I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2343 

To expand quality programs of early childhood home visitation that increase 

school readiness, child abuse and neglect prevention, and early identification of developmental and health delays, including potential mental health 

concerns, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2007 

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Mr. PLATTS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and 

in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To expand quality programs of early childhood home visitation that increase school readiness, child abuse and neglect prevention, and early identification of developmental 

and health delays, including potential mental health concerns, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Education Begins at 

5 Home Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the home is the first and most important 

4 learning environment for children, and parents are 

5 their children’s first and most influential teacher; 

6 (2) through parent education and family sup7 port, we can promote parents’ ability to enhance 

8 their children’s development from birth until entry 

9 into kindergarten thereby helping parents to prepare 

10 their children for success in school; 

11 (3) undiagnosed and unaddressed develop12 mental and health problems can impede overall child 

13 development and school readiness; 

14 (4) all parents deserve and can benefit from— 

15 (A) research-based information regarding 

16 child development; 

17 (B) enrichment opportunities with their 

18 children; and 

19 (C) early opportunities to become involved 

20 with their community and schools; and 

21 (5) early childhood home visitation leads to 

22 positive outcomes for children and families, including 

23 readiness for school, improved child health and de24 velopment, positive parenting practices, and reduc25 tions in child maltreatment. 

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1 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol2 lows: 

3 (1) To enable States, Indian tribes, tribal orga4 nizations, territories, or possessions to deliver qual5 ity programs of early childhood home visitation to 

6 pregnant women and parents of children from birth 

7 until entry into kindergarten in order to promote 

8 positive outcomes for children and families including: 

9 readiness for school, improved child health and de10 velopment, positive parenting practices, reductions in 

11 child maltreatment, and enhanced parenting abilities 

12 to support their children’s optimal cognitive, lan13 guage, social-emotional, and physical development. 

14 (2) To improve Early Head Start programs car15 ried out under section 645A of the Head Start Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 9840a). 

17 (3) To expand quality programs of early child18 hood home visitation so as to more effectively reach 

19 and serve families with English language learners. 

20 (4) To expand quality programs of early child21 hood home visitation so as to more effectively reach 

22 and serve families serving in the military. 

23 (5) To establish a public education and aware24 ness campaign concerning the importance of the 

25 proper care of infants and young children. 

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1 (6) To make available for parents of newborn 

2 children parenting classes that convey information 

3 about the importance of proper care for newborns, 

4 including information about symptoms of abusive 

5 head and other injuries. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE FAMILY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

9 family’’ means— 

10 (A) a woman who is pregnant and the fa11 ther of the child if the father is available; or 

12 (B) a parent or primary caregiver of a 

13 child, including grandparents or other relatives 

14 of the child, and foster parents, who are serving 

15 as the primary caregiver from birth until entry 

16 into kindergarten, including a noncustodial par17 ent who has an on-going relationship with and, 

18 at times, provides physical care for such child. 

19 (2) HOME VISITATION.—The term ‘‘home visi20 tation’’ means services provided in the permanent or 

21 temporary residence, or in a mutually agreed upon 

22 location in the community, of the individual receiv23 ing such services. 

24 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

25 has the meaning given such term in section 4(e) of 

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1 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist2 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

3 (4) SECRETARY.—Except as provided in section 

4 8, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

5 Health and Human Services. 

6 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

7 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 

8 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

9 (6) TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS.—The 

10 term ‘‘territories and possessions’’ shall include 

11 American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the North12 ern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States 

13 Virgin Islands. 

14 (7) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 

15 organization’’ has the meaning given the term in 

16 section 4(l) of the Indian Self-Determination and 

17 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

18 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME VISITA19 TION. 

20 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, in consultation 

21 with the Secretary of Education, shall make grants to 

22 States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, territories and 

23 possessions to enable States, Indian tribes, tribal organi24 zations, territories and possessions to establish or expand 

25 quality programs of early childhood home visitation as 

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1 specified under subsection (f). Each grant shall consist of 

2 the allotment determined under subsection (b). 

3 (b) DETERMINATION OF RESERVATIONS; AMOUNT OF

4 ALLOTMENTS; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 (1) RESERVATIONS FROM APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 From the total amount made available to carry out 

7 this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall re8 serve— 

9 (A) 3 percent for an independent evalua10 tion of the activities carried out under this Act, 

11 as specified in section 8; 

12 (B) not more than 3 percent for Federal 

13 administrative costs; 

14 (C) not more than 2 percent of the funds 

15 appropriated for any fiscal year for payments to 

16 Indian tribes or tribal organizations with an ap17 proved application under this section; 

(D) not more than 1 18 ⁄2 of 1 percent of the 

19 funds appropriated for any fiscal year for pay20 ments to territories and possessions with an ap21 proved application under this section; and 

22 (E) 2 percent for training and technical 

23 assistance for States. 

24 (2) STATE ALLOTMENTS FOR EARLY CHILD25 HOOD HOME VISITATION.— 

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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with 

2 subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall allot 

3 among each of the eligible States the total 

4 amount made available to carry out this section 

5 for any fiscal year and not reserved under para6 graph (1), to carry out early childhood home 

7 visitation in accordance with this section. 

8 (B) DETERMINATION OF STATE ALLOT9 MENTS.—The Secretary shall allot the amount 

10 made available under subparagraph (A) for a 

11 fiscal year among the eligible States in propor12 tion to the number of children, aged from birth 

13 to 5 years, who reside within the State, com14 pared to the number of such individuals who re15 side in all such States for that fiscal year. 

16 (3) PAYMENTS TO TRIBES AND TERRITORIES.— 

17 (A) Out of the funds reserved under para18 graph (1)(A), the Secretary shall provide funds 

19 to each Indian tribe or tribal organization with 

20 an approved application under this section in 

21 accordance with the respective needs described 

22 in that application. 

23 (B) Out of the funds reserved under para24 graph (1)(B), the Secretary shall provide funds 

25 to each territory or possession with an approved 

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1 application under this section in accordance 

2 with the respective needs described in that ap3 plication. 

