US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

42 U.S.C. § 9857

Short title and purposes

(a)

Short title

This subchapter may be cited as the “Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990”.

(b)

Purposes

The purposes of this subchapter are—
(1)
to allow each State maximum flexibility in developing child care programs and policies that best suit the needs of children and 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 early childhood care and education services to maximize parents’ options and support parents trying to achieve independence from public assistance;
(5)
to assist States in improving the overall quality of child care services and programs by implementing the health, safety, licensing, training, and oversight standards established in this subchapter and in State law (including State regulations);
(6)
to improve child care and development of participating children; and
(7)
to increase the number and percentage of low-income children in high-quality child care settings.

Pub. L. 97–35, title VI, § 658APub. L. 101–508, title V, § 5082(2)104 Stat. 1388–236Pub. L. 102–401, § 3(a)106 Stat. 1959Pub. L. 102–586, § 8(c)(1)106 Stat. 5036Pub. L. 104–193, title VI, § 602110 Stat. 2279Pub. L. 113–186, § 2128 Stat. 1971(, as added , , ; amended , , ; , , ; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Codification

section 9801 of this titlesection 9858 of this titleSubsection (a) of this section was formerly set out as a note under . Subsection (b) of this section was formerly set out as a note under .

Amendments

Pub. L. 113–1862014— amended section generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows:

Short Title“(a) .—This subchapter may be cited as the ‘Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990’.

Goals“(b) .—The goals of this subchapter are—

“(1) to allow each State maximum flexibility in developing child care programs and policies that best suit the needs of children and parents within such State;

“(2) to promote parental choice to empower working parents to make their own decisions on the child care that best suits their family’s needs;

“(3) to encourage States to provide consumer education information to help parents make informed choices about child care;

“(4) to assist States to provide child care to parents trying to achieve independence from public assistance; and

“(5) to assist States in implementing the health, safety, licensing, and registration standards established in State regulations.”

Pub. L. 104–1931996— inserted “and goals” after “title” in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b).

Pub. L. 102–401Pub. L. 102–586Pub. L. 101–508, § 5082(2)1992— and made identical technical corrections to directory language of , which added this section.