PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1363 

Public Law 110–134 

110th Congress 

An Act 

To reauthorize the Head Start Act, to improve program quality, to expand access, 

and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving 

Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007’’. 

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this Act 

is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Statement of purpose. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Financial assistance for Head Start programs. 

Sec. 5. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 6. Allotment of funds; limitations on assistance. 

Sec. 7. Designation of Head Start agencies. 

Sec. 8. Standards; monitoring of Head Start agencies and programs. 

Sec. 9. Powers and functions of Head Start agencies. 

Sec. 10. Head start transition and alignment with K–12 education. 

Sec. 11. Early childhood education, coordination, and improvement. 

Sec. 12. Submission of plans. 

Sec. 13. Administrative requirements and standards. 

Sec. 14. Participation in Head Start programs. 

Sec. 15. Early Head Start programs. 

Sec. 16. Appeals, notice, and hearing. 

Sec. 17. Records and audits. 

Sec. 18. Technical assistance and training. 

Sec. 19. Staff qualifications and development. 

Sec. 20. Research, demonstrations, and evaluation. 

Sec. 21. Reports. 

Sec. 22. Comparability of wages. 

Sec. 23. Limitation with respect to certain unlawful activities. 

Sec. 24. Political activities. 

Sec. 25. Parental consent requirement for health services. 

Sec. 26. Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood. 

Sec. 27. General provisions. 

Sec. 28. Compliance with Improper Payments Information Act of 2002. 

Sec. 29. References in other Acts. 

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

Section 636 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831) is amended 

to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 636. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

‘‘It is the purpose of this subchapter to promote the school 

readiness of low-income children by enhancing their cognitive, 

social, and emotional development— 

‘‘(1) in a learning environment that supports children’s 

growth in language, literacy, mathematics, science, social and 

Improving Head 

Start for School 

Readiness Act 

of 2007. 

42 USC 9801 

note. 

Dec. 12, 2007 

[H.R. 1429] 


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121 STAT. 1364 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

emotional functioning, creative arts, physical skills, and 

approaches to learning; and 

‘‘(2) through the provision to low-income children and their 

families of health, educational, nutritional, social, and other 

services that are determined, based on family needs assessments, to be necessary.’’. 

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

9832) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(including a communitybased organization, as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary 

and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801))’’ after 

‘‘nonprofit’’; 

(2) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting ‘‘, and financial literacy.’’ after ‘‘self-sufficiency’’; 

(3) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘migrant and seasonal 

Head Start program’’ and inserting ‘‘migrant or seasonal Head 

Start program’’; 

(4) by striking paragraph (17) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(17) The term ‘State’ means a State, the Commonwealth 

of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, American 

Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The term 

includes the Republic of Palau for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, 

and (if the legislation described in section 640(a)(2)(B)(v) has 

not been enacted by September 30, 2009) for fiscal years 2010 

through 2012.’’; and 

(5) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(18) The term ‘deficiency’ means— 

‘‘(A) a systemic or substantial material failure of an 

agency in an area of performance that the Secretary determines involves— 

‘‘(i) a threat to the health, safety, or civil rights 

of children or staff; 

‘‘(ii) a denial to parents of the exercise of their 

full roles and responsibilities related to program operations; 

‘‘(iii) a failure to comply with standards related 

to early childhood development and health services, 

family and community partnerships, or program design 

and management; 

‘‘(iv) the misuse of funds received under this subchapter; 

‘‘(v) loss of legal status (as determined by the Secretary) or financial viability, loss of permits, debarment 

from receiving Federal grants or contracts, or the 

improper use of Federal funds; or 

‘‘(vi) failure to meet any other Federal or State 

requirement that the agency has shown an unwillingness or inability to correct, after notice from the Secretary, within the period specified; 

‘‘(B) systemic or material failure of the governing body 

of an agency to fully exercise its legal and fiduciary responsibilities; or 

‘‘(C) an unresolved area of noncompliance. 


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‘‘(19) The term ‘homeless children’ has the meaning given 

the term ‘homeless children and youths’ in section 725(2) of 

the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

11434a(2)). 

‘‘(20) The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

‘‘(21) The term ‘interrater reliability’ means the extent 

to which 2 or more independent raters or observers consistently 

obtain the same result when using the same assessment tool. 

‘‘(22) The term ‘limited English proficient’, used with 

respect to a child, means a child— 

‘‘(A)(i) who was not born in the United States or whose 

native language is a language other than English; 

‘‘(ii)(I) who is a Native American (as defined in section 

9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), an Alaska Native, or a native 

resident of an outlying area (as defined in such section 

9101); and 

‘‘(II) who comes from an environment where a language 

other than English has had a significant impact on the 

child’s level of English language proficiency; or 

‘‘(iii) who is migratory, whose native language is a 

language other than English, and who comes from an 

environment where a language other than English is dominant; and 

‘‘(B) whose difficulties in speaking or understanding 

the English language may be sufficient to deny such child— 

‘‘(i) the ability to successfully achieve in a classroom in which the language of instruction is English; 

or 

‘‘(ii) the opportunity to participate fully in society. 

‘‘(23) The term ‘principles of scientific research’ means principles of research that— 

‘‘(A) applies rigorous, systematic, and objective methodology to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to 

education activities and programs; 

‘‘(B) presents findings and makes claims that are 

appropriate to and supported by methods that have been 

employed; and 

‘‘(C) includes, as appropriate to the research being 

conducted— 

‘‘(i) use of systematic, empirical methods that draw 

on observation or experiment; 

‘‘(ii) use of data analyses that are adequate to 

support the general findings; 

‘‘(iii) reliance on measurements or observational 

methods that provide reliable and generalizable 

findings; 

‘‘(iv) strong claims of causal relationships, only 

with research designs that eliminate plausible competing explanations for observed results, such as, but 

not limited to, random assignment experiments; 

‘‘(v) presentation of studies and methods in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at 

a minimum, to offer the opportunity to build systematically on the findings of the research; 


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‘‘(vi) acceptance by a peer-reviewed journal or critique by a panel of independent experts through a 

comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review; 

and 

‘‘(vii) consistency of findings across multiple 

studies or sites to support the generality of results 

and conclusions. 

‘‘(24) The term ‘professional development’ means highquality activities that will improve the knowledge and skills 

of Head Start teachers and staff, as relevant to their roles 

and functions, in program administration and the provision 

of services and instruction, as appropriate, in a manner that 

improves service delivery to enrolled children and their families, 

including activities that— 

‘‘(A) are part of a sustained effort to improve overall 

program quality and outcomes for enrolled children and 

their families; 

‘‘(B) are developed or selected with extensive participation of administrators and teachers from Head Start programs; 

‘‘(C) are developmentally appropriate for the children 

being served; 

‘‘(D) include instruction in ways that Head Start 

teachers and staff may work more effectively with parents, 

as appropriate; 

‘‘(E) are designed to give Head Start teachers and 

staff the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and 

appropriate support services to children of diverse backgrounds, as appropriate; 

‘‘(F) may include a 1-day or short-term workshop or 

conference, if the workshop or conference is consistent with 

the goals in the professional development plan described 

in section 648A(f) and will be delivered by an institution 

of higher education or other entity, with expertise in delivering training in early childhood development, training 

in family support, and other assistance designed to improve 

the delivery of Head Start services; and 

‘‘(G) in the case of teachers, assist teachers with— 

‘‘(i) the acquisition of the content knowledge and 

teaching strategies needed to provide effective instruction and other school readiness services regarding early 

language and literacy, early mathematics, early 

science, cognitive skills, approaches to learning, creative arts, physical health and development, and social 

and emotional development linked to school readiness; 

‘‘(ii) meeting the requirements in paragraphs (1) 

and (2) of section 648A(a), as appropriate; 

‘‘(iii) improving classroom management skills, as 

appropriate; 

‘‘(iv) advancing their understanding of effective 

instructional strategies that are— 

‘‘(I) based on scientifically valid research; and 

‘‘(II) aligned with— 

‘‘(aa) the Head Start Child Outcomes 

Framework developed by the Secretary and, 

as appropriate, State early learning standards; 

and 


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‘‘(bb) curricula, ongoing assessments, and 

other instruction and services, designed to 

help meet the standards described in section 

641A(a)(1); 

‘‘(v) acquiring the knowledge and skills to provide 

instruction and appropriate language and support services to increase the English language skills of limited 

English proficient children, as appropriate; or 

‘‘(vi) methods of teaching children with disabilities, 

as appropriate. 

‘‘(25) The term ‘scientifically valid research’ includes 

applied research, basic research, and field-initiated research 

in which the rationale, design, and interpretation are soundly 

developed in accordance with principles of scientific research. 

‘‘(26) The term ‘unresolved area of noncompliance’ means 

failure to correct a noncompliance item within 120 days, or 

within such additional time (if any) as is authorized by the 

Secretary, after receiving from the Secretary notice of such 

noncompliance item, pursuant to section 641A(c).’’. 

(b) REDESIGNATION AND REORDERING OF DEFINITIONS.—Section 

637 of such Act is amended— 

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (23) as paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (12), (16), (17), 

(18), (19), (22), (24), (25), (2), (11), (13), (14), (15), (20), (21), 

(23), and (26), respectively; and 

(2) so that paragraphs (1) through (26), as so redesignated 

in paragraph (1), appear in numerical order. 

SEC. 4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

Section 638 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9833) is amended 

by inserting ‘‘for a period of 5 years’’ after ‘‘provide financial assistance to such agency’’. 

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

Section 639 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9834) is amended 

to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 

subchapter (other than section 657B) $7,350,000,000 for fiscal year 

2008, $7,650,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, $7,995,000,000 for fiscal 

year 2010, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

years 2011 and 2012.’’. 

SEC. 6. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS; LIMITATIONS ON ASSISTANCE. 

(a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—Section 640(a) of the Head Start 

Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(a)(1) Using the sums appropriated pursuant to section 639 

for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate such sums in accordance with paragraphs (2) through (5). 

‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall determine an amount for each fiscal 

year for each State that is equal to the amount received through 

base grants for the prior fiscal year by the Head Start agencies 

(including Early Head Start agencies) in the State that are not 

described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (B). 

‘‘(B) The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year such sums 

as are necessary— 


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‘‘(i) to provide each amount determined for a State under 

subparagraph (A) to the Head Start agencies (including Early 

Head Start agencies) in the State that are not described in 

clause (ii) or (iii), by allotting to each agency described in 

this clause an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for 

the prior fiscal year; 

‘‘(ii) to provide an amount for the Indian Head Start programs that is equal to the amount provided for base grants 

for such programs under this subchapter for the prior fiscal 

year, by allotting to each Head Start agency (including each 

Early Head Start agency) administering an Indian Head Start 

program an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the 

prior fiscal year; 

‘‘(iii) to provide an amount for the migrant and seasonal 

Head Start programs, on a nationwide basis, that is equal 

to the amount provided nationwide for base grants for such 

programs under this subchapter for the prior fiscal year, by 

allotting to each Head Start agency administering a migrant 

or seasonal Head Start program an amount equal to that 

agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal year; 

‘‘(iv) to provide an amount for each of Guam, American 

Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

and the Virgin Islands of the United States (for Head Start 

agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) in the jurisdiction) that is equal to the amount provided for base grants 

for such jurisdiction under this subchapter for the prior fiscal 

year, by allotting to each agency described in this clause an 

amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal 

year; 

‘‘(v) to provide an amount for the Republic of Palau (for 

Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) in 

the jurisdiction) for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009, and 

(if legislation approving a new agreement regarding United 

States assistance for the Republic of Palau has not been enacted 

by September 30, 2009) for each of fiscal years 2010 through 

2012, that is equal to the amount provided for base grants 

for such jurisdiction under this subchapter for the prior fiscal 

year, by allotting to each agency described in this clause an 

amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal 

year; and 

‘‘(vi) to provide an amount for a collaboration grant under 

section 642B(a) for each State, for the Indian Head Start programs, and for the migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, 

in the same amount as the corresponding collaboration grant 

provided under this subchapter for fiscal year 2007. 

‘‘(C)(i) The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year an 

amount that is not less than 2.5 percent and not more than 3 

percent of the sums appropriated pursuant to section 639 for that 

fiscal year, to fund training and technical assistance activities, 

from which reserved amount— 

‘‘(I) the Secretary shall set aside a portion, but not less 

than 20 percent, to be used to fund training and technical 

assistance activities for Early Head Start programs, in accordance with section 645A(g)(2); and 

‘‘(II) the Secretary shall set aside a portion, equal to the 

rest of the reserved amount, to fund training and technical 


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assistance activities for other Head Start programs, in accordance with section 648, of which portion— 

‘‘(aa) not less than 50 percent shall be made available 

to Head Start agencies to use directly, which may include 

at their discretion the establishment of local or regional 

agreements with community experts, institutions of higher 

education, or private consultants, to make program 

improvements identified by such agencies, by carrying out 

the training and technical assistance activities described 

in section 648(d); 

‘‘(bb) not less than 25 percent shall be available to 

the Secretary to support a State-based training and technical assistance system, or a national system, described 

in section 648(e) for supporting program quality; and 

‘‘(cc) the remainder of the portion set aside under this 

subclause shall be available to the Secretary to assist Head 

Start agencies in meeting and exceeding the standards 

described in section 641A(a)(1) by carrying out activities 

described in subsections (a), (b), (c), (f), and (g) of section 

648, including helping Head Start programs address weaknesses identified by monitoring activities conducted by the 

Secretary under section 641A(c), except that not less than 

$3,000,000 of the remainder shall be made available to 

carry out activities described in section 648(a)(3)(B)(ii). 

‘‘(ii) In determining the portion set aside under clause (i)(I) 

and the amount reserved under this subparagraph, the Secretary 

shall consider the number of Early Head Start programs newly 

funded for that fiscal year. 

‘‘(D) The Secretary shall reserve not more than $20,000,000 

to fund research, demonstration, and evaluation activities under 

section 649, of which not more than $7,000,000 for each of fiscal 

years 2008 through 2012 shall be available to carry out impact 

studies under section 649(g). 

‘‘(E) The Secretary shall reserve not more than $42,000,000 

for discretionary payments by the Secretary, including payments 

for all costs (other than compensation of Federal employees) for 

activities carried out under subsection (c) or (e) of section 641A. 

‘‘(F) If the sums appropriated under section 639 are not sufficient to provide the amounts required to be reserved under subparagraphs (B) through (E), the amounts shall be reduced proportionately. 

‘‘(G) Nothing in this section shall be construed to deny the 

Secretary the authority, consistent with sections 641, 641A, and 

646 to terminate, suspend, or reduce funding to a Head Start 

agency. 

‘‘(3)(A) From any amount remaining for a fiscal year after 

the Secretary carries out paragraph (2) (referred to in this paragraph as the ‘remaining amount’), the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(i) subject to clause (ii)— 

‘‘(I) provide a cost of living increase for each Head 

Start agency (including each Early Head Start agency) 

funded under this subchapter for that fiscal year, to maintain the level of services provided during the prior year; 

and 

‘‘(II) subject to subparagraph (B), provide $10,000,000 

for Indian Head Start programs (including Early Head 

Start programs), and $10,000,000 for migrant and seasonal 


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Head Start programs, to increase enrollment in the programs involved; 

‘‘(ii) subject to clause (iii), if the remaining amount is 

not sufficient to carry out clause (i)— 

‘‘(I) for each of fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010— 

‘‘(aa) subject to subparagraph (B), provide 5 percent of that amount for Indian Head Start programs 

(including Early Head Start programs), and 5 percent 

of that amount for migrant and seasonal Head Start 

programs, to increase enrollment in the programs 

involved; and 

‘‘(bb) use 90 percent of that amount to provide, 

for each Head Start agency (including each Early Head 

Start agency) funded as described in clause (i)(I), the 

same percentage (but not less than 50 percent) of the 

cost of living increase described in clause (i); and 

‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2011 and each subsequent fiscal 

year— 

‘‘(aa) provide, for each Head Start agency 

(including each Early Head Start agency) funded as 

described in clause (i)(I), the cost of living increase 

described in clause (i); and 

‘‘(bb) subject to subparagraph (B), with any portion 

of the remaining amount that is not used under item 

(aa), provide equal amounts for Indian Head Start 

programs (including Early Head Start programs), and 

for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, to 

increase enrollment in the programs involved; and 

‘‘(iii) if the remaining amount is not sufficient to carry 

out clause (ii) for the fiscal year involved, use that amount 

to provide, for each Head Start agency (including each Early 

Head Start agency) funded as described in clause (i)(I), the 

same percentage of the cost of living increase described in 

clause (i). 

‘‘(B)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, 

the Indian Head Start programs shall not receive more than a 

total cumulative amount of $50,000,000 for all fiscal years, and 

the migrant and seasonal Head Start programs shall not receive 

more than a total cumulative amount of $50,000,000 for all fiscal 

years, under clause (i)(II), and subclauses (I)(aa) and (II)(bb) of 

clause (ii), of subparagraph (A) (referred to in this subsection as 

the ‘special expansion provisions’), to increase enrollment in the 

programs involved. 

‘‘(ii)(I) Funds that are appropriated under section 639 for a 

fiscal year, and made available to Indian Head Start programs 

or migrant or seasonal Head Start programs under the special 

expansion provisions, shall remain available until the end of the 

following fiscal year. 

‘‘(II) For purposes of subclause (I)— 

‘‘(aa) if no portion is reallocated under clause (iii), those 

funds shall remain available to the programs involved; or 

‘‘(bb) if a portion is reallocated under clause (iii), the portion 

shall remain available to the recipients of the portion. 

‘‘(iii) Of the funds made available as described in clause (ii), 

the Secretary shall reallocate the portion that the Secretary determines is unobligated 18 months after the funds are made available. 

The Secretary shall add that portion to the balance described in 


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paragraph (4), and reallocate the portion in accordance with paragraph (4), for the following fiscal year referred to in clause (ii). 

‘‘(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), from any 

amount remaining for a fiscal year after the Secretary carries 

out paragraphs (2) and (3) (referred to in this paragraph as the 

‘balance’), the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(i) reserve 40 percent to carry out subparagraph (C) and 

paragraph (5); 

‘‘(ii) reserve 45 percent to carry out subparagraph (D); 

and 

‘‘(iii) reserve 15 percent (which shall remain available 

through the end of fiscal year 2012) to provide funds for carrying out section 642B(b)(2). 

‘‘(B)(i) Under the circumstances described in clause (ii), from 

the balance, the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(I) reserve 45 percent to carry out subparagraph (C) and 

paragraph (5); and 

‘‘(II) reserve 55 percent to carry out subparagraph (D). 

‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall make the reservations described in 

clause (i) for a fiscal year if— 

‘‘(I) the total cumulative amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(iii) for all preceding fiscal years equals $100,000,000; 

or 

‘‘(II) in the 2-year period preceding such fiscal year, funds 

were reserved under subparagraph (A)(iii) in an amount that 

totals not less than $15,000,000 and the Secretary received 

no approvable applications for such funds. 

‘‘(iii) The total cumulative amount reserved under subparagraph 

(A)(iii) for all fiscal years may not be greater than $100,000,000. 

‘‘(C) The Secretary shall fund the quality improvement activities 

described in paragraph (5) using the amount reserved under 

subparagraph (A)(i) or subparagraph (B)(i)(I), as appropriate, of 

which— 

‘‘(i) a portion that is less than 10 percent may be reserved 

by the Secretary to provide funding to Head Start agencies 

(including Early Head Start agencies) that demonstrate the 

greatest need for additional funding for such activities, as determined by the Secretary; and 

‘‘(ii) a portion that is not less than 90 percent shall be 

reserved by the Secretary to allot, to each Head Start agency 

(including each Early Head Start agency), an amount that 

bears the same ratio to such portion as the number of enrolled 

children served by the agency involved bears to the number 

of enrolled children served by all the Head Start agencies 

(including Early Head Start agencies), except that the Secretary 

shall account for the additional costs of serving children in 

Early Head Start programs and may consider whether an 

agency is providing a full-day program or whether an agency 

is providing a full-year program. 

‘‘(D) The Secretary shall fund expansion of Head Start programs 

(including Early Head Start programs) using the amount reserved 

under subparagraph (A)(ii) or subparagraph (B)(i)(II), as appropriate, of which the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(i) use 0.2 percent for Head Start programs funded under 

clause (iv) or (v) of paragraph (2)(B) (other than Early Head 

Start programs); 


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‘‘(ii) for any fiscal year after the last fiscal year for which 

Indian Head Start programs receive funds under the special 

expansion provisions, use 3 percent for Head Start programs 

funded under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) (other than Early Head Start 

programs), except that the Secretary may increase that percentage if the Secretary determines that the results of the study 

conducted under section 649(k) indicate that the percentage 

should be increased; 

‘‘(iii) for any fiscal year after the last fiscal year for which 

migrant or seasonal Head Start programs receive funds under 

the special expansion provisions, use 4.5 percent for Head Start 

programs funded under paragraph (2)(B)(iii) (other than Early 

Head Start programs), except that the Secretary may increase 

that percentage if the Secretary determines that the results 

of the study conducted under section 649(l) indicate that the 

percentage should be increased; and 

‘‘(iv) from the remainder of the reserved amount— 

‘‘(I) use 50 percent for Head Start programs funded 

under paragraph (2)(B)(i) (other than Early Head Start 

programs), of which— 

‘‘(aa) the covered percentage shall be allocated 

among the States serving less than 60 percent (as 

determined by the Secretary) of children who are 3 

or 4 years of age from families whose income is below 

the poverty line, by allocating to each of those States 

an amount that bears the same relationship to that 

covered percentage as the number of children who 

are less than 5 years of age from families whose income 

is below the poverty line (referred to in this subclause 

as ‘young low-income children’) in that State bears 

to the number of young low-income children in all 

those States; and 

‘‘(bb) the remainder shall be allocated proportionately among the States on the basis of the number 

of young low-income children; and 

‘‘(II) use 50 percent for Early Head Start programs. 

‘‘(E) In this paragraph, the term ‘covered percentage’ means— 

‘‘(i) for fiscal year 2008, 30 percent; 

‘‘(ii) for fiscal year 2009, 40 percent; 

‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 2010, 50 percent; 

‘‘(iv) for fiscal year 2011, 55 percent; and 

‘‘(v) for fiscal year 2012, 55 percent. 

‘‘(5)(A) Not less than 50 percent of the amount reserved under 

subparagraph (A)(i) or subparagraph (B)(i)(I), as appropriate, of 

paragraph (4) to carry out quality improvement activities under 

paragraph (4)(C) and this paragraph shall be used to improve 

the compensation (including benefits) of educational personnel, 

family service workers, and child counselors, as described in sections 

644(a) and 653, in the manner determined by the Head Start 

agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) involved, to— 

‘‘(i) ensure that compensation is adequate to attract and 

retain qualified staff for the programs involved in order to 

enhance program quality; 

‘‘(ii) improve staff qualifications and assist with the 

implementation of career development programs for staff that 

support ongoing improvement of their skills and expertise; and 


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‘‘(iii) provide education and professional development to 

enable teachers to be fully competent to meet the professional 

standards established under section 648A(a)(1), including— 

‘‘(I) providing assistance to complete postsecondary 

course work; 

‘‘(II) improving the qualifications and skills of educational personnel to become certified and licensed as bilingual education teachers, or as teachers of English as a 

second language; and 

‘‘(III) improving the qualifications and skills of educational personnel to teach and provide services to children 

with disabilities. 

‘‘(B) Any remaining funds from the reserved amount described 

in subparagraph (A) shall be used to carry out any of the following 

activities: 

‘‘(i) Supporting staff training, child counseling, and other 

services, necessary to address the challenges of children from 

immigrant, refugee, and asylee families, homeless children, children in foster care, limited English proficient children, children 

of migrant or seasonal farmworker families, children from families in crisis, children referred to Head Start programs 

(including Early Head Start programs) by child welfare agencies, and children who are exposed to chronic violence or substance abuse. 

‘‘(ii) Ensuring that the physical environments of Head Start 

programs are conducive to providing effective program services 

to children and families, and are accessible to children with 

disabilities and other individuals with disabilities. 

‘‘(iii) Employing additional qualified classroom staff to 

reduce the child-to-teacher ratio in the classroom and additional 

qualified family service workers to reduce the family-to-staff 

ratio for those workers. 

‘‘(iv) Ensuring that Head Start programs have qualified 

staff that promote the language skills and literacy growth of 

children and that provide children with a variety of skills 

that have been identified, through scientifically based reading 

research, as predictive of later reading achievement. 

‘‘(v) Increasing hours of program operation, including— 

‘‘(I) conversion of part-day programs to full-workingday programs; and 

‘‘(II) increasing the number of weeks of operation in 

a calendar year. 

‘‘(vi) Improving communitywide strategic planning and 

needs assessments for Head Start programs and collaboration 

efforts for such programs, including outreach to children 

described in clause (i). 

‘‘(vii) Transporting children in Head Start programs safely, 

except that not more than 10 percent of funds made available 

to carry out this paragraph may be used for such purposes. 

‘‘(viii) Improving the compensation and benefits of staff 

of Head Start agencies, in order to improve the quality of 

Head Start programs. 

‘‘(6) No sums appropriated under this subchapter may be combined with funds appropriated under any provision other than 

this subchapter if the purpose of combining funds is to make a 

single discretionary grant or a single discretionary payment, unless 


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121 STAT. 1374 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

such sums appropriated under this subchapter are separately identified in such grant or payment and are used for the purposes 

of this subchapter. 

‘‘(7) In this subsection: 

‘‘(A) The term ‘base grant’, used with respect to a fiscal 

year, means the amount of permanent ongoing funding (other 

than funding described in sections 645A(g)(2)(A)(i) and paragraph (2)(C)(i)(II)(aa)) provided to a Head Start agency 

(including an Early Head Start agency) under this subchapter 

for that fiscal year. 

‘‘(B) The term ‘cost-of-living increase’, used with respect 

to an agency for a fiscal year, means an increase in the funding 

for that agency, based on the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (issued by the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics) for the prior fiscal year, calculated 

on the amount of the base grant for that agency for the prior 

fiscal year. 

‘‘(C) For the purposes of this subsection, the term ‘State’ 

does not include Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands 

of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic 

of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.’’. 

(b) MINIMUM ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH

DISABILITIES.—Section 640(d) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

9835(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall establish policies and procedures 

to assure that, for fiscal year 2009 and thereafter, not less than 

10 percent of the total number of children actually enrolled by 

each Head Start agency and each delegate agency will be children 

with disabilities who are determined to be eligible for special education and related services, or early intervention services, as appropriate, as determined under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), by the State or local agency 

providing services under section 619 or part C of the Individuals 

with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.). 

‘‘(2) Such policies and procedures shall ensure the provision 

of early intervening services, such as educational and behavioral 

services and supports, to meet the needs of children with disabilities, prior to an eligibility determination under the Individuals 

with Disabilities Education Act. 

‘‘(3) Such policies and procedures shall require Head Start 

agencies to provide timely referral to and collaborate with the 

State or local agency providing services under section 619 or part 

C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to ensure 

the provision of special education and related services and early 

intervention services, and the coordination of programmatic efforts, 

to meet the special needs of such children. 

‘‘(4) The Secretary shall establish policies and procedures to 

provide Head Start agencies with waivers of the requirements of 

paragraph (1) for not more than 3 years. Such policies and procedures shall require Head Start agencies, in order to receive such 

waivers, to provide evidence demonstrating that the Head Start 

agencies are making reasonable efforts on an annual basis to comply 

with the requirements of that paragraph. 

‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit 

or create a right to a free appropriate public education under 

the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.’’. 

Waiver authority. 

Procedures. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1375 

(c) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.—Section 640(f) of the Head 

Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(f)) is amended— 

(1) by striking ‘‘(f) The’’ and inserting ‘‘(f)(1) Not later 

than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Improving 

Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, the’’; 

(2) by striking ‘‘needs.’’ and inserting ‘‘needs, including 

models that leverage the capacity and capabilities of the 

delivery system of early childhood education and development 

services or programs.’’; and 

(3) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(2) In establishing the procedures the Secretary shall establish 

procedures to provide for— 

‘‘(A) the conversion of part-day programs to full-workingday programs or part-day slots to full-working-day slots; and 

‘‘(B) serving additional infants and toddlers pursuant to 

section 645(a)(5).’’. 

(d) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—Section 640(g) of the Head Start Act 

(42 U.S.C. 9835(g)) is amended— 

(1) by striking paragraphs (1), (3), and (4); 

(2) in paragraph (2)— 

(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 

striking ‘‘, in allocating funds to an applicant within a 

State, from amounts allotted to a State pursuant to subsection (a)(4),’’; 

(B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘performance 

standards’’ and inserting ‘‘standards described in section 

641A(a)(1)’’; 

(C) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the 

following: 

‘‘(C) the extent to which the applicant has undertaken 

a communitywide strategic planning and needs assessment 

involving other entities, including community organizations, 

and Federal, State, and local public agencies (including the 

local educational agency liaison designated under section 

722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 

(42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii))), that provide services to children 

and families, such as— 

‘‘(i) family support services; 

‘‘(ii) child abuse prevention services; 

‘‘(iii) protective services; 

‘‘(iv) foster care; 

‘‘(v) services for families in whose homes English is 

not the language customarily spoken; 

‘‘(vi) services for children with disabilities; and 

‘‘(vii) services for homeless children;’’; 

(D) in subparagraph (D)— 

(i) by striking ‘‘family and community needs 

assessment’’ and inserting ‘‘family needs assessment 

and communitywide strategic planning and needs 

assessment’’; 

(ii) by striking ‘‘reflects’’ and inserting ‘‘reflect’’; 

and 

(iii) by striking ‘‘other local’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

State and local’’; 

(E) by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting the 

following: 

Procedures. 


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121 STAT. 1376 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(E) the number of eligible children, as described in 

clause (i) or (ii) of section 645(a)(1)(B), in each community 

who are not participating in a Head Start program or 

any other publicly funded early childhood education and 

development program;’’; 

(F) by striking subparagraphs (G) and (H) and 

inserting the following: 

‘‘(G) the extent to which the applicant proposes to foster 

partnerships with other service providers in a manner that 

will leverage the existing delivery systems of such services 

and enhance the resource capacity of the applicant; and 

‘‘(H) the extent to which the applicant, in providing services, successfully coordinated activities with the local educational agency serving the community involved (including the 

local educational agency liaison designated under section 

722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 

(42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii))), and with schools in which children participating in such applicant’s program will enroll following such program, with respect to such services and the 

education services provided by such local educational agency.’’; 

(3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (1); and 

(4) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in using funds made available for expansion under subsection (a)(4)(D), the Secretary shall 

first allocate the funds to qualified applicants proposing to use 

such funds to serve children from families with incomes below 

the poverty line. Agencies that receive such funds are subject to 

the eligibility and enrollment requirements under section 645(a)(1). 

‘‘(3)(A) In the event that the amount appropriated to carry 

out the program under this subchapter for a fiscal year does not 

exceed the amount appropriated for the prior fiscal year, or is 

not sufficient to maintain services comparable to the services provided under this subchapter during the prior fiscal year, a Head 

Start agency may negotiate with the Secretary a reduced funded 

enrollment level without a reduction in the amount of the grant 

received by the agency under this subchapter, if such agency can 

reasonably demonstrate that such reduced funded enrollment level 

is necessary to maintain the quality of services. 

‘‘(B) In accordance with this paragraph, the Secretary shall 

set up a process for Head Start agencies to negotiate the reduced 

funded enrollment levels referred to in subparagraph (A) for the 

fiscal year involved. 

‘‘(C) In the event described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

shall be required to notify Head Start agencies of their ability 

to negotiate the reduced funded enrollment levels if such an agency 

can reasonably demonstrate that such reduced funded enrollment 

level is necessary to maintain the quality of services.’’. 

(e) VEHICLE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.—Section 640(i) of the Head 

Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(i)) is amended by adding at the end 

the following: ‘‘The regulations shall also establish requirements 

to ensure the appropriate supervision of, and appropriate background checks for, individuals with whom the agencies contract 

to transport those children.’’. 

(f) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PROGRAMS.—Section 

640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(l)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1)— 

Notification. 

Process. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1377 

(A) by striking ‘‘With funds’’ and all that follows 

through ‘‘programs,’’ and inserting ‘‘With funds made available under this subchapter to expand migrant and seasonal 

Head Start programs,’’; and 

(B) by striking ‘‘children of migrant and seasonal farmworker families’’ and inserting ‘‘children of migrant or seasonal farmworker families’’; 

(2) in paragraph (2)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘For’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in 

determining’’ and inserting ‘‘In determining’’; 

(B) by striking ‘‘children of migrant farmworkers’’ and 

inserting ‘‘children of migrant farmworker families’’; 

(C) by striking ‘‘under such subsection’’ and inserting 

‘‘under this subchapter’’; 

(D) by striking ‘‘children of seasonal farmworkers’’ each 

place it appears and inserting ‘‘children of seasonal farmworker families’’; and 

(E) by striking ‘‘children of such farmworkers’’ and 

inserting ‘‘children of such farmworker families’’; and 

(3) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(3) In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary shall continue the administrative arrangement at the national level for 

meeting the needs of Indian children and children of migrant and 

seasonal farmworker families and shall ensure— 

‘‘(A) the provision of training and technical assistance by 

staff with knowledge of and experience in working with such 

populations; and 

‘‘(B) the appointment of a national Indian Head Start 

collaboration director and a national migrant and seasonal 

Head Start collaboration director. 

‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Secretary shall 

conduct an annual consultation in each affected Head Start region, 

with tribal governments operating Head Start (including Early 

Head Start) programs. 

‘‘(B) The consultations shall be for the purpose of better meeting 

the needs of Indian, including Alaska Native, children and their 

families, in accordance with this subchapter, taking into consideration funding allocations, distribution formulas, and other issues 

affecting the delivery of Head Start services in their geographic 

locations. 

‘‘(C) The Secretary shall publish a notification of the consultations in the Federal Register before conducting the consultations. 

‘‘(D) The Secretary shall ensure that a detailed report of each 

consultation shall be prepared and made available, within 90 days 

after the consultation, to all tribal governments receiving funds 

under this subchapter.’’. 

(g) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN; RULE OF CONSTRUCTION; MATERIALS.—Section 640 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

9835) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(m) The Secretary shall issue rules to establish policies and 

procedures to remove barriers to the enrollment and participation 

of homeless children in Head Start programs. Such rules shall 

require Head Start agencies— 

‘‘(1) to implement policies and procedures to ensure that 

homeless children are identified and prioritized for enrollment; 

Regulations. 

Procedures. 

Reports. 

Deadline. 

Federal Register, 

publication. 


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121 STAT. 1378 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(2) to allow families of homeless children to apply to, 

enroll in, and attend Head Start programs while required documents, such as proof of residency, immunization and other 

medical records, birth certificates, and other documents, are 

obtained within a reasonable time frame; and 

‘‘(3) to coordinate individual Head Start programs with 

efforts to implement subtitle B of title VII of the McKinneyVento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.). 

‘‘(n) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to require 

a State to establish a publicly funded program of early childhood 

education and development, or to require any child to participate 

in such a publicly funded program, including a State-funded preschool program, or to participate in any initial screening before 

participating in a publicly funded program of early childhood education and development, except as provided under sections 612(a)(3) 

and 635(a)(5) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

(20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3), 1435(a)(5)). 

‘‘(o) All curricula funded under this subchapter shall be based 

on scientifically valid research, and be age and developmentally 

appropriate. The curricula shall reflect all areas of child development and learning and be aligned with the Head Start Child 

Outcomes Framework. Parents shall have the opportunity to 

examine any such curricula or instructional materials funded under 

this subchapter.’’. 

SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

Section 641 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836) is amended 

to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 641. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to designate 

as a Head Start agency any local public or private nonprofit 

agency, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agency, within a community, pursuant to 

the requirements of this section. 

‘‘(2) INTERIM POLICY.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), until 

such time as the Secretary develops and implements the system 

for designation renewal under this section, the Secretary is 

authorized to designate as a Head Start agency, any local 

public or private nonprofit agency, including community-based 

and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agency, within a 

community, in the manner and process utilized by the Secretary 

prior to the enactment of the Improving Head Start for School 

Readiness Act of 2007. 

‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR DESIGNATION RENEWAL.—To be considered for designation renewal, an entity shall submit an application 

to the Secretary, at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 

may require. 

‘‘(c) SYSTEM FOR DESIGNATION RENEWAL.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop a system 

for designation renewal that integrates the recommendations 

of the expert panel convened under paragraph (2) to determine 

if a Head Start agency is delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program that meets the educational, 

health, nutritional, and social needs of the children and families 

it serves, and meets program and financial management 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1379 

requirements and standards described in section 641A(a)(1), 

based on— 

‘‘(A) annual budget and fiscal management data; 

‘‘(B) program reviews conducted under section 641A(c); 

‘‘(C) annual audits required under section 647; 

‘‘(D) classroom quality as measured under section 

641A(c)(2)(F); and 

‘‘(E) Program Information Reports. 

‘‘(2) EXPERT PANEL.—Not later than 3 months after the 

date of enactment of the Improving Head Start for School 

Readiness Act of 2007, the Secretary shall convene an expert 

panel of 7 members to make recommendations to the Secretary 

on the development of a transparent, reliable, and valid system 

for designation renewal. 

‘‘(3) COMPOSITION OF EXPERT PANEL.—The Secretary, in 

convening such panel, shall appoint the following: 

‘‘(A)(i) One member, who has demonstrated competency, as evidenced by training, expertise, and experience, in early childhood program accreditation. 

‘‘(ii) One member, who has demonstrated competency 

(as so evidenced) in research on early childhood development. 

‘‘(iii) One member, who has demonstrated competency 

(as so evidenced) in governance and finance of nonprofit 

organizations. 

‘‘(iv) One member, who has demonstrated competency 

(as so evidenced) in delivery of services to populations 

of children with special needs and their families. 

‘‘(v) One member, who has demonstrated competency 

(as so evidenced) in assessment and evaluation of programs 

serving young children. 

‘‘(B) An employee from the Office of Head Start. 

‘‘(C) An executive director of a Head Start agency. 

‘‘(4) EXPERT PANEL REPORT.—Within 9 months after being 

convened by the Secretary, the expert panel shall issue a report 

to the Secretary that provides recommendations on a proposed 

system for designation renewal that takes into account the 

criteria in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1) 

to evaluate whether a Head Start agency is fulfilling its mission 

to deliver a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program, including adequately meeting its governance, legal, and 

financial management requirements. 

‘‘(5) PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION.—Not later than 

3 months after receiving the report described in paragraph 

(4), the Secretary shall publish a notice describing a proposed 

system for designation renewal in the Federal Register, 

including a proposal for the transition to such system, providing 

at least 90 days for public comment. The Secretary shall review 

and consider public comments prior to finalizing the system 

for designation renewal described in this subsection. 

‘‘(6) DESIGNATION RENEWAL SYSTEM.—Not later than 12 

months after publishing a notice describing the proposed system 

under paragraph (5), the Secretary shall implement the system 

for designation renewal and use that system to determine— 

‘‘(A) whether a Head Start grantee is successfully delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program; and 

Deadline. 

Deadline. 

Federal Register, 

publication. 

Deadline. 


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121 STAT. 1380 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(B) whether the grantee has any unresolved deficiencies found during the last triennial review under section 641A(c). 

‘‘(7) IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DESIGNATION RENEWAL

SYSTEM.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A grantee who is determined under 

such system— 

‘‘(i) to be delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program shall be designated (consistent with section 643) as a Head Start agency for 

the period of 5 years described in section 638; 

‘‘(ii) to not be delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program shall be subject to 

an open competition as described in subsection (d); 

and 

‘‘(iii) in the case of an Indian Head Start agency, 

to not be delivering a high-quality and comprehensive 

Head Start program shall (notwithstanding clause (ii)) 

be subject to the requirements of subparagraph (B). 

‘‘(B) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION AND

REEVALUATION.—On making a determination described in 

subparagraph (A)(iii), the Secretary shall engage in government-to-government consultation with the appropriate 

tribal government or governments for the purpose of establishing a plan to improve the quality of Head Start programs operated by the Indian Head Start agency. Such 

plan shall be established and implemented within 6 months 

after the Secretary’s determination. Not more than 6 

months after the implementation of that plan, the Secretary 

shall reevaluate the performance of the Indian Head Start 

agency. If the Indian Head Start agency is still not delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program, the Secretary shall conduct an open competition 

as described in subsection (d), subject to the limitations 

described in subsection (e). 

‘‘(8) TRANSPARENCY, RELIABILITY, AND VALIDITY.—The Secretary shall ensure the system for designation renewal is fair, 

consistent, and transparent and is applied in a manner that 

renews designations, in a timely manner, grantees as Head 

Start agencies for periods of 5 years if such grantees are delivering high-quality and comprehensive Head Start programs. 

The Secretary shall periodically evaluate whether the criteria 

of the system are being applied in a manner that is transparent, 

reliable, and valid. 

‘‘(9) TRANSITION.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Head Start agency shall be 

reviewed under the system for designation renewal 

described in paragraph (6), not later than 3 years after 

the implementation of such system. 

‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A Head Start agency shall not be 

subject to the requirements of the system for designation 

renewal prior to 18 months after the date of enactment 

of the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act 

of 2007. 

‘‘(C) SCHEDULE.—The Secretary shall establish and 

implement a schedule for reviewing each Head Start agency 

Deadline. 

Evaluation. 

Plan. 

Deadlines. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1381 

under the system for designation renewal described in paragraph (6), consistent with subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

‘‘(10) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall— 

‘‘(A) make available to the Committee on Education 

and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

Senate the report described in paragraph (4); 

‘‘(B) concurrently with publishing a notice in the Federal Register as described in paragraph (5), provide a report 

to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House 

of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate that provides 

a detailed description of the proposed system described 

in paragraph (5), including a clear rationale for any differences between the proposed system and the recommendations of the expert panel, if any such differences 

exist; and 

‘‘(C) prior to implementing the system for designation 

renewal, provide a report to the Committee on Education 

and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

Senate— 

‘‘(i) summarizing the public comment on the proposed system and the Secretary’s response to such 

comment; and 

‘‘(ii) describing the final system for designation 

renewal and the plans for implementation of such 

system. 

‘‘(d) DESIGNATION WHEN NO ENTITY IS RENEWED.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If no entity in a community is determined to be successfully delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program, as specified in subsection (c), 

the Secretary shall, after conducting an open competition, designate for a 5-year period a Head Start agency from among 

qualified applicants in such community. 

‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS FOR DESIGNATION.—In selecting from 

among qualified applicants for designation as a Head Start 

agency, the Secretary shall consider the effectiveness of each 

such applicant to provide Head Start services, based on— 

‘‘(A) any past performance of such applicant in providing services comparable to Head Start services, 

including how effectively such applicant provided such comparable services; 

‘‘(B) the plan of such applicant to provide comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, social, and other services needed to aid participating children in attaining their 

full potential, and to prepare children to succeed in school; 

‘‘(C) the plan of such applicant to attract and retain 

qualified staff capable of delivering, including implementing, a high-quality and comprehensive program, 

including the ability to carry out a research based curriculum aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

Framework and, as appropriate, State early learning standards; 

‘‘(D) the ability of such applicant to maintain childto-teacher ratios and family service worker caseloads that 


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121 STAT. 1382 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

reflect best practices and are tied to high-quality service 

delivery; 

‘‘(E) the capacity of such applicant to serve eligible 

children with— 

‘‘(i) curricula that are based on scientifically valid 

research, that are developmentally appropriate, and 

that promote the school readiness of children participating in the program involved; and 

‘‘(ii) teaching practices that are based, as appropriate, on scientifically valid research, that are developmentally appropriate, and that promote the school 

readiness of children participating in the program 

involved; 

‘‘(F) the plan of such applicant to meet standards 

described in section 641A(a)(1), with particular attention 

to the standards described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

of such section; 

‘‘(G) the proposed budget of the applicant and plan 

of such applicant to maintain strong fiscal controls and 

cost-effective fiscal management; 

‘‘(H) the plan of such applicant to coordinate and 

collaborate with other public or private entities providing 

early childhood education and development programs and 

services for young children in the community involved, 

including— 

‘‘(i) programs implementing grant agreements 

under the Early Reading First and Even Start programs under subparts 2 and 3 of part B of title I 

of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

1965 (20 U.S.C. 6371 et seq., 6381 et seq.); 

‘‘(ii) other preschool programs under title I of that 

Act (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.); 

‘‘(iii) programs under section 619 and part C of 

the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); 

‘‘(iv) State prekindergarten programs; 

‘‘(v) child care programs; 

‘‘(vi) the educational programs that the children 

in the Head Start program involved will enter at the 

age of compulsory school attendance; and 

‘‘(vii) local entities, such as a public or school 

library, for— 

‘‘(I) conducting reading readiness programs; 

‘‘(II) developing innovative programs to excite 

children about the world of books, including providing fresh books in the Head Start classroom; 

‘‘(III) assisting in literacy training for Head 

Start teachers; or 

‘‘(IV) supporting parents and other caregivers 

in literacy efforts; 

‘‘(I) the plan of such applicant to coordinate the Head 

Start program that the applicant proposes to carry out, 

with public and private entities that are willing to commit 

resources to assist the Head Start program in meeting 

its program needs; 

‘‘(J) the plan of such applicant— 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1383 

‘‘(i) to facilitate the involvement of parents 

(including grandparents and kinship caregivers, as 

appropriate) of children participating in the proposed 

Head Start program, in activities (at home and, if 

practicable, at the location of the Head Start program) 

designed to help such parents become full partners 

in the education of their children; 

‘‘(ii) to afford such parents the opportunity to 

participate in the development and overall conduct 

of the program at the local level, including transportation assistance, as appropriate; 

‘‘(iii) to offer (directly or through referral to local 

entities, such as entities carrying out Even Start programs under subpart 3 of part B of title I of the 

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), public and school libraries, and 

entities carrying out family support programs) to such 

parents— 

‘‘(I) family literacy services; and 

‘‘(II) parenting skills training; 

‘‘(iv) to offer to parents of participating children 

substance abuse counseling (either directly or through 

referral to local entities), if needed, including information on the effect of drug exposure on infants and 

fetal alcohol syndrome; 

‘‘(v) at the option of such applicant, to offer 

(directly or through referral to local entities) to such 

parents— 

‘‘(I) training in basic child development 

(including cognitive, social, and emotional development); 

‘‘(II) assistance in developing literacy and 

communication skills; 

‘‘(III) opportunities to share experiences with 

other parents (including parent-mentor relationships); 

‘‘(IV) regular in-home visitation; 

‘‘(V) health services, including information on 

maternal depression; or 

‘‘(VI) any other activity designed to help such 

parents become full partners in the education of 

their children; 

‘‘(vi) to provide, with respect to each participating 

family, a family needs assessment that includes consultation with such parents (including foster parents, 

grandparents, and kinship caregivers, where 

applicable), in a manner and language that such parents can understand, to the extent practicable, about 

the benefits of parent involvement and about the activities described in this subparagraph in which such parents may choose to become involved (taking into consideration their specific family needs, work schedules, 

and other responsibilities); and 

‘‘(vii) to extend outreach to fathers (including 

father figures), in appropriate cases, in order to 

strengthen the role of those fathers in families, in 

the education of young children, and in the Head Start 


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program, by working directly with the fathers through 

activities such as— 

‘‘(I) in appropriate cases, including the fathers 

in home visits and providing opportunities for 

direct father-child interactions; and 

‘‘(II) targeting increased male participation in 

the conduct of the program; 

‘‘(K) the plan of such applicant to meet the needs 

of limited English proficient children and their families, 

including procedures to identify such children, plans to 

provide trained personnel, and plans to provide services 

to assist the children in making progress toward the 

acquisition of the English language, while making meaningful progress in attaining the knowledge, skills, abilities, 

and development described in section 641A(a)(1)(B); 

‘‘(L) the plan of such applicant to meet the diverse 

needs of the population served; 

‘‘(M) the plan of such applicant who chooses to assist 

younger siblings of children who will participate in the 

Head Start program to obtain health services from other 

sources; 

‘‘(N) the plan of such applicant to meet the needs 

of children with disabilities, including procedures to identify such children, procedures for referral of such children 

for evaluation to State or local agencies providing services 

under section 619 or part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.), and 

plans for collaboration with those State or local agencies; 

‘‘(O) the plan of such applicant to meet the needs 

of homeless children, including transportation needs, and 

the needs of children in foster care; and 

‘‘(P) other factors related to the requirements of this 

subchapter. 

‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In selecting from among qualified 

applicants for designation as a Head Start agency, the Secretary 

shall give priority to applicants that have demonstrated 

capacity in providing effective, comprehensive, and well-coordinated early childhood education and development services and 

programs to children and their families. 

‘‘(e) PROHIBITION AGAINST NON-INDIAN HEAD START AGENCY

RECEIVING A GRANT FOR AN INDIAN HEAD START PROGRAM.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

law, except as provided in paragraph (2), under no condition 

may a non-Indian Head Start agency receive a grant to carry 

out an Indian Head Start program. 

‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—In a community in which there is no 

Indian Head Start agency available for designation to carry 

out an Indian Head Start program, a non-Indian Head Start 

agency may receive a grant to carry out an Indian Head Start 

program but only until such time as an Indian Head Start 

agency in such community becomes available and is designated 

pursuant to this section. 

‘‘(f) INTERIM PROVIDER.—If no agency in a community is designated under subsection (d), and there is no qualified applicant 

in the community, the Secretary shall designate a qualified agency 

to carry out the Head Start program in the community on an 


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interim basis until a qualified applicant from the community is 

designated under subsection (d). 

‘‘(g) PARENT AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 

shall require that the practice of significantly involving parents 

and community residents in the area affected by the program 

involved, in the selection of Head Start agencies, be continued. 

‘‘(h) COMMUNITY.—For purposes of this subchapter, a community may be a city, county, or multicity or multicounty unit within 

a State, an Indian reservation (including Indians in any off-reservation area designated by an appropriate tribal government in consultation with the Secretary), or a neighborhood or other area 

(irrespective of boundaries or political subdivisions) that provides 

a suitable organizational base and possesses the commonality of 

interest needed to operate a Head Start program.’’. 

SEC. 8. STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD START AGENCIES AND 

PROGRAMS. 

Section 641A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a) is 

amended to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 641A. STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD START AGENCIES AND 

PROGRAMS. 

‘‘(a) STANDARDS.— 

‘‘(1) CONTENT OF STANDARDS.—The Secretary shall modify, 

as necessary, program performance standards by regulation 

applicable to Head Start agencies and programs under this 

subchapter, including— 

‘‘(A) performance standards with respect to services 

required to be provided, including health, parental involvement, nutritional, and social services, transition activities 

described in section 642A, and other services; 

‘‘(B) scientifically based and developmentally appropriate education performance standards related to school 

readiness that are based on the Head Start Child Outcomes 

Framework to ensure that the children participating in 

the program, at a minimum, develop and demonstrate— 

‘‘(i) language knowledge and skills, including oral 

language and listening comprehension; 

‘‘(ii) literacy knowledge and skills, including phonological awareness, print awareness and skills, and 

alphabetic knowledge; 

‘‘(iii) mathematics knowledge and skills; 

‘‘(iv) science knowledge and skills; 

‘‘(v) cognitive abilities related to academic achievement and child development; 

‘‘(vi) approaches to learning related to child 

development and early learning; 

‘‘(vii) social and emotional development related to 

early learning, school success, and social problemsolving; 

‘‘(viii) abilities in creative arts; 

‘‘(ix) physical development; and 

‘‘(x) in the case of limited English proficient children, progress toward acquisition of the English language while making meaningful progress in attaining 

the knowledge, skills, abilities, and development 

described in clauses (i) through (ix), including progress 

Regulations. 


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made through the use of culturally and linguistically 

appropriate instructional services; 

‘‘(C) administrative and financial management standards; 

‘‘(D) standards relating to the condition and location 

of facilities (including indoor air quality assessment standards, where appropriate) for such agencies, and programs, 

including regulations that require that the facilities used 

by Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies and any delegate agencies) for regularly scheduled 

center-based and combination program option classroom 

activities— 

‘‘(i) shall meet or exceed State and local requirements concerning licensing for such facilities; and 

‘‘(ii) shall be accessible by State and local authorities for purposes of monitoring and ensuring compliance, unless State or local laws prohibit such access; 

and 

‘‘(E) such other standards as the Secretary finds to 

be appropriate. 

‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING STANDARDS.—In developing any modifications to standards required under paragraph 

(1), the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(A) consult with experts in the fields of child development, early childhood education, child health care, family 

services (including linguistically and culturally appropriate 

services to non-English speaking children and their families), administration, and financial management, and with 

persons with experience in the operation of Head Start 

programs; 

‘‘(B) take into consideration— 

‘‘(i) past experience with use of the standards in 

effect under this subchapter on the date of enactment 

of the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act 

of 2007; 

‘‘(ii) changes over the period since October 27, 

1998, in the circumstances and problems typically 

facing children and families served by Head Start agencies; 

‘‘(iii) recommendations from the study on Developmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young Children 

by the National Academy of Sciences, consistent with 

section 649(j); 

‘‘(iv) developments concerning research-based practices with respect to early childhood education and 

development, children with disabilities, homeless children, children in foster care, and family services, and 

best practices with respect to program administration 

and financial management; 

‘‘(v) projected needs of an expanding Head Start 

program; 

‘‘(vi) guidelines and standards that promote child 

health services and physical development, including 

participation in outdoor activity that supports children’s motor development and overall health and nutrition; 


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‘‘(vii) changes in the characteristics of the population of children who are eligible to participate in 

Head Start programs, including country of origin, language background, and family structure of such children, and changes in the population and number of 

such children who are in foster care or are homeless 

children; 

‘‘(viii) mechanisms to ensure that children participating in Head Start programs make a successful 

transition to the schools that the children will be 

attending; 

‘‘(ix) the need for Head Start agencies to maintain 

regular communications with parents, including conducting periodic meetings to discuss the progress of 

individual children in Head Start programs; and 

‘‘(x) the unique challenges faced by individual programs, including those programs that are seasonal or 

short term and those programs that serve rural populations; 

‘‘(C)(i) review and revise as necessary the standards 

in effect under this subsection; and 

‘‘(ii) ensure that any such revisions in the standards 

will not result in the elimination of or any reduction in 

quality, scope, or types of health, educational, parental 

involvement, nutritional, social, or other services required 

to be provided under such standards as in effect on the 

date of enactment of the Improving Head Start for School 

Readiness Act of 2007; and 

‘‘(D) consult with Indian tribes, including Alaska 

Natives, experts in Indian, including Alaska Native, early 

childhood education and development, linguists, and the 

National Indian Head Start Directors Association on the 

review and promulgation of standards under paragraph 

(1) (including standards for language acquisition and school 

readiness). 

‘‘(3) STANDARDS RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS TO DELEGATE

AGENCIES.—In developing any modifications to standards under 

paragraph (1), the Secretary shall describe the obligations of 

a Head Start agency to a delegate agency to which the Head 

Start agency has delegated responsibility for providing services 

under this subchapter. 

‘‘(b) MEASURES.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation with representatives of Head Start agencies and with experts in the 

fields of early childhood education and development, family 

services, and program management, shall use the study on 

Developmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young Children 

by the National Academy of Sciences and other relevant 

research to inform, revise, and provide guidance to Head Start 

agencies for utilizing, scientifically based measures that support, as appropriate— 

‘‘(A) classroom instructional practices; 

‘‘(B) identification of children with special needs; 

‘‘(C) program evaluation; and 

‘‘(D) administrative and financial management practices. 


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‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS OF MEASURES.—The measures under 

this subsection shall— 

‘‘(A) be developmentally, linguistically, and culturally 

appropriate for the population served; 

‘‘(B) be reviewed periodically, based on advances in 

the science of early childhood development; 

‘‘(C) be consistent with relevant, nationally recognized 

professional and technical standards related to the assessment of young children; 

‘‘(D) be valid and reliable in the language in which 

they are administered; 

‘‘(E) be administered by staff with appropriate training 

for such administration; 

‘‘(F) provide for appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities and children who are limited English 

proficient; 

‘‘(G) be high-quality research-based measures that have 

been demonstrated to assist with the purposes for which 

they were devised; and 

‘‘(H) be adaptable, as appropriate, for use in the selfassessment of Head Start agencies, including in the evaluation of administrative and financial management practices. 

‘‘(3) USE OF MEASURES; LIMITATIONS ON USE.— 

‘‘(A) USE.—The measures shall be designed, as appropriate, for the purpose of— 

‘‘(i) helping to develop the skills, knowledge, abilities, and development described in subsection (a)(1)(B) 

of children participating in Head Start programs, with 

an emphasis on measuring skills that scientifically 

valid research has demonstrated are related to children’s school readiness and later success in school; 

‘‘(ii) improving classroom practices, including 

reviewing children’s strengths and weaknesses and 

individualizing instruction to better meet the needs 

of the children involved; 

‘‘(iii) identifying the special needs of children; and 

‘‘(iv) improving overall program performance in 

order to help programs identify problem areas that 

may require additional training and technical assistance resources. 

‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—Such measures shall not be used 

to exclude children from Head Start programs. 

‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, through regulation, 

shall ensure the confidentiality of any personally identifiable data, information, and records collected or maintained 

under this subchapter by the Secretary and any Head 

Start agency. Such regulations shall provide the policies, 

protections, and rights equivalent to those provided to a 

parent, student, or educational agency or institution under 

section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 

U.S.C. 1232g). 

‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON NATIONWIDE DATABASE.—Nothing 

in this subsection shall be construed to authorize the 

development of a nationwide database of personally identifiable data, information, or records on children resulting 

from the use of measures under this subsection. 

Regulations. 


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‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE.— ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—The use of assessment items and 

data on any assessment authorized under this subchapter 

by any agent of the Federal Government is prohibited 

for the purposes of— 

‘‘(i) ranking, comparing, or otherwise evaluating 

individual children for purposes other than research, 

training, or technical assistance; and 

‘‘(ii) providing rewards or sanctions for individual 

children or teachers. 

‘‘(B) RESULTS.—The Secretary shall not use the results 

of a single assessment as the sole method for assessing 

program effectiveness or making agency funding determinations at the national, regional, or local level under 

this subchapter. 

‘‘(c) MONITORING OF LOCAL AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To determine whether Head Start agencies meet standards described in subsection (a)(1) established 

under this subchapter with respect to program, administrative, 

financial management, and other requirements, and in order 

to help the programs identify areas for improvement and areas 

of strength as part of their ongoing self-assessment process, 

the Secretary shall conduct the following reviews of Head Start 

agencies, including the Head Start programs operated by such 

agencies: 

‘‘(A) A full review, including the use of a risk-based 

assessment approach, of each such agency at least once 

during each 3-year period. 

‘‘(B) A review of each newly designated Head Start 

agency immediately after the completion of the first year 

such agency carries out a Head Start program. 

‘‘(C) Followup reviews, including— 

‘‘(i) return visits to Head Start agencies with 1 

or more findings of deficiencies, not later than 6 

months after the Secretary provides notification of such 

findings, or not later than 12 months after such 

notification if the Secretary determines that additional 

time is necessary for an agency to address such a 

deficiency prior to the review; and 

‘‘(ii) a review of Head Start agencies with significant areas of noncompliance. 

‘‘(D) Other reviews, including unannounced site inspections of Head Start centers, as appropriate. 

‘‘(2) CONDUCT OF REVIEWS.—The Secretary shall ensure 

that reviews described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of 

paragraph (1)— 

‘‘(A) are conducted by review teams that— 

‘‘(i) include individuals who are knowledgeable 

about Head Start programs and, to the maximum 

extent practicable, individuals who are knowledgeable 

about— 

‘‘(I) other early childhood education and 

development programs, personnel management, 

financial accountability, and systems development 

and monitoring; and 

‘‘(II) the diverse (including linguistic and cultural) needs of eligible children (including children 

Deadline. 

Reviews. 


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with disabilities, homeless children, children in 

foster care, and limited English proficient children) 

and their families; 

‘‘(ii) include, to the maximum extent practicable, 

current or former employees of the Department of 

Health and Human Services who are knowledgeable 

about Head Start programs; and 

‘‘(iii) shall receive periodic training to ensure 

quality and consistency across reviews; 

‘‘(B) include as part of the reviews, a review and assessment of program strengths and areas in need of improvement; 

‘‘(C) include as part of the reviews, a review and assessment of whether programs have adequately addressed 

population and community needs (including those of limited 

English proficient children and children of migrant or seasonal farmworker families); 

‘‘(D) include as part of the reviews, an assessment 

of the extent to which the programs address the 

communitywide strategic planning and needs assessment 

described in section 640(g)(1)(C); 

‘‘(E) include information on the innovative and effective 

efforts of the Head Start agencies to collaborate with the 

entities providing early childhood and development services 

or programs in the community and any barriers to such 

collaboration that the agencies encounter; 

‘‘(F) include as part of the reviews, a valid and reliable 

research-based observational instrument, implemented by 

qualified individuals with demonstrated reliability, that 

assesses classroom quality, including assessing multiple 

dimensions of teacher-child interactions that are linked 

to positive child development and later achievement; 

‘‘(G) are conducted in a manner that evaluates program 

performance, quality, and overall operations with consistency and objectivity, are based on a transparent and reliable system of review, and are conducted in a manner 

that includes periodic interrater reliability checks, to 

ensure quality and consistency, across and within regions, 

of the reviews and of noncompliance and deficiency determinations; 

‘‘(H) in the case of reviews of Early Head Start agencies 

and programs, are conducted by a review team that 

includes individuals who are knowledgeable about the 

development of infants and toddlers; 

‘‘(I) include as part of the reviews a protocol for fiscal 

management that shall be used to assess compliance with 

program requirements for— 

‘‘(i) using Federal funds appropriately; 

‘‘(ii) using Federal funds specifically to purchase 

property (consistent with section 644(f)) and to compensate personnel; 

‘‘(iii) securing and using qualified financial officer 

support; and 

‘‘(iv) reporting financial information and implementing appropriate internal controls to safeguard 

Federal funds; 


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‘‘(J) include as part of the reviews of the programs, 

a review and assessment of whether the programs are 

in conformity with the eligibility requirements under section 645(a)(1), including regulations promulgated under 

such section and whether the programs have met the 

requirements for the outreach and enrollment policies and 

procedures, and selection criteria, in such section, for the 

participation of children in programs assisted under this 

subchapter; 

‘‘(K) include as part of the reviews, a review and assessment of whether agencies have adequately addressed the 

needs of children with disabilities, including whether the 

agencies involved have met the 10 percent minimum enrollment requirement specified in section 640(d) and whether 

the agencies have made sufficient efforts to collaborate 

with State and local agencies providing services under section 619 or part C of the Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); and 

‘‘(L) include as part of the reviews, a review and assessment of child outcomes and performance as they relate 

to agency-determined school readiness goals described in 

subsection (g)(2), consistent with subsection (b)(5). 

‘‘(3) STANDARDS RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS TO DELEGATE

AGENCIES.—In conducting a review described in paragraph 

(1)(A) of a Head Start agency, the Secretary shall determine 

whether the agency complies with the obligations described 

in subsection (a)(3). The Secretary shall consider such compliance in determining whether to renew financial assistance to 

the Head Start agency under this subchapter. 

‘‘(4) USE OF REVIEW FINDINGS.—The findings of a review 

described in paragraph (1) of a Head Start agency shall, at 

a minimum— 

‘‘(A) be presented to the agency in a timely, transparent, and uniform manner that conveys information of 

program strengths and weaknesses and assists with program improvement; and 

‘‘(B) be used by the agency to inform the development 

and implementation of its plan for training and technical 

assistance. 

‘‘(d) EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR DELEGATE

AGENCIES.— 

‘‘(1) PROCEDURES.—Each Head Start agency shall establish, 

subject to paragraph (4), procedures relating to its delegate 

agencies, including— 

‘‘(A) procedures for evaluating delegate agencies; 

‘‘(B) procedures for defunding delegate agencies; and 

‘‘(C) procedures for a delegate agency to appeal a 

defunding decision. 

‘‘(2) EVALUATION.—Each Head Start agency— 

‘‘(A) shall evaluate its delegate agencies using the 

procedures established under this subsection; and 

‘‘(B) shall inform the delegate agencies of the deficiencies identified through the evaluation that are required 

to be corrected. 

‘‘(3) REMEDIES TO ENSURE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.—In the 

event that the Head Start agency identifies a deficiency for 


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a delegate agency through the evaluation, the Head Start 

agency shall take action, which may include— 

‘‘(A) initiating procedures to terminate the designation 

of the agency unless the agency corrects the deficiency; 

‘‘(B) conducting monthly monitoring visits to such delegate agency until all deficiencies are corrected or the Head 

Start agency decides to defund such delegate agency; and 

‘‘(C) releasing funds to such delegate agency— 

‘‘(i) only as reimbursements except that, upon 

receiving a request from the delegate agency accompanied by assurances satisfactory to the Head Start 

agency that the funds will be appropriately safeguarded, the Head Start agency shall provide to the 

delegate agency a working capital advance in an 

amount sufficient to cover the estimated expenses 

involved during an agreed upon disbursing cycle; and 

‘‘(ii) only if there is continuity of services. 

‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The Head Start agency may not terminate a delegate agency’s contract or reduce a delegate agency’s 

service area without showing cause or demonstrating the costeffectiveness of such a decision. 

‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection 

shall be construed to limit the powers, duties, or functions 

of the Secretary with respect to Head Start agencies or delegate 

agencies that receive financial assistance under this subchapter. 

‘‘(e) CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR HEAD START AGENCIES.— 

‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—If the Secretary determines, on the 

basis of a review pursuant to subsection (c), that a Head Start 

agency designated pursuant to this subchapter fails to meet 

the standards described in subsection (a)(1) or fails to address 

the communitywide strategic planning and needs assessment, 

the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(A) inform the agency of the deficiencies that shall 

be corrected and identify the assistance to be provided 

consistent with paragraph (3); 

‘‘(B) with respect to each identified deficiency, require 

the agency— 

‘‘(i) to correct the deficiency immediately, if the 

Secretary finds that the deficiency threatens the health 

or safety of staff or program participants or poses 

a threat to the integrity of Federal funds; 

‘‘(ii) to correct the deficiency not later than 90 

days after the identification of the deficiency if the 

Secretary finds, in the discretion of the Secretary, that 

such a 90-day period is reasonable, in light of the 

nature and magnitude of the deficiency; or 

‘‘(iii) in the discretion of the Secretary (taking into 

consideration the seriousness of the deficiency and the 

time reasonably required to correct the deficiency), to 

comply with the requirements of paragraph (2) concerning a quality improvement plan; and 

‘‘(C) initiate proceedings to terminate the designation 

of the agency unless the agency corrects the deficiency. 

‘‘(2) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN.— 

‘‘(A) AGENCY AND PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES.—To 

retain a designation as a Head Start agency under this 

subchapter, or in the case of a Head Start program to 

Deadline. 


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continue to receive funds from such agency, a Head Start 

agency that is the subject of a determination described 

in paragraph (1), or a Head Start program that is determined to have a deficiency under subsection (d)(2) 

(excluding an agency required to correct a deficiency immediately or during a 90-day period under clause (i) or (ii) 

of paragraph (1)(B)) shall— 

‘‘(i) develop in a timely manner, a quality improvement plan that shall be subject to the approval of 

the Secretary, or in the case of a program, the sponsoring agency, and that shall specify— 

‘‘(I) the deficiencies to be corrected; 

‘‘(II) the actions to be taken to correct such 

deficiencies; and 

‘‘(III) the timetable for accomplishment of the 

corrective actions specified; and 

‘‘(ii) correct each deficiency identified, not later 

than the date for correction of such deficiency specified 

in such plan (which shall not be later than 1 year 

after the date the agency or Head Start program that 

is determined to have a deficiency received notice of 

the determination and of the specific deficiency to be 

corrected). 

‘‘(B) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Not later than 30 

days after receiving from a Head Start agency a proposed 

quality improvement plan pursuant to subparagraph (A), 

the Secretary shall either approve such proposed plan or 

specify the reasons why the proposed plan cannot be 

approved. 

‘‘(C) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY.—Not later than 30 days 

after receiving from a Head Start program a proposed 

quality improvement plan pursuant to subparagraph (A), 

the Head Start agency involved shall either approve such 

proposed plan or specify the reasons why the proposed 

plan cannot be approved. 

‘‘(3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

shall provide training and technical assistance to Head Start 

agencies and programs with respect to the development or 

implementation of such quality improvement plans to the extent 

the Secretary finds such provision to be feasible and appropriate 

given available funding and other statutory responsibilities. 

‘‘(f) SUMMARIES OF MONITORING OUTCOMES.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the end 

of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall publish a summary 

report on the findings of reviews conducted under subsection 

(c) and on the outcomes of quality improvement plans implemented under subsection (e), during such fiscal year. 

‘‘(2) REPORT AVAILABILITY.—Such report shall be made 

widely available to— 

‘‘(A) parents with children receiving assistance under 

this subchapter— 

‘‘(i) in an understandable and uniform format; and 

‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable, in a language that 

the parents understand; and 

‘‘(B) the public through means such as— 

‘‘(i) distribution through public agencies; and 

‘‘(ii) posting such information on the Internet. 

Deadline. 

Publication. 

Reports. 

Deadline. 

Deadline. 

Deadline. 


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‘‘(3) REPORT INFORMATION.—Such report shall contain 

detailed data— 

‘‘(A) on compliance with specific standards and measures; and 

‘‘(B) sufficient to allow Head Start agencies to use 

such data to improve the quality of their programs. 

‘‘(g) SELF-ASSESSMENTS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than once each program year, with the consultation and participation of policy 

councils and, as applicable, policy committees and, as appropriate, other community members, each Head Start agency, 

and each delegate agency, that receives financial assistance 

under this subchapter shall conduct a comprehensive selfassessment of its effectiveness and progress in meeting program 

goals and objectives and in implementing and complying with 

standards described in subsection (a)(1). 

‘‘(2) GOALS, REPORTS, AND IMPROVEMENT PLANS.— 

‘‘(A) GOALS.—An agency conducting a self-assessment 

shall establish agency-determined program goals for 

improving the school readiness of children participating 

in a program under this subchapter, including school readiness goals that are aligned with the Head Start Child 

Outcomes Framework, State early learning standards as 

appropriate, and requirements and expectations of the 

schools the children will be attending. 

‘‘(B) IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—The agency shall develop, 

and submit to the Secretary a report containing, an 

improvement plan approved by the governing body of the 

agency to strengthen any areas identified in the self-assessment as weaknesses or in need of improvement. 

‘‘(3) ONGOING MONITORING.—Each Head Start agency 

(including each Early Head Start agency) and each delegate 

agency shall establish and implement procedures for the 

ongoing monitoring of their respective programs, to ensure that 

the operations of the programs work toward meeting program 

goals and objectives and standards described in subsection 

(a)(1). 

‘‘(h) REDUCTION OF GRANTS AND REDISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS

IN CASES OF UNDERENROLLMENT.— 

‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

‘‘(A) ACTUAL ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘actual enrollment’ means, with respect to the program of a Head Start 

agency, the actual number of children enrolled in such 

program and reported by the agency (as required in paragraph (2)) in a given month. 

‘‘(B) BASE GRANT.—The term ‘base grant’ has the 

meaning given the term in section 640(a)(7). 

‘‘(C) FUNDED ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘funded enrollment’ means, with respect to the program of a Head Start 

agency in a fiscal year, the number of children that the 

agency is funded to serve through a grant for the program 

during such fiscal year, as indicated in the grant agreement. 

‘‘(2) ENROLLMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Each entity 

carrying out a Head Start program shall report on a monthly 

basis to the Secretary and the relevant Head Start agency— 

‘‘(A) the actual enrollment in such program; and 

Procedures. 


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‘‘(B) if such actual enrollment is less than the funded 

enrollment, any apparent reason for such enrollment shortfall. 

‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND PLAN.—The Secretary shall— 

‘‘(A) on a semiannual basis, determine which Head 

Start agencies are operating with an actual enrollment 

that is less than the funded enrollment based on not less 

than 4 consecutive months of data; 

‘‘(B) for each such Head Start agency operating a program with an actual enrollment that is less than its funded 

enrollment, as determined under subparagraph (A), 

develop, in collaboration with such agency, a plan and 

timetable for reducing or eliminating underenrollment 

taking into consideration— 

‘‘(i) the quality and extent of the outreach, recruitment, and communitywide strategic planning and 

needs assessment conducted by such agency; 

‘‘(ii) changing demographics, mobility of populations, and the identification of new underserved lowincome populations; 

‘‘(iii) facilities-related issues that may impact 

enrollment; 

‘‘(iv) the ability to provide full-working-day programs, where needed, through funds made available 

under this subchapter or through collaboration with 

entities carrying out other early childhood education 

and development programs, or programs with other 

funding sources (where available); 

‘‘(v) the availability and use by families of other 

early childhood education and development options in 

the community served; and 

‘‘(vi) agency management procedures that may 

impact enrollment; and 

‘‘(C) provide timely and ongoing technical assistance 

to each agency described in subparagraph (B) for the purpose of assisting the Head Start agency to implement the 

plan described in such subparagraph. 

‘‘(4) IMPLEMENTATION.—Upon receipt of the technical assistance described in paragraph (3)(C), a Head Start agency shall 

immediately implement the plan described in paragraph (3)(B). 

The Secretary shall, where determined appropriate, continue 

to provide technical assistance to such agency. 

‘‘(5) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND ADJUSTMENT FOR CHRONIC

UNDERENROLLMENT.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, after receiving technical assistance and developing and implementing the plan as 

described in paragraphs (3) and (4) for 12 months, a Head 

Start agency is operating a program with an actual enrollment that is less than 97 percent of its funded enrollment, 

the Secretary may— 

‘‘(i) designate such agency as chronically underenrolled; and 

‘‘(ii) recapture, withhold, or reduce the base grant 

for the program by a percentage equal to the percentage difference between funded enrollment and actual 

enrollment for the program for the most recent year 


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for which the agency is determined to be underenrolled 

under paragraph (3)(A). 

‘‘(B) WAIVER OR LIMITATION OF REDUCTIONS.—The Secretary may, as appropriate, waive or reduce the percentage 

recapturing, withholding, or reduction otherwise required 

by subparagraph (A), if, after the implementation of the 

plan described in paragraph (3)(B), the Secretary finds 

that— 

‘‘(i) the causes of the enrollment shortfall, or a 

portion of the shortfall, are related to the agency’s 

serving significant numbers of highly mobile children, 

or are other significant causes as determined by the 

Secretary; 

‘‘(ii) the shortfall can reasonably be expected to 

be temporary; or 

‘‘(iii) the number of slots allotted to the agency 

is small enough that underenrollment does not create 

a significant shortfall. 

‘‘(6) REDISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Funds held by the Secretary as 

a result of recapturing, withholding, or reducing a base 

grant in a fiscal year shall be redistributed by the end 

of the following fiscal year as follows: 

‘‘(i) INDIAN HEAD START PROGRAMS.—If such funds 

are derived from an Indian Head Start program, then 

such funds shall be redistributed to increase enrollment by the end of the following fiscal year in 1 or 

more Indian Head Start programs. 

‘‘(ii) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PROGRAMS.—If such funds are derived from a migrant 

or seasonal Head Start program, then such funds shall 

be redistributed to increase enrollment by the end 

of the following fiscal year in 1 or more programs 

of the type from which such funds are derived. 

‘‘(iii) EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS.—If such funds 

are derived from an Early Head Start program in 

a State, then such funds shall be redistributed to 

increase enrollment by the end of the following fiscal 

year in 1 or more Early Head Start programs in that 

State. If such funds are derived from an Indian Early 

Head Start program, then such funds shall be redistributed to increase enrollment by the end of the following 

fiscal year in 1 or more Indian Early Head Start programs. 

‘‘(iv) OTHER HEAD START PROGRAMS.—If such funds 

are derived from a Head Start program in a State 

(excluding programs described in clauses (i) through 

(iii)), then such funds shall be redistributed to increase 

enrollment by the end of the following fiscal year in 

1 or more Head Start programs (excluding programs 

described in clauses (i) through (iii)) that are carried 

out in such State. 

‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT TO FUNDED ENROLLMENT.—The Secretary shall adjust as necessary the requirements relating 

to funded enrollment indicated in the grant agreement 

of a Head Start agency receiving redistributed funds under 

this paragraph.’’. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1397 

SEC. 9. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

Section 642 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837) is amended 

to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 642. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—To be designated as a Head Start agency 

under this subchapter, an agency shall have authority under its 

charter or applicable law to receive and administer funds under 

this subchapter, funds and contributions from private or local public 

sources that may be used in support of a Head Start program, 

and funds under any Federal or State assistance program pursuant 

to which a public or private nonprofit or for-profit agency (as the 

case may be) organized in accordance with this subchapter, could 

act as grantee, contractor, or sponsor of projects appropriate for 

inclusion in a Head Start program. Such an agency shall also 

be empowered to transfer funds so received, and to delegate powers 

to other agencies, subject to the powers of its governing board 

and its overall program responsibilities. The power to transfer 

funds and delegate powers shall include the power to make transfers 

and delegations covering component projects in all cases where 

this will contribute to efficiency and effectiveness or otherwise 

further program objectives. 

‘‘(b) FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT; FAMILY SERVICES.—To be so designated, a Head Start agency shall, at a minimum, do all the following to involve and serve families and communities: 

‘‘(1) Provide for the regular and direct participation of 

parents and community residents in the implementation of 

the Head Start program, including decisions that influence 

the character of such program, consistent with paragraphs 

(2)(D) and (3)(C) of subsection (c). 

‘‘(2) Seek the involvement of parents, community residents, 

and local business in the design and implementation of the 

program. 

‘‘(3) Establish effective procedures— 

‘‘(A) to facilitate and seek the involvement of parents 

of participating children in activities designed to help such 

parents become full partners in the education of their children; and 

‘‘(B) to afford such parents the opportunity to participate in the development and overall conduct of the program 

at the local level, including transportation assistance as 

appropriate. 

‘‘(4) Offer (directly or through referral to local entities, 

such as entities carrying out Even Start programs under subpart 3 of part B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), public and 

school libraries, and entities carrying out family support programs) to such parents— 

‘‘(A) family literacy services; and 

‘‘(B) parenting skills training. 

‘‘(5) Offer to parents of participating children substance 

abuse counseling (either directly or through referral to local 

entities), if needed, including information on the effect of drug 

exposure on infants and fetal alcohol syndrome. 

‘‘(6) At the option of such agency, offer (directly or through 

referral to local entities) to such parents— 

Procedures. 


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121 STAT. 1398 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(A) training in basic child development (including cognitive, social, and emotional development); 

‘‘(B) assistance in developing literacy and communication skills; 

‘‘(C) opportunities to share experiences with other parents (including parent-mentor relationships); 

‘‘(D) health services, including information on maternal 

depression; 

‘‘(E) regular in-home visitation; or 

‘‘(F) any other activity designed to help such parents 

become full partners in the education of their children. 

‘‘(7) Provide, with respect to each participating family, a 

family needs assessment that includes consultation with such 

parents (including foster parents, grandparents, and kinship 

caregivers, where applicable), in a manner and language that 

such parents can understand (to the extent practicable), about 

the benefits of parent involvement and about the activities 

described in this subsection in which such parents may choose 

to be involved (taking into consideration their specific family 

needs, work schedules, and other responsibilities). 

‘‘(8) Consider providing services to assist younger siblings 

of children participating in its Head Start program to obtain 

health services from other sources. 

‘‘(9) Perform community outreach to encourage individuals 

previously unaffiliated with Head Start programs to participate 

in its Head Start program as volunteers. 

‘‘(10)(A) Inform custodial parents in single-parent families 

that participate in programs, activities, or services carried out 

or provided under this subchapter about the availability of 

child support services for purposes of establishing paternity 

and acquiring child support. 

‘‘(B) Refer eligible parents to the child support offices of 

State and local governments. 

‘‘(11) Provide to parents of limited English proficient children outreach and information, in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a language that 

the parents can understand. 

‘‘(12) Provide technical and other support needed to enable 

parents and community residents to secure, on their own behalf, 

available assistance from public and private sources. 

‘‘(13) Promote the continued involvement of the parents 

(including foster parents, grandparents, and kinship caregivers, 

as appropriate) of children that participate in Head Start programs in the education of their children upon transition of 

their children to school, by working with the local educational 

agency— 

‘‘(A) to provide training to the parents— 

‘‘(i) to inform the parents about their rights and 

responsibilities concerning the education of their children; and 

‘‘(ii) to enable the parents— 

‘‘(I) to understand and work with schools in 

order to communicate with teachers and other 

school personnel; 

‘‘(II) to support the schoolwork of their children; and 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1399 

‘‘(III) to participate as appropriate in decisions 

relating to the education of their children; and 

‘‘(B) to take other actions, as appropriate and feasible, 

to support the active involvement of the parents with 

schools, school personnel, and school-related organizations. 

‘‘(14) Establish effective procedures for timely referral of 

children with disabilities to the State or local agency providing 

services under section 619 or part C of the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.), and 

collaboration with that agency, consistent with section 

640(d)(3). 

‘‘(15) Establish effective procedures for providing necessary 

early intervening services to children with disabilities prior 

to an eligibility determination by the State or local agency 

responsible for providing services under section 619 or part 

C of such Act, consistent with section 640(d)(2). 

‘‘(16) At the option of the Head Start agency, partner 

with an institution of higher education and a nonprofit 

organization to provide college students with the opportunity 

to serve as mentors or reading partners for Head Start participants. 

‘‘(c) PROGRAM GOVERNANCE.—Upon receiving designation as a 

Head Start agency, the agency shall establish and maintain a 

formal structure for program governance, for the oversight of quality 

services for Head Start children and families and for making 

decisions related to program design and implementation. Such 

structure shall include the following: 

‘‘(1) GOVERNING BODY.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The governing body shall have legal 

and fiscal responsibility for the Head Start agency. 

‘‘(B) COMPOSITION.—The governing body shall be composed as follows: 

‘‘(i) Not less than 1 member shall have a background and expertise in fiscal management or 

accounting. 

‘‘(ii) Not less than 1 member shall have a background and expertise in early childhood education and 

development. 

‘‘(iii) Not less than 1 member shall be a licensed 

attorney familiar with issues that come before the governing body. 

‘‘(iv) Additional members shall— 

‘‘(I) reflect the community to be served and 

include parents of children who are currently, or 

were formerly, enrolled in Head Start programs; 

and 

‘‘(II) are selected for their expertise in education, business administration, or community 

affairs. 

‘‘(v) Exceptions shall be made to the requirements 

of clauses (i) through (iv) for members of a governing 

body when those members oversee a public entity and 

are selected to their positions with the public entity 

by public election or political appointment. 

‘‘(vi) If a person described in clause (i), (ii), or 

(iii) is not available to serve as a member of the governing body, the governing body shall use a consultant, 

Procedures. 

Procedures. 


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121 STAT. 1400 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

or an other individual with relevant expertise, with 

the qualifications described in that clause, who shall 

work directly with the governing body. 

‘‘(C) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Members of the governing body shall— 

‘‘(i) not have a financial conflict of interest with 

the Head Start agency (including any delegate agency); 

‘‘(ii) not receive compensation for serving on the 

governing body or for providing services to the Head 

Start agency; 

‘‘(iii) not be employed, nor shall members of their 

immediate family be employed, by the Head Start 

agency (including any delegate agency); and 

‘‘(iv) operate as an entity independent of staff 

employed by the Head Start agency. 

‘‘(D) EXCEPTION.—If an individual holds a position as 

a result of public election or political appointment, and 

such position carries with it a concurrent appointment 

to serve as a member of a Head Start agency governing 

body, and such individual has any conflict of interest 

described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (C)— 

‘‘(i) such individual shall not be prohibited from 

serving on such body and the Head Start agency shall 

report such conflict to the Secretary; and 

‘‘(ii) if the position held as a result of public election 

or political appointment provides compensation, such 

individual shall not be prohibited from receiving such 

compensation. 

‘‘(E) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The governing body shall— 

‘‘(i) have legal and fiscal responsibility for administering and overseeing programs under this subchapter, including the safeguarding of Federal funds; 

‘‘(ii) adopt practices that assure active, independent, and informed governance of the Head Start 

agency, including practices consistent with subsection 

(d)(1), and fully participate in the development, planning, and evaluation of the Head Start programs 

involved; 

‘‘(iii) be responsible for ensuring compliance with 

Federal laws (including regulations) and applicable 

State, tribal, and local laws (including regulations); 

and 

‘‘(iv) be responsible for other activities, including— 

‘‘(I) selecting delegate agencies and the service 

areas for such agencies; 

‘‘(II) establishing procedures and criteria for 

recruitment, selection, and enrollment of children; 

‘‘(III) reviewing all applications for funding 

and amendments to applications for funding for 

programs under this subchapter; 

‘‘(IV) establishing procedures and guidelines 

for accessing and collecting information described 

in subsection (d)(2); 

‘‘(V) reviewing and approving all major policies 

of the agency, including— 

‘‘(aa) the annual self-assessment and 

financial audit; 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1401 

‘‘(bb) such agency’s progress in carrying 

out the programmatic and fiscal provisions in 

such agency’s grant application, including 

implementation of corrective actions; and 

‘‘(cc) personnel policies of such agencies 

regarding the hiring, evaluation, termination, 

and compensation of agency employees; 

‘‘(VI) developing procedures for how members 

of the policy council are selected, consistent with 

paragraph (2)(B); 

‘‘(VII) approving financial management, 

accounting, and reporting policies, and compliance 

with laws and regulations related to financial 

statements, including the— 

‘‘(aa) approval of all major financial 

expenditures of the agency; 

‘‘(bb) annual approval of the operating 

budget of the agency; 

‘‘(cc) selection (except when a financial 

auditor is assigned by the State under State 

law or is assigned under local law) of independent financial auditors who shall report 

all critical accounting policies and practices 

to the governing body; and 

‘‘(dd) monitoring of the agency’s actions 

to correct any audit findings and of other 

action necessary to comply with applicable 

laws (including regulations) governing financial statement and accounting practices; 

‘‘(VIII) reviewing results from monitoring conducted under section 641A(c), including appropriate followup activities; 

‘‘(IX) approving personnel policies and procedures, including policies and procedures regarding 

the hiring, evaluation, compensation, and termination of the Executive Director, Head Start 

Director, Director of Human Resources, Chief 

Fiscal Officer, and any other person in an equivalent position with the agency; 

‘‘(X) establishing, adopting, and periodically 

updating written standards of conduct that establish standards and formal procedures for disclosing, addressing, and resolving— 

‘‘(aa) any conflict of interest, and any 

appearance of a conflict of interest, by members of the governing body, officers and 

employees of the Head Start agency, and 

consultants and agents who provide services 

or furnish goods to the Head Start agency; 

and 

‘‘(bb) complaints, including investigations, 

when appropriate; and 

‘‘(XI) to the extent practicable and appropriate, 

at the discretion of the governing body, establishing advisory committees to oversee key responsibilities related to program governance and 

improvement of the Head Start program involved. 


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121 STAT. 1402 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(2) POLICY COUNCIL.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with paragraph (1)(E), 

each Head Start agency shall have a policy council responsible for the direction of the Head Start program, including 

program design and operation, and long- and short-term 

planning goals and objectives, taking into account the 

annual communitywide strategic planning and needs 

assessment and self-assessment. 

‘‘(B) COMPOSITION AND SELECTION.— 

‘‘(i) The policy council shall be elected by the parents of children who are currently enrolled in the Head 

Start program of the Head Start agency. 

‘‘(ii) The policy council shall be composed of— 

‘‘(I) parents of children who are currently 

enrolled in the Head Start program of the Head 

Start agency (including any delegate agency), who 

shall constitute a majority of the members of the 

policy council; and 

‘‘(II) members at large of the community 

served by the Head Start agency (including any 

delegate agency), who may include parents of children who were formerly enrolled in the Head Start 

program of the agency. 

‘‘(C) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Members of the policy 

council shall— 

‘‘(i) not have a conflict of interest with the Head 

Start agency (including any delegate agency); and 

‘‘(ii) not receive compensation for serving on the 

policy council or for providing services to the Head 

Start agency. 

‘‘(D) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The policy council shall 

approve and submit to the governing body decisions about 

each of the following activities: 

‘‘(i) Activities to support the active involvement 

of parents in supporting program operations, including 

policies to ensure that the Head Start agency is responsive to community and parent needs. 

‘‘(ii) Program recruitment, selection, and enrollment priorities. 

‘‘(iii) Applications for funding and amendments to 

applications for funding for programs under this subchapter, prior to submission of applications described 

in this clause. 

‘‘(iv) Budget planning for program expenditures, 

including policies for reimbursement and participation 

in policy council activities. 

‘‘(v) Bylaws for the operation of the policy council. 

‘‘(vi) Program personnel policies and decisions 

regarding the employment of program staff, consistent 

with paragraph (1)(E)(iv)(IX), including standards of 

conduct for program staff, contractors, and volunteers 

and criteria for the employment and dismissal of program staff. 

‘‘(vii) Developing procedures for how members of 

the policy council of the Head Start agency will be 

elected. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1403 

‘‘(viii) Recommendations on the selection of delegate agencies and the service areas for such agencies. 

‘‘(3) POLICY COMMITTEES.—Each delegate agency shall 

create a policy committee, which shall— 

‘‘(A) be elected and composed of members, consistent 

with paragraph (2)(B) (with respect to delegate agencies); 

‘‘(B) follow procedures to prohibit conflict of interest, 

consistent with clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (2)(C) (with 

respect to delegate agencies); and 

‘‘(C) be responsible for approval and submission of 

decisions about activities as they relate to the delegate 

agency, consistent with paragraph (2)(D) (with respect to 

delegate agencies). 

‘‘(d) PROGRAM GOVERNANCE ADMINISTRATION.— ‘‘(1) IMPASSE POLICIES.—The Secretary shall develop policies, procedures, and guidance for Head Start agencies concerning— 

‘‘(A) the resolution of internal disputes, including any 

impasse in the governance of Head Start programs; and 

‘‘(B) the facilitation of meaningful consultation and 

collaboration about decisions of the governing body and 

policy council. 

‘‘(2) CONDUCT OF RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each Head Start 

agency shall ensure the sharing of accurate and regular 

information for use by the governing body and the policy 

council, about program planning, policies, and Head Start 

agency operations, including— 

‘‘(A) monthly financial statements, including credit card 

expenditures; 

‘‘(B) monthly program information summaries; 

‘‘(C) program enrollment reports, including attendance 

reports for children whose care is partially subsidized by 

another public agency; 

‘‘(D) monthly reports of meals and snacks provided 

through programs of the Department of Agriculture; 

‘‘(E) the financial audit; 

‘‘(F) the annual self-assessment, including any findings 

related to such assessment; 

‘‘(G) the communitywide strategic planning and needs 

assessment of the Head Start agency, including any 

applicable updates; 

‘‘(H) communication and guidance from the Secretary; 

and 

‘‘(I) the program information reports. 

‘‘(3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Appropriate 

training and technical assistance shall be provided to the members of the governing body and the policy council to ensure 

that the members understand the information the members 

receive and can effectively oversee and participate in the programs of the Head Start agency. 

‘‘(e) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—To be so designated, 

a Head Start agency shall collaborate and coordinate with public 

and private entities, to the maximum extent practicable, to improve 

the availability and quality of services to Head Start children and 

families, including carrying out the following activities: 

‘‘(1) Conduct outreach to schools in which children participating in the Head Start program will enroll following the 

Reports. 

Procedures. 


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121 STAT. 1404 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

program, local educational agencies, the local business community, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, 

museums, and libraries to generate support and leverage the 

resources of the entire local community in order to improve 

school readiness. 

‘‘(2)(A) In communities where both a public prekindergarten 

program and a Head Start program operate, collaborate and 

coordinate activities with the local educational agency or other 

public agency responsible for the operation of the prekindergarten program and providers of prekindergarten, including 

outreach activities to identify eligible children. 

‘‘(B) With the permission of the parents of children enrolled 

in the Head Start program, regularly communicate with the 

schools in which the children will enroll following the program, 

to— 

‘‘(i) share information about such children; 

‘‘(ii) collaborate with the teachers in such schools 

regarding professional development and instructional 

strategies, as appropriate; and 

‘‘(iii) ensure a smooth transition to school for such 

children. 

‘‘(3) Coordinate activities and collaborate with programs 

under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 

1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), the agencies responsible for 

administering section 106 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 

Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a) and parts B and E of title 

IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 670 et 

seq.), programs under subtitle B of title VII of the McKinneyVento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), Even 

Start programs under subpart 3 of part B of title I of the 

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6381 et seq.), programs under section 619 and part C of the 

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 

1431 et seq.), and other entities providing early childhood education and development programs or services, serving the children and families served by the Head Start agency. 

‘‘(4) Take steps to coordinate activities with the local educational agency serving the community involved and with 

schools in which children participating in the Head Start program will enroll following the program, including— 

‘‘(A) collaborating on the shared use of transportation 

and facilities, in appropriate cases; 

‘‘(B) collaborating to reduce the duplication and 

enhance the efficiency of services while increasing the program participation of underserved populations of eligible 

children; and 

‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provision of noneducational services to such children. 

‘‘(5) Enter into a memorandum of understanding, not later 

than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Improving 

Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, with the appropriate local entity responsible for managing publicly funded 

preschool programs in the service area of the Head Start 

agency, that shall— 

‘‘(A)(i) provide for a review of each of the activities 

described in clause (ii); and 

Memorandum. 

Deadline. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1405 

‘‘(ii) include plans to coordinate, as appropriate, activities regarding— 

‘‘(I) educational activities, curricular objectives, 

and instruction; 

‘‘(II) public information dissemination and access 

to programs for families contacting the Head Start 

program or any of the preschool programs; 

‘‘(III) selection priorities for eligible children to 

be served by programs; 

‘‘(IV) service areas; 

‘‘(V) staff training, including opportunities for joint 

staff training on topics such as academic content standards, instructional methods, curricula, and social and 

emotional development; 

‘‘(VI) program technical assistance; 

‘‘(VII) provision of additional services to meet the 

needs of working parents, as applicable; 

‘‘(VIII) communications and parent outreach for 

smooth transitions to kindergarten as required in paragraphs (3) and (6) of section 642A(a); 

‘‘(IX) provision and use of facilities, transportation, 

and other program elements; and 

‘‘(X) other elements mutually agreed to by the 

parties to such memorandum; 

‘‘(B) be submitted to the Secretary and the State 

Director of Head Start Collaboration not later than 30 

days after the parties enter into such memorandum, except 

that— 

‘‘(i) where there is an absence of publicly funded 

preschool programs in the service area of a Head Start 

agency, this paragraph shall not apply; or 

‘‘(ii) where the appropriate local entity responsible 

for managing the publicly funded preschool programs 

is unable or unwilling to enter into such a memorandum, this paragraph shall not apply and the Head 

Start agency shall inform the Secretary and the State 

Director of Head Start Collaboration of such inability 

or unwillingness; and 

‘‘(C) be revised periodically and renewed biennially 

by the parties to such memorandum, in alignment with 

the beginning of the school year. 

‘‘(f) QUALITY STANDARDS, CURRICULA, AND ASSESSMENT.—To 

be so designated, each Head Start agency shall— 

‘‘(1) take steps to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that children maintain the developmental and educational gains achieved in Head Start programs and build upon 

such gains in further schooling; 

‘‘(2) establish a program with the standards set forth in 

section 641A(a)(1), with particular attention to the standards 

set forth in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of such section; 

‘‘(3) implement a research-based early childhood curriculum 

that— 

‘‘(A) promotes young children’s school readiness in the 

areas of language and cognitive development, early reading 

and mathematics skills, socio-emotional development, physical development, and approaches to learning; 

Deadline. 