4 (4) APPLICATIONS OF INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL

5 ORGANIZATIONS, TERRITORIES, OR POSSESSIONS.— 

6 (A) Subject to subparagraph (B) the Sec7 retary shall approve an application of an Indian 

8 tribe, tribal organization, territory, or posses9 sion based on the quality of the application. 

10 (B) The Secretary may exempt an applica11 tion submitted by an Indian tribe, tribal organi12 zation, territory, or possession from any re13 quirement of this section that the secretary de14 termines would be inappropriate to apply taking 

15 into account the resources, needs, and other cir16 cumstances of the indian tribe, tribal organiza17 tion territory, or possession with the exception 

18 of the provision of quality early childhood home 

19 visitation as outlined in section (5)(f)(1), re20 porting requirements detailed in paragraphs (1) 

21 and (3) of section 5(h), and participation in the 

22 independent evaluation outlined in section 9. 

23 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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1 this section $400,000,000 for the period of fiscal 

2 years 2008 through 2010. 

3 (c) GRANT APPLICATIONS.—A State, Indian tribe, 

4 tribal organization, territory, or possession that desires to 

5 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica6 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

7 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

8 The application shall contain the following information: 

9 (1) An assurance that the Governor of the 

10 State has designated a lead State agency, such as 

11 the State educational agency or the State health and 

12 human services agency, to carry out the activities 

13 under this section. 

14 (2) An assurance that the State will reserve 3 

15 percent of such grant for evaluation and will partici16 pate in the independent evaluation under section 9. 

17 (3) An assurance that the State will reserve 10 

18 percent of the grant funds for training and technical 

19 assistance of staff of programs of early childhood 

20 home visitation. 

21 (4) An assurance that the State will authorize 

22 child care resource and referral agencies to refer 

23 parents seeking home visitation services. 

24 (5) The results of a statewide needs assessment 

25 that describes— 

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1 (A) the quality and capacity of existing 

2 programs of early childhood home visitation in 

3 the State; 

4 (B) the number and types of eligible fami5 lies who are receiving services under such pro6 grams; and 

7 (C) the gaps in early childhood home visi8 tation in the State. 

9 (6) A State plan containing the following: 

10 (A) A description of the State’s strategy to 

11 establish or expand quality programs of early 

12 childhood home visitation to serve all eligible 

13 families in the State. 

14 (B) A description of the quality programs 

15 of early childhood home visitation that will be 

16 supported by a grant under this section. 

17 (C) A description of how the proposed pro18 gram of early childhood home visitation will 

19 promote positive parenting skills and children’s 

20 early learning and development. 

21 (D) A description of how the proposed pro22 gram of early childhood home visitation will in23 corporate the authorized activities described in 

24 subsection (f). 

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1 (E) How the lead State agency will build 

2 on and promote coordination among existing 

3 programs of early childhood home visitation in 

4 an effort to promote an array of home visitation 

5 that ensures more eligible families are being 

6 served and are getting the most appropriate 

7 services to meet their needs. 

8 (F) How the lead State agency will pro9 mote collaboration among a broad range of 

10 child-serving programs, including— 

11 (i) early childhood home visitation 

12 programs; 

13 (ii) early childhood care and education 

14 programs; 

15 (iii) early childhood intervention pro16 grams; 

17 (iv) child abuse prevention and treat18 ment programs; 

19 (v) Medicaid and State Children’s 

20 Health Insurance programs; 

21 (vi) nutrition assistance programs; 

22 (vii) substance abuse and mental 

23 health prevention and treatment programs; 

24 (viii) domestic and family violence 

25 prevention programs; 

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1 (ix) child support enforcement pro2 grams; 

3 (x) workforce development programs; 

4 (xi) the State Temporary Assistance 

5 to Needy Families program; and 

6 (xii) other child-serving programs in 

7 the State in order to facilitate the coordi8 nated delivery of services for eligible fami9 lies. 

10 (G) How the lead State agency will provide 

11 training and technical assistance to staff of pro12 grams of early childhood home visitation in13 volved in activities under this section to more 

14 effectively meet the needs of the eligible families 

15 served, with sensitivity to cultural variations in 

16 parenting norms and attitudes toward formal 

17 support services. 

18 (H) How the lead State agency will evalu19 ate the activities supported under this section in 

20 order to assess outcomes related to the en21 hancement of— 

22 (i) parent knowledge of early learning 

23 and development; 

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1 (ii) child health, cognitive, language, 

2 social-emotional, and physical development 

3 indicators; 

4 (iii) child maltreatment indicators for 

5 child abuse and neglect prevention; 

6 (iv) school readiness indicators; and 

7 (v) links to community services. 

8 (I) A description of how the lead State 

9 agency will ensure that the home visitation pro10 grams will conduct outreach activities to target 

11 both mothers and fathers, and increase father 

12 involvement where appropriate. 

13 (J) A description of how the lead State 

14 agency will increase home visitation programs 

15 participation rates for fathers. 

16 (K) A description of how the lead State 

17 agency will ensure that services are made avail18 able under the program to grandparents, other 

19 relatives or foster parents, of a child from birth 

20 through age 5 who serve as the primary care21 giver of the child. 

22 (L) Such other information as the Sec23 retary may require. 

24 (d) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.— 

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall approve 

2 an application under this section based on the rec3 ommendations of a peer review panel, as described 

4 in paragraph (2). The panel shall recommend appli5 cants to the Secretary based on the quality of their 

6 applications. In addition to ensuring that the appli7 cation is complete, the panel shall consider the qual8 ity of the needs assessment, described in subsection 

9 (c)(5); the quality of the programs to be funded by 

10 the grant, described in subsection (c)(6)(B) and the 

11 quality of the plan for collaboration described in 

12 subsections (c)(6)(E) and (c)(6)(F). In assessing the 

13 quality of the programs to be funded, the panel shall 

14 give consideration to recommending some applicants 

15 that will fund programs that incorporate comparison 

16 or control groups in their service delivery model, rec17 ognizing that not all quality programs will be able 

18 to do so but that having some such programs would 

19 contribute to the evaluations required in subsection 

20 (c)(6)(H) and section 9. 

