A bill to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require that States pay child care providers on the basis of attendance, to allow States to pay the providers through reimbursement, and to establish requirements relating to error reports, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · July 14, 2026
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
This bill strengthens oversight and fraud prevention in the federal child care assistance program. It requires states to pay child care providers based on actual child attendance rather than fixed rates, implement electronic systems to verify attendance, and conduct data analysis to detect fraudulent patterns. States must also verify family eligibility without allowing presumptive eligibility, establish faster payment timelines (within 21 days of invoices), and post their plans and compliance records publicly. The legislation increases federal monitoring by requiring reviews at least every three years and designates states as "high-risk" if they have improper payment rates exceeding 6 percent or unresolved audit findings, subjecting them to more frequent inspections. States with improper payments above 6 percent must submit corrective action plans, and penalties of 5 percent are added to any amounts that must be reimbursed. The bill also requires the Secretary to issue attendance verification regulations within one year and mandates a national database of child care providers disqualified for fraud. States must set aside 3 percent of child care funds for quality and compliance activities, with an interim federal rule to be issued within one year of enactment.
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