II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1247

To establish a grant program to promote emotional and social development

and school readiness.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 25, 2001

Mr. KENNEDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To establish a grant program to promote emotional and

social development and school readiness.

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 ‘‘Foundations for

5 Learning Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) It has been and continues to be the policy

9 of Congress that all children enter school ready to

10 learn.
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1 (2) Success in school is dependent on emotional

2 and social development, including—

3 (A) the development of curiosity, self-direc4 tion, and persistence in learning situations;

5 (B) the ability to cooperate, demonstrate

6 caring, and resolve conflict with peers; and

7 (C) the capacity to recognize and regulate

8 one’s own emotions and behaviors.

9 (3) Kindergarten teachers report that increas10 ing numbers of children are unprepared to cope with

11 the demands of school, not because they do not have

12 the academic tools, but because they lack the social

13 skills and emotional self-regulation necessary to suc14 ceed. In a recent survey, 46 percent of kindergarten

15 teachers reported that at least half of their class had

16 difficulty following direction, 34 percent reported

17 half of the class or more had difficulty working as

18 part of a group, and 20 percent said at least half

19 of the class had problems with social skills.

20 (4) The National Academy of Sciences has rec21 ommended that resources on par with those focused

22 on literacy and numerical skills should be devoted to

23 strategies promoting young children’s emotional,

24 regulatory, and social development. It concluded that

25 enhancement of social and emotional development
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1 are as important in early childhood as enhancement

2 of linguistic and cognitive competence.

3 (5) Few early childhood programs, including

4 those supported by the Federal Government such as

5 Head Start, have sufficient capacity adequately to

6 address the emotional and social developmental

7 needs of eligible children with prevention and early

8 intervention services.

9 (6) Extensive research has identified a number

10 of risk factors, including poverty, parental depres11 sion and substance abuse, abuse and neglect, home12 lessness, low birth weight and other medical prob13 lems, and others, the presence of which, particularly

14 when more than one is present, increase a child’s

15 likelihood of early school failure.

16 (7) Although a child’s development will vary

17 from individual to individual and depends on a mul18 titude of biological and environmental factors, early

19 interventions with eligible children and their families

20 can increase the probability of a more favorable de21 velopmental and academic trajectory.

22 (8) Research overwhelmingly demonstrates that

23 a child’s development is deeply influenced by the re24 lationships with parents, the behavior of parents,

25 and the environment in the home. Parents are the
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1 most influential adults in their children’s lives and

2 are responsible for promoting their children’s

3 healthy development. Therefore, any effective at4 tempt to improve young children’s social and emo5 tional development necessarily must involve the fam6 ilies of those children.

7 (9) Second only to the immediate family, child

8 care providers shape children’s emotional and social

9 development. Sixty-one percent of children under the

10 age of 4 are in regularly scheduled child-care by

11 someone other than a parent, including 44 percent

12 of infants under 1, 53 percent of 1-year-olds, and 57

13 percent of 2-year-olds.

14 (10) The Surgeon General’s Conference on

15 Children’s Mental Health has recommended the cre16 ation of tangible tools for early childhood service

17 providers to help them assess children’s social and

18 emotional needs and discuss those issues with fami19 lies and make referrals.

20 (11) A child’s healthy emotional and social de21 velopment must be assessed in the context of cul22 tural influences and consequently any efforts to pro23 mote development must be culturally competent.

24 (12) Early interventions for eligible children

25 have demonstrated later savings in public expendi-
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1 tures for special education, income support, and

2 criminal justice.

3 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

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

5 consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human

6 Services, is authorized to make grants to States to assist

7 eligible children to become ready for school.