21 (2) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—The peer review 

22 panel shall include not less than— 

23 (A) 3 individuals who are experts in the 

24 field of home visitation; 

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1 (B) 2 individuals who are experts in early 

2 childhood development; 

3 (C) 1 individual with expertise imple4 menting a statewide program of early childhood 

5 home visitation; 

6 (D) 1 individual who is a board certified 

7 pediatrician or a developmental pediatrician; 

8 and 

9 (E) 1 individual with experience in admin10 istering public or private (including community11 based) child maltreatment prevention programs. 

12 (e) DURATION OF GRANTS.—Grants made under this 

13 section shall be for a period of no more than 3 years. 

14 (f) STATE USES OF FUNDS.—Each State that re15 ceives a grant under this section shall— 

16 (1) provide to as many eligible families in the 

17 State as practicable, voluntary early childhood home 

18 visitation, on not less frequently than a monthly 

19 basis with greater frequency of services for those eli20 gible families identified with additional needs, 

21 through the implementation of quality programs of 

22 early childhood home visitation that— 

23 (A) adopts a clear, consistent model that is 

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1 lated to home visiting and linked to program2 determined outcomes; 

3 (B) employs well-trained and competent 

4 staff, as demonstrated by education or training, 

5 and the provision of ongoing and specific train6 ing on the model being delivered; 

7 (C) maintains high quality supervision to 

8 establish home visitor competencies; 

9 (D) shows strong organizational capacity 

10 to implement the program involved; 

11 (E) establishes appropriate linkages and 

12 referral networks to other community resources 

13 and supports; 

14 (F) monitors fidelity of program implemen15 tation to assure that services are delivered ac16 cording to the specified model; 

17 (G) establishes procedures to ensure par18 ticipation of fathers, where safe and appro19 priate; 

20 (H) are research-based, that provides par21 ents with— 

22 (i) knowledge of age appropriate child 

23 development in cognitive, language, social24 emotional, and motor domains; 

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1 (ii) knowledge of realistic expectations 

2 of age-appropriate child behaviors; 

3 (iii) knowledge of health and wellness 

4 issues for children and parents; 

5 (iv) modeling, consulting, and coach6 ing on parenting practices; 

7 (v) skills to interact with their child to 

8 enhance age-appropriate development; 

9 (vi) skills to recognize and seek help 

10 for issues related to health, developmental 

11 delays, and social, emotional, and behav12 ioral skills; 

13 (vii) activities designed to help par14 ents become full partners in the education 

15 of their children; and 

16 (viii) relevant information, consistent 

17 with State child welfare agency training, 

18 concerning child welfare and protective 

19 services resources if appropriate; 

20 (I) ascertains what health and develop21 mental services the family receives and work 

22 with these providers to eliminate gaps in service 

23 by offering annual health, vision, hearing, and 

24 developmental screening for children from birth 

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1 to entry into kindergarten, when not otherwise 

2 provided; 

3 (J) provides referrals for eligible families, 

4 as needed, to additional resources available in 

5 the community, such as center-based early edu6 cation programs, child care services, health or 

7 mental health services, family literacy pro8 grams, employment agencies, social services, fa9 therhood programs, and child care resource and 

10 referral agencies; and 

11 (K) offers group meetings (at program dis12 cretion) for eligible families that— 

13 (i) further enhance the information, 

14 activities, and skill-building addressed dur15 ing home visitation; and 

16 (ii) offer opportunities for parents to 

17 meet with and support each other. 

18 (2) reserve 10 percent of the grant funds to 

19 provide training and technical assistance, directly or 

20 through contract, to early childhood home visitation 

21 and early childhood care and education staff relating 

22 to— 

23 (A) effective methods of implementing par24 ent education, conducting home visiting, and 

25 promoting quality early childhood development; 

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1 (B) the relationship of health and well2 being of pregnant women to prenatal and early 

3 childhood development; 

4 (C) early childhood development with re5 spect to children from birth until entry into kin6 dergarten; 

7 (D) methods to help parents promote 

8 emergent literacy in their children from birth 

9 until entry into kindergarten; 

10 (E) health, vision, hearing, and develop11 mental screenings; 

12 (F) strategies for helping eligible families 

13 with special needs or those eligible families cop14 ing with crisis; 

15 (G) recruiting, supervising, and retaining 

16 qualified staff; 

17 (H) increasing services for underserved 

18 populations; 

19 (I) methods to help parents effectively re20 spond to their children’s needs and behaviors; 

21 (J) implementation of ongoing program 

22 quality improvement and evaluation of activities 

23 and outcomes; 

24 (K) relevant issues related to child welfare 

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1 vided being consistent with state child welfare 

2 agency training; 

3 (L) effective methods of successfully en4 gaging fathers in programs for parents; and 

5 (M) the relationship of father involvement 

6 to the health and well-being of pregnant women 

7 and to prenatal and early childhood develop8 ment; 

9 (3) ensure collaboration among child-serving 

10 programs through an existing or created State-level 

11 early childhood coordinating body that meets regu12 larly to address policy and implementation issues 

13 that will improve the coordination of a range of serv14 ices for children and families, especially those receiv15 ing home visitation services, and such coordinating 

16 body shall include— 

17 (A) representatives from quality programs 

18 of early childhood home visitation; 

19 (B) representatives from early childhood 

20 education and care programs, including the 

21 state agency responsible for administering the 

22 Child Care and Development Block Grant, the 

23 State Head Start collaboration director, the 

24 State child care resource and referral office, 

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1 and representatives from State Head Start As2 sociations; 

3 (C) representatives of early intervention 

4 programs, such as the State official responsible 

5 for carrying out activities under part C of the 

6 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

7 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) and the State official re8 sponsible for carrying out activities under sec9 tion 619 of the Individuals with Disabilities 

10 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419); 

11 (D) representatives from child welfare pro12 grams, including the State agency responsible 

13 for carrying out the plan under section 106 of 

14 the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 5106 et seq.) and the State agency 

16 responsible for administering titles IV–B and 

17 IV–E of the Social Security Act; 

18 (E) representatives from children’s health 

19 insurance programs, including the State agency 

20 administering titles XIX and XXI of the Social 

21 Security Act; 

22 (F) representatives from nutrition pro23 grams, such as Food Stamps (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 

24 seq.), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program 

25 for Women Infants and Children (42 U.S.C. 

