Purposes

(a) Redesignation Section 658A of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857) is redesignated as section 658 of such Act. (b) Amendment Subsection (b) of that section 658 is amended to read as follows: (b) Purposes The purposes of this subchapter are— (1) to allow each State maximum flexibility in developing and implementing a mixed delivery system to provide child care that best suits the needs of children and working parents within that State; (2) to promote parental choice to empower working parents to make their own decisions regarding the child care services that best suit their family’s needs; (3) to encourage States to provide consumer education information to help parents make informed choices about child care services and to promote involvement by parents and family members in the development of their children in child care settings; (4) to assist States in delivering high-quality, coordinated child care services to maximize parents’ options to cover the full workday and full work year, to support continuity of care for children, and to support parents trying to achieve independence from public assistance; (5) to assist States in improving the overall quality of child care by implementing the health, safety, licensing, early learning and development, professional, and oversight standards established in this subchapter and in State law (including State regulations); (6) to assist States— (A) in supporting the educational and professional development of child care staff; and (B) in supporting child care providers in the recruitment of, professional development for, and retention of a qualified child care workforce; and (7) to increase the number and percentage of low-income children in high-quality child care settings..