8 (b) ALLOTMENTS.—If the amount appropriated

9 under section 9 and not reserved under subsection (c) for

10 a fiscal year exceeds $200,000,000, the Secretary shall—

11 (1) except as provided in paragraph (2), allo12 cate funds to the States based on the ratio of the

13 amount of funds received by a State under part A

14 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu15 cation Act of 1965 for the preceding fiscal year to

16 the amount of funds received by all the States under

17 such part for such fiscal year; and

18 (2) allocate not less than 0.40 percent for each

19 State.

20 (c) RESERVATIONS OF FUNDS.—Of the amount ap21 propriated under section 9 for a fiscal year, the Secretary

22 shall reserve—

23 (1) one-half of one percent for Indian tribes;

24 (2) one-half of one percent for Native Alaskan

25 regional corporations and Native Hawaiian entities;
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1 (3) one percent for the Commonwealth of Puer2 to Rico;

3 (4) not more than 3 percent for administrative

4 costs; and

5 (5) not more than 3 percent for technical as6 sistance, sharing of best practices, and evaluations

7 described under subsection (e).

8 (d) SPECIAL RULE.—If the amount appropriated

9 under this Act in a fiscal year is less than $200,000,000,

10 the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Health

11 and Human Services, is authorized to award grants to

12 local coordinating councils, consistent with priorities de13 scribed in section 7(b), on a competitive basis, of sufficient

14 size and for a period of sufficient duration to assist eligible

15 children to be ready for school.

16 (e) EVALUATION.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, on an

18 ongoing basis—

19 (A) evaluate promising strategies being im20 plemented in the States pursuant to this Act

21 and the success of those strategies in promoting

22 emotional and social development and school

23 readiness in eligible children, including, at the

24 Secretary’s discretion, by the performance of

25 long-term longitudinal studies; and
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1 (B) issue reports and provide technical as2 sistance based on the knowledge gained from

3 those evaluations.

4 (2) REVIEW EXPENDITURES.—Not less than

5 once every 3 years, the Secretary shall evaluate the

6 expenditure of grants made under this Act in order

7 to assess and report on the range of services being

8 provided, the success of States in meeting the per9 formance measures established pursuant to their

10 State plans, and make recommendations regarding

11 changes needed in program design or operations.

12 SEC. 4. STATE PLANS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive a grant under

14 section 3, a State shall submit a State plan to the Sec15 retary, at such time and in such form as the Secretary

16 may require, and shall include in the State plan—

17 (1) an assurance that the State shall provide,

18 either directly or through private contributions, non19 Federal matching funds equal to not less than 20

20 percent of the amount of the grant with such funds

21 contributed in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, in22 cluding contributions of facilities, staff time, or do23 nated equipment;

24 (2) specification of the sources of non-Federal

25 matching funds described in paragraph (1);
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1 (3) an assurance that funds received shall sup2 plement, not supplant, other public funds expended

3 to promote the emotional, social, and behavioral de4 velopment of young children;

5 (4) an assurance that the State and its political

6 subdivisions shall maintain a level of expending

7 funds that equals or exceeds the amount spent for

8 programs described in section 5(b) in the preceding

9 fiscal year;

10 (5) composition of the statewide coordinating

11 council (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘SCC’’);

12 (6) the name of the agency designated as the

13 lead agency;

14 (7) a description of the population the State in15 tends to serve, the manner in which the grant will

16 be expended to improve the emotional and social de17 velopment of children served, and measurable per18 formance goals consistent with the planned uses of

19 the grant;

20 (8) an assurance that activities conducted with

21 the grant will be undertaken in a culturally com22 petent and developmentally appropriate manner; and

23 (9) the manner in which services will be coordi24 nated with existing similar services provided by pub25 lic and nonprofit entities within the State.
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1 (b) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve an ap2 plication by a State under this Act unless the Secretary

3 determines that—

4 (1) the matching requirement of section 4(1) is

5 not met;

6 (2) the performance measures set forth in the

7 State plan are not satisfactory; or

8 (3) the State plan is otherwise inconsistent with

9 the purposes of this Act.

10 SEC. 5. USES OF FUNDS.

11 (a) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—A State that re12 ceives funds under this Act may use such funds in a man13 ner intended to benefit eligible children, for the following:

14 (1) SCREENING.—To use valid, reliable, and ap15 propriate measures, procedures, or methods to

16 screen children suspected of developmental delays or

17 being eligible for services under this Act to deter18 mine if a child has 2 or more characteristics de19 scribed in section 8(2) and, when appropriate, to de20 velop a comprehensive plan to address the emotional

21 and social development of eligible children.

