Build Housing with Care Act of 2025
The Build Housing with Care Act of 2025 would create a HUD-administered grant program to expand access to affordable housing and child care by funding the design, construction, retrofit, preservation, or conversion of co-location facilities—housing developments that house an eligible child care provider on or near the premises. Eligible entities include housing developers, public housing authorities, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), tribes, nonprofits, and others that partner with child care providers. Grants can total up to $10 million per project, and the program would receive about $100 million annually from 2026 through 2031. Key protections include preventing resident eviction as a result of grant-funded activities, ensuring resident engagement, and complying with environmental and land-use laws. The bill also requires a multiyear federal study and annual reporting to Congress on program outcomes, including child care slots created and preserved, and information about residents’ needs and costs. The overall aim is to reduce barriers to both affordable housing and child care by co-locating services in communities with shortages, especially in child care deserts and low-income or rural areas.
Key Points
- 1Establishes a competitive grant program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund co-location facilities that integrate housing with an eligible child care provider (onsite or nearby).
- 2Defines eligible entities (including CDFIs, PHAs, tribes, housing developers using LIHTC/NMTC, nonprofits, and consortia) and prioritizes projects in child care deserts, low-income areas, or rural areas, with preference for Head Start-type providers or partnerships with a CDFI.
- 3Grants may be used for planning, design, construction, acquisition, preservation, conversion, retrofitting, long-term leasing, or renovation of a co-location facility, with up to $10 million per grant; funds may be passed to eligible partners and can support financing products or pre-development technical assistance (capped at 10% for certain activities).
- 4Requires safeguards for residents (no evictions due to grant activities), resident engagement, and compliance with environmental and land-use laws, unless specific exceptions apply; includes a requirement to plan with licensing considerations for child care providers.
- 5Authorizes $100 million per year for 2026–2031 to carry out the program, plus a mandated GAO study and annual congressional reporting on program implementation, child care slots created/preserved, resident demographics, and other metrics.