PROSPECT Act

Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers Act or the PROSPECT Act

This bill establishes various grant programs to increase the supply of, and access to, high-quality, early-childhood care. Specifically, grants are established for

• planning and developing expanded access to free infant and toddler child care for student parents attending community college or minority-serving institutions;
• providing free infant and toddler child care to such student parents, including developing on-campus child care centers that meet specified requirements;
• training, mentorships, and technical support to community child care agencies and the professional development of licensed and unlicensed child care professionals; and
  
• increasing the workforce pipeline of high-quality infant and toddler child care providers, particularly in locations with a low supply of affordable care.

The bill also revises the formula for providing federal matching funds to states providing child care assistance.

Further, the bill requires the Department of Education’s college cost calculator to include information about the dependent care allowance with respect to the cost of attendance and financial aid.