To provide for the health, education, and welfare of children under 6 years

I 106TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4630 To provide for the health, education, and welfare of children under 6 years of age. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 9, 2000 Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD (for herself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BACA, Ms. CARSON, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HILLIARD, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. UNDERWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To provide for the health, education, and welfare of children under 6 years of age. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 5 ‘‘Early Childhood Development Act of 2000’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 7 this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. TITLE I—ASSISTANCE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN 2 Sec. 101. Definitions. Sec. 102. Allotments to States. Sec. 103. Grants to local collaboratives. Sec. 104. Supplement not supplant. Sec. 105. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE II—CHILD CARE FOR FAMILIES Sec. 201. Amendment to Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. TITLE III—AMENDMENTS TO THE HEAD START ACT Sec. 301. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 302. Effective date. 1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 2 Congress makes the following findings: 3 (1) The Nation’s highest priority should be to 4 ensure that children begin school ready to learn. 5 (2) New scientific research shows that the elec- 6 trical activity of brain cells actually changes the 7 physical structure of the brain itself and that with- 8 out a stimulating environment, a baby’s brain will 9 suffer. At birth, a baby’s brain contains 10 100,000,000,000 neurons, roughly as many nerve 11 cells as there are stars in the Milky Way, but the 12 wiring pattern between these neurons develops over 13 time. Children who play very little or are rarely 14 touched develop brains that are 20 to 30 percent 15 smaller than normal for their age. 16 (3) This scientific research also conclusively 17 demonstrates that enhancing children’s physical, so- 18 cial, emotional, and intellectual development will re- •HR 4630 IH 3 1 sult in tremendous benefits for children, families, 2 and the Nation. 3 (4) Since more than 50 percent of the mothers 4 of children under the age of 3 now work outside of 5 the home, society must change to provide new sup-6 ports so young children receive the attention and 7 care that they need. 8 (5) There are 12,000,000 children under the 9 age of 3 in the United States today and 1 in 4 lives 10 in poverty. 11 (6) Compared with most other industrialized 12 countries, the United States has a higher infant 13 mortality rate, a higher proportion of low-birth 14 weight babies, and a smaller proportion of babies 15 immunized against childhood diseases. 16 (7) National and local studies have found a 17 strong link between— 18 (A) lack of early intervention for children; 19 and 20 (B) increased violence and crime among 21 youth. 22 (8) The United States will spend more than 23 $35,000,000,000 over the next 5 years on Federal 24 programs for at-risk or delinquent youth and child 25 welfare programs, which address crisis situations •HR 4630 IH 4 1 that frequently could have been avoided or made 2 much less severe through good early intervention for 3 children. 4 (9) Many local communities across the country 5 have developed successful early childhood efforts and 6 with additional resources could expand and enhance 7 opportunities for young children. 8 TITLE I—ASSISTANCE FOR 9 YOUNG CHILDREN 10 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 11 In this subtitle: 12 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 13 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 14 the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and 15 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801). 16 (2) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 17 means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of 18 Management and Budget, and revised annually in 19 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community 20 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) appli- 21 cable to a family of the size involved. 22 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. •HR 4630 IH 5 1 (4) STATE BOARD.—The term ‘‘State board’’ 2 means a State Early Learning Coordinating Board 3 established under section 102(c). 4 (5) YOUNG CHILD.—The term ‘‘young child’’ 5 means an individual from birth through age 5. 6 (6) YOUNG CHILD ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES.— 7 The term ‘‘young child assistance activities’’ means 8 the activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2)(A) 9 of section 103(b). 10 SEC. 102. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make allot-12 ments under subsection (b) to eligible States to pay for 13 the Federal share of the cost of enabling the States to 14 make grants to local collaboratives under section 103 for 15 young child assistance activities. 16 (b) ALLOTMENT.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the funds appro-18 priated under section 105 for each fiscal year and 19 not reserved under subsection (i), the Secretary shall 20 allot to each eligible State an amount that bears the 21 same relationship to such funds as the total number 22 of young children in poverty in the State bears to 23 the total number of young children in poverty in all 24 eligible States. •HR 4630 IH ... - tailieumienphi.vn