Technical assistance and training

(a) Preservice and inservice training The Secretary is authorized to make payments to provide financial assistance to enable individuals employed or preparing for employment in child care and early learning programs assisted under this title, including volunteers, to participate in programs of preservice or inservice training for professional or nonprofessional personnel, to be conducted by any prime sponsor carrying out a child care and early learning program, or any institution of higher education, including a community college, or by any combination of those prime sponsors or institutions. The financial assistance shall include scholarships and funding for books, transportation, and other comprehensive needs. (b) Prime sponsor technical assistance and planning The Secretary is authorized to, directly or through grant or contract, make technical assistance available to entities who are eligible and seek to become prime sponsors, and to prime sponsors, to assist the entities and prime sponsors in planning, developing, and carrying out child care and early learning programs. (c) Prime sponsor facilities assistance (1) In general The Secretary is authorized to make, directly or through grant or contract, technical assistance and other support available to providers of services through child care and early learning programs, to support the providers in meeting applicable facilities codes, if the providers are— (A) providers in rural areas; (B) family child care home providers; or (C) providers serving children belonging to Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian children, children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, low-income children, or underserved children (including children with disabilities, homeless children, children who have been abused or neglected, and children in foster care). (2) Applicable facilities code In this subsection, the term applicable facilities code means— (A) a code promulgated under section 121(b)(4), for a provider in a State not described in subparagraph (B); and (B) a code or standards determined to be sufficient under section 121(b)(6), for a provider in a State to which the code or standards apply. (d) Prime sponsor financial assistance (1) In general Prime sponsors shall carry out training and quality improvement activities, including— (A) activities that support child care and early learning programs (including providers) in meeting national program standards; and (B) supporting staff in meeting qualifications described in section 136, including providing paid release time to staff, to engage in activities that enable the staff to meet the qualifications. (2) Financial assistance The Secretary is authorized to make financial assistance available to prime sponsors to carry out such training and quality improvement activities. (e) Staff training The Secretary shall prescribe regulations implementing a training program for staff of child care and early learning programs assisted under this title, based on the training program of the military child care program. Satisfactory completion of the training program, which may be accomplished through a professional preparation or development program, shall be a condition of employment of any person as a member of the staff of such a child care and early learning program. The training program established under this subsection shall cover, at a minimum, training in each of the following: (1) Early childhood development. (2) Activities and disciplinary techniques appropriate for children of different ages. (3) Child abuse prevention and detection. (4) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency medical procedures. (f) Workforce development and diversity (1) Outreach program From amounts allocated under section 103(b), the Secretary shall develop and implement a program of outreach to recruit and train professionals from diverse backgrounds to become teachers in child care and early learning programs. (2) Grants (A) In general From amounts allocated under section 103(b), the Secretary is authorized to award grants, for a period of not less than 5 years, to— (i) entities that carry out training through a fund sponsored at least in part by a labor organization; and (ii) institutions of higher education, with priority for part B institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities (as the 3 types of institutions are defined in clauses (i) through (iii) of section 241(1)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1033(1)(A))). (B) Use of funds An institution that receives such a grant may— (i) use the grant funds— (I) to improve the child care and early learning workforce; (II) to recruit child care and early learning teachers and other staff who want to obtain additional credentials related to child care and early learning; (III) to recruit and train professionals from diverse backgrounds to become teachers in child care and early learning programs; (IV) to promote access and affordability through direct student support, grants, scholarships, and other forms of student financial aid to students pursuing early childhood coursework and degrees in order to reduce or eliminate the need for such students to take out loans for the related costs of attendance; (V) to create seamless, articulated, teacher preparation pathways; and (VI) to develop institutional policies that award credit for students’ previous postsecondary early childhood coursework and degrees as well as for demonstrated competency through— (aa) prior work experience; and (bb) apprenticeships that lead to credentials, or associate or baccalaureate degrees; and (ii) make a portion of the grant funds available for students training to become staff of child care and early learning programs, to cover the corresponding tuition and other costs of attendance.