or support community engagement. Applications would have to come from the head of the child care facility. Applications would need an estimated project cost and evidence of financial need. HHS would have to issue program guidance within 120 days and tell eligible facilities about the program. HHS would try to spread awards fairly across U.S. regions. HHS would start reporting to Congress two years after enactment and then every two years through year six on project progress, community impacts, and remaining needs. The bill would also require a study of construction and renovation needs for a national sample of child care facilities.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Pappas, Chris [D-NH-1]
NH • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov