I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2123

To reauthorize the Head Start Act to improve the school readiness of 

disadvantaged children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2005

Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, Mr. REGULA, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. PUTNAM, and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To reauthorize the Head Start Act to improve the school 

readiness of disadvantaged children, 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 ‘‘School Readiness Act 

5 of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

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

8 is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 636. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

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

3 school readiness by enhancing the development of low-in4 come children, through educational instruction in 

5 prereading skills, premathematics skills, and language, 

6 and through the provision to low-income children and their 

7 families of health, educational, nutritional, social and 

8 other services that are determined, based on family needs 

9 assessments, to be necessary.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 Section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9832) 

12 is amended—

13 (1) in paragraph (17) by striking ‘‘, but for fis14 cal years’’ and all that follows down to the period; 

15 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (15), (16), and 

16 (17) as paragraphs (19), (20), and (21), respec17 tively; 

18 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through 

19 (14) as paragraphs (13) through (17), respectively; 

20 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

21 (9) as paragraphs (5) through (11), respectively; 

22 (5) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para23 graph (3); 

24 (6) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol25 lowing: 

26 ‘‘(2) The term ‘deficiency’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) failure of a Head Start agency in an 

2 area of performance that the Secretary deter3 mines involves—

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

5 civil rights of children or staff; 

6 ‘‘(ii) a denial to parents of the exer7 cise of their full roles and responsibilities 

8 related to program governance; 

9 ‘‘(iii) a failure to perform the require10 ments of this subchapter, as determined by 

11 the Secretary; 

12 ‘‘(iv) the misuse of funds received 

13 under this subchapter; 

14 ‘‘(v) loss of legal status (as deter15 mined by the Secretary) or financial viabil16 ity, loss of permits, debarment from receiv17 ing Federal grants or contracts, or the im18 proper use of Federal funds; or 

19 ‘‘(vi) failure to meet any other of Fed20 eral or State requirement; 

21 ‘‘(B) failure of the board of directors of a 

22 Head Start agency to fully exercise its legal and 

23 fiduciary responsibilities; 
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1 ‘‘(C) failure of a Head Start agency to 

2 meet the administrative requirements of section 

3 644(b); or 

4 ‘‘(D) failure of a Head Start agency to 

5 meet the integration requirements of 642B.’’; 

6 (7) by inserting after paragraph (3), as so re7 designated, the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) The term ‘eligible entities’ means an insti9 tution of higher education or other agency with ex10 pertise in delivering training in early childhood de11 velopment, family support, and other assistance de12 signed to improve the quality of early childhood edu13 cations programs.’’; 

14 (8) by inserting after paragraph (11), as so re15 designated, the following: 

16 ‘‘(12) The term ‘homeless children’ has the 

17 meaning given such term in subtitle B of title VII 

18 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.).’’; 

20 (9) by inserting after paragraph (17), as so re21 designated, the following: 

22 ‘‘(18) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The 

23 term ‘professional development’ includes activities 

24 that—
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1 ‘‘(A) assist teachers in meeting the profes2 sional requirements insection 648A(a)(1); 

3 ‘‘(B) improve classroom management 

4 skills; 

5 ‘‘(C) are high quality, sustained, intensive, 

6 and classroom-focused in order to have a posi7 tive and lasting impact on classroom instruction 

8 and the teacher’s performance in the classroom; 

9 ‘‘(D) are not 1-day or short-term work10 shops or conferences; 

11 ‘‘(E) assist teachers and staff in increasing 

12 their knowledge and skills in program adminis13 tration, program quality, and the provision of 

14 services and instruction in a manner that im15 proves service delivery to eligible children and 

16 families; 

17 ‘‘(F) support the recruiting, hiring, and 

18 training of teachers that meet the requirements 

19 of section 648A(a)(2); 

20 ‘‘(G) are part of a sustained effort to im21 prove overall program quality and outcomes for 

22 eligible children and families; 

23 ‘‘(H) advance teacher understanding of ef24 fective instructional strategies that are—
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1 ‘‘(i) based on scientifically based re2 search; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) strategies for improving school 

4 readiness or substantially increasing the 

5 knowledge and teaching skills of teachers; 

6 ‘‘(I) are, where applicable, aligned with 

7 and directly related to—

8 ‘‘(i) State academic content stand9 ards, student academic achievement stand10 ards, and assessments; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the curricula and programs tied 

12 to the standards described in section 

13 641(a)(1); 

14 ‘‘(J) are developed with extensive partici15 pation of administrators and teachers from 

16 Head Start programs; 

17 ‘‘(K) are appropriate for the children being 

18 served; 

19 ‘‘(L) are designed to give teachers of non20 English language background children, and 

21 other teachers and instructional staff, the 

22 knowledge and skills to provide instruction and 

23 appropriate language and support services to 

24 those children; 
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1 ‘‘(M) as a whole, are regularly evaluated 

2 for their impact on increased staff effectiveness 

3 and improved ability of teachers to support 

4 learning and increase participating children’s 

5 school readiness, with the findings of the eval6 uations used to improve the quality of profes7 sional development;’’. 

8 ‘‘(N) provide instruction in methods of 

9 teaching children with special needs; and 

10 ‘‘(O) include instruction in ways that Head 

11 Start personnel may work more effectively with 

12 parents.’’, and 

13 (10) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(22) The term ‘unresolved area of noncompli15 ance’ means a failure to correct a noncompliance 

16 item within 90 days, or within such additional time 

17 (if any) authorized by the Secretary, after receiving 

18 from the Secretary notice of such noncompliance 

19 item.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR HEAD START PRO21 GRAMS. 

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

23 is amended by inserting ‘‘for a period of 5 years’’ after 

24 ‘‘provide financial assistance to such agency’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION. 

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

3 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap6 propriated for carrying out the provisions of this sub7 chapter $6,899,000,000 for the fiscal year 2006 and such 

8 sums as may be necessary for the fiscal years 2007 

9 through 2011. 

10 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC PROGRAMS.—From the amount ap11 propriated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 

12 available not more than $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, 

13 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2007 

14 through 2011 to carry out such other research, dem15 onstration, and evaluation activities, including longitu16 dinal studies, under section 649, of which not more than 

17 $7,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2011 

18 to carry out impact studies under section 649(g).’’. 

19 SEC. 6. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS; LIMITATIONS ON ASSIST20 ANCE. 

21 (a) ALLOTMENTS.—Section 640(a) of the Head Start 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)) is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (2)—

24 (A) in subparagraph (A) by striking 

25 ‘‘1998’’ and inserting ‘‘2005’’; 
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1 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(B) payments, subject to paragraph (7) to 

4 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

5 Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands of 

6 the United States;’’; 

7 (C) by amending (C) to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(C) training and technical assistance activities 

9 to foster program quality and management improve10 ment as described in section 648, in an amount for 

11 each fiscal year which is equal to 2 percent of the 

12 amount appropriated for such fiscal year, of which—

13 ‘‘(i) not less than 50 percent shall be made 

14 available to local Head Start agencies to make 

15 program improvements identified by such agen16 cies and comply with the standards described in 

17 section 641A(a)(1), of which not less than 50 

18 percent shall be used to comply with the stand19 ards described in section 641A(a)(1)(B) and for 

20 the uses described in clauses (iii), (iv), and (vii) 

21 of subsection (a)(3)(B); 

22 ‘‘(ii) not less than 20 percent shall be 

23 made available to support a State system of 

24 early childhood education training and technical 
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1 assistance, including the State Early Learning 

2 Council described in section 642B; 

3 ‘‘(iii) not less than 30 percent shall be 

4 made available to the Secretary to assist local 

5 programs in meeting the standards described in 

6 section 641A(a)(1) and shall be allocated to ad7 dress program weaknesses identified by moni8 toring activities conducted by the Secretary 

9 under section 641A(c); and 

10 ‘‘(iv) not less than $3,000,000 of the 

11 amount in clause (iii) appropriated for such fis12 cal year shall be made available to carry out ac13 tivities described in section 648(c)(4);’’; and 

14 (D) by striking the last sentence. 

15 (2) in paragraph (3)—

16 (A) in subparagraph (A)—

17 (i) in clause (i)(I) by striking ‘‘1999’’ 

18 and all that follows down to the semicolon 

19 and inserting ‘‘2006 through 2011’’; and 

20 (ii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(iii) After the reservation of amounts under para23 graph (2) and the 60 percent amount referred to in sub24 paragraph (A) of this paragraph, a portion of the remain25 ing funds shall be made available for quality—
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1 ‘‘(I) to expand services to underserved popu2 lations, such as children receiving services under the 

3 Early Head Start and migrant and seasonal Head 

4 Start programs; and 

5 ‘‘(II) to increase funding to grantees with full 

6 enrollment and whose aggregate amount of financial 

7 assistance provides funding per child that is below 

8 the national average.’’; 

9 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

10 as follows: 

11 ‘‘(B) Funds reserved under this paragraph (in this 

12 paragraph referred to as ‘quality improvement funds’) 

13 shall be used to accomplish any or all of the following 

14 goals: 

15 ‘‘(i) Ensuring that Head Start programs meet 

16 or exceed standards pursuant to section 641A(a)(1). 

17 ‘‘(ii) Ensuring that such programs have ade18 quate numbers of qualified staff, and that such staff 

19 is furnished adequate training, including developing 

20 skills to promote the development of language skills, 

21 premathematic skills, and prereading in young chil22 dren and in working with children with non-English 

23 language background, children referred by child wel24 fare services, and children with disabilities, when ap25 propriate. 
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1 ‘‘(iii) Developing and financing the salary scales 

2 described under section 644(a) and section 653, in 

3 order to ensure that salary levels and benefits are 

4 adequate to attract and retain qualified staff for 

5 such programs. 

6 ‘‘(iv) Using salary increases—

7 ‘‘(I) to assist with the implementation of 

8 quality programs and improve staff qualifica9 tions; 

10 ‘‘(II) to ensure that staff can promote the 

11 language skills and literacy growth of children 

12 and can provide children with a variety of skills 

13 that have been identified, through scientifically 

14 based early reading research, as predictive of 

15 later reading achievement; and 

16 ‘‘(III) to encourage the staff to continually 

17 improve their skills and expertise by informing 

18 the staff of the availability of Federal and State 

19 incentive and loan forgiveness programs for 

20 professional development. 

