Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026

What this does

This bill rewrites the fraud and program-integrity rules of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act.

House vote · 217-207

Democrats4–207

Republicans212–0

Independents1–0

How we know · 12 sourced claims

The bill makes withholding funds from a noncompliant state mandatory instead of discretionary.Source: Sec. 2 (line 18): Section 658I(b)(2)(B) amended by striking "Secretary may" and inserting "Secretary shall".
The Secretary must investigate provider fraud.Source: Sec. 4, new (b)(3)(A) (line 30): "The Secretary shall investigate fraud with respect to financial assistance available under this subchapter."
A provider found to have committed fraud after appeals are exhausted is permanently debarred.Source: Sec. 4, new (b)(3)(B) (line 31) plus "final determination of fraud" definition requiring rights to review or appeal be exhausted or waived (line 34).
A provider debarred from the Child and Adult Care Food Program is cross-barred from the block grant.Source: Sec. 4, new (b)(3)(C) (line 33).
A state whose improper payment rate exceeds 5 percent must submit a corrective action plan.Source: Sec. 5, new (c) (line 41): rate more than 5 percent triggers required submission of a corrective action plan to reduce the rate to not more than 5 percent.
A state over 5 percent for two consecutive fiscal years becomes ineligible for funds unless it shows the Secretary it will cut the rate or make significant progress.Source: Sec. 5, new (d) (lines 43-44): ineligible unless the State demonstrates it will reduce the rate to not more than 5 percent or make significant progress on the approved corrective action plan.
The Secretary must review each state every three years and designate and additionally monitor high-risk states.Source: Sec. 6, new (c) and (d) (lines 47-50): 3-year comprehensive reviews, high-risk designation criteria, and required additional monitoring.
The bill removes the authority to waive sanctions against a state.Source: Sec. 8 (lines 62-65): Section 658I(c) amended by striking the sanction-waiver language in paragraphs (1), (2)(A), (2)(B), (3), and (7).
States must report improper and fraudulent payments annually.Source: Sec. 10, new (b)(3) (line 80): annual report identifying dollar and percentage improper payments disaggregated by category including suspected and verified fraudulent payments.
The same permanent fraud debarment is applied to the Child and Adult Care Food Program.Source: Sec. 7, new (E)(i)-(ii) (lines 55-57): permanent debarment for final determination of fraud, and cross-debarment of block grant fraudsters.
The bill directs the GAO to study fraud prevention across federal early childhood, child care, and child nutrition programs.Source: Sec. 9(a) and (c) (lines 66-76): Comptroller General study covering Head Start, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the block grant; report due within 2 years (Sec. 9(b), lines 72-73).
Every operative section amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act or is germane to child care fraud, with Section 7 as the paired half of the cross-debarment scheme, so no unrelated rider rides along.Source: Secs. 2-10; Sec. 4(b)(3)(C) (line 33) and Sec. 7(E)(ii) (line 57) form the two-way cross-debarment; Sec. 9 (lines 66-76) is a confined GAO study.

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House roll call

The full roll call

R212–0D4–207I1–0

Position

Party

State

Republicans

217

Democrats

212

Independents

YeaKevin KileyCA · District 3