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1 1786) and the Child and Adult Care Food Pro2 gram (42 U.S.C. 1766 ); 

3 (G) representatives from substance abuse 

4 and mental health prevention and treatment 

5 programs, including the State agency respon6 sible for administering the Substance Abuse 

7 Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (42 

8 U.S.C. 300x–21 et seq.) and the State agency 

9 responsible for administering the Mental Health 

10 Services Block Grant (42 U.S.C. 300x–1 et 

11 seq.); 

12 (H) representatives from domestic and 

13 family violence prevention programs; 

14 (I) representatives from the State child 

15 support enforcement program responsible for 

16 administering title IV–D of the Social Security 

17 Act; 

18 (J) representatives from workforce develop19 ment programs, including the State-level and 

20 local Workforce Investment Boards (20 U.S.C. 

21 9201 et seq.); 

22 (K) representatives from the State Tem23 porary Assistance for Needy Families program 

24 administering title IV–A of the Social Security 

25 Act; 

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1 (L) representatives of other child-serving 

2 programs, including the State agency respon3 sible for administering title XX of the Social 

4 Security Act; and 

5 (M) a board certified pediatrician or a de6 velopmental pediatrician; and 

7 (4) not expend more than 5 percent of the 

8 amount of grant funds received under this section 

9 for the administration of the grant, including plan10 ning, administration, and annual reporting. 

11 (g) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—A State is entitled 

12 to receive its full allotment of funds under this section for 

13 any fiscal year if the Secretary finds that the aggregate 

14 expenditures within the State for quality programs of 

15 early childhood home visitation for the fiscal year pre16 ceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made 

17 was not less than 100 percent of such aggregate expendi18 tures for the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year 

19 for which the determination is made. 

20 (h) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each State that 

21 receives a grant under this section shall submit an annual 

22 report to the Secretary regarding the State’s progress in 

23 addressing the purposes of this Act. Such report shall in24 clude, at a minimum, a description of— 

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1 (1) actual service delivery provided under the 

2 grant including— 

3 (A) program characteristics including de4 scriptive information on the service model used 

5 and actual program performance; 

6 (B) provider characteristics including staff 

7 qualifications, work experience, and demo8 graphic characteristics; and 

9 (C) recipient characteristics including 

10 number, demographic characteristics, and fam11 ily retention; 

12 (2) recipient outcomes that are consistent with 

13 program goals including, where appropriate given 

14 the program being evaluated— 

15 (A) parent knowledge of early learning and 

16 development; 

17 (B) child health cognitive, language, social18 emotional, and physical developmental indica19 tors; 

20 (C) child maltreatment indicators, for child 

21 abuse and neglect prevention; 

22 (D) school readiness indicators; and 

23 (E) links to community services; 

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1 (3) the research-based instruction, materials, 

2 and activities being used in the activities funded 

3 under the grant; 

4 (4) the effectiveness of the training and ongoing 

5 professional development provided— 

6 (A) to staff supported under the grant; 

7 and 

8 (B) to the broader early childhood commu9 nity; 

10 (5) beginning at the end of the second year of 

11 the grant, the results of evaluations described in 

12 subsection (c)(6)(H); and 

13 (6) the annual program implementation costs, 

14 including the cost for each family served under the 

15 program. 

16 SEC. 5. STRENGTHENING EARLY HEAD START HOME VISI17 TATION. 

18 Section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 9840a) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘provide 

22 services to parents to support their role as par23 ents’’ and inserting ‘‘provide additional services 

24 to parents to support their role as parents (in25 cluding training in parenting skills, basic child 

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1 development, and sensitivity to cultural vari2 ations in parenting norms and attitudes toward 

3 formal supports)’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

5 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including home6 based services)’’ after ‘‘with services’’; and 

7 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and family support 

8 services’’ after ‘‘health services’’; 

9 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), 

10 and (9) as paragraphs (9), (10), and (11), re11 spectively; and 

12 (D) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(7) develop and implement a systematic proce15 dure for transitioning children and parents from an 

16 Early Head Start program into a Head Start pro17 gram or another local early childhood education pro18 gram; 

19 ‘‘(8) establish channels of communication be20 tween staff of Early Head Start programs and staff 

21 of Head Start programs or other local early child22 hood education programs, to facilitate the coordina23 tion of programs;’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (g)(2)(B), by striking clause 

25 (iv) and inserting the following: 

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1 ‘‘(iv) providing professional develop2 ment and personnel enhancement activi3 ties, including the provision of funds to re4 cipients of grants under subsection (a), re5 lating to effective methods of implementing 

6 parent education, conducting home vis7 iting, and promoting quality early child8 hood development.’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(h) STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) HOME VISITOR STAFF.— 

12 ‘‘(A) STANDARDS.—In order to further en13 hance the quality of home visiting services pro14 vided to families of children participating in 

15 home-based, center-based, or combination pro16 gram options under this subchapter, the Sec17 retary shall establish standards for training, 

18 qualifications, and the conduct of home visits 

19 for home visitor staff in Early Head Start pro20 grams. 

21 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The standards for 

22 training, qualifications, and the conduct of 

23 home visits shall include content related to— 

24 ‘‘(i) structured child-focused home vis25 iting that promotes parents’ ability to supmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 port the child’s cognitive, social, emotional, 

2 and physical development; 

3 ‘‘(ii) effective strengths-based parent 

4 education, including methods to encourage 

5 parents as their child’s first teachers; 

6 ‘‘(iii) early childhood development 

7 with respect to children from birth through 

8 age 3; 

9 ‘‘(iv) methods to help parents promote 

10 emergent literacy in their children from 

11 birth through age 3; 

12 ‘‘(v) ascertaining what health and de13 velopmental services the family receives 

14 and working with these providers to elimi15 nate gaps in service by offering annual 

16 health, vision, hearing, and developmental 

17 screening for children from birth to entry 

18 into kindergarten, when needed; 

19 ‘‘(vi) strategies for helping families 

20 coping with crisis; and 

21 ‘‘(vii) the relationship of health and 

22 well-being of pregnant women to prenatal 

23 and early child development.’’. 