21 ‘‘(v) Improving community-wide strategic plan22 ning and needs assessments for such programs and 

23 collaboration efforts for such programs, including 

24 collaborations to increase program participation by 

25 underserved populations of eligible children. 
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1 ‘‘(vi) Ensuring that the physical environments 

2 of Head Start programs are conducive to providing 

3 effective program services to children and families, 

4 and are accessible to children with disabilities and 

5 their parents. 

6 ‘‘(vii) Ensuring that such programs have quali7 fied staff that can promote language skills and lit8 eracy growth of children and that can provide chil9 dren with a variety of skills that have been identi10 fied, through scientifically based reading research, as 

11 predictive of later reading achievement. 

12 ‘‘(viii) Providing assistance to complete postsec13 ondary coursework including scholarships or other fi14 nancial incentives, such as differential and merit 

15 pay, to enable Head Start teachers to improve com16 petencies and the resulting child outcomes. 

17 ‘‘(ix) Making such other improvements in the 

18 quality of such programs as the Secretary may des19 ignate. 

20 ‘‘(x) Promoting the regular attendance and sta21 bility of all Head Start children with particular at22 tention to highly mobile children, including children 

23 from migrant and seasonal farmworker families (if 

24 appropriate), homeless children, and children in fos25 ter care.’’; and 
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1 (C) by amending subparagraph (C) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(C) Quality improvement funds shall be used to 

4 carry out the activities in any or all of the following 

5 clauses: 

6 ‘‘(i)(I) Not less than one-half of the amount re7 served under this paragraph, to improve the com8 pensation (including benefits) of classroom teachers 

9 and other staff of Head Start agencies providing in10 structional services and thereby enhancing recruit11 ment and retention of qualified staff, including re12 cruitment and retention pursuant to achieving the 

13 requirements set forth in section 648A(a). The ex14 penditure of funds under this clause shall be subject 

15 to section 653. Salary increases, in excess of cost-of16 living allowance, provided with such funds shall be 

17 subject to the specific standards governing salaries 

18 and salary increases established pursuant to section 

19 644(a). 

20 ‘‘(II) If a Head Start agency certifies to the 

21 Secretary for such fiscal year that part of the funds 

22 set aside under subclause (I) to improve wages can23 not be expended by such agency to improve wages 

24 because of the operation of section 653, then such 
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1 agency may expend such part for any of the uses 

2 specified in this subparagraph (other than wages). 

3 ‘‘(III) From the remainder of the amount re4 served under this paragraph (after the Secretary 

5 carries out subclause (I)), the Secretary may carry 

6 out the activities described in clauses (ii) through 

7 (vii). 

8 ‘‘(ii) To train classroom teachers and other 

9 staff to meet the education standards described in 

10 section 641A(a)(1)(B), through activities—

11 ‘‘(I) to promote children’s language and 

12 prereading growth, through techniques identi13 fied through scientifically based reading re14 search; 

15 ‘‘(II) to promote the acquisition of the 

16 English language for non-English background 

17 children and families; 

18 ‘‘(III) to foster children’s school readiness 

19 skills through activities described in section 

20 648A(a)(1); and 

21 ‘‘(IV) to provide education and training 

22 necessary to improve the qualifications of Head 

23 Start staff, particularly assistance to enable 

24 more instructors to be fully competent and to 

25 meet the degree requirements under section 
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1 648A(a)(2)(A), and to support staff training, 

2 child counseling, and other services necessary to 

3 address the challenges of children participating 

4 in Head Start programs, including children 

5 from immigrant, refugee, and asylee families, 

6 children from families in crisis, children who ex7 perience chronic violence in their communities, 

8 and children who experience substance abuse in 

9 their families. 

10 ‘‘(iii) To employ additional Head Start staff, in11 cluding staff necessary to reduce the child-staff 

12 ratio, lead instructors who meet the qualifications of 

13 section 648A(a) and staff necessary to coordinate a 

14 Head Start program with other services available to 

15 children participating in such program and to their 

16 families. 

17 ‘‘(iv) To pay costs incurred by Head Start 

18 agencies to purchase insurance (other than employee 

19 benefits) and thereby maintain or expand Head 

20 Start services. 

21 ‘‘(v) To supplement amounts provided under 

22 paragraph (2)(C) to provide training necessary to 

23 improve the qualifications of the staff of the Head 

24 Start agencies, and to support staff training, child 

25 counseling, and other services necessary to address 
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1 the problems of children participating in Head Start 

2 programs, including children from dysfunctional 

3 families, children who experience chronic violence in 

4 their communities, and children who experience sub5 stance abuse in their families. 

6 ‘‘(vi) To conduct outreach to homeless families 

7 in an effort to increase the program participation of 

8 homeless children. 

9 ‘‘(vii) Such other activities as the Secretary 

10 may designate. 

11 ‘‘(viii) To conduct outreach to migrant and sea12 sonal farm-working families and families with chil13 dren with a limited English proficiency.’’; 

14 (3) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘1998’’ in sub15 paragraph (A) and inserting ‘‘2005’’; 

16 (4) in paragraph (5) by amending subpara17 graphs (A), (B), and (C) to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(A) From amounts reserved and allotted pursuant 

19 to paragraph (4) and the amounts reserved in Section 

20 640(a)(2)(C)(ii), the Secretary shall award the grants de21 scribed in Section 642B(b). 

22 ‘‘(B) From the reserved sums in paragraph (4) the 

23 Secretary shall award a collaboration grant to any State 

24 that submits a written request outlining why it is unable 

25 to comply with Section 642B(b). Such grant shall be equal 
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1 to the amount the State received under this paragraph for 

2 such activity for fiscal year 2005. Such grant shall be used 

3 by the State to facilitate collaboration regarding activities 

4 carried out in the State under this subchapter, and other 

5 activities carried out in and by the State that are designed 

6 to benefit low-income children and families and to encour7 age Head Start agencies to collaborate with entities in8 volved in State and local planning processes (including the 

9 State lead agency administering the financial assistance 

10 under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

11 of 1990 and the entities that provide child care resource 

12 and referral services in the State) in order to better meet 

13 the needs of low-income children and their families. 

14 ‘‘(C) In order to improve results for children, a State 

15 that receives a grant under subparagraph (B) shall—

16 ‘‘(i) appoint an individual to serve as the State 

17 Director of Collaboration between—

18 ‘‘(I) the appropriate regional office of the 

19 Administration for Children and Families; 

20 ‘‘(II) the State educational agency; 

21 ‘‘(III) the State Department of Health and 

22 Human Services; 

23 ‘‘(IV) the State agency that oversees child 

24 care; 
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1 ‘‘(V) the State agency that assists children 

2 with developmental disabilities; 

3 ‘‘(VI) the State Head Start Association; 

4 ‘‘(VII) the State network of child care re5 source and referral agencies; 

6 ‘‘(VIII) local educational agencies; 

7 ‘‘(IX) community-based and faith-based or8 ganizations; 

9 ‘‘(X) State representatives of migrant and 

10 seasonal Head Start programs; 

11 ‘‘(XI) State representatives of Indian Head 

12 Start programs; 

13 ‘‘(XII) State and local providers of early 

14 childhood education and child care; and 

15 ‘‘(XIII) other entities carrying out pro16 grams serving low-income children and families 

17 in the State; 

18 ‘‘(ii) ensure that the State Director of Collabo19 ration holds a position with sufficient authority and 

20 access to ensure that the collaboration described in 

21 subparagraph (B) is effective and involves a range 

22 of State agencies; 

23 ‘‘(iii) involve the entities described in section 

24 clause (i) to develop a strategic plan for the coordi25 nated outreach to identify eligible children and im-
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1 plementation strategies based on a needs assessment 

2 conducted by the Office of the State Director of Col3 laboration which shall include an assessment of the 

4 availability of high quality prekindergarten services 

5 for low-income children in the State. Such assess6 ment shall be completed within one year after the 

7 date of enactment of the ‘School Readiness Act of 

8 2005’ and be updated on an annual basis and shall 

9 be made available to the general public within the 

10 State; 

11 ‘‘(iv) ensure that the collaboration described in 

12 subparagraph (B) involves coordination of Head 

13 Start services with health care, welfare, child care, 

14 child protective services, education, and community 

15 service activities, family literacy services, activities 

16 relating to children with disabilities (including co17 ordination of services with those State officials who 

18 are responsible for administering part C and section 

19 619 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

20 Act), and services for homeless children (including 

21 coordination of services with the Office of Coordi22 nator for Education of Homeless Children and 

23 Youth designated under section 722 (g)(1)(J)(ii) of 

24 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 

25 2001; 
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1 ‘‘(v) consult with the chief State school officer, 

2 local educational agencies, and representatives of 

3 local Head Start agencies and providers of early 

4 childhood education and care in unified planning re5 garding early care and education services at both the 

6 State and local levels, including collaborative efforts 

7 to develop school readiness standards; and 

8 ‘‘(vi) consult with the chief State school officer, 

9 local educational agencies, State child care adminis10 trators, State human services administrators, rep11 resentatives of local resource and referral agencies, 

12 local early childhood councils, providers of early 

13 childhood education and care and other relevant 

14 State and local agencies, and representatives of the 

15 State Head Start Associations to plan for the provi16 sion of full-working-day, full calendar year early care 

17 and education services for children.’’; 

18 (C) in subparagraph (D)(i) by inserting 

19 ‘‘and providers of services supporting early 

20 childhood education and child care’’ after ‘‘As21 sociations’’; and 

22 (D) by amending paragraph (6)(A) to read 

23 as follows: 

24 ‘‘(A) From amounts reserved and allotted pursuant 

25 to paragraphs (2) and (4), the Secretary shall use, for 
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1 grants for programs described in section 645A(a) of this 

2 subchapter, a portion of the combined total of such 

3 amounts equal to at least 10 percent for each of the fiscal 

4 years 2006 through 2011, of the amount appropriated 

5 pursuant to section 639(a), except as provided in subpara6 graph (B).’’. 

