Fact Sheet: Build Back Better Act - Child Care and UPK

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Subsection (d): Subgrants and Contracts for Local Preschool Programs.

• Directs the states to use the federal allotment to pay the cost of eligible provider subgrants or contracts to operate the state’s local preschool program free of cost. Subgrants or contracts to be awarded for a period of at least 3 years
• Directs states to make enhanced payments to providers offering preschool programs to a high percentage of low-income children to support comprehensive services
• Directs the states to prioritize funding for high-need communities by using a research-based approach approved by the Secretary of HHS. States must distribute funding in high-need communities so the majority of children in the community are offered such preschool services before other communities with lower levels of need

Subsection (e): Payments for Universal Preschool Services Indian Tribes and Territories.

• Directs the Secretary to make payments to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations with an approved application for purposes of carrying out a preschool program for FY 2022 – 2027

Subsection (f): Grants to Localities and Head Start Expansion in Nonparticipating States.

• Directs the Secretary of HHS to allocate local universal preschool grants to localities (city, county, or other unit of general local government, a LEA, or a Head Start agency) within states that have made it apparent they will not apply for federal funding to implement the program
• Requires the Secretary to specify requirements for local grant funding attributable to the standards required of state programs. The grant allocation for each fiscal year should be based on the number of children from families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty line and who are under the age of 6, in proportion to the total number of such children in the state
• Directs the Secretary to make an award to a Head Start agency in areas of the state where the Secretary determines a local preschool program cannot be adequately served because there is no eligible locality or because no application was approved
• Requires the Secretary to prioritize entities serving communities with a high percentage of low-income children

Subsection (g): Allowable Sources of Non-Federal Share.

• Calculates a state’s non-federal share as follows: (1) may be in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated; (2) must include any increase in amounts spent by the state to expand half-day kindergarten programs into full-day kindergarten; (3) must not include contributions being used as a non-federal share or match for another federal award; (4) must be provided from state or local sources, contributions from philanthropy or other private organizations, or a combination of such; and (5) shall count no more than 100% of the state’s current spending on prekindergarten programs toward the state match for FY 2019 – 2021

Subsection (h): Maintenance of Effort.

• Requires the Secretaries of HHS and Education to reduce support for a state’s universal preschool plan if the state reduces its combined fiscal effort per child through any state spending on preschool services or supplemental assistance funds for Head Start programs. The time period is based on any fiscal year a state receives universal preschool payments relative to the previous year. Both Secretaries must reduce the support by the same amount as the total reduction in state fiscal effort that fiscal year
• Allows the Secretaries to waive maintenance of effort requirements, if appropriate, due to an unanticipated decline in the state’s financial resources or if the state provides a justification as to why reductions in preschool funding specifically was required

Subsection (i): Supplement Not Supplant.

• Specifies that funding allocated under this section must be used to supplement and not supplant other sources of funding spent on early childhood education programs in the state

Subsection (j): Nondiscrimination Provisions.

• Provides that programs receiving funding under this section must comply with the requirements of Title IX, Title VI, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the ADA and Section 654 of the Head Start Act

Subsection (k): Monitoring and Enforcement.

• Requires the Secretary of HHS to review and monitor compliance of states, territories, tribal entities and local entities, as well as each state’s compliance with its state plan
• Requires the Secretary of HHS to establish rules for:
  • Receiving, processing and determining the validity of complaints or findings if states fail to comply with their state plan or other requirements;
  • notifying a state when the Secretary of HHS has determined there is a compliance failure; and
  • imposing sanctions