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1 SEC. 6. TARGETED GRANTS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME 

2 VISITATION FOR FAMILIES WITH ENGLISH 

3 LANGUAGE LEARNERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

5 with the Secretary of Education, shall make grants, on 

6 a competitive basis, to eligible applicants to enable such 

7 applicants to support and expand local efforts to deliver 

8 services under quality programs of early childhood home 

9 visitation to eligible families with English language learn10 ers. 

11 (b) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—In this section, the term 

12 ‘‘eligible applicant’’ means— 

13 (1) 1 or more local educational agencies (as de14 fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 

16 and 

17 (2) 1 or more public or private community18 based organizations or agencies that serve eligible 

19 families and are capable of establishing and imple20 menting programs of early childhood home visita21 tion. 

22 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible applicant that de23 sires to receive a grant under this section shall submit an 

24 application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

25 and containing such information as the Secretary may re26 quire. The application shall include a description of— 

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1 (1) the results of a communitywide needs as2 sessment that describes— 

3 (A) community demographics dem4 onstrating the need for outreach and services to 

5 eligible families with English language learners; 

6 (B) the quality and capacity of existing 

7 programs of early childhood home visitation for 

8 eligible families with English language learners 

9 in the community; 

10 (C) the gaps in programs of early child11 hood home visitation for eligible families with 

12 English language learners in the community; 

13 and 

14 (D) the type of program of early childhood 

15 home visitation necessary to address the gaps 

16 identified; 

17 (2) the program of early childhood home visita18 tion that will be supported by the grant under this 

19 section; 

20 (3) how the proposed program of early child21 hood home visitation will promote positive parenting 

22 skills and children’s early learning and development; 

23 (4) how the proposed program of early child24 hood home visitation will incorporate the authorized 

25 activities described in subsection (f); 

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1 (5) how services provided through a grant 

2 under this section will use materials that are geared 

3 toward eligible families with English language learn4 ers; 

5 (6) how the activities under this section will 

6 build on and promote coordination among existing 

7 programs of early childhood home visitation, if such 

8 programs exist in the community, in an effort to 

9 promote an array of home visitation that ensures 

10 more eligible families with English language learners 

11 are being served and are getting the most appro12 priate services to meet their needs; 

13 (7) how the program will ensure that— 

14 (A) eligible families with English language 

15 learners are linked to schools; and 

16 (B) the activities under this section will 

17 support the preparation of children for school; 

18 (8) how channels of communication will be es19 tablished between staff of programs of early child20 hood home visitation and staff of other early child21 hood education programs, such as Head Start pro22 grams carried out under the Head Start Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) and Early Head Start pro24 grams carried out under section 645A of such Act, 

25 preschool programs, and child care programs, to famstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 cilitate the coordination of services for eligible fami2 lies with English language learners; 

3 (9) how eligible families with English language 

4 learners will be recruited and retained to receive 

5 services under this section; 

6 (10) how training and technical assistance will 

7 help the staff of programs of early childhood home 

8 visitation involved in activities under this section to 

9 more effectively serve eligible families with English 

10 language learners; 

11 (11) how the eligible applicant will evaluate the 

12 activities supported under this section in order to 

13 demonstrate outcomes related to the— 

14 (A) increase in number of eligible families 

15 with English language learners served by pro16 grams of early childhood home visitation; 

17 (B) enhancement of participating parents’ 

18 parental knowledge of early learning and devel19 opment; 

20 (C) enhancement of positive parenting 

21 practices related to early learning and develop22 ment; and 

23 (D) enhancement of children’s cognitive, 

24 language, social-emotional, and physical devel25 opment; 

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1 (12) how the proposed program will conduct 

2 outreach activities to target both mothers and fa3 thers and increase father involvement where safe 

4 and appropriate; and 

5 (13) such other information as the Secretary 

6 may require. 

7 (d) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall select 

9 applicants for funding under this section based on 

10 the quality of the applications and the recommenda11 tions of a peer review panel, as described in para12 graph (2). 

13 (2) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—The peer review 

14 panel shall include not less than— 

15 (A) 2 individuals who are experts in the 

16 field of home visitation; 

17 (B) 2 individuals who are experts in early 

18 childhood development; 

19 (C) 2 individuals who are experts in serv20 ing eligible families with English language 

21 learners; 

22 (D) 1 individual who is a board certified 

23 pediatrician or a developmental pediatrician; 

24 and 

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1 (E) 1 individual with expertise in admin2 istering public or private (including community3 based) child maltreatment prevention programs. 

4 (e) DURATION OF GRANTS.—Grants made under this 

5 section shall be for a period of no more than 3 years. 

6 (f) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Each eligible appli7 cant that receives a grant under this section shall carry 

8 out the following activities: 

9 (1) Providing to as many eligible families with 

10 English language learners as practicable, voluntary 

11 early childhood home visitation, on not less fre12 quently than a monthly basis, through the imple13 mentation of quality programs of early childhood 

14 home visitation that are research-based that provide 

15 parents with— 

16 (A) knowledge of age appropriate child de17 velopment in cognitive, language, social-emo18 tional, and motor domains; 

19 (B) knowledge of realistic expectations of 

20 age-appropriate child behaviors; 

21 (C) knowledge of health and wellness 

22 issues for children and parents; 

23 (D) modeling, consulting, and coaching on 

24 parenting practices; 

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1 (E) skills to interact with their child to en2 hance age-appropriate development; 

3 (F) skills to recognize and seek help for 

4 issues related to health, developmental delays, 

5 and social, emotional, and behavioral skills; and 

6 (G) activities designed to help parents be7 come full partners in the education of their chil8 dren. 

9 (2) Ascertaining what health and developmental 

10 services the family receives and working with these 

11 providers to eliminate gaps in service by offering an12 nual health, vision, hearing, and developmental 

13 screening for children from birth to entry into kin14 dergarten, when not otherwise provided. 

