II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 244 

To expand programs of early childhood home visitation that increase school 

readiness, child abuse and neglect prevention, and early identification 

of developmental and health delays, including potential mental health 

concerns, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 14, 2009 

Mr. BOND (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To expand programs of early childhood home visitation that 

increase school readiness, child abuse and neglect prevention, and early identification of developmental and health 

delays, including potential mental health concerns, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Home Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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

2 learning environment for children, and parents are 

3 their children’s first and most influential teachers; 

4 (2) through parent education and family sup5 port, we can promote parents’ ability to enhance 

6 their children’s development from birth until entry 

7 into kindergarten thereby helping parents to prepare 

8 their children for success in school; 

9 (3) undiagnosed and unaddressed develop10 mental and health problems can impede overall child 

11 development and school readiness; 

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

13 (A) research-based information regarding 

14 child development; 

15 (B) enrichment opportunities with their 

16 children; and 

17 (C) early opportunities to become involved 

18 with their community and schools; and 

19 (5) early childhood home visitation leads to 

20 positive outcomes for children and families, including 

21 readiness for school, improved child health and de22 velopment, positive parenting practices, and reduc23 tions in child maltreatment. 

24 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol25 lows: 


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1 (1) To enable States to deliver services under 

2 early childhood home visitation programs to preg3 nant women and parents of children from birth until 

4 entry into kindergarten in order to promote parents’ 

5 ability to support their children’s optimal cognitive, 

6 language, social-emotional, and physical develop7 ment. 

8 (2) To improve Early Head Start programs car9 ried out under section 645A of the Head Start Act 

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

11 (3) To expand early childhood home visitation 

12 programs so as to more effectively reach and serve 

13 families with English language learners. 

14 (4) To expand early childhood visitation pro15 grams so as to more effectively reach and serve fam16 ilies serving in the military. 

17 (5) To establish a public education and aware18 ness campaign concerning the importance of the 

19 proper care of infants and young children. 

20 (6) To make available for parents of newborn 

21 children parenting classes that convey information 

22 about the importance of proper care for newborns, 

23 including information about symptoms of abusive 

24 head and other injuries. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

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

4 family’’ means— 

5 (A) a woman who is pregnant, and the fa6 ther of the child if the father is available; or 

7 (B) a parent or primary caregiver of a 

8 child, including grandparents or other relatives 

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

10 as the primary caregiver from birth until entry 

11 into kindergarten, including a noncustodial par12 ent during periods in which such noncustodial 

13 parent is physically caring for such child. 

14 (2) HOME VISITATION.—The term ‘‘home visi15 tation’’ means services provided in the permanent or 

16 temporary residence, or in a mutually agreed upon 

17 location in the community, of the individual receiv18 ing such services. 

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

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

21 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist22 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)). 

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

24 6, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

25 Health and Human Services. 


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

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

3 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

4 (6) TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS.—The 

5 term ‘‘territories and possessions’’ means American 

6 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

7 Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Is8 lands. 

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

10 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in 

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

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

13 SEC. 4. STATE GRANTS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME VISI14 TATION. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, in collabora16 tion with the Secretary of Education, shall make grants 

17 to States to enable such States to establish or expand 

18 quality programs of early childhood home visitation, as 

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

20 the allotment determined for a State under subsection (b). 

21 (b) DETERMINATION OF RESERVATIONS; AMOUNT OF

22 ALLOTMENTS; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 (1) RESERVATIONS FROM APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 From the total amount made available to carry out 


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1 this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall re2 serve— 

3 (A) 3 percent for an independent evalua4 tion of the activities carried out under this Act, 

5 as specified in section 7; 

6 (B) not more than 3 percent for Federal 

7 administrative costs; 

8 (C) 2 percent for training and technical as9 sistance for States; 

10 (D) not more than 2 percent for payments 

11 to Indian tribes and tribal organizations with 

12 applications approved under this section; and 

13 (E) not more than 0.5 percent for pay14 ments to territories and possessions with appli15 cations approved under this section. 

16 (2) STATE ALLOTMENTS FOR EARLY CHILD17 HOOD HOME VISITATION.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with 

19 subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall allot 

20 among each of the eligible States the total 

21 amount made available to carry out this section 

22 for any fiscal year and not reserved under para23 graph (1), to carry out programs of early child24 hood home visitation in accordance with this 

25 section. 


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1 (B) DETERMINATION OF STATE ALLOT2 MENTS.— 

3 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

4 (ii), the Secretary shall allot the amount 

5 made available under subparagraph (A) for 

6 a fiscal year among the States in propor7 tion to the number of children, aged from 

8 birth to 5 years, who reside within the 

9 State, compared to the number of such in10 dividuals who reside in all such States for 

11 that fiscal year. 

12 (ii) EXCEPTION.—No State receiving 

13 an allotment under clause (i) may receive 

14 more than $20,000,000. 

15 (3) INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS, 

16 TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS.— 

17 (A) INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANI18 ZATIONS.—From amounts reserved for each fis19 cal year under paragraph (1)(D), the Secretary 

20 shall make payments to each Indian tribe or 

21 tribal organization with an application approved 

22 under this section in an amount determined in 

23 accordance with the respective needs described 

24 in the application. 


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1 (B) TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS.— 

2 From amounts reserved for each fiscal year 

3 under paragraph (1)(E), the Secretary shall 

4 make payments to each territory and possession 

5 with an application approved under this section 

6 in an amount determined in accordance with 

7 the respective needs described in the applica8 tion. 

9 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

12 years 2010 through 2012. 

13 (c) GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 

14 (1) STATE APPLICATIONS.—A State that de15 sires to receive a grant under this section shall sub16 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

17 such manner, and containing such information as 

18 the Secretary may require. The application shall 

19 contain the following information: 

20 (A) An assurance that the Governor of the 

21 State has designated a lead State agency, such 

22 as the State educational agency or the State 

23 health and human services agency, to carry out 

24 the activities under this section. 


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1 (B) An assurance that the State will re2 serve 3 percent of such grant for evaluation and 

3 will participate in the independent evaluation 

4 under section 7. 

5 (C) An assurance that the State will re6 serve 10 percent of the grant funds for training 

7 and technical assistance of staff of programs of 

8 early childhood home visitation. 

9 (D) An assurance that the State will au10 thorize child care resource and referral agencies 

11 to refer parents seeking home visitation serv12 ices. 

13 (E) The results of a statewide needs as14 sessment that describes— 

15 (i) the quality and capacity of existing 

16 programs of early childhood home visita17 tion in the State; 

18 (ii) the number and types of eligible 

19 families who are receiving services under 

20 such programs; and 

21 (iii) the gaps in early childhood home 

22 visitation in the State. 

23 (F) A State plan containing the following: 

24 (i) A description of the State’s strat25 egy to establish or expand quality proVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:03 Jan 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S244.IS S244

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1 grams of early childhood home visitation to 

2 serve all eligible families in the State. 

3 (ii) A description of the quality pro4 grams of early childhood home visitation 

5 that will be supported by a grant under 

6 this section. 

7 (iii) A description of how the proposed 

8 program of early childhood home visitation 

9 will promote positive parenting skills and 

10 children’s early learning and development. 

11 (iv) A description of how the proposed 

12 program of early childhood home visitation 

13 will incorporate the authorized activities 

14 described in subsection (f). 

15 (v) How the lead State agency will 

16 build on and promote coordination among 

17 existing programs of early childhood home 

18 visitation in an effort to promote an array 

19 of home visitation that ensures more eligi20 ble families are being served and are get21 ting the most appropriate services to meet 

22 their needs. 

23 (vi) How the lead State agency will 

24 promote channels of communication be25 tween staff of programs of early childhood 


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1 home visitation and staff of other early 

2 childhood education programs, such as 

3 Head Start programs carried out under 

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

5 seq.) and Early Head Start programs car6 ried out under section 645A of such Act, 

7 preschool programs, and child care pro8 grams, to facilitate the coordination of 

9 services for eligible families. 

10 (vii) How the lead State agency (or 

11 the lead entity designated by the State for 

12 a grant under title II of the Child Abuse 

13 Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 5116 et seq.)) will provide training and 

15 technical assistance to staff of programs of 

16 early childhood home visitation involved in 

17 activities under this section to more effec18 tively meet the needs of the eligible fami19 lies served with sensitivity to cultural vari20 ations in parenting norms and attitudes to21 ward formal support services. 

22 (viii) How the lead State agency will 

23 evaluate the activities supported under this 

24 section in order to demonstrate outcomes 

25 related to the enhancement of— 


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1 (I) parent knowledge of early 

2 learning and development; 

3 (II) child health, cognitive, lan4 guage, social-emotional, and physical 

5 development indicators; 

6 (III) child maltreatment indica7 tors for child abuse and neglect pre8 vention; 

9 (IV) school readiness indicators; 

10 and 

11 (V) links to community services. 

12 (ix) A description of how the lead 

13 State agency will ensure that the home vis14 itation programs will conduct outreach ac15 tivities to target both mothers and fathers, 

16 and increase father involvement where ap17 propriate. 

18 (x) A description of how the lead 

19 State agency will increase home visitation 

20 programs participation rates for fathers. 

21 (xi) A description of how the lead 

22 State agency will ensure that services are 

23 made available under the program to 

24 grandparents, other relatives or foster par25 ents, of a child from birth through age 5 


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1 who serve as the primary caregiver of the 

2 child. 

