,,ii #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #dghh ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #af1 #bjbf,mrs4 ,moody introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij to withhold funds from noncompliant ,states under such ,act4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,stop ,child ,care ,scams ,act of #bjbf4 #b4 ,strengthening the authority to withhold funds for fraud ,section #feh;,i7b77#b77;,b7 of the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheh;g7b77#b77;,b77 is amended by striking ,secretary may and inserting ,secretary shall4 #c4 ,program integrity and accountability ,section #feh;,e7c77#b7 of the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheh;c7c77#b77 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7,w7 program integrity and accountability ,the plan shall include a description of-- 7i7 the ,state's internal controls to ensure program integrity and accountability2 7ii7 the processes in place-- 7,i7 to investigate and recover fraudulent payments2 and 7,,ii7 to impose sanctions on clients or providers in response to fraud2 and 7iii7 the procedures in place to document and verify eligibility4 ,such description shall include how the ,state utilizes data within and across other ,state and local agencies that have oversight of child care providers that serve children who receive assistance under this subchapter4 4 #d4 ,preventing fraud in the child care and development block grant program ,section #feh;,i7b7 of the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheh;g7b77 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating paragraph 7#c7 as paragraph 7#d72 and 7#b7 by inserting after paragraph 7#b7 the following3 7#c7 ,determination of fraud 7,a7 ,investigation ,the ,secretary shall investigate fraud with respect to financial assistance available under this subchapter4 7,b7 ,debarment ,in the case that the ,secretary makes1 or finds that there has been1 a final determination of fraud against a child care provider that received financial assistance available under this subchapter1 the ,secretary shall permanently debar such child care provider from receiving such financial assistance4 7,c7 ,providers debarred from ,child and ,adult ,care ,food ,program ,in the case that a child care provider has been debarred from participating in the ,child and ,adult ,care ,food ,program under section #ag of the ,richard ,b4 ,russell ,national ,school ,lunch ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #agff7 in accordance with subsection 7d77#e77;,e77i7 of such section1 the ,secretary shall permanently debar such child care provider from receiving financial assistance under this subchapter4 7,d7 ,final determination of fraud definition ,in this paragraph1 the term final determination of fraud means a determination reached in an administrative order or as part of a judicial decision1 for which any rights to review or appeal have been exhausted or waived1 that a child care provider-- 7i7 knowingly submitted a false statement or documentation to obtain financial assistance available under this subchapter2 7ii7 misrepresented ownership of1 enrollment at1 attendance at1 or services provided through a program of child care services1 or the eligibility of the provider to provide such services1 to obtain such financial assistance2 7iii7 to obtain such financial assistance1 operated without the ,state licensing described in section #feh;,e7c77#b77;,f7 and without receiving an exception to such licensing2 7iv7 made a knowing and improper expenditure of such financial assistance2 or 7v7 engaged in any other conduct related to such financial assistance that constituted fraud under ,federal or ,state law4 4 #e4 ,improper payment rate requiring corrective action plan2 conditional ineligibility ,section #feh;,j of the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheh;h7 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating subsection 7c7 as subsection 7e72 and 7#b7 by inserting after subsection 7b7 the following3 7c7 improper payment threshold requiring corrective action plan ,if for a fiscal year the improper payment rate of a ,state is more than #e percent of the aggregate amount of payments made to carry out this subchapter by such ,state for such fiscal year1 then such ,state shall submit to the ,secretary-- 7#a7 for review and approval a corrective action plan to reduce such rate to not more than #e percent for each subsequent fiscal year2 and 7#b7 such reports as the ,secretary may require to show that such ,state is complying with the requirements of such plan as approved by the ,secretary4 7d7 ,conditional ineligibility ,if for each of #b consecutive fiscal years the improper payment rate of a ,state determined under this section is more than #e percent1 then such ,state shall be ineligible to receive funds under this subchapter unless such ,state demonstrates to the satisfaction of the ,secretary that such ,state for the next fiscal year will-- 7#a7 reduce such improper payment rate to not more than #e percent for the next fiscal year2 or 7#b7 make significant progress to comply with the corrective action plan approved under subsection 7c74 4 #f4 ,cyclical monitoring of ,state performance ,section #feh,k of the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheh;i7 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7c7 ,periodic monitoring by the ,secretary ,at #c-year intervals1 the ,secretary shall conduct a comprehensive review of the performance of each ,state that receives assistance under this subchapter4 ,based on the results of such review1 the ,secretary shall designate as high risk a ,state that has-- 7#a7 a high level of unresolved or repeated adverse audit findings submitted under subsection 7b72 7#b7 a high level of unresolved issues under1 or repeated performance failures to carry out1 corrective action plans submitted by such ,state under section #feh;,j7c72 or 7#c7 unresolved or repeat findings of noncompliance with the ,state plan approved under section #feh;,e7c74 7d7 ,required additional monitoring ,if a ,state is designated as high risk under subsection 7c71 then the performance of such ,state shall be subject to additional monitoring1 as determined by the ,secretary4 4 #g4 ,preventing fraud in the child and adult care food program ,section #ag7;d77#e7 of the ,richard ,b4 ,russell ,national ,school ,lunch ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #agff7;d77#e77 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating subparagraph 7,e7 as subparagraph 7,f72 and 7#b7 by inserting after subparagraph 7,d7 the following3 7,e7 ,termination due to fraud 7i7 ,debarment ,in the case that the participation of an institution or family or group day care home under the program is terminated due to a final determination of fraud1 the ,secretary shall permanently debar such institution or family or group day care home from participating in the program4 7ii7 ,providers debarred from ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant program ,in the case that an institution or family or group day care home has been debarred from receiving financial assistance under the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheg et seq47 in accordance with section #feh;,i7b77#c77;,b7 of such ,act1 the ,secretary shall permanently debar such institution or family or group day care home from participating in the program4 7iii7 ,final determination of fraud definition ,in this subparagraph1 the term final determination of fraud means a determination reached in accordance with the procedures and requirements of this section1 for which any rights to review or appeal have been exhausted or waived1 that an institution or family or group day care home-- 7,i7 knowingly submitted a false statement or documentation to obtain funds disbursed under subsection 7f77#a77;,a72 7,,ii7 misrepresented ownership1 enrollment1 attendance1 or services in connection with the operation of the program by such institution or family or group day care home1 or the eligibility of such institution or family or group day care home to operate the program1 to obtain such funds2 7,,iii7 made a knowing and improper expenditure of such funds2 or 7,,iv7 engaged in any other conduct related to such funds that constituted fraud under ,federal or ,state law4 4 #h4 ,eliminating authority to waive sanctions ,section #feh;,i7c7 of the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheh;g7c77 is amended-- 7#a7 in paragraph 7#a7 by striking or sanctions imposed upon a ,state in accordance with subsection 7b77#b72 7#b7 in paragraph 7#b7-- 7,a7 in subparagraph 7,a7 by striking sanction or2 and 7,b7 in subparagraph 7,b7 by striking sanction or2 7#c7 in paragraph 7#c7 striking sanction or2 and 7#d7 in paragraph 7#g7 by striking sanction7s7 or4 #i4 ,,gao study and report on provider-related fraud 7a7 ,study ,the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall conduct a study regarding fraud prevention measures in ,federal early childhood education1 child care1 and child nutrition programs that shall include an analysis of-- 7#a7 the effectiveness of procedures and measures to prevent fraud carried out by providers of services under such programs2 7#b7 whether the data the ,federal ,government receives in connection with such programs 7including through audits and reporting requirements7 is-- 7,a7 sufficient to successfully identify fraud carried out under such programs2 and 7,b7 used effectively by the ,federal ,government to identify potential fraud carried out under such programs2 and 7#c7 with respect to the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant program established under the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheg et seq47-- 7,a7 the program integrity results for ,states that have delegated responsibilities related to program management and administration to counties1 local municipalities1 or other entities2 and 7,b7 whether any corrective action plans have been implemented by ,states to improve program integrity results1 including any measurable outcomes from implementing such a corrective action plan4 7b7 ,report ,not later than #b years after the date of enactment of this section1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall submit to the ,committee on ,education and ,workforce of the ,house of ,representatives and the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions of the ,senate a report containing-- 7#a7 the results of the study conducted under subsection 7a72 and 7#b7 any regulatory or legislative recommendations to improve fraud prevention measures in ,federal early childhood education1 child care1 and child nutrition programs4 7c7 ,federal early childhood education1 child care1 and child nutrition programs defined ,for the purposes of this section1 the term ,federal early childhood education1 child care1 and child nutrition programs includes-- 7#a7 ,head ,start programs 7including ,early ,head ,start programs7 carried out under the ,head ,start ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #ihca et seq472 7#b7 the ,child and ,adult ,care ,food ,program under section #ag of the ,richard ,b4 ,russell ,national ,school ,lunch ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #agff72 and 7#c7 the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant program established under the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheg et seq474 #aj4 ,fraudulent payments ,section #feh;,j7b7 of the ,child ,care and ,development ,block ,grant ,act of #aiij 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #iheh;h7b77 is amended-- 7#a7 in paragraph 7#a7 by inserting 7including fraudulent payments7 after overpayments2 and 7#b7 by adding at the end the following3 7#c7 ,report ,the ,state shall submit to the ,secretary an annual report that identifies the dollar and percentage amount of improper payments made by the ,state1 disaggregated as specified by the ,secretary by standardized payment categories 7including suspected and verified fraudulent payments1 non-fraudulent overpayments1 underpayments1 and technically improper payments 7e4g41 system error payments774 4