15 (3) Providing referrals for participating eligible 

16 families with English language learners, as needed, 

17 to additional resources available in the community, 

18 such as center-based early education programs, child 

19 care services, health or mental health services, fam20 ily literacy programs, employment agencies, social 

21 services, and child care resource and referral agen22 cies. 

23 (4) Offering group meetings (at program dis24 cretion), on not less frequently than a monthly basis, 

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1 for eligible families with English language learners 

2 that— 

3 (A) further enhance the information, ac4 tivities, and skill-building addressed during 

5 home visitation; 

6 (B) offer opportunities for parents to meet 

7 with and support each other; and 

8 (C) address challenges facing eligible fami9 lies with English language learners. 

10 (5) Providing training and technical assistance 

11 to early childhood home visitation and early child12 hood care and education staff relating to— 

13 (A) effective service to eligible families 

14 with English language learners, including skills 

15 to address challenges facing English language 

16 learners; 

17 (B) effective methods of implementing par18 ent education, conducting home visiting, and 

19 promoting quality early childhood development, 

20 with sensitivity to cultural variations in par21 enting norms and attitudes toward formal sup22 port services; 

23 (C) the relationship of health and well24 being of pregnant women to prenatal and early 

25 child development; 

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1 (D) early childhood development with re2 spect to children from birth until entry into kin3 dergarten; 

4 (E) methods to help parents promote 

5 emergent literacy in their children from birth 

6 until entry into kindergarten; 

7 (F) implementing strategies for helping eli8 gible families with English language learners 

9 coping with a crisis; 

10 (G) recruiting, supervising, and retaining 

11 qualified staff; 

12 (H) increasing services for underserved eli13 gible families with English language learners; 

14 (I) methods to help parents effectively re15 spond to their children’s needs and behaviors; 

16 (J) implementation of ongoing program 

17 quality improvement and evaluation of activities 

18 and outcomes; and 

19 (K) the relationship of father involvement 

20 to the health and well-being of pregnant women 

21 and to prenatal and early childhood develop22 ment. 

23 (6) Coordinating existing programs of early 

24 childhood home visitation in order to effectively and 

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1 efficiently meet the needs of more eligible families 

2 with English language learners. 

3 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each applicant 

4 that receives a grant under this section to carry out a pro5 gram shall submit an annual report to the Secretary re6 garding the progress of such program in addressing the 

7 purposes of this Act. Such report shall include, at a min8 imum, a description of— 

9 (1) actual service delivery provided under the 

10 grant including— 

11 (A) program characteristics including de12 scriptive information on the service model used 

13 and actual program performance; 

14 (B) provider characteristics including staff 

15 qualifications, work experience, and demo16 graphic characteristics; 

17 (C) recipient characteristics including 

18 number, demographic characteristics, and fam19 ily retention; and 

20 (D) an estimate of annual program imple21 mentation costs; 

22 (2) recipient outcomes that are consistent with 

23 program goals including, where appropriate given 

24 the program being evaluated— 

25 (A) parental practices; 

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1 (B) child health and development indica2 tors; 

3 (C) child maltreatment indicators; 

4 (D) school readiness indicators; and 

5 (E) links to community services; 

6 (3) the research-based instruction, materials, 

7 and activities being used in the activities funded 

8 under the grant; and 

9 (4) the effectiveness of the training and ongoing 

10 professional development provided— 

11 (A) to staff supported under the grant; 

12 and 

13 (B) to the broader early childhood commu14 nity. 

15 (h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

16 provided under this section shall be used to supplement, 

17 and not supplant, Federal and non-Federal funds available 

18 for carrying out the activities described in this section. 

19 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

21 $50,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2008 through 

22 2010. 

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1 SEC. 7. TARGETED GRANTS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME 

2 VISITATION FOR MILITARY FAMILIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Education and the Sec5 retary of Health and Human Services, shall make grants, 

6 on a competitive basis, to eligible applicants to enable such 

7 applicants to support and expand efforts to deliver services 

8 under quality programs of early childhood home visitation 

9 to eligible families with a family member in the Armed 

10 Forces. 

11 (b) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—In this section, the term 

12 ‘‘eligible applicant’’ means any of the following: 

13 (1) A local educational agency that receives 

14 payments under title VIII of the Elementary and 

15 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7701 

16 et seq.). 

17 (2) A school of the defense dependents’ edu18 cation system under the Defense Dependents’ Edu19 cation Act of 1978 (20 U.S.C. 921 et seq.). 

20 (3) A school established under section 2164 of 

21 title 10, United States Code. 

22 (4) A community-based organization serving 

23 families with a family member in the Armed Forces. 

24 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible applicant that de25 sires to receive a grant under this section shall submit an 

26 application to the Secretary of Defense at such time, in 

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1 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec2 retary of Defense may require. The application shall in3 clude a description of— 

4 (1) the results of a communitywide needs as5 sessment that describes— 

6 (A) community demographics dem7 onstrating the need for outreach and services to 

8 eligible families with a family member in the 

9 Armed Forces; 

10 (B) the quality and capacity of existing 

11 programs of early childhood home visitation for 

12 eligible families with a family member in the 

13 Armed Forces; 

14 (C) the gaps in programs of early child15 hood home visitation for eligible families with a 

16 family member in the Armed Forces; and 

17 (D) the type of program of early childhood 

18 home visitation necessary to address the gaps 

19 identified; 

20 (2) the program of early childhood home visita21 tion that will be supported by the grant under this 

22 section; 

23 (3) how the proposed program of early child24 hood home visitation will promote positive parenting 

25 skills and children’s early learning and development; 

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1 (4) how the proposed program of early child2 hood home visitation will incorporate the authorized 

3 activities described in subsection (f); 

4 (5) how services provided through a grant 

5 under this section will use materials that are geared 

6 toward eligible families with a family member in the 

7 Armed Forces; 

8 (6) how the activities under this section will 

9 build on and promote coordination with existing pro10 grams of early childhood home visitation, if such 

11 programs exist in the community, in an effort to 

12 promote an array of home visitation that ensures 

13 more eligible families with a family member in the 

14 Armed Forces are being served and are getting the 

15 most appropriate services to meet their needs; 