3 (G) Such other information as the Sec4 retary may require. 

5 (2) INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS, 

6 TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—An Indian tribe, tribal 

8 organization, territory, or possession that de9 sires to receive a grant under this section shall 

10 submit an application to the Secretary at such 

11 time, in such manner, and containing such in12 formation as the Secretary may require. The 

13 application shall contain the information de14 scribed in paragraph (1) with respect to the ap15 plicant entity. 

16 (B) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may ap17 prove an application submitted under subpara18 graph (A) based on the quality of the informa19 tion contained in the application. 

20 (C) EXEMPTIONS.—The Secretary may ex21 empt an applicant under subparagraph (A) 

22 from any requirement of this section if the Sec23 retary determines that the application of such 

24 requirements would be inappropriate taking 

25 into consideration the resources, needs, and 


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1 other circumstances of the applicant entity. 

2 This subparagraph shall not apply to the re3 quirements described in subsections (f) and (h). 

4 (d) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.— 

5 (1) RECOMMENDATION OF PANEL.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ap7 prove an application under this section based on 

8 the recommendations of a peer review panel, as 

9 described in paragraph (2). 

10 (B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—A peer review 

11 panel shall determine which applicants to rec12 ommend for approval, for purposes of subpara13 graph (A), based on the quality of the applica14 tion submitted. Consideration shall be given by 

15 the panel to the inclusion of applicants, to the 

16 extent practicable, that have the ability to in17 corporate comparison or control groups in their 

18 service delivery model, recognizing that uni19 versal access to home visitation services, among 

20 other factors, may prevent some quality pro21 grams from conducting such evaluation. 

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

23 panel shall include not less than— 

24 (A) 3 individuals who are experts in the 

25 field of home visitation; 


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1 (B) 2 individuals who are experts in early 

2 childhood development; 

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

5 home visitation; 

6 (D) 1 individual who is a board certified 

7 pediatrician or a developmental pediatrician; 

8 and 

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

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

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

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

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

17 State as practicable, voluntary early childhood home 

18 visitation, on not less frequently than a monthly 

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

21 through the implementation of other quality pro22 grams of early childhood home visitation that— 

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

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

3 (B) employ well-trained and competent 

4 staff, as demonstrated by education or training, 

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

7 (C) maintain high quality supervision to 

8 establish home visitor competencies; 

9 (D) demonstrate strong organizational ca10 pacity to implement the program involved; 

11 (E) establish appropriate linkages and re12 ferral networks to other community resources 

13 and supports; 

14 (F) monitor fidelity of program implemen15 tation to ensure that services are delivered pur16 suant to the specified model; and 

17 (G) are research-based and provide parents 

18 with— 

19 (i) knowledge of age-appropriate child 

20 development in cognitive, language, social21 emotional, and motor domains; 

22 (ii) knowledge of realistic expectations 

23 of age-appropriate child behaviors; 

24 (iii) knowledge of health and wellness 

25 issues for children and parents; 


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1 (iv) modeling and consulting services 

2 related to parenting; 

3 (v) skills to interact with their child to 

4 enhance age-appropriate development; 

5 (vi) skills to recognize and seek help 

6 for health issues and developmental delays, 

7 and social, emotional, and behavioral skills; 

8 (vii) activities designed to help par9 ents become full partners in the education 

10 of their children; and 

11 (viii) relevant information, consistent 

12 with State child welfare agency training, 

13 concerning child welfare and protective 

14 services resources if appropriate; 

15 (2) ascertain which developmental services the 

16 family receives and work with service providers to 

17 eliminate gaps in services by offering annual health, 

18 vision, hearing, and developmental screening for chil19 dren from birth until entry into kindergarten, when 

20 not otherwise provided; 

21 (3) provide referrals for eligible families, as 

22 needed, to additional resources available in the com23 munity, such as center-based early education pro24 grams, child care services, health or mental health 

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1 cies, social services, and child care resource and re2 ferral agencies; 

3 (4) offer group meetings (at the discretion of 

4 the program involved) for eligible families that— 

5 (A) further enhance the information, ac6 tivities, and skill-building addressed during 

7 home visitation; and 

8 (B) offer opportunities for parents to meet 

9 with and support each other; 

10 (5) reserve 10 percent of the grant funds to 

11 provide training and technical assistance, directly or 

12 through contract, to early childhood home visitation 

13 and early childhood care and education staff relating 

14 to— 

15 (A) effective methods of conducting parent 

16 education, home visiting, and promoting quality 

17 early childhood development; 

18 (B) the relationship of health and well19 being of pregnant women to prenatal and early 

20 childhood development; 

21 (C) early childhood development with re22 spect to children from birth until entry into kin23 dergarten; 


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1 (D) methods to help parents promote 