7 (b) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.—Section 640(f) of 

8 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(f)) is amended by 

9 inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, in10 cluding models that leverage the existing capacity and ca11 pabilities of the delivery system of early childhood edu12 cation and child care’’; 

13 (c) MAINTENANCE OF SERVICE LEVELS.—Section 

14 640(g)(2) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(g)(2)) 

15 is amended—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘For purposes of expanding 

17 Head Start programs, in’’ and inserting ‘‘in’’; 

18 (2) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as 

19 follows: 

20 ‘‘(C) the extent to which the applicant has un21 dertaken community-wide strategic planning and 

22 needs assessments involving other community orga23 nizations and Federal, State, and local public agen24 cies serving children and families (including organi25 zations and agencies providing family support serv-
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1 ices and protective services to children and families 

2 and organizations serving families in whose homes 

3 English is not the language customarily spoken), 

4 and individuals, organizations, and public entities 

5 serving children with disabilities and homeless chil6 dren including the local educational agency liaison 

7 designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 

8 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii));’’; 

10 (3) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘other 

11 local’’ and inserting ‘‘the State and local’’; 

12 (4) in subparagraph (E) by inserting ‘‘would 

13 like to participate but’’ after ‘‘community who’’; 

14 (5) in subparagraph (G)—

15 (A) by inserting ‘‘leverage the existing de16 livery systems of such services and’’ after 

17 ‘‘manner that will’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (6) in subparagraph (H)—

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including the local edu21 cational agency liaison designated under section 

22 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Home23 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)),’’ after ‘‘community in25 volved’’; 
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘plans to coordinate’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘successfully coordinated its activi3 ties’’; and 

4 (C) by striking the period at the end and 

5 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(I) the amount of funds used by such agency 

8 to pay administrative expenses and the amount of 

9 available funds received by such agency under this 

10 section to serve each enrolled child.’’. 

11 (d) VEHICLE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

12 640(i) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(i)) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘(i) The’’ and inserting the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(i) TRANSPORTATION SAFETY.—

17 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(2) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

21 waive for a period of up to one year the require22 ments of regulations promulgated under para23 graph (1) for one or more vehicles used by the 

24 agency or its designee in transporting children 
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1 enrolled in a Head Start program or an Early 

2 Head Start program if—

3 ‘‘(i) such requirements pertain to 

4 child restraint systems and bus monitors; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the agency demonstrates that 

6 compliance with such requirements will re7 sult in a significant disruption to the Head 

8 Start or Early Head Start program; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) is in the best interest of the 

10 child. 

11 ‘‘(B) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may 

12 renew a waiver under subparagraph (A)’’. 

13 (e) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PRO14 GRAMS.—Section 640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 9835(l)) is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (3) by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary shall con19 tinue the administrative arrangement at the National level 

20 for meeting the needs of Indian children and children of 

21 migrant and seasonal farmworkers to ensure that appro22 priate funding is provided to meet such needs.’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Sec25 retary shall conduct an annual consultation in each af-
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1 fected Head Start region, with tribal governments oper2 ating Head Start programs and Early Head Start pro3 grams. 

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

5 better meeting the needs of American Indian and Alaska 

6 Native children and families pertinent to subsections (a), 

7 (b), and (c) of section 641, taking into consideration fund8 ing allocations, distribution formulas, and other issues af9 fecting the delivery of Head Start services within tribal 

10 communities. 

11 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall publish a notification of the 

12 consultations in the Federal Register prior to conducting 

13 the consultations. 

14 ‘‘(D) A detailed report of each consultation shall be 

15 prepared and made available, on a timely basis, to all trib16 al governments receiving funds under this subchapter.’’. 

17 (f) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN.—Sec18 tion 640 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835) is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(m) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN.—The 

21 Secretary shall by regulation prescribe policies and proce22 dures to remove barriers to the enrollment and participa23 tion of homeless children in Head Start programs. Such 

24 regulations shall require Head Start agencies—
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1 ‘‘(1) to implement policies and procedures to 

2 ensure that homeless children are identified and 

3 prioritized for enrollment; 

4 ‘‘(2) to allow homeless families to apply to, en5 roll in and attend Head Start programs while re6 quired documents, such as proof of residency, immu7 nization and other medical records, birth certificates 

8 and other documents, are obtained within a reason9 able time frame; and 

10 ‘‘(3) coordinate individual Head Start centers 

11 and programs with efforts to implement Subtitle 

12 VII–B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

13 Act. 

14 ‘‘(n) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub15 chapter shall be construed to require a State to establish 

16 a program of early education for children in the State, 

17 to require any child to participate in a program of early 

18 education, to attend school, or to participate in any initial 

19 screening prior to participation in such program, except 

20 as provided under section 612(a)(3), (consistent with sec21 tion 614(a)(1)(C)), of the Individuals with Disabilities 

22 Education Act. 

23 ‘‘(o) MATERIALS.—All curricula and instructional 

24 materials funded under this subchapter shall be scientif25 ically based and age appropriate. Parents shall have the 
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1 ability to inspect, upon request, any curricula or instruc2 tional materials.’’.

3 SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF AGENCIES. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE.— Section 641(a) of 

5 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836(a)) is amended to 

6 read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE.—

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

9 to designate as a Head Start agency any local public 

10 or private nonprofit or for-profit agency within a 

11 State, including a community-based or faith-based 

12 organization that—

13 ‘‘(A) has power and authority to carry out 

14 the purpose of this subchapter and perform the 

15 functions set forth in section 642 within a 

16 State; and 

17 ‘‘(B) is determined to be capable of plan18 ning, conducting, administering, and evaluating, 

19 either directly or by other arrangements, a 

20 Head Start program. 

21 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION REQUIREMENTS.—In order 

22 to be designated as a Head Start agency and to re23 ceive a financial assistance under this subchapter, an 

24 entity described in paragraph (1) shall establish 

25 measurable objectives for improving the school readi-
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1 ness of children participating in a program under 

2 this subchapter, including measurable objectives for 

3 meeting the performance standards described in sec4 tion 641A and for—

5 ‘‘(A) educational instruction in prereading, 

6 premathematical, and language skills; 

7 ‘‘(B) the provision of health, educational, 

8 nutritional, social, and other services related to 

9 school readiness standards; and 

10 ‘‘(C) school readiness standards that are 

11 aligned with State-developed K–12 academic 

12 content standards. 

13 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY FOR SUBSEQUENT FINANCIAL

14 ASSISTANCE.—In order to receive a financial assist15 ance under this subchaptersubsequent to the initial 

16 financial assistance provided following the effective 

17 date of this subsection, an entity described in para18 graph (1) shall demonstrate that the entity has met 

19 the measurable objectives described in paragraph 

20 (2); 

21 ‘‘(4) MEASURING PROGRESS.—Progress in 

22 meeting such measurable objectives shall not be 

23 measured primarily or solely by the results of assess24 ments.’’
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1 (b) PRIORITY IN DESIGNATION.—Section 641(c) of 

2 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836(c)) is amended to 

3 read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In the administration of this 

5 section, the Secretary shall, in consultation with the chief 

6 executive officer of the State involved, give priority in the 

7 designation of Head Start agencies to Head Start agencies 

8 that—

9 ‘‘(1) are receiving assistance under this sub10 chapter on the effective date of this subsection; 

11 ‘‘(2) meet or exceeds program and financial 

12 management requirements, standards described in 

13 section 641A(a)(1); 

14 ‘‘(3) meet or exceed the results-based perform15 ance measures developed by the Secretary under sec16 tion 641A(b)(4); 

17 ‘‘(4) have no unresolved areas of noncompli18 ance; 

19 ‘‘(5) have not been deemed deficient; 

20 ‘‘(6) employ qualified staff (including, in center21 based programs, a teaching staff of whom at least 

22 50 percent have a associate, baccalaureate, or ad23 vanced degree in early child education or a related 

24 field); 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(7) were not deemed by the Secretary as 

2 chronically under-enrolled at any time during the 

3 term for which financial assistance was provided; 

4 ‘‘(8) utilize research-based curricula that are 

5 aligned with State-developed K–12 academic content 

6 standards; 

7 ‘‘(9) demonstrate active partnerships with local 

8 educational agencies serving the same communities 

9 to facilitate smooth transitions to kindergarten; 

10 ‘‘(10) actively implement a memorandum of un11 derstanding with any local educational agency within 

12 the service area and additional partnership agree13 ments with organizations that enhance the delivery 

14 of services to children; 

15 ‘‘(11) demonstrate success in improving child 

16 outcomes across all domains of development, includ17 ing measurable progress in language skills, 

18 prereading knowledge, and premathematics knowl19 edge; 

20 ‘‘(12) maintain classroom environments con21 structive to early learning and future school success; 

22 ‘‘(13) demonstrate strong parental involvement 

23 and activities to develop parent skills to support 

24 their children’s educational development and ability 
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1 to participate effectively in decisions relating to the 

2 education of their children; 

3 ‘‘(14) are overseen by a local governance board 

4 that provides direction and actively oversees all pro5 gram activities; 

6 ‘‘(15) document strong fiscal controls, includ7 ing—

8 ‘‘(A) the employment of well-qualified fis9 cal staff with a history of successful manage10 ment of a public or private organization; 

11 ‘‘(B) having no reportable noncompliance 

12 with applicable laws and regulations on all an13 nual financial audits performed since the most 

14 recent designation; 

15 ‘‘(C) meeting or exceeding annual require16 ments for financial support under section 

17 640(b); and 

18 ‘‘(D) maintaining total administrative costs 

19 at or below 15 percent of total program costs; 

20 ‘‘(16) are licensed to operate in accordance with 

21 all applicable State child care regulations; 

22 ‘‘(17) conduct outreach activities to ensure that 

23 services are provided to the most at-risk families in 

24 the community; 
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1 ‘‘(18) have developed strong community part2 nerships with public and private organizations, such 

3 as businesses, health, and social service providers; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(19) provide opportunities for ongoing profes6 sional development.’’. 

7 (c) DESIGNATION WHEN NO ENTITY HAS PRI8 ORITY.—Section 641(d) of the Head Start Act (43 U.S.C. 

9 9836(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION WHEN NO ENTITY HAS PRI11 ORITY.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If no entity in a commu13 nity is entitled to the priority specified in subsection 

14 (c), the Secretary shall, after conducting an open 

15 competition, designate a Head Start agency from 

16 among qualified applicants in such community.’’. 

