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[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 13 (Friday, January 19, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2743-2744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00897]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

45 CFR Part 1302

RIN 0970-AC63

Secretarial Determination To Lower Head Start Center-Based 
Service Duration Requirement

AGENCY: Office of Head Start (OHS), Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Secretarial determination on Head Start center-based service 
duration requirements; waiver.

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SUMMARY: With this document, the Secretary exercises his authority to 
waive the August 1, 2019 Head Start center-based service duration 
requirements, effectively lowering this requirement from 50 percent to 
0 percent. However, the requirement that Early Head Start programs 
provide 1,380 annual hours of planned class operations for all center-
based enrollment by August 1, 2018 remains in effect.

DATES: This waiver is effective January 19, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Office of Head Start, Mary Switzer Bldg., 330 C Street SW, 
Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colleen Rathgeb, Division Director for 
Planning, Oversight and Policy, Office Head Start, 
[email protected], (202) 358-3263 (not a toll-free call). Deaf 
and hearing impaired individuals may call the Federal Dual Party Relay 
Service at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern Standard 
Time.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background Information

    In the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, 
Congress instructed the Office of Head Start to update its Head Start 
Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) by regulation and ensure that any 
such revisions in the standards do not result in the elimination of or 
any reduction in the quality, scope, or types of health, educational, 
parental involvement, nutritional, social, or other social services. We 
published a final rule to complete this revision at 45 CFR chapter 
XIII, subchapter B, on September 6, 2016. This final rule included a 
provision at Sec.  1302.21(c)(2)(iii) that would require each Head 
Start center-based program, by August 1, 2019, to provide 1,020 annual 
hours of planned class operations over the course of at least eight 
months per year for at least 50 percent of its Head Start center-based 
funded enrollment. This requirement represents an increase from the 
existing minimum requirement of 3.5 hours per day, 4 days per week, for 
128 days per year, which is equivalent to 448 annual hours. The longer 
1,020 annual hour service duration requirement was based on a body of 
research that suggests individual disadvantaged children benefit from 
longer exposure to enriching early learning programs than what is 
provided by the part-day, part-year programs. Research on full-day 
programs, instructional time, summer learning loss, and attendance all 
indicate longer service duration is linked with improved child 
outcomes. Moreover, increased service duration allows teachers more 
time to provide individualized and content-rich learning that is 
important for positive child outcomes. However, the research does not 
provide clarity on an exact threshold or combination of hours and days 
needed to achieve positive child outcomes.
    We also recognize extended services come at a significant cost for 
Head Start programs. Without additional funding from Congress to 
support longer hours of program operations, a requirement to increase 
service duration so that 50 percent of Head Start center-based slots in 
each program operate for 1,020 annual hours would result in the Head 
Start program serving significantly fewer children. Although research 
points to the benefits of increased service duration for an individual 
child, research has not answered whether the population as a whole 
benefits more when fewer children are served for a longer time as 
compared to more children being served for a shorter time.

[[Page 2744]]

    Because future appropriations levels were not known when the HSPPS 
final rule was published in September 2016, the final rule provided 
authority for the Secretary to lower the increased Head Start center-
based service duration requirements based on an assessment of available 
funding closer to the requirement's effective date in order to prevent 
thousands of disadvantaged children not having access to Head Start.

Authority

    Section 1302.21(c)(3)(i) of the HSPPS final rule allows the 
Secretary to lower the required percentage of funded enrollment slots 
for which programs must provide 1,020 annual hours of planned class 
operations from the 50 percent required in Sec.  1302.21(c)(2)(iii), on 
or before February 1, 2018, based on an assessment of the availability 
of sufficient funding to mitigate a substantial reduction in funded 
enrollment.