2 emergent literacy in their children from birth 

3 until entry into kindergarten; 

4 (E) health, vision, hearing, and develop5 mental screenings; 

6 (F) strategies for helping eligible families 

7 with special needs or those eligible families cop8 ing with crisis; 

9 (G) recruiting, supervising, and retaining 

10 qualified staff; 

11 (H) increasing services for underserved 

12 populations; 

13 (I) methods to help parents effectively re14 spond to their children’s needs and behaviors; 

15 and 

16 (J) implementation of ongoing program 

17 quality improvement and evaluation of activities 

18 and outcomes; 

19 (6) ensure coordination of programs of early 

20 childhood home visitation, early childhood education 

21 and care, and early intervention, through an existing 

22 or created State-level early childhood coordinating 

23 body that includes— 

24 (A) representatives from relevant State 

25 agencies, including the State agency responsible 


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1 for carrying out the plan under section 106 of 

2 the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 5106a); 

4 (B) representatives from State Head Start 

5 Associations; 

6 (C) the State official with responsibility for 

7 carrying out activities under part C of the Indi8 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

9 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.); 

10 (D) the State official with responsibility 

11 for carrying out activities under section 619 of 

12 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

13 (20 U.S.C. 1419); 

14 (E) representatives from child care re15 source and referral State offices; 

16 (F) representatives from quality programs 

17 of early childhood home visitation; and 

18 (G) a board certified pediatrician or a de19 velopmental pediatrician; and 

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

21 amount of grant funds received under this section 

22 for the administration of the grant, including plan23 ning, administration, evaluation, and annual report24 ing. 


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

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

3 any fiscal year if the Secretary finds that the aggregate 

4 expenditures within the State for quality programs of 

5 early childhood home visitation, for the fiscal year pre6 ceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made, 

7 was not less than 100 percent of such aggregate expendi8 tures for the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year 

9 for which the determination is made. 

10 (h) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each State that 

11 receives a grant under this section shall submit an annual 

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

13 addressing the purposes of this Act. Such report shall in14 clude, at a minimum, a description of— 

15 (1) the actual services delivered under the 

16 grant, including— 

17 (A) the program characteristics, including 

18 descriptive information on the service models 

19 used and the actual program performance; 

20 (B) the characteristics of the providers in21 volved, including staff qualifications, work expe22 rience, and demographic characteristics; and 

23 (C) the characteristics of the recipients of 

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1 ber and demographic characteristics of the re2 cipients and family retention; 

3 (2) recipient outcomes that are consistent with 

4 program goals, including, where appropriate based 

5 on the outcomes being evaluated, a description of— 

6 (A) affected parental practices; 

7 (B) child health, cognitive, language, so8 cial-emotional, and physical developmental indi9 cators; 

10 (C) child maltreatment indicators, includ11 ing prevention strategies; 

12 (D) school readiness indicators; and 

13 (E) links to community services; 

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

15 and activities being used in the activities funded 

16 under the grant; 

17 (4) the effectiveness of the training and ongoing 

18 professional development provided— 

19 (A) to staff supported under the grant; 

20 and 

21 (B) to the broader early childhood commu22 nity; 

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

24 the grant, the results of evaluations described in 

25 subsection (c)(1)(F)(viii); and 


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1 (6) the annual program implementation costs, 

2 including the cost for each family served under the 

3 program. 

4 SEC. 5. TARGETED GRANTS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME 

5 VISITATION FOR FAMILIES WITH ENGLISH 

6 LANGUAGE LEARNERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in collaboration 

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

9 a competitive basis, to eligible applicants to enable such 

10 applicants to support and expand local efforts to deliver 

11 services under quality programs of early childhood home 

12 visitation, to eligible families with English language learn13 ers. 

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

15 ‘‘eligible applicant’’ means— 

16 (1) 1 or more local educational agencies (as de17 fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec18 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 

19 and 

20 (2) 1 or more public or private community21 based organizations or agencies that serve eligible 

22 families and are capable of establishing and imple23 menting programs of early childhood home visita24 tion. 


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1 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible applicant that de2 sires to receive a grant under this section shall submit an 

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

4 and containing such information as the Secretary may re5 quire. The application shall include a description of— 

6 (1) the results of a community wide needs as7 sessment that describes— 

8 (A) community demographics dem9 onstrating the need for outreach and services to 

10 eligible families with English language learners; 

11 (B) the quality and capacity of existing 

12 programs of early childhood home visitation for 

13 eligible families with English language learners; 

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

16 English language learners; and 

17 (D) the type of program of early childhood 

18 home visitation necessary to address the gaps 

19 identified; 

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

22 section; 

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

25 skills and children’s early learning and development; 


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

3 activities described in subsection (f); 

