I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2616 

To promote public-private partnerships to strengthen investment in early 

childhood development for children from birth to entry into kindergarten 

in order to ensure healthy development and school readiness for all 

children. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2007 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To promote public-private partnerships to strengthen investment in early childhood development for children from 

birth to entry into kindergarten in order to ensure 

healthy development and school readiness for all children. 

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 ‘‘Early Childhood In5 vestment Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

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1 (1) The cumulative process of a child’s develop2 ment and learning begins at birth. Research indi3 cates that the physical, cognitive, social, and emo4 tional development that takes place from birth 

5 through age 5 is crucial for a child’s future achieve6 ment in school and life. 

7 (2) Parents are the first teachers of their chil8 dren and, accordingly, parental support and parental 

9 involvement play a critical role in a child’s positive 

10 development and early learning experiences. 

11 (3) High-quality early childhood development 

12 programs and services yield substantial advantages 

13 for young children and their families in terms of bet14 ter health, readiness for school, and economic well15 being. 

16 (4) Research indicates that training and higher 

17 education for early childhood development personnel 

18 result in a better quality environment for children, 

19 which in turn promotes greater child development. 

20 Yet access to training and higher education for early 

21 childhood development personnel is limited for a va22 riety of reasons, including limited availability and 

23 cost. Low wages associated with working in an early 

24 childhood development program contribute to high 

25 staff turnover in the program. For personnel who remstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ceive training, early childhood development programs 

2 are often unable to raise the compensation of staff 

3 due to budget constraints. 

4 (5) Investments in early childhood development 

5 pay dividends for children, in terms of— 

6 (A) improved and more successful transi7 tion to kindergarten; 

8 (B) higher academic performance; 

9 (C) better employment opportunities and 

10 higher earnings; and 

11 (D) lower incidence of crime and depend12 ence on public welfare. 

13 (6) Our Nation’s economy benefits from early 

14 childhood development investments through a better 

15 prepared workforce, stronger growth, and rising 

16 standards of living, and society will benefit from less 

17 crime, enhanced schools, and children who are better 

18 prepared to participate as citizens in a democratic 

19 society. 

20 (7) Public-private partnerships have the ability 

21 to leverage the assets of public and private entities 

22 in terms of financial resources, expertise, and infra23 structure in order to maximize and align invest24 ments in early childhood development. 

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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

2 It is the purpose of this Act to provide Federal incen3 tives for States to create or enhance partnerships between 

4 or among public and private entities to improve the access 

5 to and the quality of early childhood development pro6 grams for all children from birth to entry into kinder7 garten, in order to foster healthy growth and school readi8 ness for all children. 

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

12 board of directors established under section 6(c). 

13 (2) EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT.—The 

14 term ‘‘early childhood development’’ means the at15 tention to children’s development and learning, in16 cluding physical, cognitive, social, and emotional de17 velopment and approaches to learning, for children 

18 of any age from birth to entry into kindergarten 

19 with developmentally appropriate quality standards 

20 that lead to school readiness with respect to early 

21 literacy, mathematics, cognitive, social, and emo22 tional benchmarks, and other appropriate bench23 marks. 

24 (3) EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRO25 GRAM.—The term ‘‘early childhood development pro26 gram’’ means— 

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1 (A) a child care center, or family child 

2 care, that is legally operating under State law 

3 and complies with State and local requirements 

4 for the provision of child care; 

5 (B) a Head Start program carried out 

6 under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et 

7 seq.); 

8 (C) an Early Head Start program carried 

9 out under section 645A of the Head Start Act 

10 (42 U.S.C. 9840a); 

11 (D) a parenting education program, includ12 ing a home visiting program; 

13 (E) a health and mental health screening 

14 program and follow up health care programs; or 

15 (F) a State or local prekindergarten pro16 gram, 

17 that provides services for children of any age from 

18 birth to entry into kindergarten. 

19 (4) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

21 partnership’’ means a partnership consisting of 

22 private and public entities that shall include— 

23 (i) an organization, or consortium of 

24 organizations, described in section 

25 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

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1 1986 that is exempt from taxation under 

2 section 501(a) of such Act; and 

3 (ii) a State. 

4 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

5 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

6 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

8 (6) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means a bio9 logical or adoptive parent, a stepparent, a foster par10 ent, or a legal guardian of, or a person standing in 

11 loco parentis to, a child. 

12 (7) SECRETARY.—Unless otherwise specified, 

13 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Health 

14 and Human Services. 

15 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

16 the several States of the United States, the District 

17 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

18 Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 

19 Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

20 Mariana Islands. 

21 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM. 