17 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS IN DESIGNATION.—In 

18 selecting from among qualified applicants for des19 ignation as a Head Start agency, the Secretary shall 

20 consider the effectiveness of each such applicant to 

21 provide Head Start services, based on—

22 ‘‘(A) any past performance of such appli23 cant in providing services comparable to Head 

24 Start services, including how effectively such 

25 applicant provided such comparable services; 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) the plan of such applicant to provide 

2 comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, 

3 social, and other services needed to prepare 

4 children to succeed in school; 

5 ‘‘(C) the capacity of such applicant to 

6 serve eligible children with scientifically based 

7 programs that promote the school readiness of 

8 children participating in the program; 

9 ‘‘(D) the plan of such applicant to meet 

10 standards set forth in section 641A(a)(1), with 

11 particular attention to the standards set forth 

12 in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of such section; 

13 ‘‘(E) the proposed budget and plan of such 

14 applicant to maintain strong fiscal controls and 

15 cost effective fiscal management; 

16 ‘‘(F) the plan of such applicant to coordi17 nate the Head Start program the applicant pro18 poses to carry out with other educational pro19 grams for young children, including—

20 ‘‘(i) the Early Reading First and 

21 Even Start programs under subparts 2 

22 and 3 of part B of title I of the Elemen23 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

24 (20 U.S.C. 6371 et seq., 6381 et seq.); 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(ii) programs under section 619 and 

2 part C of the Individuals with Disabilities 

3 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et 

4 seq.); 

5 ‘‘(iii) State prekindergarten programs; 

6 ‘‘(iv) child care programs; 

7 ‘‘(v) the educational programs that 

8 the children participating in the Head 

9 Start program involved will enter at the 

10 age of compulsory school attendance; and 

11 ‘‘(vi) reading readiness programs such 

12 as those conducted by public and school li13 braries; 

14 ‘‘(G) the plan of such applicant to coordi15 nate the Head Start program that the applicant 

16 proposes to carry out, with public and private 

17 entities that are willing to commit resources to 

18 assist the Head Start program in meeting its 

19 program needs; 

20 ‘‘(H) the plan of such applicant—

21 ‘‘(i) to seek the involvement of parents 

22 of children participating in the proposed 

23 Head Start program, in activities (at home 

24 and, if practicable, at the location of the 

25 Head Start program) designed to help 
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1 such parents become full partners in the 

2 education of their children; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to afford such parents the oppor4 tunity to participate in the development 

5 and overall conduct of the program at the 

6 local level; 

7 ‘‘(iii) to offer (directly or through re8 ferral to local entities, such as entities car9 rying out Even Start programs under sub10 part 3 of part B of title I of the Elemen11 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

12 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), public and school 

13 libraries, and entities carrying out family 

14 support programs) to such parents—

15 ‘‘(I) family literacy services; and 

16 ‘‘(II) parenting skills training; 

17 ‘‘(iv) to offer to parents of partici18 pating children, substance abuse coun19 seling (either directly or through referral 

20 to local entities), including information on 

21 the effect of drug exposure on infants and 

22 fetal alcohol syndrome; 

23 ‘‘(v) at the option of such applicant, 

24 to offer (directly or through referral to 

25 local entities) to such parents—
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1 ‘‘(I) training in basic child devel2 opment (including cognitive develop3 ment); 

4 ‘‘(II) assistance in developing lit5 eracy and communication skills; 

6 ‘‘(III) opportunities to share ex7 periences with other parents (includ8 ing parent mentor relationships); 

9 ‘‘(IV) regular in-home visitation; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(V) any other activity designed 

12 to help such parents become full part13 ners in the education of their children; 

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

15 participating family, a family needs assess16 ment that includes consultation with such 

17 parents about the benefits of parent in18 volvement and about the activities de19 scribed in subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) 

20 in which such parents may choose to be21 come involved (taking into consideration 

22 their specific family needs, work schedules, 

23 and other responsibilities); and 

24 ‘‘(vii) to extend outreach to fathers, in 

25 appropriate cases, in order to strengthen 
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1 the role of fathers in families, in the edu2 cation of their young children, and in the 

3 Head Start program, by working directly 

4 with fathers and father figures through ac5 tivities such as—

6 ‘‘(I) in appropriate cases, includ7 ing fathers in home visits and pro8 viding opportunities for direct father9 child interactions; and 

10 ‘‘(II) targeting increased male 

11 participation in the conduct of the 

12 program; 

13 ‘‘(I) the ability of such applicant to carry 

14 out the plans described in paragraphs (2), (4), 

15 and (5); 

16 ‘‘(J) the plan of such applicant to meet the 

17 needs of non-English background children and 

18 their families, including procedures to identify 

19 such children, plans to provide trained per20 sonnel, and plans to provide services to assist 

21 the children in making progress toward the ac22 quisition of the English language; 

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

24 the needs of children with disabilities; 
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1 ‘‘(L) the plan of such applicant who choos2 es to assist younger siblings of children who will 

3 participate in the Head Start program, to ob4 tain health services from other sources; 

5 ‘‘(M) the plan of such applicant to collabo6 rate with other entities carrying out early child7 hood education and child care programs in the 

8 community; 

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

10 the needs of homeless children, including trans11 portation needs, and children in foster care; 

12 ‘‘(O) the plan of such applicant to main13 tain a qualified staff, including a teaching staff 

14 qualified to implement research-based edu15 cational curricula aligned with State-developed 

16 K–12 academic content standards; 

17 ‘‘(P) the plan of such applicant to enter 

18 into memoranda of understanding with local 

19 educational agencies, child care providers, and 

20 other entities within the service area; and 

21 ‘‘(Q) other factors related to the require22 ments of this subchapter.’’. 
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1 SEC. 8. QUALITY STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD 

2 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) QUALITY STANDARDS.—Section 641A(a) of the 

4 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a(a)) is amended—

5 (1) by amending paragraph (1)(B)—

6 (A) in clause (i)—

7 (i) by inserting ‘‘based on sound sci8 entific evidence’’ after ‘‘standards’’; and 

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and sustained aca10 demic gains’’ after ‘‘readiness’’; and 

11 (B) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(ii) additional scientifically-based edu14 cation standards to ensure that the children 

15 participating in the program, at a minimum de16 velop and demonstrate—

17 ‘‘(I) language knowledge and skills, 

18 including language and listening com19 prehension; 

20 ‘‘(II) prereading knowledge and skills 

21 that prepare children for early literacy in 

22 schools, including phonological awareness, 

23 print awareness, and alphabetic knowledge; 

24 ‘‘(III) premathematics knowledge and 

25 skills, including aspects of classification, 
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1 seriation, number, spatial relations, and 

2 time; 

3 ‘‘(IV) cognitive abilities related to aca4 demic achievement and child development; 

5 ‘‘(V) social and emotional development 

6 related to constructive child development, 

7 early learning, and school success and sus8 tained academic gains; and 

9 ‘‘(VI) in the case of limited-English 

10 proficient children, progress toward acqui11 sition of the English language while mak12 ing meaningful progress in attaining the 

13 knowledge, skills, abilities, and develop14 ment described in subclauses (I) through 

15 (IV);’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (2)—

17 (A) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘(B) take into consideration—

20 ‘‘(i) past experience with use of the 

21 standards in effect under this subchapter 

22 on October 27, 1998; 

23 ‘‘(ii) changes over the period since Oc24 tober 27, 1998, in the circumstances and 
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1 problems typically facing children and fam2 ilies served by Head Start agencies; 

3 ‘‘(iii) developments concerning re4 search based practices with respect to early 

5 childhood education and development, chil6 dren with disabilities, family services, pro7 gram administration, and financial man8 agement; 

9 ‘‘(iv) projected needs of an expanding 

10 Head Start program; 

11 ‘‘(v) guidelines and standards cur12 rently in effect or under consideration that 

13 promote child health services, and pro14 jected needs of expanding Head Start pro15 grams; 

16 ‘‘(vi) changes in the population of 

17 children who are eligible to participate in 

18 Head Start programs, including the lan19 guage background and family structure of 

20 such children; 

21 ‘‘(vii) the need for, and state-of-the22 art developments relating to, local policies 

23 and activities designed to ensure that chil24 dren participating in Head Start programs 
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1 make a successful transition to schools 

2 that the children will be attending; and 

3 ‘‘(viii) the unique challenges faced by 

4 individual programs, including those that 

5 are seasonal or short term, and those that 

6 serve rural populations; and’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (C)(ii) by striking 

8 ‘‘the date’’ and all that follows through ‘‘Act 

9 of’’, and inserting ‘‘October 27, 1998’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS

12 FOR DELEGATE AGENCIES.—

13 ‘‘(A) PROCEDURES.—The Head Start 

14 agency shall establish procedures relating to its 

15 delegate agencies, including—

16 ‘‘(i) procedures for evaluating delegate 

17 agencies; 

18 ‘‘(ii) procedures for defunding dele19 gate agencies; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) procedures for appealing a 

21 defunding decision relating to a delegate 

22 agency. 

23 ‘‘(B) EVALUATIONS.—Each Head Start 

24 agency—
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1 ‘‘(i) shall evaluate its delegate agen2 cies using the procedures established pur3 suant to this section, including subpara4 graph (A); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) shall inform the delegate agen6 cies of the deficiencies identified through 

7 the evaluation that shall be corrected. 

8 ‘‘(C) REMEDIES TO ENSURE CORRECTIVE

9 ACTIONS.—In the event that the Head Start 

10 agency identifies a deficiency for a delegate 

11 agency through the evaluation, the Head Start 

12 agency may—

13 ‘‘(i) initiate procedures to terminate 

14 the designation of the agency unless the 

15 agency corrects the deficiency; 

16 ‘‘(ii) conduct monthly monitoring vis17 its to such delegate agency until all defi18 ciencies are corrected or the Head Start 

19 agency decides to defund such delegate 

20 agency; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) release funds to such delegate 

22 agency only as reimbursements until all de23 ficiencies are corrected or the Head Start 

24 agency decides to defund such delegate 

25 agency. 
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1 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

2 in this paragraph shall be construed to impact 

3 or obviate the responsibilities of the Secretary 

4 with respect to Head Start agencies or delegate 

5 agencies receiving funding under this sub6 chapter.’’. 