4 (5) how services provided through a grant 

5 under this section will use materials that are geared 

6 toward eligible families with English language learn7 ers; 

8 (6) how the activities under this section will 

9 build upon and promote coordination among existing 

10 programs of early childhood home visitation, if such 

11 programs exist in the community, in an effort to 

12 promote an array of home visitation that ensures 

13 more eligible families with English language learners 

14 are being served and are getting the most appro15 priate services to meet their needs; 

16 (7) how the program will ensure that— 

17 (A) eligible families with English language 

18 learners are linked to schools; and 

19 (B) the activities under this section will 

20 support the preparation of children for school; 

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


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

3 preschool programs, and child care programs, to fa4 cilitate the coordination of services for eligible fami5 lies with English language learners; 

6 (9) how eligible families with English language 

7 learners will be recruited and retained to receive 

8 services under this section; 

9 (10) how training and technical assistance will 

10 help the staff of programs of early childhood home 

11 visitation involved in activities under this section to 

12 more effectively serve eligible families with English 

13 language learners; 

14 (11) how the eligible applicant will evaluate the 

15 activities supported under this section in order to 

16 demonstrate outcomes related to the— 

17 (A) increase in number of eligible families 

18 with English language learners served by pro19 grams of early childhood home visitation; 

20 (B) enhancement of participating parents’ 

21 knowledge of early learning and development; 

22 (C) enhancement of positive parenting 

23 practices related to early learning and develop24 ment; and 


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1 (D) enhancement of children’s cognitive, 

2 language, social-emotional, and physical devel3 opment; and 

4 (12) such other information as the Secretary 

5 may require. 

6 (d) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.— 

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

8 applicants for funding under this section based on 

9 the quality of the applications and the recommenda10 tions of a peer review panel, as described in para11 graph (2). 

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

13 panel shall include not less than— 

14 (A) 2 individuals who are experts in the 

15 field of home visitation; 

16 (B) 2 individuals who are experts in early 

17 childhood development; 

18 (C) 2 individuals who are experts in serv19 ing eligible families with English language 

20 learners; 

21 (D) 1 individual who is a board certified 

22 pediatrician or a developmental pediatrician; 

23 and 


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

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

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

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

8 out the following activities: 

9 (1) Providing to as many eligible families with 

10 English language learners as practicable, voluntary 

11 early childhood home visitation, on not less fre12 quently than a monthly basis, through the imple13 mentation of other quality programs of early child14 hood home visitation that are research-based and 

15 that provide parents with— 

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

19 (B) knowledge of realistic expectations of 

20 age-appropriate child behaviors; 

21 (C) knowledge of health and wellness 

22 issues for children and parents; 

23 (D) modeling, consulting, and coaching on 

24 parenting practices; 


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

3 (F) skills to recognize and seek help for 

4 health issues and developmental delays, and so5 cial, emotional, and behavioral skills; and 

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

9 (2) Ascertaining what health and developmental 

10 services eligible families with English language 

11 learners receive and working with service providers 

12 to eliminate gaps in service by offering an annual 

13 health, vision, hearing, and developmental screening 

14 for children from birth through their entry into kin15 dergarten. 

16 (3) Providing referrals for participating eligible 

17 families with English language learners, as needed, 

18 to additional resources available in the community, 

19 such as center-based early education programs, child 

20 care services, health or mental health services, fam21 ily literacy programs, employment agencies, social 

22 services, and child care resource and referral agen23 cies. 

24 (4) Offering group meetings (at the discretion 

25 of the program involved), on not less frequently than 


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1 a monthly basis, for eligible families with English 

2 language learners that— 

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

5 home visitation; 

6 (B) offer opportunities for parents to meet 

7 with and support each other; and 

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

10 (5) Providing training and technical assistance 

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

13 (A) effective service to eligible families 

14 with English language learners, including skills 

15 to address challenges facing English language 

16 learners; 

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

19 promoting quality early childhood development, 

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

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

25 child development; 


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

4 (E) methods to help parents promote 

5 emergent literacy in their children from birth 

6 until entry into kindergarten; 

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

9 coping with a crisis; 

10 (G) recruiting, supervising, and retaining 

11 qualified staff; 

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

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

16 and 

17 (J) implementation of ongoing program 

18 quality improvement and evaluation of activities 

19 and outcomes. 

20 (6) Coordinating existing programs of early 

21 childhood home visitation in order to effectively and 

22 efficiently meet the needs of more eligible families 

23 with English language learners. 