22 (a) GRANTS.—From funds appropriated under sec23 tion 11 and not reserved under subsection (d)(2) and sec24 tion 9(e), the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 

25 of Education, may award a grant to not more than 1 eligimstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ble partnership serving each State to pay the Federal 

2 share of the costs of enabling the eligible partnership to 

3 engage the public and private sector in order to— 

4 (1) strengthen the quality of early childhood de5 velopment opportunities for infants, toddlers, and 

6 preschoolers throughout the State; 

7 (2) promote school readiness; and 

8 (3) increase access to the early childhood devel9 opment programs. 

10 (b) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award a grant 

11 under this Act for a period of not less than 3 years and 

12 not more than 5 years. 

13 (c) AWARD BASIS FOR GRANTS.—Grants under this 

14 Act shall be awarded on the basis of the number of chil15 dren in the State from birth through age 5. 

16 (d) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES.— 

17 (1) REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS.—The Sec18 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of Edu19 cation, shall submit to Indian tribes requests for ap20 plications for grants under this section. 

21 (2) RESERVATION.—Of the amounts appro22 priated to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall re23 serve 1 percent to award grants to eligible partner24 ships serving Indian tribes. 

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1 SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible for a 

4 grant under this Act, all members of the eligible 

5 partnership shall enter into and sign a memorandum 

6 of understanding that shall clearly describe the goal, 

7 strategy, structure, and governance of the eligible 

8 partnership. 

9 (2) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—An eligible part10 nership assisted under this Act may add new mem11 bers to the partnership, but each such new member 

12 shall enter into and sign the memorandum of under13 standing described in paragraph (1). 

14 (b) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP DUTIES.—An eligible 

15 partnership assisted under this Act shall— 

16 (1) coordinate efforts of nonprofit or for-profit 

17 private entities, the Federal Government, and State 

18 governments in order to implement high quality in19 vestments in early childhood development, including 

20 parent education and support, child care, preschool, 

21 and other related early childhood development activi22 ties to better promote healthy child development and 

23 school readiness within the State; and 

24 (2) serve as the fiscal agent for the grant under 

25 this Act and work in coordination with any early 

26 childhood council or advisory body in the State that 

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1 has, as the council or advisory body’s primary func2 tion, the coordination of early childhood development 

3 programs across the State. 

4 (c) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

5 (1) MEMBERSHIP.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership 

7 assisted under this Act shall be led by a board 

8 of directors. 

9 (B) REPRESENTATION.—The members of 

10 the Board shall represent— 

11 (i) the private and public sector; and 

12 (ii) the range of sectors of child devel13 opment (including health and mental 

14 health development), including early child15 hood development programs and providers, 

16 government agencies, philanthropic and 

17 business organizations, and other stake18 holders. 

19 (C) PRIVATE SECTOR REPRESENTATION.— 

20 Not less than 51 percent of the representation 

21 of the Board shall consist of private sector rep22 resentatives, including— 

23 (i) representatives of nonprofit enti24 ties; 

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1 (ii) representatives of foundations; 

2 and 

3 (iii) not less than 3 business rep4 resentatives. 

5 (2) DIVERSITY.—An eligible partnership as6 sisted under this Act shall reflect the diversity of the 

7 State served by the eligible partnership. 

8 (3) GUIDANCE.—The Board shall be guided by 

9 the memorandum of understanding described in sub10 section (a)(1). 

11 (4) BOARD DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

12 (A) oversee the vision and strategic plan13 ning of the eligible partnership; 

14 (B) establish policies and procedures for 

15 the ongoing operations and activities of the eli16 gible partnership; 

17 (C) establish an application process for 

18 awarding subgrants to State or community-wide 

19 initiatives; and 

20 (D) conduct oversight of goals, perform21 ance measures, and outcomes of expenditures, 

22 for activities assisted under this Act. 

23 (d) TIMING.—An eligible partnership assisted under 

24 this Act may be a partnership that is in existence on the 

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1 day before the date of enactment of this Act or is estab2 lished on or after such day. 

3 SEC. 7. APPLICATION. 

4 Each eligible partnership desiring a grant under this 

5 Act shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 

6 time, in such manner, and accompanied by such informa7 tion as the Secretary may require. Each application shall 

8 contain, at a minimum, the following: 

9 (1) A description of— 

10 (A) the goals, mission, and activities of the 

11 eligible partnership, including specific goals 

12 with respect to— 

13 (i) serving the complete range of chil14 dren from birth to entry into kindergarten, 

15 including infants, toddlers, and pre16 schoolers; and 

17 (ii) serving children from low-income 

18 families and communities, children with 

19 special needs, children who are English 

20 language learners, and children from 

21 emerging populations; and 

22 (B) how the goals, mission, and activities 

23 of the eligible partnership are coordinated and 

24 aligned with the overall State strategy (includ25 ing the State’s goals and benchmarks), and 

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1 State initiatives in existence on the day before 

2 the date the application is submitted, with re3 spect to early childhood development programs 

4 for all children in the State from birth to entry 

5 into kindergarten. 