7 (b) RESULTS-BASED PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—

8 Section 641A(b) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 9836a(b)) is amended—

10 (1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol11 lows: 

12 ‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS OF MEASURES.—The 

13 performance measures developed under this sub14 section shall—

15 ‘‘(A) be used to assess the impact of the 

16 various services provided by Head Start pro17 grams and, to the extent the Secretary finds 

18 appropriate, administrative and financial man19 agement practices of such programs; 

20 ‘‘(B) be adaptable for use in self-assess21 ment, peer review, and program evaluation of 

22 individual Head Start agencies and programs; 

23 ‘‘(C) be developed for other program pur24 poses as determined by the Secretary; 
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1 ‘‘(D) be appropriate for the population 

2 served; and 

3 ‘‘(E) be reviewed no less than every 4 

4 years, based on advances in the science of early 

5 childhood development. 

6 The performance measures shall include the per7 formance standards described in subsection 

8 (a)(1)(A) and (B).’’; and 

9 (2) by amending subsection (b)(4) to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(4) EDUCATIONAL MEASURES.—Results based 

12 measures shall be designed for the purpose of pro13 moting the competencies of children participating in 

14 Head Start programs specified in subsection 

15 (a)(1)(B)(ii), with an emphasis on measuring those 

16 competencies that have a strong scientifically-based 

17 predictability of a child’s school readiness and later 

18 performance in school.’’. 

19 (c) MONITORING OF LOCAL AGENCIES AND PRO20 GRAMS.—Section 641A(c) of the Head Start Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 9836a(c)) is amended—

22 (1) in paragraph (1)—

23 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

24 (A) by inserting ‘‘develop and utilize a risk25 based assessment system to’’ after ‘‘shall’’; 
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1 (B) by amending subparagraph (C) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(C) Unannounced site inspections of 

4 Head Start centers, as appropriate.’’; 

5 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

6 subparagraph (E); and 

7 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(D) Followup reviews including a review 

10 of programs with citations that include 1 or 

11 more findings of deficiencies not later than 6 

12 months after the date of such citation.’’; and 

13 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(2) CONDUCT OF REVIEWS.—The Secretary 

16 shall ensure that reviews described in subparagraphs 

17 (A) through (C) of paragraph (1)—

18 ‘‘(A) that incorporate a monitoring visit, 

19 do so without prior notice of the visit to the 

20 local agency or program; 

21 ‘‘(B) are conducted by review teams com22 posed of individuals who are knowledgeable 

23 about the program areas they are reviewing 

24 and, to the maximum extent practicable, the di25 verse (including linguistic and cultural) needs of 
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1 eligible children (including children with disabil2 ities) and limited-English proficient children 

3 and their families; 

4 ‘‘(C) include as part of the reviews of the 

5 programs, a review and assessment of program 

6 effectiveness, including strengths and areas for 

7 improvement, as measured in accordance with 

8 the results-based performance measures devel9 oped by the Secretary pursuant to subsection 

10 (b) and with the standards established pursuant 

11 to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection 

12 (a)(1); 

13 ‘‘(D) seek information from the commu14 nities and the States involved about the per15 formance of the programs and the efforts of the 

16 Head Start agencies to collaborate with other 

17 entities carrying out early childhood education 

18 and child care programs in the community; 

19 ‘‘(E) seek information from the commu20 nities where Head Start programs exist about 

21 innovative or effective collaborative efforts, bar22 riers to collaboration, and the efforts of the 

23 Head Start agencies and programs to collabo24 rate with the entities carrying out early child-
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1 hood education and child care programs in the 

2 community; 

3 ‘‘(F) include as part of the reviews of the 

4 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

5 a program is in conformity with the income eli6 gibility requirements, as defined in section 645 

7 and regulations promulgated thereunder; 

8 ‘‘(G) include as part of the reviews of the 

9 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

10 programs have adequately addressed the popu11 lation and community needs (including popu12 lations of children with a limited English pro13 ficiency and children of migrant and seasonal 

14 farm-working families); 

15 ‘‘(H) include as part of the review the ex16 tent to which the program addresses the com17 munity needs and strategic plan identified in 

18 section 640(g)(2)(C); and 

19 ‘‘(I) are conducted in a manner that evalu20 ates program performance, quality, and overall 

21 operations with consistency and objectivity, and 

22 based on a transparent and reliable system of 

23 review.’’. 
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1 (d) CORRECTIVE ACTION; TERMINATION.—Section 

2 641A(d) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a(d)) is 

3 amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (1) by amending the matter 

5 preceding subparagraph (A) to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—If the Secretary deter7 mines, on the basis of a review pursuant to sub8 section (c), that a Head Start agency designated 

9 pursuant to section 641 fails to meet the standards 

10 described in subsection (a) or results-based perform11 ance measures developed by the Secretary under 

12 subsection (b), or fails to adequately address the 

13 community needs and strategic plan identified in 

14 640(g)(2)(C), the Secretary shall—’’; 

15 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol16 lows: 

17 ‘‘(2) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—

18 ‘‘(A) AGENCY AND PROGRAM RESPONSIBIL19 ITIES.—In order to retain a designation as a 

20 Head Start agency under this subchapter, or in 

21 the case of a Head Start Program, in order to 

22 continue to receive funds from such agency, a 

23 Head Start agency, or Head Start program 

24 that is the subject of a determination described 

25 in paragraph (1) (other than an agency or pro-
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1 gram required to correct a deficiency imme2 diately or during a 90-day period under clause 

3 (i) or (ii) of paragraph (1)(B)) shall—

4 ‘‘(i) develop in a timely manner, a 

5 quality improvement plan which shall be 

6 subject to the approval of the Secretary, or 

7 in the case of a program, the sponsoring 

8 agency, and which shall specify—

9 ‘‘(I) the deficiencies to be cor10 rected; 

11 ‘‘(II) the actions to be taken to 

12 correct such deficiencies; and 

13 ‘‘(III) the timetable for accom14 plishment of the corrective actions 

15 specified; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) eliminate each deficiency identi17 fied, not later than the date for elimination 

18 of such deficiency specified in such plan 

19 (which shall not be later than 1 year after 

20 the date the agency or program received 

21 notice of the determination and of the spe22 cific deficiency to be corrected). 

23 ‘‘(B) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Not 

24 later than 30 days after receiving from a Head 

25 Start agency a proposed quality improvement 
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1 plan pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Sec2 retary shall either approve such proposed plan 

3 or specify the reasons why the proposed plan 

4 cannot be approved. 

5 ‘‘(C) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRO6 GRAM IMPROVEMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

7 after receiving from a Head Start program, a 

8 proposed quality improvement plan pursuant to 

9 subparagraph (A), the sponsoring agency shall 

10 either approve such proposed plan or specify 

11 the reasons why the proposed plan cannot be 

12 approved.’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (3) by inserting ‘‘and pro14 grams’’ after ‘‘agencies’’; 

15 (4) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol16 lows: 

17 ‘‘(e) SUMMARIES OF MONITORING OUTCOMES.—Not 

18 later than 120 days after the end of each fiscal year, the 

19 Secretary shall publish a summary report on the findings 

20 of reviews conducted under subsection (c) and on the out21 comes of quality improvement plans implemented under 

22 subsection (d), during such fiscal year. Such information 

23 shall be made available to all parents with children receiv24 ing assistance under this subchapter in a understandable 

25 and uniform format, and to the extent practicable, pro-
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1 vided in a language that the parents can understand, and 

2 in addition, make the information widely available through 

3 public means such as distribution through public agencies, 

4 and at a minimum posting such information on the Inter5 net immediately upon publication.’’; and 

6 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(f) REDUCTION OF GRANTS AND REDISTRIBUTION

8 OF FUNDS IN CASES OF UNDER-ENROLLMENT.—

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

10 ‘‘(A) ACTUAL ENROLLMENT.—The term 

11 ‘actual enrollment’ means, with respect to the 

12 program of a Head Start agency, the actual 

13 number of children enrolled in such program 

14 and reported by the agency (as required in 

15 paragraph (2)) in a given month. 

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

17 means, with respect to a Head Start agency for 

18 a fiscal year, that portion of the grant de19 rived—

20 ‘‘(i) from amounts reserved for use in 

21 accordance with section 640(a)(2)(A), for a 

22 Head Start agency administering an In23 dian Head Start program or migrant and 

24 seasonal Head Start program; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) from amounts reserved for pay2 ments under section 640(a)(2)(B); or 

3 ‘‘(iii) from amounts available under 

4 section 640(a)(2)(D) or allotted among 

5 States under section 640(a)(4). 

6 ‘‘(C) FUNDED ENROLLMENT.—The term 

7 ‘funded enrollment’ means, with respect to the 

8 program of a Head Start agency in a fiscal 

9 year, the number of children that the agency is 

10 funded to serve through a grant for the pro11 gram during such fiscal year, as indicated in 

12 the grant agreement. 

13 ‘‘(2) ENROLLMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT

14 FOR CURRENT FISCAL YEAR.—Each entity carrying 

15 out a Head Start program shall report on a monthly 

16 basis to the Secretary and the relevant Head Start 

17 agency—

18 ‘‘(A) the actual enrollment in such pro19 gram; and 

20 ‘‘(B) if such actual enrollment is less than 

21 the funded enrollment, any apparent reason for 

22 such enrollment shortfall. 

23 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND PLAN.—The 

24 Secretary shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) on a semiannual basis, determine 

2 which Head Start agencies are operating with 

3 an actual enrollment that is less than the fund4 ed enrollment based on not less than 4 consecu5 tive months of data; 

6 ‘‘(B) for each such Head Start agency op7 erating a program with an actual enrollment 

8 that is less than 98 percent of its funded enroll9 ment, as determined under subparagraph (A), 

10 develop, in collaboration with such agency, a 

11 plan and timetable for reducing or eliminating 

12 under-enrollment taking into consideration—

13 ‘‘(i) the quality and extent of the out14 reach, recruitment, and community needs 

15 assessment conducted by such agency; 

16 ‘‘(ii) changing demographics, mobility 

17 of populations, and the identification of 

18 new underserved low-income populations; 

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

20 impact enrollment; 

21 ‘‘(iv) the ability to provide full-day 

22 programs, where needed, through Head 

23 Start funds or through collaboration with 

24 entities carrying out other preschool or 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 child care programs, or programs with 

2 other funding sources (where available); 

3 ‘‘(v) the availability and use by fami4 lies of other preschool and child care op5 tions (including parental care) in the local 

6 catchment area; and 

7 ‘‘(vi) agency management procedures 

8 that may impact enrollment; and 

9 ‘‘(C) provide timely and ongoing technical 

10 assistance to each agency described in subpara11 graph (B) for the purpose of implementing the 

12 plan described in such subparagraph. 