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121 STAT. 1406 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(B) is based on scientifically valid research and has 

standardized training procedures and curriculum materials 

to support implementation; 

‘‘(C) is comprehensive and linked to ongoing assessment, with developmental and learning goals and measurable objectives; 

‘‘(D) is focused on improving the learning environment, 

teaching practices, family involvement, and child outcomes 

across all areas of development; and 

‘‘(E) is aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

Framework developed by the Secretary and, as appropriate, 

State early learning standards; 

‘‘(4) implement effective interventions and support services 

that help promote the school readiness of children participating 

in the program; 

‘‘(5) use research-based assessment methods that reflect 

the characteristics described in section 641A(b)(2) in order to 

support the educational instruction and school readiness of 

children in the program; 

‘‘(6) use research-based developmental screening tools that 

have been demonstrated to be standardized, reliable, valid, 

and accurate for the child being assessed, to the maximum 

extent practicable, for the purpose of meeting the relevant 

standards described in section 641A(a)(1); 

‘‘(7) adopt, in consultation with experts in child development and with classroom teachers, an evaluation to assess 

whether classroom teachers have mastered the functions discussed in section 648A(a)(1); 

‘‘(8) use the information provided from the assessment conducted under section 641A(c)(2)(F) to inform professional 

development plans, as appropriate, that lead to improved 

teacher effectiveness; 

‘‘(9) establish goals and measurable objectives for the provision of health, educational, nutritional, and social services provided under this subchapter and related to the program mission 

and to promote school readiness; and 

‘‘(10) develop procedures for identifying children who are 

limited English proficient, and informing the parents of such 

children about the instructional services used to help children 

make progress towards acquiring the knowledge and skills 

described in section 641A(a)(1)(B) and acquisition of the English 

language. 

‘‘(g) FUNDED ENROLLMENT; WAITING LIST.—Each Head Start 

agency shall enroll 100 percent of its funded enrollment and maintain an active waiting list at all times with ongoing outreach 

to the community and activities to identify underserved populations. 

‘‘(h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING PLAN.—In order to 

receive funds under this subchapter, a Head Start agency shall 

develop an annual technical assistance and training plan. Such 

plan shall be based on the agency’s self-assessment, the communitywide strategic planning and needs assessment, the needs of parents 

and children to be served by such agency, and the results of the 

reviews conducted under section 641A(c). 

‘‘(i) FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.—In order to receive funds under 

this subchapter, a Head Start agency shall document strong fiscal 

controls, including the employment of well-qualified fiscal staff with 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1407 

a history of successful management of a public or private organization.’’. 

SEC. 10. HEAD START TRANSITION AND ALIGNMENT WITH K–12 EDUCATION. 

Section 642A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837a) is 

amended to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 642A. HEAD START TRANSITION AND ALIGNMENT WITH K–12 

EDUCATION. 

‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each Head Start agency shall take steps 

to coordinate with the local educational agency serving the community involved and with schools in which children participating in 

a Head Start program operated by such agency will enroll following 

such program to promote continuity of services and effective transitions, including— 

‘‘(1) developing and implementing a systematic procedure 

for transferring, with parental consent, Head Start program 

records for each participating child to the school in which 

such child will enroll; 

‘‘(2) establishing ongoing channels of communication 

between Head Start staff and their counterparts in the schools 

(including teachers, social workers, local educational agency 

liaisons designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)), and health staff) to facilitate coordination 

of programs; 

‘‘(3) establishing ongoing communications between the 

Head Start agency and local educational agency for developing 

continuity of developmentally appropriate curricular objectives 

(which for the purpose of the Head Start program shall be 

aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework and, 

as appropriate, State early learning standards) and for shared 

expectations for children’s learning and development as the 

children transition to school; 

‘‘(4) organizing and participating in joint training, including 

transition-related training for school staff and Head Start staff; 

‘‘(5) establishing comprehensive transition policies and 

procedures that support children transitioning to school, 

including by engaging the local educational agency in the 

establishment of such policies; 

‘‘(6) conducting outreach to parents and elementary school 

(such as kindergarten) teachers to discuss the educational, 

developmental, and other needs of individual children; 

‘‘(7) helping parents of limited English proficient children 

understand— 

‘‘(A) the instructional and other services provided by 

the school in which such child will enroll after participation 

in Head Start; and 

‘‘(B) as appropriate, the information provided to parents of limited English proficient children under section 

3302 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

1965 (20 U.S.C. 7012); 

‘‘(8) developing and implementing a family outreach and 

support program, in cooperation with entities carrying out 

parental involvement efforts under title I of the Elementary 

and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), 

and family outreach and support efforts under subtitle B of 


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title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), taking into consideration the language 

needs of parents of limited English proficient children; 

‘‘(9) assisting families, administrators, and teachers in 

enhancing educational and developmental continuity and continuity of parental involvement in activities between Head Start 

services and elementary school classes; 

‘‘(10) linking the services provided in such Head Start 

program with educational services, including services relating 

to language, literacy, and numeracy, provided by such local 

educational agency; 

‘‘(11) helping parents (including grandparents and kinship 

caregivers, as appropriate) to understand the importance of 

parental involvement in a child’s academic success while 

teaching them strategies for maintaining parental involvement 

as their child moves from Head Start to elementary school; 

‘‘(12) helping parents understand the instructional and 

other services provided by the school in which their child will 

enroll after participation in the Head Start program; 

‘‘(13) developing and implementing a system to increase 

program participation of underserved populations of eligible 

children; and 

‘‘(14) coordinating activities and collaborating to ensure 

that curricula used in the Head Start program are aligned 

with— 

‘‘(A) the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework, as 

developed by the Secretary; and 

‘‘(B) State early learning standards, as appropriate, 

with regard to cognitive, social, emotional, and physical 

competencies that children entering kindergarten are 

expected to demonstrate. 

‘‘(b) CONSTRUCTION.—In this section, a reference to a Head 

Start agency, or its program, services, facility, or personnel, shall 

not be construed to be a reference to an Early Head Start agency, 

or its program, services, facility, or personnel. 

‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall— 

‘‘(1) disseminate to Head Start agencies information on 

effective policies and activities relating to the transition of 

children from Head Start programs to public schools; and 

‘‘(2) provide technical assistance to such agencies to promote and assist such agencies to adopt and implement such 

effective policies and activities.’’. 

SEC. 11. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, COORDINATION, AND 

IMPROVEMENT. 

(a) HEAD START COLLABORATION.—The Head Start Act (42 

U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 642A 

the following: 

‘‘HEAD START COLLABORATION; STATE EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE

‘‘SEC. 642B. (a)(1) From amounts made available under section 

640(a)(2)(B)(vi), the Secretary shall award the collaboration grants 

described in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4). 

‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall award, upon submission of a written 

request, a collaboration grant to each State and to each national 

administrative office serving Indian Head Start programs and 

Grants. 

42 USC 9837b. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1409 

migrant or seasonal Head Start programs to facilitate collaboration 

among Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) 

and entities that carry out activities designed to benefit low-income 

children from birth to school entry, and their families. The national 

administrative offices shall use the funds made available through 

the grants to carry out the authorities and responsibilities described 

in subparagraph (B) and paragraphs (3) and (4), as appropriate. 

‘‘(B) Grants described in subparagraph (A) shall be used to— 

‘‘(i) assist Head Start agencies to collaborate with entities 

involved in State and local planning processes to better meet 

the needs of low-income children from birth to school entry, 

and their families; 

‘‘(ii) assist Head Start agencies to coordinate activities with 

the State agency responsible for administering the State program carried out under the Child Care and Development Block 

Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and entities providing 

resource and referral services in the State, to make fullworking-day and full calendar year services available to children; 

‘‘(iii) promote alignment of curricula used in Head Start 

programs and continuity of services with the Head Start Child 

Outcomes Framework and, as appropriate, State early learning 

standards; 

‘‘(iv) promote better linkages between Head Start agencies 

and other child and family agencies, including agencies that 

provide health, mental health, or family services, or other child 

or family supportive services, such as services provided under 

section 619 or part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); and 

‘‘(v) carry out the activities of the State Director of Head 

Start Collaboration authorized in paragraph (4). 

‘‘(3) In order to improve coordination and delivery of early 

childhood education and development to children in the State, a 

State that receives a collaboration grant under paragraph (2) shall— 

‘‘(A) appoint or designate an individual to serve as, or 

carry out the responsibilities of, the State Director of Head 

Start Collaboration; 

‘‘(B) ensure that the State Director of Head Start Collaboration holds a position with sufficient authority and access to 

ensure that the collaboration described in paragraph (2) is 

effective and involves a range of State agencies; and 

‘‘(C) involve the State Head Start Association in the selection of the Director and involve the Association in determinations relating to the ongoing direction of the collaboration office 

involved. 

‘‘(4) The State Director of Head Start Collaboration shall— 

‘‘(A) not later than 1 year after the State receives a 

collaboration grant under paragraph (2), conduct an assessment 

that— 

‘‘(i) addresses the needs of Head Start agencies in 

the State with respect to collaboration, coordination and 

alignment of services, and alignment of curricula and 

assessments used in Head Start programs with the Head 

Start Child Outcomes Framework and, as appropriate, 

State early learning standards; 

‘‘(ii) shall be updated on an annual basis; and 

Deadline. 

Assessment. 


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‘‘(iii) shall be made available to the general public 

within the State; 

‘‘(B) develop a strategic plan that is based on the assessment described in subparagraph (A) that will— 

‘‘(i) enhance collaboration and coordination of Head 

Start services by Head Start agencies with other entities 

providing early childhood education and development (such 

as child care or services offered by museums), health care, 

mental health care, welfare, child protective services, education and community service activities, family literacy 

services, reading readiness programs (including such programs offered by public and school libraries), services 

relating to children with disabilities, other early childhood 

education and development for limited English proficient 

children and homeless children, and services provided for 

children in foster care and children referred to Head Start 

programs by child welfare agencies, including agencies and 

State officials responsible for services described in this 

clause; 

‘‘(ii) assist Head Start agencies to develop a plan for 

the provision of full working-day, full calendar year services 

for children enrolled in Head Start programs who need 

such services; 

‘‘(iii) assist Head Start agencies to align curricula and 

assessments used in Head Start programs with the Head 

Start Child Outcomes Framework and, as appropriate, 

State early learning standards; 

‘‘(iv) enable Head Start agencies to better access professional development opportunities for Head Start staff, such 

as by working with Head Start agencies to enable the 

agencies to meet the degree requirements described in section 648A(a)(2)(A), including providing distance learning 

opportunities for Head Start staff, where needed to make 

higher education more accessible to Head Start staff; and 

‘‘(v) enable the Head Start agencies to better conduct 

outreach to eligible families; 

‘‘(C) promote partnerships between Head Start agencies, 

State and local governments, and the private sector to help 

ensure that children from low-income families, who are in Head 

Start programs or are preschool age, are receiving comprehensive services to prepare the children for elementary school; 

‘‘(D) consult with the chief State school officer, local educational agencies, and providers of early childhood education 

and development, at both the State and local levels; 

‘‘(E) promote partnerships between Head Start agencies, 

schools, law enforcement, relevant community-based organizations, and substance abuse and mental health treatment agencies to strengthen family and community environments and 

to reduce the impact on child development of substance abuse, 

child abuse, domestic violence, and other high-risk behaviors 

that compromise healthy development; 

‘‘(F) promote partnerships between Head Start agencies 

and other organizations in order to enhance Head Start program quality, including partnerships to promote inclusion of 

more books in Head Start classrooms; 

Strategic plan. 

Public 

information. 


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‘‘(G) identify other resources and organizations (both public 

and private) for the provision of in-kind services to Head Start 

agencies in the State; and 

‘‘(H) serve on the State Advisory Council in order to assist 

the efforts of Head Start agencies to engage in effective 

coordination and collaboration.’’. 

(b) STATE EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE.—Section 642B of the 

Head Start Act, as added by subsection (a), is amended by adding 

at the end the following: 

‘‘(b)(1)(A) The Governor of the State shall— 

‘‘(i) designate or establish a council to serve as the State 

Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care for 

children from birth to school entry (in this subchapter referred 

to as the ‘State Advisory Council’); and 

‘‘(ii) designate an individual to coordinate activities of the 

State Advisory Council, as described in subparagraph (D)(i). 

‘‘(B) The Governor may designate an existing entity in the 

State to serve as the State Advisory Council, and shall appoint 

representatives to the State Advisory Council at the Governor’s 

discretion. In designating an existing entity, the Governor shall 

take steps to ensure that its membership includes, to the extent 

possible, representatives consistent with subparagraph (C). 

‘‘(C) Members of the State Advisory Council shall include, to 

the maximum extent possible— 

‘‘(i) a representative of the State agency responsible for 

child care; 

‘‘(ii) a representative of the State educational agency; 

‘‘(iii) a representative of local educational agencies; 

‘‘(iv) a representative of institutions of higher education 

in the State; 

‘‘(v) a representative of local providers of early childhood 

education and development services; 

‘‘(vi) a representative from Head Start agencies located 

in the State, including migrant and seasonal Head Start programs and Indian Head Start programs; 

‘‘(vii) the State Director of Head Start Collaboration; 

‘‘(viii) a representative of the State agency responsible for 

programs under section 619 or part C of the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); 

‘‘(ix) a representative of the State agency responsible for 

health or mental health care; and 

‘‘(x) representatives of other entities determined to be relevant by the Governor of the State. 

‘‘(D)(i) The State Advisory Council shall, in addition to any 

responsibilities assigned to the Council by the Governor of the 

State— 

‘‘(I) conduct a periodic statewide needs assessment concerning the quality and availability of early childhood education 

and development programs and services for children from birth 

to school entry, including an assessment of the availability 

of high-quality pre-kindergarten services for low-income children in the State; 

‘‘(II) identify opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration 

and coordination among Federally-funded and State-funded 

child development, child care, and early childhood education 

programs and services, including collaboration and coordination 

Assessment. 

Establishment. 


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121 STAT. 1412 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

among State agencies responsible for administering such programs; 

‘‘(III) develop recommendations for increasing the overall 

participation of children in existing Federal, State, and local 

child care and early childhood education programs, including 

outreach to underrepresented and special populations; 

‘‘(IV) develop recommendations regarding the establishment of a unified data collection system for public early childhood education and development programs and services 

throughout the State; 

‘‘(V) develop recommendations regarding statewide professional development and career advancement plans for early 

childhood educators in the State; 

‘‘(VI) assess the capacity and effectiveness of 2- and 4- 

year public and private institutions of higher education in 

the State toward supporting the development of early childhood 

educators, including the extent to which such institutions have 

in place articulation agreements, professional development and 

career advancement plans, and practice or internships for students to spend time in a Head Start or prekindergarten program; and 

‘‘(VII) make recommendations for improvements in State 

early learning standards and undertake efforts to develop highquality comprehensive early learning standards, as appropriate. 

‘‘(ii) The State Advisory Council shall hold public hearings 

and provide an opportunity for public comment on the activities 

described in clause (i). The State Advisory Council shall submit 

a statewide strategic report addressing the activities described in 

clause (i) to the State Director of Head Start Collaboration and 

the Governor of the State. 

‘‘(iii) After submission of a statewide strategic report under 

clause (ii), the State Advisory Council shall meet periodically to 

review any implementation of the recommendations in such report 

and any changes in State and local needs. 

‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall use the portion reserved under 

section 640(a)(4)(A)(iii) to award, on a competitive basis, one-time 

startup grants of not less than $500,000 to eligible States to enable 

such States to pay for the Federal share of developing and implementing a plan pursuant to the responsibilities included under 

paragraph (1)(D)(i). A State that receives funds under this paragraph shall use such funds to facilitate the development or enhancement of high-quality systems of early childhood education and care 

designed to improve school preparedness through one or more of 

the following activities— 

‘‘(i) promoting school preparedness of children from birth 

through school entry, including activities to encourage families 

and caregivers to engage in highly interactive, developmentally 

and age-appropriate activities to improve children’s early social, 

emotional, and cognitive development, support the transition 

of young children to school, and foster parental and family 

involvement in the early education of young children; 

‘‘(ii) supporting professional development, recruitment, and 

retention initiatives for early childhood educators; 

‘‘(iii) enhancing existing early childhood education and 

development programs and services (in existence on the date 

on which the grant involved is awarded), including quality 

Grants. 

Reports. 

Public 

information. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1413 

improvement activities authorized under the Child Care and 

Development Block Grant Act of 1990; and 

‘‘(iv) carrying out other activities consistent with the State’s 

plan and application, pursuant to subparagraph (B). 

‘‘(B) To be eligible to receive a grant under this paragraph, 

a State shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a plan and 

application, for a 3-year period, at such time, in such manner, 

and containing such information as the Secretary shall require, 

including— 

‘‘(i) the statewide strategic report described in paragraph 

(1)(D)(ii), including a description of the State Advisory Council’s 

responsibilities under paragraph (1)(D)(i); 

‘‘(ii) a description, for each fiscal year, of how the State 

will make effective use of funds available under this paragraph, 

with funds described in subparagraph (C), to create an early 

childhood education and care system, by developing or 

enhancing programs and activities consistent with the statewide strategic report described in paragraph (1)(D)(i); 

‘‘(iii) a description of the State early learning standards 

and the State’s goals for increasing the number of children 

entering kindergarten ready to learn; 

‘‘(iv) information identifying the agency or joint interagency 

office, and individual, designated to carry out the activities 

under this paragraph, which may be the individual designated 

under paragraph (1)(A)(ii); and 

‘‘(v) a description of how the State plans to sustain activities 

under this paragraph beyond the grant period. 

‘‘(C) The Federal share of the cost of activities proposed to 

be conducted under subparagraph (A) shall be 30 percent, and 

the State shall provide the non-Federal share. 

‘‘(D) Funds made available under this paragraph shall be used 

to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, and local 

funds expended to carry out activities related to early childhood 

education and care in the State. 

‘‘(E) Not later than 18 months after the date a State receives 

a grant under this paragraph, the State shall submit an interim 

report to the Secretary. A State that receives a grant under this 

paragraph shall submit a final report to the Secretary at the end 

of the grant period. Each report shall include— 

‘‘(i) a description of the activities and services carried out 

under the grant, including the outcomes of such activities and 

services in meeting the needs described in the periodic needs 

assessment and statewide strategic report; 

‘‘(ii) information about how the State used such funds to 

meet the goals of this subsection through activities to develop 

or enhance high-quality systems of early childhood education 

and care, increase effectiveness of delivery systems and use 

of funds, and enhance existing programs and services; 

‘‘(iii) information regarding the remaining needs described 

in the periodic statewide needs assessment and statewide strategic report that have not yet been addressed by the State; 

and 

‘‘(iv) any other information that the Secretary may require. 

‘‘(F) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to provide 

the State Advisory Council with authority to modify, supersede, 

or negate the requirements of this subchapter.’’. 

Deadline. 

Reports. 

Reports. 

Plan. 


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121 STAT. 1414 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

SEC. 12. SUBMISSION OF PLANS. 

Section 643 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9838) is amended 

by adding at the end the following: ‘‘This section shall not apply 

to contracts, agreements, grants, loans, or other assistance for 

Indian Head Start programs or migrant or seasonal Head Start 

programs.’’. 

SEC. 13. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS. 

Section 644 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9839) is 

amended— 

(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(a)(1) Each Head Start agency shall observe standards of 

organization, management, and administration that will ensure, 

so far as reasonably possible, that all program activities are conducted in a manner consistent with the purposes of this subchapter 

and the objective of providing assistance effectively, efficiently, and 

free of any taint of partisan political bias or personal or family 

favoritism. Each such agency shall establish or adopt rules to carry 

out this section, which shall include rules to assure full staff 

accountability in matters governed by law, regulations, or agency 

policy. Each agency shall also provide for reasonable public access 

to information, including public hearings at the request of appropriate community groups and reasonable public access to books 

and records of the agency or other agencies engaged in program 

activities or operations involving the use of authority or funds 

for which it is responsible. 

‘‘(2) Each Head Start agency shall make available to the public 

a report published at least once in each fiscal year that discloses 

the following information from the most recently concluded fiscal 

year, except that reporting such information shall not reveal personally identifiable information about an individual child or parent: 

‘‘(A) The total amount of public and private funds received 

and the amount from each source. 

‘‘(B) An explanation of budgetary expenditures and proposed budget for the fiscal year. 

‘‘(C) The total number of children and families served, 

the average monthly enrollment (as a percentage of funded 

enrollment), and the percentage of eligible children served. 

‘‘(D) The results of the most recent review by the Secretary 

and the financial audit. 

‘‘(E) The percentage of enrolled children that received medical and dental exams. 

‘‘(F) Information about parent involvement activities. 

‘‘(G) The agency’s efforts to prepare children for kindergarten. 

‘‘(H) Any other information required by the Secretary. 

‘‘(3) Each such agency shall adopt for itself and other agencies 

using funds or exercising authority for which it is responsible, 

rules designed to— 

‘‘(A) establish specific standards governing salaries, salary 

increases, travel and per diem allowances, and other employee 

benefits; 

‘‘(B) assure that only persons capable of discharging their 

duties with competence and integrity are employed and that 

employees are promoted or advanced under impartial procedures calculated to improve agency performance and effectiveness; 

Public 

information. 

Reports. 


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‘‘(C) guard against personal or financial conflicts of interest; 

and 

‘‘(D) define employee duties in an appropriate manner that 

will in any case preclude employees from participating, in 

connection with the performance of their duties, in any form 

of picketing, protest, or other direct action that is in violation 

of law.’’; and 

(2) in subsection (f)— 

(A) in paragraph (2)— 

(i) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (E) 

as subparagraphs (B) through (F), respectively; and 

(ii) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as 

redesignated by clause (i), the following: 

‘‘(A) a description of the efforts by the agency to coordinate 

or collaborate with other providers in the community to seek 

assistance, including financial assistance, prior to the use of 

funds under this section;’’; and 

(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, from the amount 

reserved under section 640(a)(2)(A),’’. 

SEC. 14. PARTICIPATION IN HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

Section 645 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840) is 

amended— 

(1) in subsection (a)— 

(A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(a)(1)(A) The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe eligibility 

for the participation of persons in Head Start programs assisted 

under this subchapter. 

‘‘(B) Except as provided in paragraph (2), such regulation shall 

provide— 

‘‘(i) that children from low-income families shall be eligible 

for participation in programs assisted under this subchapter 

if their families’ incomes are below the poverty line, or if 

their families are eligible or, in the absence of child care, 

would potentially be eligible for public assistance; 

‘‘(ii) that homeless children shall be deemed to be eligible 

for such participation; 

‘‘(iii) that programs assisted under this subchapter may 

include— 

‘‘(I) to a reasonable extent (but not to exceed 10 percent 

of participants), participation of children in the area served 

who would benefit from such programs but who are not 

eligible under clause (i) or (ii); and 

‘‘(II) from the area served, an additional 35 percent 

of participants who are not eligible under clause (i) or 

(ii) and whose families have incomes below 130 percent 

of the poverty line, if— 

‘‘(aa) the Head Start agency involved establishes 

and implements outreach and enrollment policies and 

procedures that ensure such agency is meeting the 

needs of children eligible under clause (i) or (ii) (or 

subclause (I) if the child involved has a disability) 

prior to meeting the needs of children eligible under 

this subclause; and 

‘‘(bb) in prioritizing the selection of children to 

be served, the Head Start agency establishes criteria 

Regulations. 


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that provide that the agency will serve children eligible 

under clause (i) or (ii) prior to serving the children 

eligible under this subclause; 

‘‘(iv) that any Head Start agency serving children eligible 

under clause (iii)(II) shall report annually to the Secretary 

information on— 

‘‘(I) how such agency is meeting the needs of children 

eligible under clause (i) or (ii), in the area served, including 

local demographic data on families of children eligible 

under clause (i) or (ii); 

‘‘(II) the outreach and enrollment policies and procedures established by the agency that ensure the agency 

is meeting the needs of children eligible under clause (i) 

or (ii) (or clause (iii)(I) if the child involved has a disability) 

prior to meeting the needs of children eligible under clause 

(iii)(II); 

‘‘(III) the efforts, including outreach efforts (that are 

appropriate to the community involved), of such agency 

to be fully enrolled with children eligible under clause 

(i) or (ii); 

‘‘(IV) the policies, procedures, and selection criteria 

such agency is implementing to serve eligible children, 

consistent with clause (iii)(II); 

‘‘(V) the agency’s enrollment level, and enrollment level 

over the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year in which the 

report is submitted; 

‘‘(VI) the number of children served by the agency, 

disaggregated by whether such children are eligible under 

clause (i), clause (ii), clause (iii)(I), or clause (iii)(II); and 

‘‘(VII) the eligibility criteria category of the children 

on the agency’s waiting list; 

‘‘(v) that a child who has been determined to meet the 

eligibility criteria described in this subparagraph and who is 

participating in a Head Start program in a program year shall 

be considered to continue to meet the eligibility criteria through 

the end of the succeeding program year. 

