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128 STAT. 1980 PUBLIC LAW 113–186—NOV. 19, 2014 disabilities, homeless children, and children in foster care. ‘‘(ii) OPTIONAL USE OF COMBINED FUNDS.—If the State elects to combine funding for the services sup- ported to carry out this subchapter with funding for any program described in clause (i), the plan shall describe how the State will combine the multiple sets of funding and use the combined funding. ‘‘(iii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in clause (i) shall be construed to affect the priority of children described in clause (i) to receive full-day prekinder- garten or Head Start program services. ‘‘(P) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—The plan shall demonstrate how the State encourages partnerships among State agencies, other public agencies, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, and private entities, including faith- based and community-based organizations, to leverage existing service delivery systems (as of the date of the submission of the application containing the plan) for child care and development services and to increase the supply and quality of child care services for children who are less than 13 years of age, such as by implementing vol- untary shared services alliance models. ‘‘(Q) PRIORITY FOR LOW-INCOME POPULATIONS.—The plan shall describe the process the State proposes to use, with respect to investments made to increase access to programs providing high-quality child care and develop- ment services, to give priority for those investments to children of families in areas that have significant con- centrations of poverty and unemployment and that do not have such programs. ‘‘(R) CONSULTATION.—The plan shall include a certifi- cation that the State has developed the plan in consultation with the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Edu- cation and Care designated or established pursuant to sec- tion 642B(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)(1)(A)(i)). ‘‘(S) PAYMENT PRACTICES.—The plan shall include— ‘‘(i) a certification that the payment practices of child care providers in the State that serve children who receive assistance under this subchapter reflect generally accepted payment practices of child care pro- viders in the State that serve children who do not receive assistance under this subchapter, so as to pro- vide stability of funding and encourage more child care providers to serve children who receive assistance under this subchapter; and ‘‘(ii) an assurance that the State will, to the extent practicable, implement enrollment and eligibility poli- cies that support the fixed costs of providing child care services by delinking provider reimbursement rates from an eligible child’s occasional absences due to holidays or unforseen circumstances such as illness. ‘‘(T) EARLY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENTAL GUIDE- LINES.— ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The plan shall include an assur- ance that the State will maintain or implement early Certification. Certification. VerDate Sep 11 2014 13:40 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 039194 PO 00002 Frm 00556 Fmt 6580 Sfmt 6581 G:\GSDD\STATUTES\2014\PT2\39194PT2.001 39194PT2 dkrause on LAP5T8D0R2PROD with DISTILLER (1)