22 (2) FAMILY SUPPORT INITIATIVES.—

23 (A) PARENTING EDUCATION.—To provide

24 individualized, intensive parenting skills train25 ing and support, including opportunities for
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1 family-to-family support, to parents of eligible

2 children.

3 (B) FAMILY SUPPORT.—To provide appro4 priate family support services designed to help

5 parents increase their capacity to foster their

6 children’s emotional, social, and behavioral de7 velopment.

8 (C) REGULAR AND INTENSIVE HOME VIS9 ITS.—To provide regular and intensive home

10 visits to families with eligible children, including

11 infants, or increase the capacity of existing

12 home visitation programs to provide interven13 tions or services that assist families in pro14 moting the emotional and social development of

15 young children.

16 (3) CONSULTATIONS AND SUPPORT TO PRO17 VIDERS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD SERVICES.—

18 (A) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—To

19 provide professional development to child care

20 workers, Early Head Start, Head Start, pre21 school, and kindergarten teachers and other

22 providers of early childhood services to help

23 them foster the healthy emotional, social, and

24 behavioral development of children in their care

25 or with whom they have regular contact.
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1 (B) PROGRAMMATIC CONSULTATION.—To

2 provide programmatic consultations to child

3 care providers, Early Head Start and Head

4 Start providers, preschools, and kindergartens

5 and other providers of early childhood services

6 to assist them in creating an environment and

7 interventions or supports most conducive to the

8 healthy emotional, social, and behavioral devel9 opment of young children in their care or with

10 whom they have regular contact.

11 (C) FAMILY CONSULTATIONS.—To provide

12 child- or family-centered consultations to child

13 care providers, Early Head Start and Head

14 Start providers, preschools, and kindergartens

15 and other providers of early childhood services

16 to help them address the emotional, social, and

17 behavioral developmental needs of eligible chil18 dren in their care or with whom they have reg19 ular contact.

20 (D) HIRING PRACTICES.—To assist child

21 care providers, Early Head Start and Head

22 Start providers, preschools, and kindergartens

23 and other providers of early childhood services

24 in hiring qualified mental health or behavioral

25 health specialists.
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1 (4) SERVICES TO ELIGIBLE CHILDREN AND

2 THEIR FAMILIES.—

3 (A) EARLY INTERVENTIONS.—To deliver

4 and coordinate a continuum of early interven5 tion services, crisis intervention services, screen6 ing and other appropriate, reliable, and valid

7 assessments, referrals, and other classroom and

8 home-based interventions that promote the emo9 tional and social development and school readi10 ness of eligible children by identifying and ad11 dressing the unique needs of the children and

12 their families.

13 (B) MENTAL HEALTH.—To provide mental

14 health services to eligible children and, when

15 necessary to promote the child’s healthy devel16 opment, their families, provided that such serv17 ices cannot be paid for by other sources.

18 (C) COORDINATION.—To coordinate and

19 facilitate access by eligible children and their

20 families to the services available through—

21 (i) part C or section 619 of part B of

22 the Individuals with Disabilities Education

23 Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.);
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1 (ii) the medicaid program under title

2 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

3 1396 et seq.);

4 (iii) State children’s health insurance

5 program under title XXI of the Social Se6 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.); and

7 (iv) other community resources, in8 cluding mental health, physical health, sub9 stance abuse, educational, domestic vio10 lence, child welfare, and social services.

11 (D) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION.—To facili12 tate participation in Head Start, Early Head

13 Start, or child care and preschool programs of14 fering substantially the same range of services

15 as Head Start or Early Head Start for eligible

16 children by removing ancillary barriers to ac17 cess such as transportation difficulties and the

18 absence of programs during nontraditional work

19 times.

20 (E) ANCILLARY SERVICES.—To provide

21 ancillary services such as transportation or

22 child care in order to facilitate the delivery of

23 any other services or activities authorized by

24 this Act.
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1 (5) DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY RE2 SOURCES.—

3 (A) CURRICULUMS.—To develop social and

4 emotional competencies curricula for use in

5 early childhood settings.