‘‘(C) In determining, for purposes of this paragraph, whether 

a child who has applied for enrollment in a Head Start program 

meets the eligibility criteria, an entity may consider evidence of 

family income during the 12 months preceding the month in which 

the application is submitted, or during the calendar year preceding 

the calendar year in which the application is submitted, whichever 

more accurately reflects the needs of the family at the time of 

application.’’; and 

(B) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(3)(A) In this paragraph: 

‘‘(i) The term ‘dependent’ has the meaning given the term 

in paragraphs (2)(A) and (4)(A)(i) of section 401(a) of title 

37, United States Code. 

‘‘(ii) The terms ‘member’ and ‘uniformed services’ have the 

meanings given the terms in paragraphs (23) and (3), respectively, of section 101 of title 37, United States Code. 

‘‘(B) The following amounts of pay and allowance of a member 

of the uniformed services shall not be considered to be income 

for purposes of determining the eligibility of a dependent of such 

member for programs funded under this subchapter: 


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‘‘(i) The amount of any special pay payable under section 

310 of title 37, United States Code, relating to duty subject 

to hostile fire or imminent danger. 

‘‘(ii) The amount of basic allowance payable under section 

403 of such title, including any such amount that is provided 

on behalf of the member for housing that is acquired or constructed under the alternative authority for the acquisition 

and improvement of military housing under subchapter IV of 

chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code, or any other related 

provision of law. 

‘‘(4) After demonstrating a need through a communitywide strategic planning and needs assessment, a Head Start agency may 

apply to the Secretary to convert part-day sessions, particularly 

consecutive part-day sessions, into full-working-day sessions. 

‘‘(5)(A) Upon written request and pursuant to the requirements 

of this paragraph, a Head Start agency may use funds that were 

awarded under this subchapter to serve children age 3 to compulsory school age, in order to serve infants and toddlers if the agency 

submits an application to the Secretary containing, as specified 

in rules issued by the Secretary, all of the following information: 

‘‘(i) The amount of such funds that are proposed to be 

used in accordance with section 645A(b). 

‘‘(ii) A communitywide strategic planning and needs assessment demonstrating how the use of such funds would best 

meet the needs of the community. 

‘‘(iii) A description of how the needs of pregnant women, 

and of infants and toddlers, will be addressed in accordance 

with section 645A(b), and with regulations prescribed by the 

Secretary pursuant to section 641A in areas including the 

agency’s approach to child development and provision of health 

services, approach to family and community partnerships, and 

approach to program design and management. 

‘‘(iv) A description of how the needs of eligible children 

will be met in the community. 

‘‘(v) Assurances that the agency will participate in technical 

assistance activities (including planning, start-up site visits, 

and national training activities) in the same manner as recipients of grants under section 645A. 

‘‘(vi) Evidence that the agency meets the same eligibility 

criteria as recipients of grants under section 645A. 

‘‘(B) An application that satisfies the requirements specified 

in subparagraph (A) shall be approved by the Secretary unless 

the Secretary finds that— 

‘‘(i) the agency lacks adequate capacity and capability to 

carry out an effective Early Head Start program; or 

‘‘(ii) the information provided under subparagraph (A) is 

inadequate. 

‘‘(C) In approving such applications, the Secretary shall take 

into account the costs of serving persons under section 645A. 

‘‘(D) Any Head Start agency with an application approved under 

subparagraph (B) shall be considered to be an Early Head Start 

agency and shall be subject to the same rules, regulations, and 

conditions as apply to recipients of grants under section 645A, 

with respect to activities carried out under this paragraph.’’; 

(2) in the first sentence of subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(age 

3 to compulsory school attendance)’’; and 

(3) in subsection (d)— 


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121 STAT. 1418 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

(A) by striking paragraph (3); and 

(B) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an Indian 

tribe or tribes that operates both an Early Head Start program 

under section 645A and a Head Start program may, at its discretion, 

at any time during the grant period involved, reallocate funds 

between the Early Head Start program and the Head Start program 

in order to address fluctuations in client populations, including 

pregnant women and children from birth to compulsory school 

age. The reallocation of such funds between programs by an Indian 

tribe or tribes during a year shall not serve as the basis for the 

Secretary to reduce a base grant (as defined in section 640(a)(7)) 

for either program in succeeding years.’’. 

SEC. 15. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

Section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840a) is 

amended— 

(1) by striking the section heading and inserting the following: 

‘‘SEC. 645A. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS.’’; 

(2) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and all 

that follows through ‘‘for programs’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary shall make grants to entities (referred to in this subchapter as ‘Early Head Start agencies’) in accordance with 

this section for programs (referred to in this subchapter as 

‘Early Head Start programs’)’’; 

(3) in subsection (b)— 

(A) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(4) provide services to parents to support their role as 

parents (including parenting skills training and training in 

basic child development) and services to help the families move 

toward self-sufficiency (including educational and employment 

services, as appropriate);’’; 

(B) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(5) coordinate services with services provided by programs 

in the State (including home-based services) and programs 

in the community (including programs for infants and toddlers 

with disabilities and programs for homeless infants and toddlers) to ensure a comprehensive array of services (such as 

health and mental health services and family support services);’’; 

(C) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), (8), and (9), 

as paragraphs (7), (10), (11), and (12), respectively; 

(D) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following: 

‘‘(6) ensure that children with documented behavioral problems, including problems involving behavior related to prior 

or existing trauma, receive appropriate screening and referral;’’; 

(E) by inserting after paragraph (7), as redesignated 

by subparagraph (C), the following: 

‘‘(8) develop and implement a systematic procedure for 

transitioning children and parents from an Early Head Start 

program to a Head Start program or other local early childhood 

education and development program; 

‘‘(9) establish channels of communication between staff of 

the Early Head Start program, and staff of a Head Start 

Grants. 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 121 STAT. 1419 

program or other local providers of early childhood education 

and development programs, to facilitate the coordination of 

programs;’’; and 

(F) by striking paragraph (11), as redesignated by 

subparagraph (C), and inserting the following: 

‘‘(11) ensure formal linkages with providers of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities under 

the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 

et seq.), with the State interagency coordinating council, as 

established in part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), and with the agency responsible for administering section 106 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a);’’; 

(4) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘income criteria specified 

for families in section 645(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘eligibility criteria specified in section 645(a)(1), including the criteria specified in section 645(a)(1)(B)(ii)’’; 

(5) in subsection (d), by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) 

and inserting the following: 

‘‘(1) entities operating Head Start programs under this 

subchapter; 

‘‘(2) entities operating Indian Head Start programs or 

migrant or seasonal Head Start programs; and 

‘‘(3) other public entities, and nonprofit or for-profit private 

entities, including community-based and faith-based organizations, capable of providing child and family services that meet 

the standards for participation in programs under this subchapter and meet such other appropriate requirements relating 

to the activities under this section as the Secretary may establish.’’; 

(6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘From’’ and all that follows 

through ‘‘under this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary 

shall award grants under this section’’; 

(7) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(g) MONITORING, TRAINING, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND

EVALUATION.— 

‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—In order to ensure the successful operation of programs assisted under this section, the Secretary 

shall use funds made available under section 640(a)(2)(E) to 

monitor the operation of such programs, and funds made available under section 640(a)(2)(C)(i)(I) to provide training and 

technical assistance tailored to the particular needs of such 

programs, consistent with section 640(c). 

‘‘(2) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

‘‘(A) ACTIVITIES.—Of the portion set aside under section 

640(a)(2)(C)(i)(I)— 

‘‘(i) not less than 50 percent shall be made available to Early Head Start agencies to use directly, which 

may include, at their discretion, the establishment of 

local or regional agreements with community experts, 

institutions of higher education, or private consultants, 

for training and technical assistance activities in order 

to make program improvements identified by such 

agencies; 

‘‘(ii) not less than 25 percent shall be available 

to the Secretary to support a State-based training and 

technical assistance system, or a national system, 


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121 STAT. 1420 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

described in section 648(e), including infant and toddler 

specialists, to support Early Head Start agencies, consistent with subparagraph (B); and 

‘‘(iii) the remainder of such amount shall be made 

available to the Secretary to assist Early Head Start 

agencies in meeting and exceeding the standards 

described in section 641A(a)(1) (directly, or through 

grants, contracts, or other agreements or arrangements 

with an entity with demonstrated expertise relating 

to infants, toddlers, and families) by— 

‘‘(I) providing ongoing training and technical 

assistance to Early Head Start agencies, including 

developing training and technical assistance materials and resources to support program development and improvement and best practices in providing services to children and families served by 

Early Head Start programs; 

‘‘(II) supporting a national network of infant 

and toddler specialists designed to improve the 

quality of Early Head Start programs; 

‘‘(III) providing ongoing training and technical 

assistance on Early Head Start program development and improvement for regional staff charged 

with monitoring and overseeing the administration 

of the program carried out under this section; and 

‘‘(IV) if funds remain after the activities 

described in subclauses (I), (II), and (III) are carried out, carry out 1 or more of the following 

activities: 

‘‘(aa) Providing support and program planning and implementation assistance for new 

Early Head Start agencies, including for agencies who want to use funds as described in 

section 645(a)(5) to serve infants and toddlers. 

‘‘(bb) Creating special training and technical assistance initiatives targeted to serving 

high-risk populations, such as children in the 

child welfare system and homeless children. 

‘‘(cc) Providing professional development 

designed to increase program participation for 

underserved populations of eligible children. 

‘‘(B) CONTRACTS.—For the purposes of supporting a 

State-based system, as described in subparagraph (A)(ii), 

that will meet the needs of Early Head Start agencies 

and provide high-quality, sustained, and intensive training 

and technical assistance on programming for infants and 

toddlers to Early Head Start agencies, and in order to 

help such agencies meet or exceed the standards described 

in section 641A(a)(1), the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(i) use funds reserved under subparagraph (A)(ii) 

in combination with funds reserved under section 

640(a)(2)(C)(i)(II)(bb) to ensure the contracts described 

in section 648(e)(1) provide for a minimum of 1 fulltime specialist with demonstrated expertise in the 

development of infants and toddlers; and 


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‘‘(ii) ensure that such contracts and the services 

provided in the contracts are integrated with and augment the contracts awarded and services provided 

under section 648(e);’’; and 

(8) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(h) CENTER-BASED STAFF.—The Secretary shall— 

‘‘(1) ensure that, not later than September 30, 2010, all 

teachers providing direct services to children and families 

participating in Early Head Start programs located in Early 

Head Start centers, have a minimum of a child development 

associate credential, and have been trained (or have equivalent 

coursework) in early childhood development; and 

‘‘(2) establish staff qualification goals to ensure that not 

later than September 30, 2012, all such teachers have been 

trained (or have equivalent coursework) in early childhood 

development with a focus on infant and toddler development. 

‘‘(i) STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

‘‘(1) HOME VISITOR STAFF STANDARDS.—In order to further 

enhance the quality of home visiting services provided to families of children participating in home-based, center-based, or 

combination program options under this subchapter, the Secretary shall establish standards for training, qualifications, and 

the conduct of home visits for home visitor staff in Early Head 

Start programs. 

‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF STANDARDS.—The standards for training, 

qualifications, and the conduct of home visits shall include 

content related to— 

‘‘(A) structured child-focused home visiting that promotes parents’ ability to support the child’s cognitive, 

social, emotional, and physical development; 

‘‘(B) effective strengths-based parent education, 

including methods to encourage parents as their child’s 

first teachers; 

‘‘(C) early childhood development with respect to children from birth through age 3; 

‘‘(D) methods to help parents promote emergent literacy 

in their children from birth through age 3, including use 

of research-based strategies to support the development 

of literacy and language skills for children who are limited 

English proficient; 

‘‘(E) ascertaining what health and developmental services the family receives and working with providers of 

these services to eliminate gaps in service by offering 

annual health, vision, hearing, and developmental 

screening for children from birth to entry into kindergarten, 

when needed; 

‘‘(F) strategies for helping families coping with crisis; 

and 

‘‘(G) the relationship of health and well-being of pregnant women to prenatal and early child development.’’. 

SEC. 16. APPEALS, NOTICE, AND HEARING. 

Section 646(a) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9841(a)) is 

amended— 

(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 

‘‘procedures to assure that’’; 

Deadlines. 


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121 STAT. 1422 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

(2) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by inserting ‘‘procedures 

to assure that’’ after the paragraph designation; 

(3) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4) and inserting the 

following: 

‘‘(3) procedures to assure that financial assistance under 

this subchapter may be terminated or reduced, and an application for refunding may be denied, after the recipient has been 

afforded reasonable notice and opportunity for a full and fair 

hearing, including— 

‘‘(A) a right to file a notice of appeal of a decision 

not later than 30 days after notice of the decision from 

the Secretary; and 

‘‘(B) access to a full and fair hearing of the appeal, 

not later than 120 days after receipt by the Secretary 

of the notice of appeal; 

‘‘(4) procedures (including mediation procedures) are developed and published, to be used in order to— 

‘‘(A) resolve in a timely manner conflicts potentially 

leading to an adverse action between— 

‘‘(i) recipients of financial assistance under this 

subchapter; and 

‘‘(ii) delegate agencies, or policy councils of Head 

Start agencies; 

‘‘(B) avoid the need for an administrative hearing on 

an adverse action; and 

‘‘(C) prohibit a Head Start agency from expending 

financial assistance awarded under this subchapter for the 

purpose of paying legal fees, or other costs incurred, pursuant to an appeal under paragraph (3); 

‘‘(5) procedures to assure that the Secretary may suspend 

financial assistance to a recipient under this subchapter— 

‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), for not 

more than 30 days; or 

‘‘(B) in the case of a recipient under this subchapter 

that has multiple and recurring deficiencies for 180 days 

or more and has not made substantial and significant 

progress toward meeting the goals of the grantee’s quality 

improvement plan or eliminating all deficiencies identified 

by the Secretary, during the hearing of an appeal described 

in paragraph (3), for any amount of time; and 

‘‘(6) procedures to assure that in cases where a Head Start 

agency prevails in a decision under paragraph (4), the Secretary 

may determine and provide a reimbursement to the Head Start 

agency for fees deemed reasonable and customary.’’. 

SEC. 17. RECORDS AND AUDITS. 

Section 647 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9842) is amended 

by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(c) Each recipient of financial assistance under this subchapter 

shall— 

‘‘(1) maintain, and annually submit to the Secretary, a 

complete accounting of the recipient’s administrative expenses 

(including a detailed statement identifying the amount of financial assistance provided under this subchapter used to pay 

expenses for salaries and compensation and the amount (if 

any) of other funds used to pay such expenses); 

Deadlines. 


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‘‘(2) not later than 30 days after the date of completion 

of an audit conducted in the manner and to the extent provided 

in chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code (commonly known 

as the ‘Single Audit Act of 1984’), submit to the Secretary 

a copy of the audit management letter and of any audit findings 

as they relate to the Head Start program; and 

‘‘(3) provide such additional documentation as the Secretary 

may require.’’. 

SEC. 18. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

Section 648 of the of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843) 

is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 648. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

‘‘(a) SECRETARIAL TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—From the funds provided under section 

640(a)(2)(C)(i), the Secretary shall provide, directly or through 

grants, contracts, or other agreements or arrangements as the 

Secretary considers appropriate, technical assistance and 

training for Head Start programs for the purposes of improving 

program quality and helping prepare children to succeed in 

school. 

‘‘(2) PROCESS.—The process for determining the technical 

assistance and training activities to be carried out under this 

section shall— 

‘‘(A) ensure that the needs of local Head Start agencies 

and programs relating to improving program quality and 

to program expansion are addressed to the maximum 

extent practicable; and 

‘‘(B) incorporate mechanisms to ensure responsiveness 

to local needs, including an ongoing procedure for obtaining 

input from the individuals and agencies carrying out Head 

Start programs. 

‘‘(3) ACTIVITIES.—In providing training and technical assistance and for allocating resources for such assistance under 

this section, the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(A) give priority consideration to— 

‘‘(i) activities to correct program and management 

deficiencies identified through reviews carried out 

pursuant to section 641A(c) (including the provision 

of assistance to local programs in the development 

of quality improvement plans under section 

641A(d)(2)); 

‘‘(ii) assisting Head Start agencies in ensuring the 

school readiness of children; and 

‘‘(iii) activities that supplement those funded with 

amounts provided under section 640(a)(5)(B) to address 

the training and career development needs of classroom 

staff (including instruction for providing services to 

children with disabilities, and for activities described 

in section 1222(d) of the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act of 1965), and non-classroom staff, 

including home visitors and other staff working directly 

with families, including training relating to increasing 

parent involvement and services designed to increase 

family literacy and improve parenting skills; and 

‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable— 

Grants. 

Contracts. 

Deadline. 


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121 STAT. 1424 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(i) assist Head Start agencies in the development 

of collaborative initiatives with States and other entities within the States, to foster effective professional 

development systems for early childhood education and 

development services; 

‘‘(ii) provide technical assistance and training, 

either directly or through a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement with an entity that has experience in 

the development and operation of successful family 

literacy services programs, for the purpose of— 

‘‘(I) assisting Head Start agencies providing 

family literacy services, in order to improve the 

quality of such family literacy services; and 

‘‘(II) enabling those Head Start agencies that 

demonstrate effective provision of family literacy 

services, based on improved outcomes for children 

and their parents, to provide technical assistance 

and training to other Head Start agencies and 

to service providers that work in collaboration with 

such agencies to provide family literacy services; 

‘‘(iii) assist Head Start agencies and programs in 

conducting and participating in communitywide strategic planning and needs assessments, including the 

needs of homeless children and their families, and 

in conducting self-assessments; 

‘‘(iv) assist Head Start agencies and programs in 

developing and implementing full-working-day and full 

calendar year programs where community need is 

clearly identified and making the transition to such 

programs, with particular attention to involving parents and programming for children throughout the day, 

and assist the agencies and programs in expediting 

the sharing of information about innovative models 

for providing full-working-day, full calendar year services for children; 

‘‘(v) assist Head Start agencies in better serving 

the needs of families with very young children, 

including providing support and program planning and 

implementation assistance for Head Start agencies that 

apply to serve or are serving additional infants and 

toddlers, in accordance with section 645(a)(5); 

‘‘(vi) assist Head Start agencies and programs in 

the development of sound management practices, 

including financial management procedures; 

‘‘(vii) assist in efforts to secure and maintain adequate facilities for Head Start programs; 

‘‘(viii) assist Head Start agencies in developing 

innovative program models, including mobile and 

home-based programs; 

‘‘(ix) provide support for Head Start agencies 

(including policy councils and policy committees) that 

meet the standards described in section 641A(a) but 

that have, as documented by the Secretary through 

reviews conducted pursuant to section 641A(c), programmatic, quality, and fiscal issues to address; 


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‘‘(x) assist Head Start agencies and programs in 

improving outreach to, increasing program participation of, and improving the quality of services available 

to meet the unique needs of— 

‘‘(I) homeless children; 

‘‘(II) limited English proficient children and 

their families, particularly in communities that 

have experienced a large percentage increase in 

the population of limited English proficient individuals, as measured by the Bureau of the Census; 

and 

‘‘(III) children with disabilities, particularly if 

such program’s enrollment opportunities or funded 

enrollment for children with disabilities is less 

than 10 percent; 

‘‘(xi) assist Head Start agencies and programs to 

increase the capacity of classroom staff to meet the 

needs of eligible children in Head Start classrooms 

that are serving both children with disabilities and 

children without disabilities; 

‘‘(xii) assist Head Start agencies and programs to 

address the unique needs of programs located in rural 

communities, including— 

‘‘(I) removing barriers related to the recruitment and retention of Head Start teachers in rural 

communities; 

‘‘(II) developing innovative and effective 

models of professional development for improving 

staff qualifications and skills for staff living in 

rural communities; 

‘‘(III) removing barriers related to outreach 

efforts to eligible families in rural communities; 

‘‘(IV) removing barriers to parent involvement 

in Head Start programs in rural communities; 

‘‘(V) removing barriers to providing home visiting services in rural communities; and 

‘‘(VI) removing barriers to obtaining health 

screenings for Head Start participants in rural 

communities; 

‘‘(xiii) provide training and technical assistance to 

members of governing bodies, policy councils, and, as 

appropriate, policy committees, to ensure that the 

members can fulfill their functions; 

‘‘(xiv) provide activities that help ensure that Head 

Start programs have qualified staff who can promote 

prevention of childhood obesity by integrating developmentally appropriate research-based initiatives that 

stress the importance of physical activity and healthy, 

nutritional choices in daily classroom and family routines; 

‘‘(xv) assist Indian Head Start agencies to provide 

on-site and off-site training to staff, using approaches 

that identify and enhance the positive resources and 

strengths of Indian children and families, to improve 

parent and family engagement and staff development, 

particularly with regard to child and family development; and 


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121 STAT. 1426 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(xvi) assisting Head Start agencies in selecting 

and using the measures described in section 641A(b). 

‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall provide, either 

directly or through grants, contracts or other arrangements, funds 

from section 640(a)(2)(C)(i)(II)(cc) to— 

‘‘(1) support an organization to administer a centralized 

child development and national assessment program leading 

to recognized credentials for personnel working in early childhood education and development programs; and 

‘‘(2) support training for personnel— 

‘‘(A) providing services to limited English proficient 

children and their families (including services to promote 

the acquisition of the English language); 

‘‘(B) providing services to children determined to be 

abused or neglected or children referred by or receiving 

child welfare services; 

‘‘(C) in helping children cope with community violence; 

‘‘(D) to recognize common health, including mental 

health, problems in children for appropriate referral; 

‘‘(E) to address the needs of children with disabilities 

and their families; 

‘‘(F) to address the needs of migrant and seasonal 

farmworker families; and 

‘‘(G) to address the needs of homeless families. 

‘‘(c) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall develop and implement 

a program of outreach to recruit and train professionals from diverse 

backgrounds to become Head Start teachers in order to reflect 

the communities in which Head Start children live and to increase 

the provision of quality services and instruction to children with 

diverse backgrounds. 

‘‘(d) FUNDS TO AGENCIES.—Funds made available under section 

640(a)(2)(C)(i)(II)(aa) shall be used by a Head Start agency to provide high-quality, sustained, and intensive training and technical 

assistance as follows: 

‘‘(1) For 1 or more of the following: 

‘‘(A) Activities that ensure that Head Start programs 

meet or exceed the standards described in section 

641A(a)(1). 

‘‘(B) Activities that ensure that Head Start programs 

have adequate numbers of trained, qualified staff who have 

skills in working with children and families, including children and families who are limited English proficient and 

children with disabilities and their families. 

‘‘(C) Activities to improve the management and 

implementation of Head Start services and systems, 

including direct training for expert consultants working 

with staff. 

‘‘(D) Activities that help ensure that Head Start programs have qualified staff who can promote language skills 

and literacy growth of children and who can provide children with a variety of skills that have been identified 

as predictive of later reading achievement, school success, 

and the skills, knowledge, abilities, development, and 

progress described in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii). 

‘‘(E) Activities to improve staff qualifications and to 

assist with the implementation of career development programs and to encourage the staff to continually improve 


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their skills and expertise, including developing partnerships with programs that recruit, train, place, and support 

college students in Head Start centers to deliver an innovative early learning program to preschool children. 

‘‘(F) Activities that help local programs ensure that 

the arrangement, condition, and implementation of the 

learning environments in Head Start programs are conducive to providing effective program services to children 

and families. 

‘‘(G) Activities to provide training necessary to improve 

the qualifications of Head Start staff and to support staff 

training, child counseling, health services, and other services necessary to address the needs of children enrolled 

in Head Start programs, including children from families 

in crises, children who experience chronic violence or 

homelessness, children who experience substance abuse in 

their families, and children under 3 years of age, where 

applicable. 

‘‘(H) Activities to provide classes or in-service-type programs to improve or enhance parenting skills, job skills, 

and adult and family literacy, including financial literacy, 

or training to become a classroom aide or bus driver in 

a Head Start program. 