6 (2) A detailed description of the eligible part7 nership’s structure, including a list of the entities 

8 participating in the eligible partnership, the mem9 bers of the Board serving the eligible partnership, 

10 and the responsibilities of each such entity or mem11 ber. 

12 (3) A plan for soliciting additional public and 

13 private entities to become members of the eligible 

14 partnership. 

15 (4) A copy of the memorandum of under16 standing described in section 6(a)(1). 

17 (5) A detailed description of the need assess18 ment and cost models used to determine how the 

19 funds of the eligible partnership will be distributed 

20 within the State. 

21 (6) A financing plan for the activities assisted 

22 under the grant that includes utilizing existing fund23 ing streams and leveraging additional funds to 

24 match the Federal share provided under this Act. 

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1 (7) An explanation of how results and outcomes 

2 from activities assisted under the grant will be dem3 onstrated and measured. 

4 SEC. 8. USES OF FUNDS. 

5 Grant funds made available under this Act shall be 

6 used— 

7 (1) to strengthen the financing of services and 

8 systems of early childhood development across set9 tings and sectors in a State for all children from 

10 birth to kindergarten, including the financing of pro11 grams under the Child Care and Development Block 

12 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), under 

13 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), and 

14 under section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 9840a) (Early Head Start programs), State 

16 or local prekindergarten programs, and home vis17 iting and other parent education programs; and 

18 (2) to accomplish the purpose of this Act by 

19 providing subgrants to State or community-wide ini20 tiatives that may include activities to— 

21 (A) enhance and develop quality parenting 

22 support and education; 

23 (B) provide education and professional de24 velopment to and improved compensation for 

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1 the early childhood workforce and teachers, in 

2 order to— 

3 (i) enhance the knowledge and skills 

4 of the early childhood workforce and teach5 ers; and 

6 (ii) attract and retain quality early 

7 childhood development program staff; 

8 (C) provide services, training, and tech9 nical assistance, outreach, quality improve10 ments, and support to early childhood develop11 ment programs serving children who are from 

12 low-income families and communities, children 

13 with special needs, and children who are 

14 English language learners, especially such pro15 grams serving the needs of working families, by 

16 providing full-day, full-year opportunities for 

17 children; 

18 (D) renovate and upgrade early childhood 

19 facilities or establish pooled early childhood fa20 cility funds, except that not more than 10 per21 cent of the grant funds awarded to an eligible 

22 partnership under this Act may be used for 

23 construction; 

24 (E) provide developmental screenings, 

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1 sultations, in early childhood development pro2 grams; and 

3 (F) increase coordination between and 

4 among early childhood development providers 

5 and local educational agencies in order to— 

6 (i) ease the transition for children be7 tween preschool and kindergarten; 

8 (ii) ensure the effective and efficient 

9 delivery of services to children; and 

10 (iii) provide joint professional develop11 ment for early childhood educators and 

12 teachers in kindergarten through grade 2 

13 to improve curriculum alignment and en14 sure the school readiness of the children. 

15 SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATION. 

16 (a) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

17 of the activities assisted under this Act shall be 50 percent 

18 for the first year of the grant, 40 percent for the second 

19 year of the grant, and 30 percent for each succeeding year 

20 of the grant. 

21 (b) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share 

22 of the cost of the activities assisted under this Act may 

23 be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including 

24 plant, equipment, and services, and may be provided from 

25 State, local, or private sources. 

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1 (c) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—The Secretary shall 

2 not award a grant under this Act to any eligible partner3 ship unless the Secretary first determines that the total 

4 expenditures by the State and its political subdivisions to 

5 support early childhood development programs (other than 

6 funds used to pay the non-Federal share under this sec7 tion) for the fiscal year for which the determination is 

8 made is equal to or greater than such expenditures for 

9 the preceding fiscal year. 

10 (d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds re11 ceived under this Act shall be used to supplement and not 

12 supplant other Federal, State, and local public funds ex13 pended to promote early childhood development programs 

14 and activities. 

15 (e) RESERVATION FOR ADMINISTRATION, TECH16 NICAL ASSISTANCE, AND EVALUATION.—The Secretary 

17 shall reserve not more than a total of 3 percent of the 

18 funds appropriated under section 11 for a fiscal year for 

19 the costs of administering this Act, providing technical as20 sistance under this Act, and evaluating activities assisted 

21 under this Act. 

22 SEC. 10. REPORT. 

23 Each eligible partnership receiving a grant under this 

24 Act shall submit a written report, on an annual basis, to 

25 the Secretary that describes— 

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1 (1) the progress made by the eligible partner2 ship with respect to the goals described in section 

3 7(1) and the activities assisted under the grant; and 

4 (2) how the activities assisted under the grant 

5 were aligned with and supported the State’s goals 

6 and benchmarks in early childhood education. 

7 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

9 this Act $8,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, 

10 $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, and such sums as 

11 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2010, 2011, 

12 and 2012. 

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