24 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The recipient of a 

25 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an 


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1 annual report concerning the progress of the program con2 ducted by the recipient in addressing the purposes of this 

3 Act. Each such report shall, at a minimum, include a de4 scription of— 

5 (1) the actual service delivery provided for 

6 under the grant, including— 

7 (A) program characteristics that include 

8 descriptive information on the service model 

9 used under the program and actual program 

10 performance; 

11 (B) the characteristics of service providers 

12 under the program that include staff qualifica13 tions, work experience, and demographic char14 acteristics; 

15 (C) the characteristics of recipients of serv16 ices under the program, including the number 

17 and demographic characteristics of the recipi18 ents and family retention; and 

19 (D) an estimate of the annual program im20 plementation costs; 

21 (2) with respect to recipients of services under 

22 the program, whether such services were provided in 

23 a manner consistent with program goals including, 

24 where appropriate— 

25 (A) parental practices; 


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1 (B) child health and development indica2 tors; 

3 (C) child maltreatment indicators; 

4 (D) school readiness indicators; and 

5 (E) links to community services; 

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

7 and activities being used in the activities conducted 

8 under the program; and 

9 (4) the effectiveness of the training and ongoing 

10 professional development provided— 

11 (A) to the staff supported under the pro12 gram; and 

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

15 (h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

16 provided under this section shall be used to supplement, 

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

18 for carrying out the activities described in this section. 

19 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

21 $50,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2010 through 

22 2012. 


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1 SEC. 6. TARGETED GRANTS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME 

2 VISITATION FOR MILITARY FAMILIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in col4 laboration with the Secretary of Education, shall make 

5 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible applicants to en6 able such applicants to support and expand efforts to de7 liver services under quality programs of early childhood 

8 home visitation, to eligible families with a family member 

9 in the Armed Forces. 

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

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

12 (1) A local educational agency that receives 

13 payments under title VIII of the Elementary and 

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

15 et seq.). 

16 (2) A school of the defense dependents’ edu17 cation system under the Defense Dependents’ Edu18 cation Act of 1978 (20 U.S.C. 921 et seq.). 

19 (3) A school established under section 2164 of 

20 title 10, United States Code. 

21 (4) A community-based organization serving 

22 families with a family member in the Armed Forces. 

23 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible applicant that de24 sires to receive a grant under this section shall submit an 

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

26 such manner, and containing such information as the SecVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:03 Jan 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S244.IS S244

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1 retary of Defense may require. The application shall in2 clude a description of— 

3 (1) the results of a community wide needs as4 sessment that describes— 

5 (A) community demographics dem6 onstrating the need for outreach and services to 

7 eligible families with a family member in the 

8 Armed Forces; 

9 (B) the quality, capacity, and existing pro10 grams of early childhood home visitation for eli11 gible families with a family member in the 

12 Armed Forces; 

13 (C) the gaps in programs of early child14 hood home visitation for eligible families with a 

15 family member in the Armed Forces; and 

16 (D) the type of program of early childhood 

17 home visitation necessary to address the gaps 

18 identified; 

19 (2) the program of early childhood home visita20 tion that will be supported by the grant under this 

21 section; 

22 (3) how the proposed program of early child23 hood home visitation will promote positive parenting 

24 skills and children’s early learning and development; 


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

3 activities described in subsection (f); 

4 (5) how services provided through a grant 

5 under this section will use materials that are geared 

6 toward eligible families with a family member in the 

7 Armed Forces; 

8 (6) how the activities under this section will 

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

11 programs exist in the community, in an effort to 

12 promote an array of home visitation that ensures 

13 more eligible families with a family member in the 

14 Armed Forces are being served and are getting the 

15 most appropriate services to meet their needs; 

16 (7) how the program will ensure that— 

17 (A) eligible families with a family member 

18 in the Armed Forces are linked to schools; and 

19 (B) the activities under this section will 

20 support the preparation of children for school; 

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


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

3 preschool programs, family support programs, and 

4 child care programs, to facilitate the coordination of 

5 services for eligible families with a family member in 

6 the Armed Forces; 

7 (9) how eligible families with a family member 

8 in the Armed Forces will be recruited and retained 

9 to receive services under this section; 

10 (10) how training and technical assistance will 

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

13 more effectively serve eligible families with a family 

14 member in the Armed Forces; 

15 (11) how the eligible applicant will evaluate the 

16 activities supported under this section in order to 

17 demonstrate outcomes related to the— 

18 (A) increase in number of eligible families 

19 with a family member in the Armed Forces 

20 served by programs of early childhood home vis21 itation; 

22 (B) enhancement of participating parents’ 

23 knowledge of early learning and development; 


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1 (C) enhancement of positive parenting 

2 practices related to early learning and develop3 ment; and 

4 (D) enhancement of children’s cognitive, 

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

7 (12) such other information as the Secretary of 

8 Defense may require. 

9 (d) APPROVAL OF LOCAL APPLICATIONS.— 

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

11 shall select applicants for funding under this section 

12 based on the quality of the applications and the rec13 ommendations of a peer review panel, as described 

14 in paragraph (2). 