‘‘(I) Additional activities deemed appropriate to the 

improvement of Head Start programs, as determined by 

the technical assistance and training plans of the Head 

Start agencies. 

‘‘(2) To support enhanced early language and literacy 

development of children in Head Start programs, and to provide 

the children with high-quality oral language skills and with 

environments that are rich in literature in which to acquire 

language and early literacy skills. Each Head Start agency, 

in consultation with the State-based training and technical 

assistance system, as appropriate, shall ensure that— 

‘‘(A) all of the agency’s Head Start teachers receive 

ongoing training in language and emergent literacy 

(referred to in this subsection as ‘literacy training’), 

including appropriate curricula and assessment to improve 

instruction and learning; 

‘‘(B) such literacy training shall include training in 

methods to promote vocabulary development and phonological awareness (including phonemic awareness) in a 

developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate 

manner and support children’s development in their native 

language; 

‘‘(C) the literacy training shall include training in how 

to work with parents to enhance positive language and 

early literacy development at home; 

‘‘(D) the literacy training shall include specific methods 

to best address the needs of children who are limited 

English proficient; 

‘‘(E) the literacy training shall include training on how 

to best address the language and literacy needs of children 

with disabilities, including training on how to work with 

specialists in language development; and 


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121 STAT. 1428 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(F) the literacy training shall be tailored to the early 

childhood literacy background and experience of the 

teachers involved; 

except that funds made available under section 640(a)(2)(C)(i) 

shall not be used for long-distance travel expenses for training 

activities available locally or regionally or for training activities 

substantially similar to locally or regionally available training 

activities. 

‘‘(e) STATE-BASED TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

SYSTEM.—For the purposes of delivering a State-based training 

and technical assistance system (which may include a consortium 

of 2 or more States within a region) or a national system in 

the case of migrant or seasonal Head Start and Indian Head Start 

programs, as described in section 640(a)(2)(C)(i)(II)(bb), that will 

meet the needs of local grantees, as determined by such grantees, 

and provide high-quality, sustained, and intensive training and 

technical assistance to Head Start agencies and programs in order 

to improve their capacity to deliver services that meet or exceed 

the standards described in section 641A(a)(1), the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(1) enter into contracts in each State with 1 or more 

entities that have a demonstrated expertise in supporting the 

delivery of high-quality early childhood education and development programs, except that contracts for a consortium of 2 

or more States within a geographic region may be entered 

into if such a system is more appropriate to better meet the 

needs of local grantees within a region, as determined by such 

grantees; 

‘‘(2) ensure that the entities described in subparagraph 

(1) determine the types of services to be provided through 

consultation with— 

‘‘(A) local Head Start agencies (including Indian Head 

Start agencies and migrant or seasonal Head Start agencies, as appropriate); 

‘‘(B) the State Head Start collaboration office; and 

‘‘(C) the State Head Start Association; 

‘‘(3) encourage States to supplement the funds authorized 

in section 640(a)(2)(C)(i)(II)(bb) with Federal, State, or local 

funds other than funds made available under this subchapter, 

to expand training and technical assistance activities beyond 

Head Start agencies to include other providers of other early 

childhood education and development programs within a State; 

‘‘(4) provide a report to the Committee on Education and 

Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, not 

later than 90 days after the end of the fiscal year, summarizing 

the funding for such contracts and the activities carried out 

thereunder; 

‘‘(5) periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the delivery 

of services in each State in promoting program quality; and 

‘‘(6) ensure that in entering into such contracts as described 

in paragraph (1), such entities will address the needs of 

grantees in both urban and rural communities. 

‘‘(f) INDOOR AIR QUALITY.—The Secretary shall consult with 

appropriate Federal agencies and other experts, as appropriate, 

on issues of air quality related to children’s health and inform 

Head Start agencies of existing programs or combination of programs that provide methods for improving indoor air quality. 

Reports. 

Deadline. 


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‘‘(g) CAREER ADVANCEMENT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.— 

‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—From amounts allocated under section 

640(a)(2)(C) the Secretary is authorized to award demonstration 

grants, for a period of not less than 5 years, to historically 

Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, 

and Tribal Colleges and Universities— 

‘‘(A) to implement education programs that increase 

the number of associate, baccalaureate, and graduate 

degrees in early childhood education and related fields 

that are earned by Head Start agency staff members, parents of children served by such agencies, and members 

of the communities involved; 

‘‘(B) to provide assistance for stipends and costs related 

to tuition, fees, and books for enrolling Head Start agency 

staff members, parents of children served by such an 

agency, and members of the communities involved in 

courses required to complete the degree and certification 

requirement to become teachers in early childhood education and related fields; 

‘‘(C) to develop program curricula to promote highquality services and instruction to children with diverse 

backgrounds, including— 

‘‘(i) in the case of historically Black colleges and 

universities, to help Head Start Agency staff members 

develop skills and expertise needed to teach in programs serving large numbers of African American children; 

‘‘(ii) in the case of Hispanic-serving institutions, 

programs to help Head Start Agency staff members 

develop skills and expertise needed to teach in programs serving large numbers of Hispanic children, 

including programs to develop the linguistic skills and 

expertise needed to teach in programs serving a large 

number of children with limited English proficiency; 

and 

‘‘(iii) in the case of Tribal Colleges and Universities, to help Head Start Agency staff members 

develop skills and expertise needed to teach in programs serving large numbers of Indian children, 

including programs concerning tribal culture and language; 

‘‘(D) to provide other activities to upgrade the skills 

and qualifications of educational personnel to meet the 

professional standards in subsection (a) to better promote 

high-quality services and instruction to children and parents from populations served by historically Black colleges 

and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, or Tribal 

Colleges and Universities; 

‘‘(E) to provide technology literacy programs for Indian 

Head Start agency staff members and families of children 

served by such agency; and 

‘‘(F) to develop and implement the programs described 

under subparagraph (A) in technology-mediated formats, 

including through such means as distance learning and 

use of advanced technology, as appropriate. 

Minorities. 


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121 STAT. 1430 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(2) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall, using 

resources within the Department of Health and Human Services— 

‘‘(A) provide appropriate technical assistance to historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving 

institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities receiving 

grants under this section, including coordinating with the 

White House Initiative on historically Black colleges and 

universities; and 

‘‘(B) ensure that the American Indian Programs Branch 

of the Office of Head Start of the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human 

Services can effectively administer the programs under 

this section and provide appropriate technical assistance 

to Tribal Colleges and Universities under this section. 

‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—Each historically Black college or 

university, Hispanic-serving institution, or Tribal College or 

University desiring a grant under this section shall submit 

an application, in partnership with at least 1 Head Start agency 

enrolling large numbers of students from the populations served 

by historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving 

institutions, or Tribal Colleges and Universities, to the Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

information as the Secretary may require, including a certification that the institution of higher education has established 

a formal partnership with 1 or more Head Start agencies for 

the purposes of conducting the activities described in paragraph 

(1). 

‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

‘‘(A) The term ‘Hispanic-serving institution’ has the 

meaning given such term in section 502 of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a). 

‘‘(B) The term ‘historically Black college or university’ 

has the meaning given the term ‘part B institution’ in 

section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

U.S.C. 1061(2)). 

‘‘(C) The term ‘Tribal College or University’ has the 

meaning given such term in section 316(b) of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)). 

‘‘(5) TEACHING REQUIREMENT.—A student at an institution 

receiving a grant under this subsection who receives assistance 

under a program funded under this subsection shall teach 

in a center-based Head Start program for a period of time 

equivalent to the period for which they received assistance 

or shall repay such assistance.’’. 

SEC. 19. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT. 

Section 648A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843a) is 

amended— 

(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows: 

‘‘(a) CLASSROOM TEACHERS.— ‘‘(1) PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall 

ensure that each Head Start classroom in a center-based program is assigned 1 teacher who has demonstrated competency 

to perform functions that include— 

‘‘(A) planning and implementing learning experiences 

that advance the intellectual and physical development 


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of children, including improving the readiness of children 

for school by developing their literacy, phonemic, and print 

awareness, their understanding and use of language, their 

understanding and use of increasingly complex and varied 

vocabulary, their appreciation of books, their understanding 

of early math and early science, their problem-solving abilities, and their approaches to learning; 

‘‘(B) establishing and maintaining a safe, healthy 

learning environment; 

‘‘(C) supporting the social and emotional development 

of children; and 

‘‘(D) encouraging the involvement of the families of 

the children in a Head Start program and supporting the 

development of relationships between children and their 

families. 

‘‘(2) DEGREE REQUIREMENTS.— 

‘‘(A) HEAD START TEACHERS.—The Secretary shall 

ensure that not later than September 30, 2013, at least 

50 percent of Head Start teachers nationwide in centerbased programs have— 

‘‘(i) a baccalaureate or advanced degree in early 

childhood education; or 

‘‘(ii) a baccalaureate or advanced degree and 

coursework equivalent to a major relating to early 

childhood education, with experience teaching preschool-age children. 

‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL STAFF.—The Secretary shall ensure 

that, not later than September 30, 2013, all— 

‘‘(i) Head Start education coordinators, including 

those that serve as curriculum specialists, nationwide 

in center-based programs— 

‘‘(I) have the capacity to offer assistance to 

other teachers in the implementation and adaptation of curricula to the group and individual needs 

of children in a Head Start classroom; and 

‘‘(II) have— 

‘‘(aa) a baccalaureate or advanced degree 

in early childhood education; or 

‘‘(bb) a baccalaureate or advanced degree 

and coursework equivalent to a major relating 

to early childhood education, with experience 

teaching preschool-age children; and 

‘‘(ii) Head Start teaching assistants nationwide in 

center-based programs have— 

‘‘(I) at least a child development associate 

credential; 

‘‘(II) enrolled in a program leading to an associate or baccalaureate degree; or 

‘‘(III) enrolled in a child development associate 

credential program to be completed within 2 years. 

‘‘(C) PROGRESS.— 

‘‘(i) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall— 

‘‘(I) require Head Start agencies to— 

‘‘(aa) describe continuing progress each 

year toward achieving the goals described in 

subparagraphs (A) and (B); and 

Reports. 

Deadlines. 


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‘‘(bb) annually submit to the Secretary a 

report indicating the number and percentage 

of classroom personnel described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) in center-based programs 

with child development associate credentials 

or associate, baccalaureate, or advanced 

degrees; 

‘‘(II) compile and submit a summary of all 

program reports described in subclause (I)(bb) to 

the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

House of Representatives and the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

Senate; and 

‘‘(III) not impose any penalties or sanctions 

on any individual Head Start agency, program, 

or staff in the monitoring of local agencies and 

programs under this subchapter not meeting the 

requirements of subparagraph (A) or (B). 

‘‘(D) CONSTRUCTION.—In this paragraph a reference 

to a Head Start agency, or its program, services, facility, 

or personnel, shall not be considered to be a reference 

to an Early Head Start agency, or its program, services, 

facility, or personnel. 

‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE CREDENTIALING AND DEGREE REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall ensure that, for center-based programs, each Head Start classroom that does not have a teacher 

who meets the qualifications described in clause (i) or (ii) of 

paragraph (2)(A) is assigned one teacher who has the following 

during the period specified: 

‘‘(A) Through September 30, 2011— 

‘‘(i) a child development associate credential that 

is appropriate to the age of children being served in 

center-based programs; 

‘‘(ii) a State-awarded certificate for preschool 

teachers that meets or exceeds the requirements for 

a child development associate credential; 

‘‘(iii) an associate degree in early childhood education; 

‘‘(iv) an associate degree in a related field and 

coursework equivalent to a major relating to early 

childhood education, with experience teaching preschool-age children; or 

‘‘(v) a baccalaureate degree and has been admitted 

into the Teach For America program, passed a rigorous 

early childhood content exam, such as the Praxis II, 

participated in a Teach For America summer training 

institute that includes teaching preschool children, and 

is receiving ongoing professional development and support from Teach For America’s professional staff. 

‘‘(B) As of October 1, 2011— 

‘‘(i) an associate degree in early childhood education; 

‘‘(ii) an associate degree in a related field and 

coursework equivalent to a major relating to early 

childhood education, with experience teaching preschool-age children; or 

Deadlines. 


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‘‘(iii) a baccalaureate degree and has been admitted 

into the Teach For America program, passed a rigorous 

early childhood content exam, such as the Praxis II, 

participated in a Teach For America summer training 

institute that includes teaching preschool children, and 

is receiving ongoing professional development and support from Teach For America’s professional staff. 

‘‘(4) WAIVER.—On request, the Secretary shall grant— 

‘‘(A) through September 30, 2011, a 180-day waiver 

ending on or before September 30, 2011, of the requirements of paragraph (3)(A) for a Head Start agency that 

can demonstrate that the agency has attempted unsuccessfully to recruit an individual who has the qualifications 

described in any of clauses (i) through (iv) of paragraph 

(3)(A) with respect to an individual who— 

‘‘(i) is enrolled in a program that grants a credential, certificate, or degree described in clauses (i) 

through (iv) of paragraph (3)(A); and 

‘‘(ii) will receive such credential, certificate, or 

degree under the terms of such program not later 

than 180 days after beginning employment as a teacher 

with such agency; and 

‘‘(B) as of October 1, 2011, a 3-year waiver of the 

requirements of paragraph (3)(B) for a Head Start agency 

that can demonstrate that— 

‘‘(i) the agency has attempted unsuccessfully to 

recruit an individual who has the qualifications 

described in clause (i) or (ii) of such paragraph, with 

respect to an individual who is enrolled in a program 

that grants a degree described in clause (i) or (ii) 

of such paragraph and will receive such degree in 

a reasonable time; and 

‘‘(ii) each Head Start classroom has a teacher who 

has, at a minimum— 

‘‘(I) a child development associate credential 

that is appropriate to the age of children being 

served in center-based programs; or 

‘‘(II) a State-awarded certificate for preschool 

teachers that meets or exceeds the requirements 

for a child development associate credential. 

‘‘(5) TEACHER IN-SERVICE REQUIREMENT.—Each Head Start 

teacher shall attend not less than 15 clock hours of professional 

development per year. Such professional development shall be 

high-quality, sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused in 

order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom 

instruction and the teacher’s performance in the classroom, 

and regularly evaluated by the program for effectiveness. 

‘‘(6) SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall establish 

requirements to ensure that, in order to enable Head Start 

agencies to comply with the requirements of paragraph (2)(A), 

individuals who receive financial assistance under this subchapter to pursue a degree described in paragraph (2)(A) shall— 

‘‘(A) teach or work in a Head Start program for a 

minimum of 3 years after receiving the degree; or 

‘‘(B) repay the total or a prorated amount of the financial assistance received based on the length of service completed after receiving the degree. 


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‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary shall require that any 

Federal funds provided directly or indirectly to comply with 

paragraph (2)(A) shall be used toward degrees awarded by 

an institution of higher education, as defined by section 101 

or 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 

1002).’’; 

(2) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows: 

‘‘(c) FAMILY SERVICE WORKERS.—To improve the quality and 

effectiveness of staff providing in-home and other services (including 

needs assessment, development of service plans, family advocacy, 

and coordination of service delivery) to families of children participating in Head Start programs, the Secretary, in coordination with 

concerned public and private agencies and organizations examining 

the issues of standards and training for family service workers, 

shall— 

‘‘(1) review and, as necessary, revise or develop new qualification standards for Head Start staff providing such services; 

‘‘(2) review, and as necessary, revise or develop maximum 

caseload requirements, as suggested by best practices; 

‘‘(3) promote the development of model curricula (on subjects including parenting training and family literacy) designed 

to ensure the attainment of appropriate competencies by 

individuals working or planning to work in the field of early 

childhood and family services; 

‘‘(4) promote the establishment of a credential that 

indicates attainment of the competencies and that is accepted 

nationwide; and 

‘‘(5) promote the use of appropriate strategies to meet the 

needs of special populations (including populations of limited 

English proficient children).’’; 

(3) in subsection (d)— 

(A) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting ‘‘(including a 

center)’’ after ‘‘agency’’; and 

(B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘amounts appropriated 

under this subchapter and allotted under section 

640(a)(2)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘amounts made available under 

section 640(a)(2)(E)’’; and 

(4) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(f) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS.—Each Head Start 

agency and program shall create, in consultation with an employee, 

a professional development plan for all full-time Head Start 

employees who provide direct services to children and shall ensure 

that such plans are regularly evaluated for their impact on teacher 

and staff effectiveness. The agency and the employee shall implement the plan to the extent feasible and practicable. 

‘‘(g) STAFF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCEDURES.—Before 

a Head Start agency employs an individual, such agency shall— 

‘‘(1) conduct an interview of such individual; 

‘‘(2) verify the personal and employment references provided by such individual; and 

‘‘(3) obtain— 

‘‘(A) a State, tribal, or Federal criminal record check 

covering all jurisdictions where the grantee provides Head 

Start services to children; 

‘‘(B) a State, tribal, or Federal criminal record check 

as required by the law of the jurisdiction where the grantee 

provides Head Start services; or 


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‘‘(C) a criminal record check as otherwise required 

by Federal law.’’. 

SEC. 20. RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EVALUATION. 

Section 649 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9844) is 

amended— 

(1) by amending subsection (a)(1)(B) to read as follows: 

‘‘(B) use the Head Start programs to develop, test, 

and disseminate new ideas based on existing scientifically 

valid research, for addressing the needs of low-income preschool children (including children with disabilities, homeless children, children who have been abused or neglected, 

and children in foster care) and their families and communities (including demonstrations of innovative non-centerbased program models such as home-based and mobile 

programs), and otherwise to further the purposes of this 

subchapter.’’; 

(2) in subsection (d)— 

(A) in paragraph (8), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

(B) by striking paragraphs (9) and (10), and inserting 

the following: 

‘‘(10)(A) contribute to understanding the impact of Head 

Start services delivered in classrooms which include both children with disabilities and children without disabilities, on all 

of the children; and 

‘‘(B) disseminate promising practices for increasing the 

availability and quality of such services and such classrooms.’’; 

(C) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘early childhood education, or child development services’’ and inserting ‘‘early 

childhood education and development or services programs’’; 

(D) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (8) as 

paragraphs (6) through (9), respectively; 

(E) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following: 

‘‘(5)(A) identify successful strategies that promote good oral 

health and provide effective linkages to quality dental services 

through pediatric dental referral networks, for infants and toddlers participating in Early Head Start programs and children 

participating in other Head Start programs; and 

‘‘(B) identify successful strategies that promote good vision 

health through vision screenings for such infants, toddlers, 

and children, and referrals for appropriate followup care for 

those identified as having a vision problem;’’; and 

(F) by striking the last sentence; and 

(3) in subsection (e)(3), by striking ‘‘child care, early childhood education, or child development services’’ and inserting 

‘‘early childhood education and development services or programs’’; 

(4) in subsection (g) by amending paragraph (7)(C) to read 

as follows: 

‘‘(C) TRANSMITTAL OF REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

than September 30, 2009, the Secretary shall transmit 

the final report to the Committee on Education and Labor 

of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.’’; 

and 

(5) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the following: 


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121 STAT. 1436 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(h) LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT CHILDREN.— 

‘‘(1) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act 

of 2007, the Secretary shall conduct a study on the status 

of limited English proficient children and their families participating in Head Start programs (including Early Head Start 

programs). 

‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare and submit to 

the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions of the Senate, not later than September 30, 

2010, a report containing the results of the study, including 

information on— 

‘‘(A) the demographics of limited English proficient children from birth through age 5, including the number of 

such children receiving Head Start services and Early Head 

Start services, and the geographic distribution of children 

described in this subparagraph; 

‘‘(B) the nature of the Head Start services and of the 

Early Head Start services provided to limited English proficient children and their families, including the types, 

content, duration, intensity, and costs of family services, 

language assistance, and educational services; 

‘‘(C) procedures in Head Start programs and Early 

Head Start programs for the assessment of language needs 

and the transition of limited English proficient children 

to kindergarten, including the extent to which such programs meet the requirements of section 642A for limited 

English proficient children; 

‘‘(D) the qualifications and training provided to Head 

Start teachers and Early Head Start teachers who serve 

limited English proficient children and their families; 

‘‘(E) the languages in which Head Start teachers and 

Early Head Start teachers are fluent, in relation to the 

population, and instructional needs, of the children served; 

‘‘(F) the rate of progress made by limited English proficient children and their families in Head Start programs 

and in Early Head Start programs, including— 

‘‘(i) the rate of progress made by limited English 

proficient children toward meeting the additional educational standards described in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) 

while enrolled in such programs; 

‘‘(ii) a description of the type of assessment or 

assessments used to determine the rate of progress 

made by limited English proficient children; 

‘‘(iii) the correlation between such progress and 

the type and quality of instruction and educational 

programs provided to limited English proficient children; and 

‘‘(iv) the correlation between such progress and 

the health and family services provided by such programs to limited English proficient children and their 

families; and 

‘‘(G) the extent to which Head Start programs and 

Early Head Start programs make use of funds under section 640(a)(2)(D) to improve the quality of such services 


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provided to limited English proficient children and their 

families. 

‘‘(i) RESEARCH AND EVALUATION ACTIVITIES RELEVANT TO

DIVERSE COMMUNITIES.—For purposes of conducting the study 

described in subsection (h), activities described in section 

640(l)(5)(A), and other research and evaluation activities relevant 

to limited English proficient children and their families, migrant 

and seasonal farmworker families, and other families from diverse 

populations served by Head Start programs, the Secretary shall 

award, on a competitive basis, funds from amounts made available 

under section 640(a)(2)(D) to 1 or more organizations with a demonstrated capacity for serving and studying the populations 

involved. 

‘‘(j) REVIEW OF ASSESSMENTS.— ‘‘(1) APPLICATION OF STUDY.—When the study on Developmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young Children by the 

National Academy of Sciences is made available to the Secretary, the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(A) integrate the results of the study, as appropriate 

and in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3), into each 

assessment used in Head Start programs; and 

‘‘(B) use the results of the study to develop, inform, 

and revise as appropriate the standards and measures 

described in section 641A, consistent with section 

641A(a)(2)(C)(ii). 

‘‘(2) INFORM AND REVISE.—In informing and revising any 

assessment used in the Head Start programs, the Secretary 

shall— 

‘‘(A) receive recommendations from the Panel on 

Developmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young Children of the National Academy of Sciences; and 

‘‘(B) with respect to the development or refinement 

of such assessment, ensure— 

‘‘(i) consistency with relevant, nationally recognized professional and technical standards; 

‘‘(ii) validity and reliability for all purposes for 

which assessments under this subchapter are designed 

and used; 

‘‘(iii) developmental and linguistic appropriateness 

of such assessments for children assessed, including 

children who are limited English proficient; and 

‘‘(iv) that the results can be used to improve the 

quality of, accountability of, and training and technical 

assistance in, Head Start programs. 

‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary, in carrying out the process described in paragraph (2), shall ensure 

that— 

‘‘(A) staff administering any assessments under this 

subchapter have received appropriate training to administer such assessments; 

‘‘(B) appropriate accommodations for children with 

disabilities and children who are limited English proficient 

are made; 

‘‘(C) the English and Spanish (and any other language, 

as appropriate) forms of such assessments are valid and 

reliable in the languages in which they are administered; 

and 


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‘‘(D) such assessments are not used to exclude children 

from Head Start programs. 

‘‘(4) SUSPENDED IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL REPORTING

SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall suspend implementation and 

terminate further development and use of the National 

Reporting System. 