13 ‘‘(4) IMPLEMENTATION.—Upon receipt of the 

14 technical assistance described in paragraph (3)(C), a 

15 Head Start agency shall immediately implement the 

16 plan described in paragraph (3)(B). 

17 ‘‘(5) SECRETARIAL ACTION FOR CONTINUED

18 UNDER-ENROLLMENT.—If, 1 year after the date of 

19 implementation of the plan described in paragraph 

20 (3)(B), the Head Start agency continues to operate 

21 a program at less than full enrollment, the Secretary 

22 shall, where determined appropriate, continue to 

23 provide technical assistance to such agency. 

24 ‘‘(6) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND ADJUSTMENT

25 FOR CHRONIC UNDER-ENROLLMENT.—
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, after receiving 

2 technical assistance and developing and imple3 menting a plan to the extent described in para4 graphs (3), (4), and (5) for 6 months, a Head 

5 Start agency is still operating a program with 

6 an actual enrollment that is less than 98 per7 cent of its funded enrollment, the Secretary 

8 may—

9 ‘‘(i) designate such agency as chron10 ically under-enrolled; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) recapture, withhold, or reduce 

12 the base grant for the program by, a per13 centage equal to the percentage difference 

14 between funded enrollment and actual en15 rollment for the program for the most re16 cent year in which the agency is deter17 mined to be under-enrolled under para18 graph (2)(B). 

19 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OR LIMITATION OF REDUC20 TIONS.—If the Secretary, after the implementa21 tion of the plan described in paragraph (3)(B), 

22 finds that—

23 ‘‘(i) the shortfall can reasonably be 

24 expected to be temporary; or 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(ii) the number of slots allotted to 

2 the agency is small enough that under-en3 rollment does not constitute a significant 

4 shortfall, 

5 the Secretary may, as appropriate, waive or re6 duce the percentage recapturing, withholding, 

7 or reduction otherwise required by subpara8 graph (A). 

9 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS; EF10 FECTIVE DATE.—The actions taken by the Sec11 retary under this paragraph with respect to a 

12 Head Start agency shall take effect 1 day after 

13 the date on which—

14 ‘‘(i) the time allowed for appeal under 

15 section 646(a) expires without an appeal 

16 by the agency; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) the action is upheld in an admin18 istrative hearing under section 646. 

19 ‘‘(7) REDISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

21 use amounts recovered from a Head Start agen22 cy through recapturing, withholding, or reduc23 tion under paragraph (6) in a fiscal year—

24 ‘‘(i) in the case of a Head Start agen25 cy administering an Indian Head Start 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 program or a migrant and seasonal Head 

2 Start program, whose base grant is derived 

3 from amounts specified in paragraph 

4 (1)(C)(i), to redirect funds to 1 or more 

5 agencies that—

6 ‘‘(I) are administering Head 

7 Start programs serving the same spe8 cial population; and 

9 ‘‘(II) demonstrate that the agen10 cies will use such redirected funds to 

11 increase enrollment in their Head 

12 Start programs in such fiscal year; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a Head Start agen14 cy in a State, whose base grant is derived 

15 from amounts specified in clause (ii) or 

16 (iii) of paragraph (1)(C), to redirect funds 

17 to 1 or more agencies that—

18 ‘‘(I) are administering Head 

19 Start programs in the same State; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) make the demonstration de22 scribed in clause (i)(II). 

23 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—If there is no agen24 cy located in a State that meets the require25 ments of subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara-
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 graph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall use amounts 

2 described in subparagraph (A) to redirect funds 

3 to Head Start agencies located in other States 

4 that make the demonstration described in sub5 paragraph (A)(i)(II). 

6 ‘‘(C) ADJUSTMENT TO FUNDED ENROLL7 MENT.—The Secretary shall adjust as necessary 

8 the requirements relating to funded enrollment 

9 indicated in the grant agreement of a Head 

10 Start agency receiving redistributed amounts 

11 under this paragraph.’’. 

12 SEC. 9. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN13 CIES. 

14 (a) QUALIFICATIONS FOR DESIGNATION.—Section 

15 642(b) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837(b)) is 

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(b) In order to be so designated, a Head Start agen18 cy shall do all of the following:—

19 ‘‘(1) Establish a program with standards set 

20 forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular atten21 tion to the standards set forth in subparagraphs (A) 

22 and (B) of such section. 

23 ‘‘(2) Demonstrate capacity to serve eligible chil24 dren with scientifically-based curricula and other 
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1 interventions that help promote the school readiness 

2 of children participating in the program. 

3 ‘‘(3) Establish effective procedures by which 

4 parents and area residents concerned will be enabled 

5 to directly participate in decisions that influence the 

6 character of programs affecting their interests.

7 ‘‘(4) Establish an independent board of direc8 tors selected from among eligible individuals who 

9 shall serve on the board without compensation. An 

10 individual who has a conflict of interest is ineligible 

11 to serve as a member of the board. Members of the 

12 board shall include parents of children participating 

13 in the Head Start program and representatives of 

14 the local community (including at least 1 member 

15 with significant financial management or accounting 

16 experience). Additional members shall be selected for 

17 their expertise in education, business administration, 

18 community affairs, government, legal affairs, and 

19 such other areas of expertise as may contribute to 

20 effective governance of the Head Start agency. All 

21 members of the board shall receive training in the 

22 management responsibilities and obligations, ethics, 

23 and financial literacy and management, and shall 

24 adopt practices that assure active, independent and 

25 informed governance of the Head Start agency, in-
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 cluding independent oversight of the financial and 

2 management practices of such agency. The board 

3 shall operate as an entity independent of staff em4 ployed by the Head start agency, entity, or applicant 

5 and have the following duties and responsibilities: 

6 ‘‘(A) To provide independent oversight to 

7 ensure that the Head Start agency is delivering 

8 high quality services to children and families in 

9 compliance with all applicable standards in ef10 fect under this subchapter and with the applica11 ble performance measures established by the 

12 Secretary under section 644. 

13 ‘‘(B) To establish 2 or more standing com14 mittees to facilitate governance of the Head 

15 Start agency which shall include both of the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(i) A finance committee whose pri18 mary responsibility shall be—

19 ‘‘(I) to develop and recommend 

20 annually the operating budget of the 

21 Head Start agency; 

22 ‘‘(II) to review and recommend 

23 to the board the selection or termi24 nation of independent auditors (or the 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 extension of existing audit firm) at 

2 least once every 4 years; 

3 ‘‘(III) to review and advise the 

4 board of the audit management letter 

5 provided pursuant to the chapter 75 

6 of title 31 of the United States Code, 

7 and of any audit findings; and 

8 ‘‘(IV) to monitor agency actions 

9 to correct any such audit findings or 

10 other actions necessary to comply with 

11 applicable laws (including regulations) 

12 governing financial statements and ac13 counting practices. 

14 ‘‘(ii) A policy committee, a majority of 

15 whose representatives shall be parents of 

16 children participating in a Head Start pro17 gram or in an Early Head Start program, 

18 or of children who participated in a Head 

19 Start program or in an Early Head Start 

20 program in the then most recent 5-year pe21 riod preceding the selection of the par22 ticular representative involved, and whose 

23 primary responsibility shall be to serve as 

24 a link between parents and the Board of 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 Directors and to make recommendations 

2 on—

3 ‘‘(I) the strategic direction of the 

4 program, including long and short5 term planning goals and objectives; 

6 ‘‘(II) program operation policies, 

7 including standards of conduct for 

8 program staff and volunteers; and 

9 ‘‘(III) activities to support the 

10 active involvement of parents in sup11 porting program operations. 

12 ‘‘(C) To approve the selection and dis13 missal of the Head Start director, and to review 

14 annually the human resources available to en15 sure the effective operation of the Head Start 

16 agency. 

17 ‘‘(D) To review and approve the major 

18 operational policies of the Head Start agency, 

19 including policies addressing accounting, finan20 cial management, procurement, record confiden21 tiality, and personnel (including specific stand22 ards governing salaries, salary adjustments, 

23 travel and per diem allowances, and other em24 ployee benefits). 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(E) To ensure that the Head Start agen2 cy is operated in compliance with applicable 

3 Federal, State, and local laws (including regula4 tions), and to monitor agency implementation of 

5 any corrective action necessary to comply with 

6 applicable laws (including regulations); 

7 ‘‘(F) To oversee the program planning of 

8 the Head Start agency, including adoption of 

9 the Head Start agency philosophy and mission 

10 statement, adoption of policies for determining 

11 community needs, setting long- and short-range 

12 goals and objectives, establishment of criteria 

13 for selecting families in Head Start or Early 

14 Head Start programs, and to oversee and ap15 prove the agency’s applications to receive funds 

16 made available under this subchapter; and 

17 ‘‘(G) To establish, adopt, and periodically 

18 update a written ‘Standards of Conduct’ that 

19 establishes standards and procedures for dis20 closing and addressing conflicts of interest, and 

21 the appearance of conflicts of interest, by board 

22 members, officers, employees, consultants, and 

23 agents who provide services or furnish goods to 

24 the Head Start agency. 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(5) Seek the involvement of parents, area resi2 dents, and local business in the design and imple3 mentation of the program. 

4 ‘‘(6) Provide technical and other support need5 ed to enable parents and area residents to secure on 

6 their own behalf available assistance from public and 

7 private sources. 

8 ‘‘(7) Establish effective procedures to facilitate 

9 the involvement of parents of participating children 

10 in activities designed to help such parents become 

11 full partners in the education of their children, and 

12 to afford such parents the opportunity to participate 

13 in the development and overall conduct of the pro14 gram at the local level. 

15 ‘‘(8) Conduct outreach to schools in which 

16 Head Start children enroll, local educational agen17 cies, the local business community, community-based 

18 organizations, faith-based organizations, museums, 

19 and libraries to generate support and leverage the 

20 resources of the entire local community in order to 

21 improve school readiness. 

22 ‘‘(9) Offer (directly or through referral to local 

23 entities, such as entities carrying out Even Start 

24 programs under subpart 3 of part B of chapter 1 of 

25 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2741 et seq.)), to parents 

2 of participating children, family literacy services and 

3 parenting skills training. 