16 (7) how the program will ensure that— 

17 (A) eligible families with a family member 

18 in the Armed Forces are linked to schools; and 

19 (B) the activities under this section will 

20 support the preparation of children for school; 

21 (8) how channels of communication will be es22 tablished between staff of programs of early child23 hood home visitation and staff of other early child24 hood education programs, such as Head Start pro25 grams carried out under the Head Start Act (42 

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1 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) and Early Head Start pro2 grams carried out under section 645A of such Act, 

3 preschool programs, family support programs, and 

4 child care programs, to facilitate the coordination of 

5 services for eligible families with a family member in 

6 the Armed Forces; 

7 (9) how eligible families with a family member 

8 in the Armed Forces will be recruited and retained 

9 to receive services under this section; 

10 (10) how training and technical assistance will 

11 help staff of programs of early childhood home visi12 tation involved in activities under this section to 

13 more effectively serve eligible families with a family 

14 member in the Armed Forces; 

15 (11) how the eligible applicant will evaluate the 

16 activities supported under this section in order to 

17 demonstrate outcomes related to the— 

18 (A) increase in number of eligible families 

19 with a family member in the Armed Forces 

20 served by programs of early childhood home vis21 itation; 

22 (B) enhancement of participating parents’ 

23 knowledge of early learning and development; 

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1 (C) enhancement of positive parenting 

2 practices related to early learning and develop3 ment; and 

4 (D) enhancement of children’s cognitive, 

5 language, social-emotional, and physical devel6 opment; 

7 (12) how the proposed program will conduct 

8 outreach activities to target both mothers and fa9 thers and increase father involvement where safe 

10 and appropriate; and 

11 (13) such other information as the Secretary of 

12 Defense may require. 

13 (d) APPROVAL OF LOCAL APPLICATIONS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

15 shall select applicants for funding under this section 

16 based on the quality of the applications and the rec17 ommendations of a peer review panel, as described 

18 in paragraph (2). 

19 (2) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—The peer review 

20 panel shall include not less than— 

21 (A) 2 individuals who are experts in the 

22 field of home visitation; 

23 (B) 2 individuals who are experts in early 

24 childhood development; 

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1 (C) 2 individuals who are experts in family 

2 support for military families; 

3 (D) 1 individual who is a board certified 

4 pediatrician or developmental pediatrician; and 

5 (E) 1 individual with expertise in admin6 istering public or private (including community7 based) child maltreatment prevention programs. 

8 (e) DURATION OF GRANTS.—Grants made under this 

9 section shall be for a period of no more than 3 years. 

10 (f) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Each eligible appli11 cant that receives a grant under this section shall carry 

12 out the following activities: 

13 (1) Providing to as many eligible families with 

14 a family member in the Armed Forces as prac15 ticable, voluntary early childhood home visitation, on 

16 not less frequently than a monthly basis, through 

17 the implementation of quality programs of early 

18 childhood home visitation that are research-based 

19 and that provide parents with— 

20 (A) knowledge of age appropriate child de21 velopment in cognitive, language, social-emo22 tional, and motor domains; 

23 (B) knowledge of realistic expectations of 

24 age-appropriate child behaviors; 

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1 (C) knowledge of health and wellness 

2 issues for children and parents; 

3 (D) modeling, consulting, and coaching on 

4 parenting practices; 

5 (E) skills to interact with their child to en6 hance age-appropriate development; 

7 (F) skills to recognize and seek help for 

8 issues related to health, developmental delays, 

9 and social, emotional, and behavioral skills; and 

10 (G) activities designed to help parents be11 come full partners in the education of their chil12 dren. 

13 (2) Ascertaining what health and developmental 

14 services the family receives and working with these 

15 providers to eliminate gaps in service by offering an16 nual health, vision, hearing, and developmental 

17 screening for children from birth to entry into kin18 dergarten, when not otherwise provided. 

19 (3) Providing referrals for participating eligible 

20 families with a family member in the Armed Forces, 

21 as needed, to additional resources available in the 

22 community, such as center-based early education 

23 programs, child care services, health or mental 

24 health services, family literacy programs, employmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ment agencies, social services, and child care re2 source and referral agencies. 

3 (4) Offering group meetings (at program dis4 cretion), on not less frequently than a monthly basis, 

5 for eligible families with a family member in the 

6 Armed Forces that— 

7 (A) further enhance the information, ac8 tivities, and skill-building addressed during 

9 home visitation; 

10 (B) offer opportunities for parents to meet 

11 with and support each other; and 

12 (C) address challenges facing eligible fami13 lies with a family member in the Armed Forces. 

14 (5) Providing training and technical assistance 

15 to early childhood home visitation and early child16 hood care and education staff relating to— 

17 (A) effective service to eligible families 

18 with a family member in the Armed Forces; 

19 (B) effective methods of implementing par20 ent education, conducting home visiting, and 

21 promoting quality early childhood development, 

22 with sensitivity to cultural variations in par23 enting norms and attitudes toward formal sup24 port services; 

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1 (C) the relationship of health and well2 being of pregnant women to prenatal and early 

3 child development; 

4 (D) early childhood development with re5 spect to children from birth until entry into kin6 dergarten; 

7 (E) methods to help parents promote 

8 emergent literacy in their children from birth 

9 until entry into kindergarten; 

10 (F) implementing strategies for helping eli11 gible families with a family member in the 

12 Armed Forces coping with crisis; 

13 (G) recruiting, supervising, and retaining 

14 qualified staff; 

15 (H) increasing services for underserved eli16 gible families with a family member in the 

17 Armed Forces; 

18 (I) methods to help parents effectively re19 spond to their children’s needs and behaviors; 

20 (J) implementation of ongoing program 

21 quality improvement and evaluation of activities 

22 and outcomes; and 

23 (K) the relationship of father involvement 

24 to the health and well-being of pregnant women 

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1 and to prenatal and early childhood develop2 ment. 

3 (6) Coordinating existing programs of early 

4 childhood home visitation in order to effectively and 

5 efficiently meet the needs of more eligible families 

6 with a family member in the Armed Forces. 

