flexibility in developing child care programs and policies that best suit the needs of children and parents within State; (2) to promote parental choice to empower working parents to make their own decisions on the child care that best suits their family s needs; (3) to encourage States to provide consumer education information to help parents make informed choices about child care; (4) to assist States to provide child care to parents flying to achieve independence from public assistance; and (5) to assist States in implementing the health, safety, licensing, and registration standards established in State regulations. APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS: Pre-application Coordination: The Chief Executive Officer of each grantee must designate a Lead Agency, the duties of which shall include developing a plan. In conjunction with the development of the plan, the lead agency must hold at least one public hearing with sufficient time and statewide distribution of the notice of such hearing, to allow the public an opportunity to comment on the provision of child care services under the plan. The lead agency must also coordinate the provision of services under the program with other Federal, State, and local childcare and early childhood development programs. Also, the lead agency must consult with appropriate representatives of units of general-purpose local
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