Bill · S. 4788· Senate(119-S-4788)
Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026
- Introduced
- 6/16/2026
- Last activity
- 6/16/2026 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Sponsored by
- Ashley Moody
- Cosponsors
- None
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The "Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026" aims to reduce fraud in child care and nutrition programs. It requires the Secretary to withhold funds from noncompliant States and permanently debar providers found guilty of fraud. States must now include detailed integrity controls in their plans and submit corrective action plans if improper payment rates exceed 5 percent. The bill also establishes a three-year comprehensive review of State performance and mandates a GAO study on fraud prevention. Additionally, it removes the authority to waive certain sanctions.
Yes· 3 of 8
Does this make the government pay for what it commits to?+7
Mandates corrective action plans for improper payment rates and improves oversight of federal funds.
Does this give the federal government more power?+6
Increases the Secretary's authority to mandate fund withholding and permanently debar providers.
Does this give people more protection from unfair business practices?+5
Protects families from fraudulent child care providers through permanent debarment of bad actors.
The opposite· 3 of 4
Does this leave more decisions to the states?-6
Imposes stricter federal requirements on state plans and removes the authority to waive sanctions.
Does this make it easier to run a small business?-3
Legitimate small child care providers may face increased administrative burdens due to stricter reporting and eligibility verification.
Would business owners be better off under this?-2
Increases compliance burden and introduces severe penalties for fraud.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
-
Increased Accountability for Fraud: The bill mandates the permanent debarment of child care providers who make a final determination of fraud, which protects the program from dishonest operators (Section 4).
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Better State Oversight: States must now describe their internal controls, investigation processes for recovering fraudulent payments, and procedures to verify eligibility (Section 3).
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Performance Monitoring: The Secretary will conduct comprehensive reviews of State performance every three years to identify and provide additional monitoring for "high risk" States (Section 6).
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Evidence-Based Improvements: The GAO will conduct a study and report on the effectiveness of fraud prevention measures, providing recommendations to improve early childhood education and nutrition programs (Section 9).
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Stricter Payment Standards: States with improper payment rates over 5 percent must create a corrective action plan to reduce those errors (Section 5).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
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Loss of State Funding: States that fail to reduce improper payment rates to 5 percent or fail to make significant progress on corrective plans may become ineligible to receive funds (Section 5).
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Removal of Flexibility: The bill eliminates the authority to waive certain sanctions imposed on States, which removes a potential safety valve for States facing penalties (Section 8).
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Stricter Provider Penalties: Providers found to have committed fraud under one program, such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program, will be permanently barred from receiving assistance under the Child Care and Development Block Grant program (Section 4 and Section 7).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Economy And Finance
- Improves Fiscal Responsibility+7Improves Consumer Protection+5Reduces Government Spending+2Reduces National Debt+2Improves Small Business Support-3
- Governance And Ideology
- Increases Federal Power+6Improves Government Transparency+5Increase States Rights-6
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Children+4Good For Low Income Households+2Good For Business Owners-2
- Social Issues And Justice
- Improves Childcare Affordability-2
- 6/16/2026
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Introduced in Senate
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.