Child Care Innovation Advancement Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced
Summary
Reimburses organized non-home child care programs for nutritious meals. This bill would create a five-year pilot to let state-licensed, sponsored sites receive federal payments to buy food for children in their care.
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- Organized child care providers: State-licensed programs operating outside private homes that have a sponsoring organization could get reimbursements for meal purchases for up to 3 years at the same rate family and group day care homes receive.
- Children and families: Low-income children in participating programs would have greater access to nutritious meals during care, and the pilot requires a post-pilot evaluation of how well it increased meals and expanded access.
- Oversight and taxpayers: The Department of Agriculture Inspector General would audit participants to prevent waste and fraud. An audit finding not resolved within 1 year would make that program ineligible for pilot funds for the next 2 fiscal years, and the Secretary must report audits and any overlapping reimbursements to congressional committees.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Meals funding for organized child care
This bill would create a Child Care Innovation Nutrition Pilot Program. The Secretary would start the pilot within 180 days after enactment. Organized child care programs that are not private homes would be able to get federal reimbursements to buy nutritious meals for children. To qualify, a program would need to operate under a sponsoring organization and be licensed or approved by its State. Each organized child care program could get reimbursements for up to 3 years, and the pilot would end 5 years after it starts. Reimbursement would be at the same rate used for family or group day care homes, and sponsoring organizations would be reimbursed the same way. The bill would require annual Inspector General audits starting the first fiscal year after enactment and would exclude programs with unresolved audit findings from pilot funds for 2 fiscal years. Before paying, the Secretary would compare pilot reimbursements with any other similar federal payments to the same program and report totals and justifications to Congress. The Secretary would evaluate the pilot and send results to Congress within 1 year after it ends.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
MN • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
NH • D
Sponsored 6/24/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov