The Senate recently passed a bill to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant program, which provides federal funding to states to pay for child care for low-income families, including mothers receiving welfare support. S. 1086, which was adopted by the Senate 97-1–a huge and obviously bipartisan majority–includes a very welcome section, “Parental rights to use child care certificates.” The language says that the law should not be interpreted to “favor or promote the use of grants and contracts” instead of “the use of child care certificates” for purchasing child care services.

Why is this important? From its beginning in 1990, the federal child care funding program has favored “certificates” (vouchers) given to parents to buy child care over grants or contracts awarded by government to pay child care providers. Certificates maximize parental freedom and responsibility to select the most appropriate child care, and-crucially and intentionally-require few religious limitations on the child care providers, thus maximizing involvement by faith-based providers. Faith-based centers were and are major providers of child care and, of course, the first choice of many families. When the government uses grants and contracts to support child care, the money necessarily comes with tighter restrictions on religion. The restrictions both exclude many faith-based providers and make the care that is provided by those who participate less faith-full and thus, for some parents, less attractive.

If the program has always favored certificates over grants and contracts, why insert this special section now? Last summer, HHS, the federal department that operates the program, proposed new regulations intended to improve the quality of the child care supported with federal dollars. To that end, HHS proposed that states should more often use grants and contracts to ensure the purchase of high-quality care. But more grants and contracts would mean less opportunity for faith-based providers to be involved. The Senate bill, to be taken up next by the House, also stresses quality improvements–but without using a funding mechanism that would diminish faith participation.