4 ‘‘(10) Offer to parents of participating children 

5 substance abuse counseling (either directly or 

6 through referral to local entities), including informa7 tion on drug-exposed infants and fetal alcohol syn8 drome. 

9 ‘‘(11) At the option of such agency, offer (di10 rectly or through referral to local entities), to such 

11 parents—

12 ‘‘(A) training in basic child development 

13 (including cognitive development); 

14 ‘‘(B) assistance in developing literacy and 

15 communication skills; 

16 ‘‘(C) opportunities to share experiences 

17 with other parents (including parent-mentor re18 lationships); 

19 ‘‘(D) regular in-home visitation; or 

20 ‘‘(E) any other activity designed to help 

21 such parents become full partners in the edu22 cation of their children. 

23 ‘‘(12) Provide, with respect to each partici24 pating family, a family needs assessment that in25 cludes consultation with such parents about the ben-
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 efits of parent involvement and about the activities 

2 described in paragraphs (5) through (8) in which 

3 such parents may choose to be involved (taking into 

4 consideration their specific family needs, work sched5 ules, and other responsibilities). 

6 ‘‘(13) Consider providing services to assist 

7 younger siblings of children participating in its Head 

8 Start program to obtain health services from other 

9 sources. 

10 ‘‘(14) Perform community outreach to encour11 age individuals previously unaffiliated with Head 

12 Start programs to participate in its Head Start pro13 gram as volunteers. 

14 ‘‘(15)(A) Inform custodial parents in single-par15 ent families that participate in programs, activities, 

16 or services carried out or provided under this sub17 chapter about the availability of child support serv18 ices for purposes of establishing paternity and ac19 quiring child support; and 

20 ‘‘(B) refer eligible parents to the child support 

21 offices of State and local governments.’’; 

22 (b) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION.—Section 

23 642(c) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837(c)) is 

24 amended to read as follows: 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(c) The head of each Head Start agency shall co2 ordinate and collaborate with the State agency responsible 

3 for administering the State program carried out under the 

4 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

5 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), and other early childhood education 

6 and development programs, including programs under 

7 subtitle VII–B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist8 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431–11435), Even Start programs 

9 under subpart 3 of part B of chapter 1 of title I of the 

10 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 2741 et seq.), and programs under Part C and sec12 tion 619 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

13 (20 U.S.C. 1431–1445, 1419), and the Child Abuse Pre14 vention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a), serving the 

15 children and families served by the Head Start agency to 

16 carry out the provisions of this subchapter.’’. 

17 (c) OTHER COORDINATION.—Section 642(d) of the 

18 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837(d)) is amended—

19 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

20 (4) as paragraph (5) through (7), respectively; 

21 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—

24 ‘‘(A) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

25 communities where both public prekindergarten 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 programs and Head Start programs operate, a 

2 Head Start agency shall collaborate and coordi3 nate activities with the local educational agency 

4 or other public agency responsible for the oper5 ation of the prekindergarten program and pro6 viders of prekindergarten, including outreach 

7 activities to identify eligible children. 

8 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.—Head Start 

9 staff shall, with the permission of the parents 

10 of children enrolled in Head Start programs, 

11 regularly communicate with the elementary 

12 schools such children will be attending—

13 ‘‘(i) to share information about such 

14 children; 

15 ‘‘(ii) to get advice and support from 

16 the teachers in such elementary schools 

17 participating in programs funded under 

18 title I of subpart 1 of the Elementary and 

19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 regard20 ing scientifically based teaching strategies 

21 and options; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) to ensure a smooth transition to 

23 elementary school for such children. 

24 ‘‘(C) OTHER PROGRAMS.—The head of 

25 each Head Start agency shall coordinate activi-
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1 ties and collaborate with the State agency re2 sponsible for administering the State program 

3 carried out under the Child Care and Develop4 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 

5 et seq.), and other entities carrying out early 

6 childhood education and development programs, 

7 programs under subtitle B of title VII of the 

8 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), Even Start programs 

10 under subpart 3 of part B of title I of the Ele11 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

12 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), and programs under 

13 section 619 and part C of the Individuals with 

14 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C 1419, 

15 1431 et seq.), serving the children and families 

16 served by the Head Start agency. 

17 ‘‘(3) COLLABORATION.—A Head Start agency 

18 shall take steps to coordinate activities with the local 

19 educational agency serving the community involved 

20 and with schools in which children participating in 

21 a Head Start program operated by such agency will 

22 enroll following such program, including—

23 ‘‘(A) collaborating on the shared use of 

24 transportation and facilities; 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) collaborating to enhance the effi2 ciency of services while increasing the program 

3 participation of underserved populations of eli4 gible children; and 

5 ‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi6 sion of noneducational services to such children. 

7 ‘‘(4) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.—In order to 

8 promote the continued involvement of the parents of 

9 children that participate in Head Start programs in 

10 the education of their children upon transition to 

11 school, the Head Start agency shall—

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

13 ‘‘(i) to inform the parents about their 

14 rights and responsibilities concerning the 

15 education of their children; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) to enable the parents—

17 ‘‘(I) to understand and work with 

18 schools in order to communicate with 

19 teachers and other school personnel; 

20 ‘‘(II) to support the schoolwork 

21 of their children; and 

22 ‘‘(III) to participate as appro23 priate in decisions relating to the edu24 cation of their children; and 
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•HR 2123 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) take other actions, as appropriate 

2 and feasible, to support the active involvement 

3 of the parents with schools, school personnel, 

4 and school-related organizations.’’; 

5 (3) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘A’’ and inserting ‘‘Each’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘shall’’; 

9 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub10 paragraph (A); and 

11 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

12 subparagraph (C); and 

13 (E) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) collaborating to increase the program par16 ticipation of underserved populations of eligible chil17 dren; and’’; and 

18 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(6) Head Start agencies shall implement a research20 based early childhood curricula that promotes young chil21 dren’s school readiness in the areas of language and cog22 nitive development, early reading and premathematics 

23 skills, socio-emotional skills, physical development, and ap24 proaches to learning. Such curricula should be—
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1 ‘‘(A) based on scientifically based research and 

2 have standardized training procedures and published 

3 curriculum materials to support implementation; and 

4 ‘‘(B) comprehensive, balance child and teacher5 initiated activities, be outcomes based, and be linked 

6 to ongoing assessment with concrete instructional 

7 goals and objectives. 

8 ‘‘(7) Head Start agencies shall use ongoing, research9 based assessment methods that are developmentally ap10 propriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, and tied 

11 to children’s daily activities in order to support the edu12 cational instruction of children in the program, including 

13 language skills, prereading knowledge and premathematics 

14 knowledge. Assessment instruments shall be those de15 signed and validated for making decisions about teaching 

16 and learning and aligned with the program’s curricula and 

17 Section 641A(a)(1). 

18 ‘‘(8) For the purpose of meeting the performance 

19 standards, Head Start agencies shall use high-quality re20 search-based developmental screening tools that have been 

21 demonstrated to be standardized, reliable, valid, and accu22 rate for children from a range of racial, ethnic, linguistic, 

23 and cultural backgrounds.’’. 
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1 (d) ASSESSMENT.—Section 642 of the Head Start 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 9837) is amended by striking subsection 

3 (e) and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(e) ASSESSMENT.—Each Head Start agency shall 

5 adopt, in consultation with experts in child development 

6 and with classroom teachers, an assessment to be used 

7 when hiring or evaluating any classroom teacher in a cen8 ter-based Head Start program. Such assessment shall 

9 measure whether such teacher has mastered the functions 

10 described in section 648A(a)(1) and attained a level of lit11 eracy appropriate to implement Head Start curricula. 

12 ‘‘(f) FUNDED ENROLLMENT; WAITING LIST.—Each 

13 Head Start agency shall enroll 100 percent of its funded 

14 enrollment and maintain an active waiting list at all times 

15 with ongoing outreach to the community and activities to 

16 identify underserved populations.’’.

17 SEC. 10. LOCAL AND STATE INTEGRATION OF EARLY 

18 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 

19 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et. seq.) is 

20 amended by inserting after section 642A the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 642B. LOCAL AND STATE INTEGRATION OF EARLY 

22 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 

23 ‘‘(a) LOCAL INTEGRATION.—In general, Head Start 

24 agencies shall enter into ongoing partnerships with local 

25 educational agencies, State-funded preschool and other 
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1 early childhood programs. Head Start agencies shall oper2 ate in a manner consistent with the goal of creating and 

3 expanding an efficient and effective system of early child4 hood and school readiness services in each State and com5 munity, while maintaining compliance with Standards 

6 under section 641A(a). 

7 ‘‘(1) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.—Each 

8 Head Start agency shall enter into a memorandum 

9 of understanding with any local educational agencies 

10 or local councils, responsible for managing publicly 

11 funded prekindergarten programs in the service area 

12 of the Head Start agency (or if such agencies and 

13 such councils are not applicable in the service area, 

14 with the largest provider of publicly funded pre15 kindergarten in the service area), that shall include 

16 plans to coordinate the following activities: 

17 ‘‘(A) Educational activities, curricula, and 

18 instruction aligned to State developed K-12 

19 academic standards, as defined by section 

20 1111(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary 

21 Education Act of 1965. 

22 ‘‘(B) Public information dissemination and 

23 access to programs for families contacting any 

24 of the early childhood programs. 
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1 ‘‘(C) Selection priorities for eligible chil2 dren to be served by programs. 

3 ‘‘(D) Service delivery areas. 

4 ‘‘(E) Staff training, including opportunities 

5 for joint staff training on topics such as aca6 demic content standards and instructional 

7 methods. 

8 ‘‘(F) Program technical assistance. 

9 ‘‘(G) Provision of additional services to 

10 meet the child care needs of working parents. 

11 ‘‘(H) Planning and parent education for 

12 smooth transitions to kindergarten as required 

13 in section 642A(3) and 642A(6). 

14 ‘‘(I) Provision and use of facilities, trans15 portation, and other program elements, and 

16 ‘‘(J) Other elements mutually agreed to by 

17 the parties to such memorandum. 

18 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF MEMORANDA—Each Head 

19 Start agency shall enter into a memorandum of un20 derstanding under paragraph (1) not later than 1 

21 year after the effective date of this section. 

22 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.—Each memo23 randum of understanding entered into under para24 graph (1) shall be submitted to the Secretary not 
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1 later than 30 days after entering into such memo2 randum. 