6 (B) PARTNERSHIPS.—To develop or en7 hance early childhood community partnerships

8 and build towards a community system of care

9 that brings together child-serving agencies and

10 or organizations to provide individualized sup11 ports for eligible children and their families.

12 (C) EVALUATION.—To evaluate the suc13 cess of strategies and services provided pursu14 ant to this Act in promoting young children’s

15 successful entry to school and maintain data

16 systems required for effective evaluations.

17 (6) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—To pay for costs

18 of administering the activities authorized by this

19 Act, provided such expenditures shall not exceed 4

20 percent of the grant received by a local coordinating

21 council.

22 (b) LIMITATION.—A State may use funds under this

23 Act to pay only for services that—

24 (1) the State is currently not providing under—
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1 (A) the medicaid program under title XIX

2 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et

3 seq.);

4 (B) the State children’s health insurance

5 program under title XXI of the Social Security

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.);

7 (C) early intervention services under part

8 C or section 619 of part B of the Individuals

9 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.

10 1431 et seq.); and

11 (D) State and local mental health pro12 grams; and

13 (2) cannot be paid for by other Federal, State,

14 or local sources, excluding Head Start or Early

15 Head Start, or by private insurance.

16 (c) PROVISION OF SERVICES.—All services provided

17 pursuant to this Act—

18 (1) shall be provided in the most culturally

19 competent manner practicable;

20 (2) if a charge is imposed for such services,

21 shall be based on a sliding scale based on ability to

22 pay and shall not be imposed on any child of a fam23 ily whose income is below 200 percent of the poverty

24 line (as such term is defined in section 673(2) of the
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1 Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C.

2 9902(2)));

3 (3) shall be provided by or under the super4 vision of qualified professionals with expertise in

5 early childhood development; and

6 (4) shall be intended to benefit eligible children.

7 SEC. 6. STATE ADMINISTRATION.

8 (a) LEAD AGENCY.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief executive officer of

10 the State shall name a lead agency to administer a

11 program established pursuant to this Act.

12 (2) DUTIES.—The lead agency shall—

13 (A) in consultation with the SCC, establish

14 performance goals consistent with the purposes

15 described in its State plan;

16 (B) if administering a statewide program,

17 adhere to the priorities described in section 5;

18 (C) monitor and evaluate the success of ac19 tivities funded under this Act in meeting its

20 performance goals and the long-term impact of

21 such activities on success in school of eligible

22 children;

23 (D) submit an annual report to the Sec24 retary regarding the State’s progress in meeting

25 the performance goals, a description of any bar-
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1 riers encountered in serving eligible children,

2 and other pertinent results of its monitoring

3 and evaluation; and

4 (E) provide subgrants in accordance with

5 section 7 if not administering a statewide pro6 gram.

7 (3) FUNDS.—In any fiscal year the lead

8 agency—

9 (A) shall reserve 2 percent of allotted

10 funds under this Act for evaluation and tech11 nical assistance; and

12 (B) may use not more than 4 percent of

13 allotted funds under this Act for administrative

14 costs.

15 (b) SCC.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief executive officer of

17 a State shall appoint individuals to serve on a SCC.

18 (2) REPRESENTATIVES.—Individuals who serve

19 on a SCC shall include representation from parents,

20 early childhood providers, early childhood mental

21 health providers, the State educational agency, the

22 State mental health agency, State child care agency

23 (including child care resource and referral staff), the

24 State Head Start association, the State agency re25 sponsible for administering part C of the Individuals
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1 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et

2 seq.), the State preschool agency, the State child

3 welfare agency and any other individual or group the

4 chief executive officer considers appropriate.

5 (3) EXISTING COUNCIL.—If a comparable coun6 cil or entity exists, the chief executive officer may

7 designate such council or entity to serve as the SCC.

