Sec. 3. Healthy Kids Program
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Part Q of title III of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 280h et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this section as the Secretary ) and in coordination with the Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, shall award 5-year competitive grants to one or more eligible entities— to improve healthy eating and physical activity among children ages birth through 5 years in early care and education settings; and to address food insecurity among such children.
To be eligible to receive a grant under subsection (a), an entity shall be— a nonprofit organization with expertise in early childhood health and childhood obesity prevention; an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) or research center that employs faculty with relevant expertise and has expertise in training early care and education providers; or a consortium of entities described in paragraphs
(1)and
(2)that submit a single application to carry out activities under the grant jointly. An entity seeking a grant under subsection
(a)shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. An entity shall use amounts received under a grant under this section to work directly with implementing partners, which may include States, territories, Indian Tribes, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations— to create sustainable programs to train early care and education providers through direct coaching and peer-learning, access to quality technical assistance, and professional development opportunities that are focused on healthy eating, physical activity, addressing food insecurity, and other topics that support children’s healthy development, as determined by the Secretary; to build State capacity through training, technical assistance, and resources to integrate the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity into existing early care and education programs, systems, and initiatives, including linking early care and education programs to new and existing resources for nutrition supports, with a focus on promoting equity; and to test innovative or evidence-informed approaches to promoting healthy habits and healthy child development in early care and education settings, which may include linking early care and education and health care providers, enhancing early care and education staff wellness, enhancing access to quality foods in the early care and education settings, and engaging families of children ages birth to 5 years served in the early care and education programs supported by a grant under this section. In selecting implementing partners under paragraph (1), a recipient of a grant under this section shall ensure that such partners— serve populations that are racially, ethnically, socioeconomically, and geographically diverse; and represent a mix of rural and urban settings. From the amounts appropriated to carry out this section, and prior to awarding any grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall enter into a contract with an external entity to create a single, uniform process to— ensure that entities that receive grants under paragraph
(1)comply with the requirements of this section; and evaluate the outcomes of the grant activities carried out by each participating entity. The Secretary may use amounts appropriated under subsection (h)(2) to enter into contracts with, or award grants to, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, or other entities with relevant monitoring and surveillance expertise, for purposes of— tracking State progress in obesity prevention policies and practices of early care and education programs in States where grantees are present; and measuring changes in food security within exposed groups. Not later than 1 year after the completion of the programs and activities (including monitoring and surveillance under subsection (e)) funded under grants awarded under this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress, and all appropriate Federal agencies, a report concerning an evaluation of the results of such programs and activities, including best practices, and lessons derived from the experiences of grantees, with respect to reducing and preventing food insecurity and obesity and overweight among children ages birth through 5 years in the early care and education settings. In this section, the term early care and education means programs and activities that serve children ages birth through 5 years either through in-home or out-of-home settings, including childcare programs, Head Start programs, family childcare, and pre-kindergarten programs. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. In addition to amounts made available under paragraph (1), there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection
(e)$1,700,000 for fiscal year 2026. .
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Sec. 3
Healthy Kids Program
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