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

16 panel shall include not less than— 

17 (A) 2 individuals who are experts in the 

18 field of home visitation; 

19 (B) 2 individuals who are experts in early 

20 childhood development; 

21 (C) 2 individuals who are experts in family 

22 support for military families; 

23 (D) 1 individual who is a board certified 

24 pediatrician; and 


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

4 and 

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

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

7 (f) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Each eligible appli8 cant that receives a grant under this section shall carry 

9 out the following activities: 

10 (1) Providing to as many eligible families with 

11 a family member in the Armed Forces as prac12 ticable, voluntary early childhood home visitation, on 

13 not less frequently than a monthly basis, through 

14 the implementation of other quality programs of 

15 early childhood home visitation that are research16 based and that provide parents with— 

17 (A) knowledge of age-appropriate child de18 velopment in cognitive, language, social-emo19 tional, and motor domains; 

20 (B) knowledge of realistic expectations of 

21 age-appropriate child behaviors; 

22 (C) knowledge of health and wellness 

23 issues for children and parents; 

24 (D) modeling, consulting, and coaching on 

25 parenting practices; 


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

3 (F) skills to recognize and seek help for 

4 health issues and developmental delays, and so5 cial, emotional, and behavioral skills; and 

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

9 (2) Ascertaining what health and development 

10 services the eligible family with a family member in 

11 the Armed Forces receives under the program and 

12 working with service providers to eliminate gaps in 

13 service by offering annual health, vision, hearing, 

14 and developmental screening for participating chil15 dren. 

16 (3) Providing referrals for participating eligible 

17 families with a family member in the Armed Forces, 

18 as needed, to additional resources available in the 

19 community, such as center-based early education 

20 programs, child care services, health or mental 

21 health services, family literacy programs, employ22 ment agencies, social services, and child care re23 source and referral agencies. 

24 (4) Offering group meetings (at the discretion 

25 of the program), on not less frequently than a 


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1 monthly basis, for eligible families with a family 

2 member in the Armed Forces that— 

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

5 home visitation; 

6 (B) offer opportunities for parents to meet 

7 with and support each other; and 

8 (C) address challenges facing eligible fami9 lies with a family member in the Armed Forces. 

10 (5) Providing training and technical assistance 

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

13 (A) effective service to eligible families 

14 with a family member in the Armed Forces; 

15 (B) effective methods of conducting parent 

16 education, home visiting, and promoting quality 

17 early childhood development, with sensitivity to 

18 cultural variations in parenting norms and atti19 tudes toward formal support services; 

20 (C) the relationship of health and well21 being of pregnant women to prenatal and early 

22 child development; 

23 (D) early childhood development with re24 spect to children from birth until entry into kin25 dergarten; 


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1 (E) methods to help parents promote 

2 emergent literacy in their children from birth 

3 until entry into kindergarten; 

4 (F) implementing strategies for helping eli5 gible families with a family member in the 

6 Armed Forces coping with crisis; 

7 (G) recruiting, supervising, and retaining 

8 qualified staff; 

9 (H) increasing services for underserved eli10 gible families with a family member in the 

11 Armed Forces; 

12 (I) methods to help parents effectively re13 spond to their children’s needs and behaviors; 

14 and 

15 (J) implementation of ongoing program 

16 quality improvement and evaluation of activities 

17 and outcomes. 

18 (6) Coordinating existing programs of early 

19 childhood home visitation in order to effectively and 

20 efficiently meet the needs of more eligible families 

21 with a family member in the Armed Forces. 

22 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The recipient of a 

23 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an 

24 annual report concerning the progress of the program con25 ducted by the recipient in addressing the purposes of this 


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1 Act. Each such report shall, at a minimum, include a de2 scription of— 

3 (1) the actual service delivery provided for 

4 under the grant, including— 

5 (A) program characteristics that include 

6 descriptive information on the service model 

7 used under the program and actual program 

8 performance; 

9 (B) the characteristics of service providers 

10 under the program that include staff qualifica11 tions, work experience, and demographic char12 acteristics; 

13 (C) the characteristics of recipients of serv14 ices under the program, including the number 

15 and demographic characteristics of the recipi16 ents and family retention; and 

17 (D) an estimate of the annual program im18 plementation costs; 

19 (2) with respect to recipients of services under 

20 the program, whether such services were provided in 

21 a manner consistent with program goals including, 

22 where appropriate— 

23 (A) parental practices; 

24 (B) child health and development indica25 tors; 


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1 (C) child maltreatment indicators; 

2 (D) school readiness indicators; and 

3 (E) links to community services; 

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

5 and activities being used in the activities conducted 

6 under the program; and 

7 (4) the effectiveness of the training and ongoing 

8 professional development provided— 

9 (A) to the staff supported under the pro10 gram; and 

11 (B) to the affected early childhood commu12 nity. 