8 (4) ROLE OF SCC.—The SCC shall establish

9 guidelines for State administration of the program,

10 prepare a State plan in accordance with section 4,

11 and advise the lead agency.

12 SEC. 7. LOCAL ADMINISTRATION.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the lead agency and SCC deter14 mine that the program should be administered at a local

15 level, the lead agency shall accept applications from local

16 coordinating councils.

17 (b) PRIORITY.—The lead agency shall give priority

18 to applications from local coordinating councils that—

19 (1) demonstrate broad collaboration among rel20 evant local agencies and organizations and others in

21 the development of the application and in the

22 planned implementation;

23 (2) involve parents in planning and administra24 tion;
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1 (3) propose projects targeted to eligible children

2 for whom multiple risk factors apply and who are

3 most in need of services to promote emotional and

4 social development;

5 (4) can be replicated;

6 (5) demonstrate cultural competency;

7 (6) integrate planning and services with exist8 ing early childhood and school readiness programs;

9 (7) provide access to a full spectrum of early

10 intervention services and mental health treatments

11 for children and their families; and

12 (8) demonstrate sufficient professional capacity

13 in the community to implement successfully planned

14 activities.

15 (c) SUFFICIENT SIZE.—A subgrant made available

16 under this section shall be of sufficient size, scope, and

17 quality to enable a local coordinating council to carry out

18 the purposes of this Act effectively.

19 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

20 In this Act:

21 (1) The term ‘‘young children’’ means children

22 from zero to age 6.

23 (2) The term ‘‘eligible children’’ means young

24 children to whom 2 or more of the following charac25 teristics apply:
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1 (A) Low birth weight.

2 (B) Cognitive deficit or developmental dis3 ability.

4 (C) Parental substance abuse.

5 (D) Custodial parent with less than sec6 ondary school diploma.

7 (E) Parental depression or other mental

8 illness.

9 (F) Abuse, maltreatment, or neglect.

10 (G) Family income below 200 percent of

11 the Federal poverty line (as such term is de12 fined in section 673(2) of the Community Serv13 ices Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))).

14 (H) Early behavioral and peer relationship

15 problems.

16 (I) Exposure to violence.

17 (J) Homelessness.

18 (K) Removed from child care, Head Start,

19 or preschool for behavioral reasons or at risk of

20 being so removed.

21 (3) The term ‘‘local coordinating council’’

22 means a group composed of some combination of

23 parents, early childhood providers, early childhood

24 mental health providers, community mental health

25 centers, local schools, and local agencies involved in
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1 early childhood emotional, social, and behavioral de2 velopment and school readiness including local coun3 cils established under the Early Learning Opportuni4 ties Act of 2000, or other existing local councils fo5 cusing on children and families.

6 (4) The term ‘‘provider of early childhood serv7 ices’’ means a public or private entity that has reg8 ular contact with young children, including child

9 welfare agencies, child care providers, Head Start

10 and Early Head Start providers, preschools, kinder11 gartens, mental health professionals, family courts,

12 homeless shelters, libraries, and primary care pro13 viders.

14 (5) The term ‘‘parent’’ means the biological or

15 adoptive parent, foster parent, grandparent, or other

16 family member or legal guardian having physical

17 custody of the child.

18 (6) The term ‘‘family member of a child’’

19 means a person related to the child by blood, mar20 riage, or adoption who shares a primary residence

21 with the child or shares custody of the child.

22 (7) The term ‘‘early intervention services’’

23 means services that—

24 (A) are provided to—
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1 (i) eligible children who have not been

2 diagnosed with a mental health disorder;

3 or

4 (ii) if necessary to promote such chil5 dren’s emotional and social development,

6 their families;

7 (B) promote healthy emotional and social

8 development by remedying or permitting chil9 dren to overcome risk factors or develop protec10 tive factors against such risks; and

11 (C) connect children and their families to

12 other community resources and services as ap13 propriate.

14 (8) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

15 of Education.

16 (9) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50

17 States and the District of Columbia.

18 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

20 this Act $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, $300,000,000

21 for fiscal year 2003, and such sums as may be necessary

22 thereafter.

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