7 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each applicant 

8 that receives a grant under this section to carry out a pro9 gram shall submit an annual report to the Secretary re10 garding the progress of such program in addressing the 

11 purposes of this Act. Such report shall include, at a min12 imum, a description of— 

13 (1) actual service delivery provided under the 

14 grant including— 

15 (A) program characteristics including de16 scriptive information on the service model used 

17 and actual program performance; 

18 (B) provider characteristics including staff 

19 qualifications, work experience, and demo20 graphic characteristics; 

21 (C) recipient characteristics including 

22 number, demographic characteristics, and fam23 ily retention; and 

24 (D) an estimate of annual program imple25 mentation costs; 

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1 (2) recipient outcomes that are consistent with 

2 program goals including, where appropriate given 

3 the program being evaluated— 

4 (A) parental practices; 

5 (B) child health and development indica6 tors; 

7 (C) child maltreatment indicators; 

8 (D) school readiness indicators; and 

9 (E) links to community services; 

10 (3) the research-based instruction, materials, 

11 and activities being used in the activities funded 

12 under the grant; and 

13 (4) the effectiveness of the training and ongoing 

14 professional development provided— 

15 (A) to staff supported under the grant; 

16 and 

17 (B) to the broader early childhood commu18 nity. 

19 (h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

20 provided under this section shall be used to supplement, 

21 and not supplant, Federal and non-Federal funds available 

22 for carrying out the activities described in this section. 

23 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

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1 $50,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2008 through 

2 2010. 

3 SEC. 8. EVALUATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—From funds reserved under sec5 tion 5(b)(1)(A), the Secretary shall conduct an inde6 pendent evaluation of the effectiveness of this Act. 

7 (b) REPORTS.— 

8 (1) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall submit an interim report on the evalua11 tion conducted pursuant to subsection (a) to the 

12 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen13 sions of the Senate and the Committee on Education 

14 and Labor of the House of Representatives. 

15 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec17 retary shall submit a final report on the evaluation 

18 conducted pursuant to subsection (a) to the commit19 tees described in paragraph (1). 

20 (c) CONTENTS.—The reports submitted under sub21 section (b) shall include information on the following: 

22 (1) How the grant funds have expanded access 

23 to early childhood home visitation including— 

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1 (A) demonstrating that programs funded 

2 reflect the quality indicators outlined in section 

3 5(f)(1); and 

4 (B) documenting the service delivery indi5 cators, as outlined in section 5(h)(1), across all 

6 recipients receiving grants with attention to the 

7 number of families served and the level of serv8 ice received. 

9 (2) How the States affect outcomes consistent 

10 with program goals including, where appropriate 

11 given the program being evaluated, parenting prac12 tices, child health and development, child maltreat13 ment, school readiness, and links to community serv14 ices. 

15 (3) The effectiveness of early childhood home 

16 visitation on different populations, including the ex17 tent to which variability exists in program ability to 

18 improve outcomes across programs and populations, 

19 such as families with English language learners and 

20 families with a family member in the Armed Forces. 

21 (4) Descriptions of the technical assistance and 

22 training actually provided and the nature of the pop23 ulations receiving this assistance. 

24 (5) The effectiveness of the training and tech25 nical assistance activities funded under this Act, inmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 cluding the effects of training and technical assist2 ance activities on program performance and agency3 level collaboration. 

4 (6) Recommendations on strengthening or 

5 modifying this Act. 

6 SEC. 9. SUPPORTING NEW PARENTS THROUGH HOSPITAL 

7 EDUCATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec10 retary’’) shall develop and implement a public information 

11 and educational campaign to inform the public and new 

12 parents about the importance of proper care for infants 

13 and children under 5 years of age, including healthy par14 ent-child relationships, the demands and stress associated 

15 with caring for infants, positive responses to infants’ chal16 lenging behaviors including awareness of their social, emo17 tional, and physical needs, awareness of the vulnerability 

18 of young children to abusive practices, and the signs and 

19 treatment of post-partum depression. 

20 (b) ELEMENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The campaign developed 

22 under subsection (a) shall include the following ele23 ments: 

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1 (A) The dissemination of educational and 

2 informational materials in print, audio, video, 

3 electronic, and other media. 

4 (B) The use of public service announce5 ments and advertisements. 

6 (C) The dissemination of effective child 

7 abuse prevention practices and techniques, in8 cluding information about research-based home 

9 visiting programs, respite care, crisis nurseries, 

10 and parent support networks, to parents, care11 givers, maternity hospitals, children’s hospitals, 

12 pediatricians, child care centers, organizations 

13 providing prenatal and postnatal care, and or14 ganizations providing parenting education and 

15 support services. 

16 (D) Connection to existing parental in17 volvement programs. 

18 (2) PREVENTION PRACTICES.—In carrying out 

19 paragraph (1)(C) through the campaign under sub20 section (a), the Secretary shall ensure that every 

21 hospital, military hospital, and birth center receiving 

22 these materials requests that each maternity patient 

23 and father of a newborn child, if available, partici24 pate in a single session parenting class, that is ap25 proved by the Secretary, on the vulnerabilities of 

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1 their infant to abusive practices, as well as the im2 portance of proper care for infants and young chil3 dren, and the symptoms of abusive head and other 

4 injuries, and strategies for caring for infants’ social, 

5 emotional, and physical needs. After participating in 

6 the class, the hospital or birth center shall request 

7 that such patient or father sign a form stating that 

8 they have participated or refused to participate in 

9 the parenting class. 

10 (3) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The implementation 

11 and execution of the public information and edu12 cational campaign under this section should seek col13 laboration with and referrals to existing parental in14 volvement programs that specialize in strengthening 

15 children’s cognitive skills, early literacy skills, social 

16 or emotional and physical development and existing 

17 prenatal and early childhood home visitation pro18 grams. 

19 (4) EXISTING STATE REQUIREMENTS.—The im20 plementation and execution of the public information 

21 and educational campaign under this section should 

22 encourage the Secretary to work with pre-existing 

23 State requirements to ensure that no unnecessary 

24 burdens are placed on hospitals, military hospitals, 

25 and birth centers receiving educational materials. 

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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec3 essary to carry out this section for fiscal years 2008 

4 through 2010. 

Æ 

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