‘‘(k) INDIAN HEAD START STUDY.—The Secretary shall— 

‘‘(1) work in collaboration with the Head Start agencies 

that carry out Indian Head Start programs, the Indian Head 

Start collaboration director, and other appropriate entities, 

including tribal governments and the National Indian Head 

Start Directors Association— 

‘‘(A) to undertake a study or set of studies designed 

to focus on the American Indian and Alaska Native Head 

Start-eligible population, with a focus on issues such as 

curriculum development, availability and need for services, 

appropriate research methodologies and measures for these 

populations, and best practices for teaching and educating 

American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Children; 

‘‘(B) to accurately determine the number of children 

nationwide who are eligible to participate in Indian Head 

Start programs each year; 

‘‘(C) to document how many of these children are 

receiving Head Start services each year; 

‘‘(D) to the extent practicable, to ensure that access 

to Indian Head Start programs for eligible children is comparable to access to other Head Start programs for other 

eligible children; and 

‘‘(E) to make the funding decisions required in section 

640(a)(4)(D)(ii), after completion of the studies required 

in that section, taking into account— 

‘‘(i) the Federal government’s unique trust responsibility to American Indians and Alaska Natives; 

‘‘(ii) limitations faced by tribal communities in 

accessing non-Federal sources of funding to supplement 

Federal funding for early childhood programs; and 

‘‘(iii) other factors that uniquely and adversely 

impact children in American Indian and Alaska Native 

communities such as highly elevated poverty, 

unemployment and violent crime rates, as well as 

depressed levels of educational achievement and limited access to non-Federal health, social and educational resources; 

‘‘(2) in carrying out paragraph (1), consult with the Secretary of Education about the Department of Education’s systems for collecting and reporting data about, and maintaining 

records on, American Indian and Alaska Native students; 

‘‘(3) not later than 9 months after the effective date of 

this subsection, publish in the Federal Register a notice of 

how the Secretary plans to carry out paragraph (1) and shall 

provide a period for public comment. To the extent practicable, 

the Secretary shall consider comments received before submitting a report to the Congress; 

‘‘(4) not later than 1 year after the effective date of this 

subsection, submit a report to the Committee on Education 

and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, 

Deadline. 

Reports. 

Deadline. 

Federal Register, 

publication. 


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detailing how the Department of Health and Human Services 

plans to carry out paragraph (1); 

‘‘(5) through regulation, ensure the confidentiality of any 

personally identifiable data, information, and records collected 

or maintained by the Secretary, by Head Start agencies that 

carry out Indian Head Start programs, and by State Directors 

of Head Start Collaboration, by the Indian Head Start 

Collaboration Project Director and by other appropriate entities 

pursuant to this subsection (such regulations shall provide 

the policies, protections, and rights equivalent to those provided 

a parent, student, or educational agency or institution under 

section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act); and 

‘‘(6) ensure that nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize the development of a nationwide database 

of personally identifiable information on individuals involved 

in studies or other collections of data under this subsection. 

‘‘(l) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PROGRAM STUDY.— 

‘‘(1) DATA.—In order to increase access to Head Start services for children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, the 

Secretary shall work in collaboration with providers of migrant 

and seasonal Head Start programs, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, the Bureau of Migrant Health, 

and the Secretary of Education to— 

‘‘(A) collect, report, and share data, within a coordinated system, on children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families, including health records and 

educational documents of such children, in order to adequately account for the number of children of migrant 

and seasonal farmworkers who are eligible for Head Start 

services and determine how many of such children receive 

the services; and 

‘‘(B) identify barriers that prevent children of migrant 

and seasonal farmworkers who are eligible for Head Start 

services from accessing Head Start services, and develop 

a plan for eliminating such barriers, including certain 

requirements relating to tracking, health records, and educational documents, and increasing enrollment. 

‘‘(2) PUBLICATION OF PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after 

the date of enactment of the Improving Head Start for School 

Readiness Act of 2007, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a notice about how the Secretary plans to implement the activities identified in paragraph (1) and shall provide 

a period for public comment. To the extent practicable, the 

Secretary shall consider comments received before implementing any of the activities identified in paragraph (1). 

‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

of enactment of the Improving Head Start for School Readiness 

Act of 2007, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 

a report to the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate detailing how the 

Secretary plans to implement the activities identified in paragraph (1), including the progress made in reaching out to and 

serving eligible children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, 

and information on States where such children are still underserved. 

Deadline. 

Federal Register, 

publication. 

Regulations. 

Confidentiality. 


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121 STAT. 1440 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(4) PROTECTION OF CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary 

shall, through regulation, ensure the protection of the confidentiality of any personally identifiable data, information, and 

records collected or maintained by the Secretary, by Head Start 

agencies that carry out migrant or seasonal Head Start programs, by the State director of Head Start Collaboration, and 

by the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Collaboration project 

Director (such regulations shall provide the policies, protections, 

and rights equivalent to those provided a parent, student, or 

educational agency or institution under section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g)). 

‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection 

shall be construed to authorize the development of a nationwide 

database of personally identifiable data, information, or records 

on individuals involved in studies or other collections of data 

under this subsection. 

‘‘(m) PROGRAM EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.— 

‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection is to evaluate 

the emergency preparedness of the Head Start programs, 

including Early Head Start programs, and make recommendations for how Head Start shall enhance its readiness to respond 

to an emergency. 

‘‘(2) STUDY.—The Secretary shall evaluate the Federal, 

State, and local preparedness of Head Start programs, including 

Early Head Start programs, to respond appropriately in the 

event of a large-scale emergency, such as the hurricanes 

Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, the terrorist attacks of September 

11, 2001, or other incidents where assistance may be warranted 

under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 months after 

the date of the enactment of the Improving Head Start for 

School Readiness Act of 2007, the Secretary shall prepare and 

submit to Committee on Education and Labor of the House 

of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report containing the 

results of the evaluation required under paragraph (2), 

including— 

‘‘(A) recommendations for improvements to Federal, 

State, and local preparedness and response capabilities 

to large-scale emergencies, including those that were developed in response to hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, 

as they relate to Head Start programs, including Early 

Head Start programs, and the Secretary’s plan to implement such recommendations; 

‘‘(B) an evaluation of the procedures for informing families of children in Head Start programs about the program 

protocols for response to a large-scale emergency, including 

procedures for communicating with such families in the 

event of a large-scale emergency; 

‘‘(C) an evaluation of such procedures for staff training 

on State and local evacuation and emergency protocols; 

and 

‘‘(D) an evaluation of procedures for Head Start agencies and the Secretary to coordinate with appropriate Federal, State, and local emergency management agencies in 

Regulations. 


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the event of a large scale emergency and recommendations 

to improve such procedures.’’. 

SEC. 21. REPORTS. 

Section 650 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9846) is 

amended— 

(1) in subsection (a)— 

(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 

(i) by striking ‘‘Education and the Workforce’’ and 

inserting ‘‘Education and Labor’’; 

(ii) by striking ‘‘Labor and Human Resources’’ and 

inserting ‘‘Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’’; 

and 

(iii) by striking ‘‘(including disabled and nonEnglish language background children)’’ and inserting 

‘‘(including children with disabilities, limited English 

proficient children, homeless children, children in 

foster care, and children participating in Indian Head 

Start programs and migrant or seasonal Head Start 

programs)’’; 

(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the semicolon 

the following: ‘‘, and information on the number of children 

served under this subsection, disaggregated by type of eligibility criterion’’; 

(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘funds expended’’ 

and all that follows through ‘‘640(a)(3),’’ and inserting 

‘‘funds made available under section 640(a)’’; 

(D) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘homelessness, 

whether the child is in foster care or was referred by 

a child welfare agency,’’ after ‘‘background,’’; 

(E) in paragraph (12), by inserting ‘‘vision care,’’ after 

‘‘dental care,’’; 

(F) in paragraph (14)— 

(i) by striking ‘‘Alaskan Natives’’ and inserting 

‘‘Alaska Natives’’; and 

(ii) by striking ‘‘seasonal farmworkers’’ and 

inserting ‘‘seasonal farmworker families’’; and 

(G) in the flush matter at the end— 

(i) by striking ‘‘Education and the Workforce’’ and 

inserting ‘‘Education and Labor’’; and 

(ii) by striking ‘‘Labor and Human Resources’’ and 

inserting ‘‘Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’’; 

(2) in subsection (b)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘Education and the Workforce’’ and 

inserting ‘‘Education and Labor’’; 

(B) by striking ‘‘Labor and Human Resources’’ and 

inserting ‘‘Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’’; and 

(C) by striking ‘‘Native Alaskan’’ and inserting ‘‘Alaska 

Native’’; and 

(3) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(c) FISCAL PROTOCOL.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an annual 

review to assess whether the design and implementation of 

the triennial reviews described in section 641A(c) include 

compliance procedures that provide reasonable assurances that 

Head Start agencies are complying with applicable fiscal laws 

and regulations. 


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121 STAT. 1442 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the date the 

Secretary completes the annual review under paragraph (1), 

the Secretary shall report the findings and conclusions of the 

annual review to the Committee on Education and Labor of 

the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 

‘‘(d) DISABILITY-RELATED SERVICES.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall track the provision 

of disability-related services for children, in order to— 

‘‘(A) determine whether Head Start agencies are 

making timely referrals to the State or local agency responsible for providing services under section 619 or part C 

of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); 

‘‘(B) identify barriers to timely evaluations and eligibility determinations by the State or local agency responsible for providing services under section 619 or part C 

of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and 

‘‘(C) determine under what circumstances and for what 

length of time Head Start agencies are providing disabilityrelated services for children who have not been determined 

under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) to be children with disabilities. 

‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act 

of 2007, the Secretary shall provide a report to the Committee 

on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and 

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

the Senate on the activities described in paragraph (1). 

‘‘(e) EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING OBESITY

PREVENTION.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

of the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 

the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Education and 

Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 

on the Secretary’s progress in assisting program efforts to prevent 

and reduce obesity in children who participate in Head Start programs, including progress on implementing initiatives within the 

Head Start program to prevent and reduce obesity in such children.’’. 

SEC. 22. COMPARABILITY OF WAGES. 

Section 653 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9848) is 

amended— 

(1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall take’’ and inserting 

‘‘(a) COMPARABILITY OF WAGES.—The Secretary shall take’’; and 

(2) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(b) LIMITATION.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

law, no Federal funds may be used to pay any part of the 

compensation of an individual employed by a Head Start 

agency, if such compensation, including non-Federal funds, 

exceeds an amount equal to the rate payable for level II of 

the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United 

States Code. 

‘‘(2) COMPENSATION.—In this subsection, the term ‘compensation’— 


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‘‘(A) includes salary, bonuses, periodic payments, severance pay, the value of any vacation time, the value of 

a compensatory or paid leave benefit not excluded by 

subparagraph (B), and the fair market value of any 

employee perquisite or benefit not excluded by subparagraph (B); and 

‘‘(B) excludes any Head Start agency expenditure for 

a health, medical, life insurance, disability, retirement, 

or any other employee welfare or pension benefit.’’. 

SEC. 23. LIMITATION WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES. 

Section 655 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9850) is amended 

by inserting ‘‘or in’’ after ‘‘assigned by’’. 

SEC. 24. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. 

Section 656 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9851) is 

amended— 

(1) by striking all that precedes ‘‘chapter 15’’ and inserting 

the following: 

‘‘SEC. 656. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. 

‘‘(a) STATE OR LOCAL AGENCY.—For purposes of’’; and 

(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(b) RESTRICTIONS.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A program assisted under this subchapter, and any individual employed by, or assigned to or 

in, a program assisted under this subchapter (during the hours 

in which such individual is working on behalf of such program), 

shall not engage in— 

‘‘(A) any partisan or nonpartisan political activity or 

any other political activity associated with a candidate, 

or contending faction or group, in an election for public 

or party office; or 

‘‘(B) any activity to provide voters or prospective voters 

with transportation to the polls or similar assistance in 

connection with any such election. 

‘‘(2) REGISTRATION.—No funds appropriated under this subchapter may be used to conduct voter registration activities. 

Nothing in this subchapter prohibits the availability of Head 

Start facilities during hours of operation for the use of any 

nonpartisan organization to increase the number of eligible 

citizens who register to vote in elections for Federal office. 

‘‘(3) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Secretary, after consultation with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, may issue rules and regulations to provide for the 

enforcement of this section, which may include provisions for 

summary suspension of assistance or other action necessary 

to permit enforcement on an emergency basis.’’. 

SEC. 25. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR HEALTH SERVICES. 

The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is amended by 

adding at the end the following: 


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121 STAT. 1444 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

‘‘SEC. 657A. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR NONEMERGENCY 

INTRUSIVE PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS. 

‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—The term ‘nonemergency intrusive physical 

examination’ means, with respect to a child, a physical examination 

that— 

‘‘(1) is not immediately necessary to protect the health 

or safety of the child involved or the health or safety of another 

individual; and 

‘‘(2) requires incision or is otherwise invasive, or involves 

exposure of private body parts. 

‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.—A Head Start agency shall obtain written 

parental consent before administration of any nonemergency intrusive physical examination of a child in connection with participation 

in a program under this subchapter. 

‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

be construed to prohibit agencies from using established methods, 

for handling cases of suspected or known child abuse and neglect, 

that are in compliance with applicable Federal, State, or tribal 

law.’’. 

SEC. 26. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD. 

The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), as amended 

by section 25, is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘SEC. 657B. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD. 

‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘center of excellence’ 

means a Center of Excellence in Early Childhood designated under 

subsection (b). 

‘‘(b) DESIGNATION AND BONUS GRANTS.—The Secretary shall, 

subject to the availability of funds under this section, establish 

a program under which the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(1) designate not more than 200 exemplary Head Start 

agencies (including Early Head Start agencies, Indian Head 

Start agencies, and migrant and seasonal Head Start agencies) 

as Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood; and 

‘‘(2) make bonus grants to the centers of excellence to 

carry out the activities described in subsection (d). 

‘‘(c) APPLICATION AND DESIGNATION.— 

‘‘(1) APPLICATION.— 

‘‘(A) NOMINATION AND SUBMISSION.— 

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a designation as a center of excellence under subsection 

(b), except as provided in clause (ii), a Head Start 

agency in a State shall be nominated by the Governor 

of the State, after selection for nomination by such 

Governor through a competitive process, and shall 

submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 

in such manner, and containing such information as 

the Secretary may require. 

‘‘(ii) INDIAN AND MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD

START PROGRAMS.—In the case of an Indian Head Start 

agency or a migrant or seasonal Head Start agency, 

to be eligible to receive a designation as a center of 

excellence under subsection (b), such an agency shall 

be nominated by the head of the appropriate regional 

office of the Department of Health and Human Services 

42 USC 9852b. 

42 USC 9852a. 


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and shall submit an application to the Secretary in 

accordance with clause (i). 

‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—At a minimum, the application shall 

include— 

‘‘(i) evidence that the Head Start program carried 

out by the agency involved has significantly improved 

the school readiness of children who have participated 

in the program; 

‘‘(ii) evidence that the program meets or exceeds 

standards described in section 641A(a)(1), as evidenced 

by the results of monitoring reviews described in section 641A(c), and has no findings of deficiencies in 

the preceding 3 years; 

‘‘(iii) evidence that the program is making progress 

toward meeting the requirements described in section 

648A; 

‘‘(iv) an assurance that the Head Start agency 

will develop a collaborative partnership with the State 

(or a State agency) and other providers of early childhood education and development programs and services 

in the local community involved to conduct activities 

under subsection (d); 

‘‘(v) a nomination letter from the Governor, or 

appropriate regional office, demonstrating the agency’s 

ability to provide the coordination, transition, and 

training services of the program to be carried out under 

the bonus grant involved, including coordination of 

activities with State and local agencies that provide 

early childhood education and development to children 

and families in the community served by the agency, 

and carry out the activities described under subsection 

(d)(1); and 

‘‘(vi) a description of how the center involved, in 

order to expand accessibility and continuity of quality 

early childhood education and development services 

and programs, will coordinate activities, as appropriate, assisted under this section with— 

‘‘(I) programs carried out under the Child Care 

and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 

‘‘(II) the Early Head Start programs carried 

out under section 645A; 

‘‘(III) Early Reading First and Even Start programs carried out under subparts 2 and 3 of part 

B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6371 et seq., 6381 

et seq.); 

‘‘(IV) other preschool programs carried out 

under title I of that Act (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.); 

‘‘(V) programs carried out under section 619 

and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); 

‘‘(VI) State prekindergarten programs; and 

‘‘(VII) other programs of early childhood education and development. 

‘‘(2) SELECTION.—In selecting agencies to designate as centers of excellence under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 


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designate not less than 1 from each of the 50 States, the 

District of Columbia, an Indian Head Start program, a migrant 

or seasonal Head Start program, and the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico. 

‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In making bonus grant determinations 

under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to agencies 

that, through their applications, demonstrate that their programs are of exceptional quality and would serve as exemplary 

models for programs in the same geographic region. The Secretary may also consider the populations served by the 

applicants, such as agencies that serve large proportions of 

families of limited English proficient children or other underserved populations, and may make bonus grants to agencies 

that do an exceptional job meeting the needs of children in 

such populations. 

‘‘(4) TERM OF DESIGNATION.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph (B), the 

Secretary shall designate a Head Start agency as a center 

of excellence for a 5-year term. During the period of that 

designation, subject to the availability of appropriations, 

the agency shall be eligible to receive a bonus grant under 

subsection (b). 

‘‘(B) REVOCATION.—The Secretary may revoke an 

agency’s designation under subsection (b) if the Secretary 

determines that the agency is not demonstrating adequate 

performance or has had findings of deficiencies described 

in paragraph (1)(B)(ii). 

‘‘(5) AMOUNT OF BONUS GRANT.—The Secretary shall base 

the amount of funding provided through a bonus grant made 

under subsection (b) to a center of excellence on the number 

of children eligible for Head Start services in the community 

involved. The Secretary shall, subject to the availability of 

funding, make such a bonus grant in an amount of not less 

than $200,000 per year. 

‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—A center of excellence that receives a 

bonus grant under subsection (b)— 

‘‘(1) shall use not less than 15 percent of the funds made 

available through the bonus grant to disseminate to other Head 

Start agencies in the State involved, best practices for achieving 

early academic success, including— 

‘‘(A) best practices for achieving school readiness, 

including developing early literacy and mathematics skills, 

for children at risk for school difficulties; 

‘‘(B) best practices for achieving the acquisition of the 

English language for limited English proficient children, 

if appropriate to the population served; and 

‘‘(C) best practices for providing high-quality comprehensive services for eligible children and their families; 

‘‘(2) may use the funds made available through the bonus 

grant— 

‘‘(A) to provide Head Start services to additional eligible 

children; 

‘‘(B) to better meet the needs of working families in 

the community served by the center by serving more children in existing Early Head Start programs (existing as 

of the date the center is designated under this section) 


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or in full-working-day, full calendar year Head Start programs; 

‘‘(C) to further coordinate early childhood education 

and development programs and services and social services 

available in the community served by the center for atrisk children (birth through age 8), their families, and 

pregnant women; 

‘‘(D) to provide professional development for Head Start 

teachers and staff, including joint training for Head Start 

teachers and staff, child care providers, public and private 

preschool and elementary school teachers, and other providers of early childhood education and development programs; 

‘‘(E) to provide effective transitions between Head Start 

programs and elementary schools and to facilitate ongoing 

communication between Head Start and elementary school 

teachers concerning children receiving Head Start services 

to improve the teachers’ ability to work effectively with 

low-income, at-risk children and their families; 

‘‘(F) to develop or maintain partnerships with institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations, 

including community-based organizations, that recruit, 

train, place, and support college students to serve as mentors and reading partners to preschool children in Head 

Start programs; and 

‘‘(G) to carry out other activities determined by the 

center to improve the overall quality of the Head Start 

program carried out by the agency and the program carried 

out under the bonus grant involved. 

‘‘(e) RESEARCH AND REPORTS.— 

‘‘(1) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall, subject to the availability of funds to carry out this subsection, award a grant 

or contract to an independent organization to conduct research 

on the ability of the centers of excellence to use the funds 

received under this section to improve the school readiness 

of children receiving Head Start services, and to positively 

impact school results in the earliest grades. The organization 

shall also conduct research to measure the success of the centers 

of excellence at encouraging the center’s delegate agencies, 

additional Head Start agencies, and other providers of early 

childhood education and development programs in the communities involved to meet measurable improvement goals, particularly in the area of school readiness. 

‘‘(2) RESEARCH REPORT.—Not later than 48 months after 

the date of enactment of the Improving Head Start for School 

Readiness Act of 2007, the organization shall prepare and 

submit to the Secretary and Congress a report containing the 

results of the research described in paragraph (1). 

‘‘(3) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—Each center of excellence 

shall submit an annual report to the Secretary, at such time 

and in such manner as the Secretary may require, that contains 

a description of the activities the center carried out with funds 

received under this section, including a description of how 

such funds improved services for children and families. 

‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized 

to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of 

fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to make bonus grants to centers 

Grants. 

Contracts. 


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121 STAT. 1448 PUBLIC LAW 110–134—DEC. 12, 2007 

of excellence under subsection (b) to carry out activities described 

in subsection (d) and research and report activities described in 

subsection (e).’’. 

SEC. 27. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), as amended 

by section 26, is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘SEC. 657C. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

‘‘(a) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed 

to authorize or permit the Secretary or any employee or contractor 

of the Department of Health and Human Services to mandate, 

direct, or control, the selection of a curriculum, a program of instruction, or instructional materials, for a Head Start program. 

‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to authorize a Head Start program or a local educational 

agency to require the other to select or implement a specific curriculum or program of instruction. 

‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this subchapter, the term ‘health’, when 

used to refer to services or care provided to enrolled children, 

their parents, or their siblings, shall be interpreted to refer to 

both physical and mental health.’’. 

SEC. 28. COMPLIANCE WITH IMPROPER PAYMENTS INFORMATION ACT 

OF 2002. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term— 

(1) ‘‘appropriate committees’’ means— 

(A) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions of the Senate; and 

(B) the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

House of Representatives; and 

(2) ‘‘improper payment’’ has the meaning given that term 

under section 2(d)(2) of the Improper Payments Information 

Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note). 

(b) REQUIREMENT FOR COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATION AND

REPORT.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 

submit a report to the appropriate committees that— 

(1) contains a certification that the Department of Health 

and Human Services has, for each program and activity of 

the Administration for Children and Families, performed and 

completed a risk assessment to determine programs and activities that are at significant risk of making improper payments; 

and 

(2) describes the actions to be taken to reduce improper 

payments for the programs and activities determined to be 

at significant risk of making improper payments. 

SEC. 29. REFERENCES IN OTHER ACTS. 

(a) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.— 

Section 1112(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6312(c)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1)(G), by striking ‘‘performance standards 

established under section 641A(a) of the Head Start Act’’ and 

inserting ‘‘education performance standards in effect under section 641A(a)(1)(B) of the Head Start Act’’; and 

(2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘Head Start performance standards as in effect under section 641A(a) of the Head 

42 USC 9852c. 


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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 1429 (S. 556): 

HOUSE REPORTS: Nos. 110–67 (Comm. on Education and Labor) and 110–439 

(Comm. of Conference). 

SENATE REPORTS: No. 110–49 accompanying S. 556 (Comm. on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions). 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 153 (2007): 

May 2, considered and passed House. 

June 19, considered and passed Senate, amended. 

Nov. 14, House and Senate agreed to conference report. 

WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 43 (2007): 

Dec. 12, Presidential statement. 

Æ 

Start Act’’ and inserting ‘‘education performance standards in 

effect under section 641A(a)(1)(B) of the Head Start Act’’. 

(b) EARLY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES ACT.—Section 810(b)(1) 

of the Early Learning Opportunities Act (20 U.S.C. 9409(b)(1)) 

is amended by striking ‘‘entities funded under section 640(a)(5) 

of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)(5))’’ and inserting ‘‘entities 

funded under section 640(a)(2)(B)(vi) of the Head Start Act (42 

U.S.C. 9835(a)(2)(B)(vi))’’. 

(c) RICHARD B. RUSSELL NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH ACT.— (1) Section 9(b)(12)(A)(iii) of the Richard B. Russell National 

School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(12)(A)(iii)) is amended 

by striking ‘‘the child is a member of a family that meets 

the low-income criteria prescribed under section 645(a)(1)(A) 

of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840(a)(1)(A))’’ and inserting 

‘‘the child meets the eligibility criteria prescribed under section 

645(a)(1)(B) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840(a)(1)(B))’’. 

(2) Section 17(c)(5) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(c)(5)) is 

amended by striking ‘‘the child is a member of a family that 

meets the low-income criteria prescribed under section 

645(a)(1)(A) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840(a)(1)(A))’’ 

and inserting ‘‘the child meets the eligibility criteria prescribed 

under section 645(a)(1)(B) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

9840(a)(1)(B))’’. 

Approved December 12, 2007. 


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