Funding Assessment

    The Secretary has made an assessment that Head Start appropriations 
are not sufficient to allow the requirement at Sec.  
1302.21(c)(2)(iii), for 50 percent of each program's Head Start center-
based slots to operate for 1,020 annual hours, to go into effect 
without resulting in a substantial reduction in funded enrollment.
    Prior to publication of the HSPPS final rule, Congress appropriated 
$294 million in fiscal year (FY) 2016 to support an increase in hours 
of program operations across Head Start and Early Head Start. At the 
time of the FY 2016 funding to support and increased duration, the 
regulatory requirements were not in effect. Programs that wished to 
voluntarily increase hours of program operations to 1,020 annual hours 
for up to 40 percent of their Head Start center-based slots or to 1,380 
annual hours for their Early Head Start center-based slots were 
eligible to submit an application by June 2016 to receive additional 
funds. Some eligible programs chose not to apply for additional 
funding. There are programs that currently operate none of their Head 
Start center-based funded enrollment for 1,020 annual hours. There are 
also programs that currently operate all of their Head Start center-
based funded enrollment for 1,020 hours or longer. These requirements 
are minimums, and programs could choose to operate some slots longer 
each day and/or for more days per year.
    In the HSPPS final rule, we estimated the cost for programs to 
implement the 50 percent service duration requirement to be $535 
million. Since the publication of the final rule in September 2016, 
when Head Start programs were notified of the future requirements to 
increase center-based service duration to 1,020 annual hours, no 
additional funds have been appropriated to support increases in service 
duration. While we requested funds to support additional increases in 
service duration in FY 2017, Congress did not further increase Head 
Start appropriations for this purpose.
    HHS has conducted an assessment of available funding and the 
current percentages of slots individual programs currently operate at 
1,020 annual hours. Based on this assessment, we estimate that without 
additional funding, implementation of the requirement at Sec.  
1302.21(c)(2)(iii) for each program to operate 50 percent of its Head 
Start center-based slots for 1,020 annual hours would result in a loss 
of approximately 41,000 Head Start slots, which represents roughly five 
percent of existing Head Start slots. The FY 2018 President's Budget 
did not request an increase in appropriations to support increases in 
service duration. We do not expect sufficient funding to become 
available in time for grantees to meet the current HSPPS standard.

Conclusion

    Under Sec.  1302.21(c)(3)(i), the Secretary has made a 
determination that there is not sufficient funding available to 
mitigate a substantial reduction in funded enrollment resulting from 
the requirement described in Sec.  1302.21(c)(2)(iii), and hereby 
waives the requirement that 50 percent of a program's Head Start 
center-based program's funded enrollment that must operate for 1,020 
annual hours of planned class operations by August 1, 2019, effectively 
lowering the percentage to 0. This determination is effective 
immediately. Because the HSPPS final rule governs the Secretary's 
discretion in this matter, the public comment process is not required.
    The service duration requirements for Head Start center-based 
programs described in Sec.  1302.21(c)(2)(i) and (ii) remain in effect. 
Under these requirements, a Head Start center-based program must 
provide, at a minimum, at least 160 days per year of planned class 
operations if it operates for five days per week, or at least 128 days 
per year if it operates four days per week. Classes must operate for a 
minimum of 3.5 hours per day. These requirements are minimums, and 
programs could choose to operate some slots longer each day and/or for 
more days per year. The Head Start Act allows programs to request to 
convert part-day slots to full-day or full-working-day slots. This 
determination by the Secretary provides local Head Start programs 
maximum flexibility to determine program schedules that best meet the 
demonstrated needs in their communities, and ensures low-income 
children will not lose access to Head Start's comprehensive services 
and a preschool experience before entering Kindergarten because of a 
federal requirement. Additionally, the requirement under Sec.  
1302.21(c)(1)(i) that Early Head Start programs provide 1,380 annual 
hours of planned class operations for all center-based enrollment by 
August 1, 2018 also remains in effect.
    The Secretary's determination under Sec.  1302.21(c)(3)(i) does not 
affect the Secretary's authority to make a separate determination under 
Sec.  1302.21(c)(3)(ii) on or before February 1, 2020, to maintain or 
lower the service duration requirement described in Sec.  
1302.21(c)(2)(iv) based on an assessment of the availability of 
sufficient funding to mitigate a substantial reduction in funded 
enrollment resulting from that requirement.
    In addition, the Secretary's determination under Sec.  
1302.21(c)(3)(i) does not change or affect current processes that allow 
grantees to request to serve children for longer service duration 
within existing funding levels as part of the grantee's annual service 
and enrollment negotiations with the Office of Head Start.

    Dated: January 16, 2018.
Eric D. Hargan,
Acting Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2018-00897 Filed 1-18-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P
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