13 (h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

14 provided under this section shall be used to supplement, 

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

16 for carrying out the activities described in this section. 

17 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $50,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2010 through 

20 2012. 

21 SEC. 7. EVALUATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—From funds reserved under sec23 tion 4(b)(1)(A), the Secretary shall conduct an inde24 pendent evaluation of the effectiveness of this Act. 

25 (b) REPORTS.— 


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

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary shall submit an interim report on the evalua4 tion conducted pursuant to subsection (a) to the 

5 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen6 sions of the Senate and the Committee on Education 

7 and Labor of the House of Representatives. 

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

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall submit a final report on the evaluation 

11 conducted pursuant to subsection (a) to the commit12 tees described in paragraph (1). 

13 (c) CONTENTS.—The reports submitted under sub14 section (b) shall include information on the following: 

15 (1) How the grant funds have expanded access 

16 to early childhood home visitation in a manner that 

17 demonstrates that programs under this Act reflect 

18 the quality indicators under this Act. 

19 (2) How the States are documenting compliance 

20 with the service delivery indicators under this Act 

21 across all entities carrying out programs under this 

22 Act with emphasis on the number of families served 

23 and the level of service received. 

24 (3) How the services provided under State pro25 grams affect outcomes consistent with programs 


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1 goals, including, where appropriate based on the 

2 program being evaluated, parenting practices, child 

3 health and development, child maltreatment, school 

4 readiness, and links to community services. 

5 (4) The effectiveness of early childhood home 

6 visitation on different populations, including the ex7 tent to which variability exists in program ability to 

8 improve outcomes across programs and populations, 

9 such as families with English language learners and 

10 families with a family member in the Armed Forces. 

11 (5) The effectiveness of the training and tech12 nical assistance activities funded under this Act, in13 cluding the effects of training and technical assist14 ance activities on program performance and agency15 level collaboration. 

16 (6) Recommendations on strengthening or 

17 modifying this Act. 

18 SEC. 8. SUPPORTING NEW PARENTS THROUGH HOSPITAL 

19 EDUCATION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop and 

21 implement a public information and educational campaign 

22 to inform the public and new parents about the impor23 tance of proper care for infants and children under 5 years 

24 of age, including healthy parent-child relationships, the de25 mands and stress associated with caring for infants, posiVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:03 Jan 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S244.IS S244

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1 tive responses to infants’ challenging behaviors including 

2 awareness of their social, emotional, and physical needs, 

3 awareness of the vulnerability of young children to abusive 

4 practices, and the signs and treatment of post-partum de5 pression. 

6 (b) ELEMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The campaign developed 

8 under subsection (a) shall include the following ele9 ments: 

10 (A) The dissemination of educational and 

11 informational materials in print, audio, video, 

12 electronic, and other media. 

13 (B) The use of public service announce14 ments and advertisements. 

15 (C) The dissemination of effective child 

16 abuse prevention practices and techniques, in17 cluding information about research-based home 

18 visiting programs, respite care, crisis nurseries, 

19 and parent support networks, to parents, care20 givers, maternity hospitals, children’s hospitals, 

21 pediatricians, child care centers, organizations 

22 providing prenatal and postnatal care, and or23 ganizations providing parenting education and 

24 support services. 


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1 (D) Connection to existing parental in2 volvement programs. 

3 (2) PREVENTION PRACTICES.—In carrying out 

4 paragraph (1)(C) through the campaign under sub5 section (a), the Secretary shall ensure that every 

6 hospital, military hospital, and birth center receiving 

7 these materials requests that each maternity patient 

8 and father of a newborn child, if available, partici9 pate in a single session parenting class, that is ap10 proved by the Secretary, on the vulnerabilities of 

11 their infant to abusive practices, as well as the im12 portance of proper care for infants and young chil13 dren, and the symptoms of abusive head and other 

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

15 emotional, and physical needs. After participating in 

16 the class, the hospital or birth center shall request 

17 that such patient or father sign a form stating that 

18 they have participated or refused to participate in 

19 the parenting class. 

20 (3) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The implementation 

21 and execution of the public information and edu22 cational campaign under this section should seek col23 laboration with and referrals to existing parental in24 volvement programs that specialize in strengthening 

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


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1 or emotional and physical development and existing 

2 prenatal and early childhood home visit programs. 

3 (4) EXISTING STATE REQUIREMENTS.—The im4 plementation and execution of the public information 

5 and educational campaign under this section should 

6 encourage the Secretary to work with pre-existing 

7 State requirements to ensure that no unnecessary 

8 burdens are placed on hospitals, military hospitals, 

9 and birth centers receiving educational materials. 

10 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

11 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec12 essary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2010. 

Æ 


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