3 ‘‘(A) If a Head Start agency is unable to 

4 comply with the requirement in (1) the Head 

5 Start agency shall notify the Secretary and the 

6 chief executive officer of the State not later 

7 than 30 days after determining that they are 

8 unable to enter into such memorandum. The 

9 Secretary, in cooperation with the State Early 

10 Learning Council and the State Director of 

11 Head Start Collaboration, shall evaluate the 

12 causes of failure to enter into a memorandum 

13 of understanding under paragraph (1). With 

14 the assistance of the State Early Learning 

15 Council and the State Director of Head Start 

16 Collaboration, all parties shall again attempt to 

17 enter into a memorandum of understanding 

18 under paragraph (1). Then if no such memo19 randum of understanding is entered into, the 

20 Secretary shall make 1 of the following deter21 minations: 

22 ‘‘(i) The local educational agency, 

23 local council, or other appropriate entity is 

24 unable or unwilling to enter into such a 
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1 memorandum despite reasonable efforts on 

2 the part of the Head Start agency. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The Head Start agency has not 

4 engaged in reasonable efforts to success5 fully negotiate and enter into a memo6 randum of understanding pursuant to 

7 paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(iii) There is an absence of publicly 

9 funded prekindergarten in the service area 

10 of the Head Start agency. 

11 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary determines the Head 

12 Start agency is not making reasonable efforts 

13 to enter into a memorandum of understanding 

14 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Head Start 

15 agency shall be found deficient and shall be 

16 considered by the Secretary in the same manner 

17 as other deficiency findings. 

18 ‘‘(C) If the Secretary concludes that the 

19 local educational agency, local council, or other 

20 appropriate entity is not making reasonable ef21 forts to reach such a memorandum of under22 standing, the Head Start agency shall not be 

23 found out of compliance with paragraph (1). 

24 ‘‘(4) REVISION OF MEMORANDA—Each memo25 randum of understanding shall be revised and re-
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1 newed annually by the parties to such memorandum, 

2 in alignment with the beginning of the school year. 

3 ‘‘(5) ABSENCE OF PREKINDERGARTEN.—In the 

4 absence of publicly funded prekindergarten in the 

5 service area of a Head Start agency, the Head Start 

6 agency shall submit notice to the Secretary and the 

7 chief executive officer of the State and shall work 

8 with the State Early Learning Council and the State 

9 Director of Head Start Collaboration to improve co10 ordination in their service area. 

11 ‘‘(b) STATEWIDE INTEGRATION.—From the amounts 

12 reserved and allotted in section 640(a)(4) and the 

13 amounts reserved in section 640(a)(2)(C)(ii), the Sec14 retary shall award an early learning collaboration grant 

15 to each State for the purposes of supporting a State Early 

16 Learning Council responsible for advancing the develop17 ment of a coordinated early childhood services delivery sys18 tem in the State. A State that receives a grant under this 

19 subparagraph shall—

20 ‘‘(1) establish a State Early Learning Council, 

21 which shall include the State Director of Head Start 

22 Collaboration, representatives from the State pre23 school programs, representatives of local educational 

24 agencies, representatives of State child care pro25 grams, representatives of State preschool special 
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1 education programs, and representatives from Head 

2 Start agencies located in the State. The chief execu3 tive officer of the State may designate an existing 

4 entity to serve as the Early Learning Council if such 

5 entity includes representatives described in this 

6 paragraph; 

7 ‘‘(2) ensure that allotted funds distributed to a 

8 State for a fiscal year to carry out this subsection 

9 may be used by the State to pay not more than 30 

10 percent of the cost of carrying out this subsection; 

11 ‘‘(3) direct the Early Learning Council—

12 ‘‘(A) to increase coordination and collabo13 ration among State preschool, Head Start pro14 grams, child care programs, early childhood 

15 special education, and other early childhood 

16 programs, including in the areas of outcomes 

17 and standards, technical assistance, coordina18 tion of services, cross-sector professional devel19 opment and training, outreach, communication, 

20 and better serving the needs of working families 

21 through provision of full-day and full-year early 

22 education services; 

23 ‘‘(B) to work with State agencies respon24 sible for education, child care, and early inter25 vention to provide leadership and assistance to 
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1 local Head Start programs, school districts, and 

2 State and locally funded preschool and child 

3 care programs to increase integration among 

4 early childhood programs through adoption of 

5 local memoranda of understanding described in 

6 subparagraph (A) and other means; 

7 ‘‘(C) to conduct periodic statewide needs 

8 assessments concerning early care and edu9 cation programs for children from birth to 

10 school entry; 

11 ‘‘(D) to work to identify and address bar12 riers to and opportunities for integration be13 tween entities carrying out Federal and State 

14 child development, child care, and early child15 hood education programs; 

16 ‘‘(E) to develop recommendations regard17 ing means of establishing a unified data collec18 tion system for early care and education pro19 grams operating throughout the State; 

20 ‘‘(F) to address coordination of early 

21 learning programs with health care, welfare, 

22 family literacy and services for homeless chil23 dren; and 

24 ‘‘(G) to support a State system of early 

25 childhood education, and training and technical 
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1 assistance that improves the quality of early 

2 learning programs and the capacity of such pro3 grams to deliver services pursuant to section 

4 648(b). 

5 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be con6 strued to provide the Early Learning Council with 

7 authority to alter the provisions of this Act. 

8 ‘‘(5) Funds made available under this section 

9 shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other 

10 Federal, State, and local funds that would otherwise 

11 be expended to carry out the purposes of this sec12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(c) STATE DIRECTOR OF HEAD START COLLABORA14 TION.—The chief executive officer of the State shall ap15 point an individual to serve as the State Director of Head 

16 Start Collaboration and shall ensure that the Director 

17 holds a position with sufficient authority and access to be 

18 capable of facilitating the coordination of programs de19 signed to benefit low-income children and their families. 

20 Such position shall be located within the State Early 

21 Learning Council and shall require the Director—

22 ‘‘(1) to collaborate with entities involved in 

23 State and local planning processes to better meet the 

24 needs of low income families and children from birth 

25 to school entry; 
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1 ‘‘(2) to assist Head Start agencies in coordi2 nating activities with the State agency responsible 

3 for administering the State program carried out 

4 under the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

5 Act of 1990 and entities that provide child care re6 source and referral services in the State to make 

7 full-day and full calendar year services available to 

8 children; 

9 ‘‘(3) to align Head Start and State prekinder10 garten activities to meet shared goals of school read11 iness; and 

12 ‘‘(4) to establish improved linkages between 

13 Head Start agencies and other children and family 

14 agencies, including agencies that provide health, 

15 mental health or family services or other child and 

16 family support services.’’. 

17 SEC. 11. HEAD START ALIGNMENT WITH K–12 EDUCATION. 

18 Section 642A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 9837a) is amended—

20 (1) by amending the heading to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 642A. HEAD START ALIGNMENT WITH K–12 EDU22 CATION.’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (2)—

24 (A) by inserting ‘‘ongoing’’ after ‘‘estab25 lishing’’; and 
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1 (B) after ‘‘social workers,’’ by inserting the 

2 following: ‘‘McKinney-Vento liaisons as estab3 lished under section 722 (g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 

4 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act,’’; 

5 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

6 (7) as paragraphs (5) through (9), respectively; 

7 (4) by inserting the following after paragraph 

8 (2): 

9 ‘‘(3) developing continuity of developmentally 

10 appropriate curricula between Head Start and local 

11 educational agencies to ensure an effective transition 

12 and appropriate shared expectations for children’s 

13 learning and development as they make such transi14 tion to school; 

15 ‘‘(4) organizing and participating in joint train16 ing, including transition-related training for school 

17 staff and Head Start staff;’’; 

18 (5) by amending paragraph (7), as so redesig19 nated, to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(7) developing and implementing a family out21 reach and support program in cooperation with enti22 ties carrying out parental involvement efforts under 

23 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

24 Act of 1965 and family outreach and support efforts 
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1 under subtitle VII–B of the McKinney-Vento Home2 less Assistance Act;’’; 

3 (6) in paragraph (8), as so redesignated—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘and continuity in paren5 tal involvement activities’’ after ‘‘developmental 

6 continuity’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para8 graph (8), as so redesignated; 

9 (7) by amending paragraph (9), as so redesig10 nated, to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(9) linking the services provided in such Head 

12 Start program with the education services, including 

13 services relating to language, literacy, and 

14 numeracy, provided by such local educational agen15 cy;’’; and 

16 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(10) helping parents to understand the impor18 tance of parental involvement in a child’s academic 

19 success while teaching them strategies for maintain20 ing parental involvement as their child moves from 

21 Head Start to elementary school; 

22 ‘‘(11) developing and implementing a system to 

23 increase program participation of underserved popu24 lations of eligible children; and 
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1 ‘‘(12) coordinating activities and collaborating 

2 to ensure that curricula used in the Head Start pro3 gram is aligned with State early learning standards 

4 with regard to cognitive, social, emotional, and phys5 ical competencies that children entering kinder6 garten are expected to demonstrate.’’. 

7 SEC. 12. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND STAND8 ARDS. 

9 Section 644 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 9839(f)(2)) is amended—

11 (1) in subsection (a)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1) STANDARDS.—’’ 

13 after ‘‘(a)’’; and 

14 (B) by inserting after the 3d sentence the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each Head Start agency 

17 shall make available to the public a report published at 

18 least once in each fiscal year that discloses the following 

19 information from the then most recently concluded fiscal 

20 year: 

21 ‘‘(A) The total amount of public and private 

22 funds received and the amount from each source. 

23 ‘‘(B) An explanation of budgetary expenditures 

24 and proposed budget for following fiscal year. 
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1 ‘‘(C) The Total number of children and families 

2 served and percent of average monthly enrollment, 

3 including the percent of eligible children served. 

4 ‘‘(D) The results of the most recent review by 

5 the Secretary and the financial audit. 

6 ‘‘(E) The percentage of enrolled children that 

7 received medical and dental exams. 

8 ‘‘(F) Information about parent involvement ac9 tivities. 

10 ‘‘(G) The performance of the agency in pre11 paring children for kindergarten. 

12 ‘‘(H) Any other information that describes the 

13 activities of the agency. 

14 ‘‘(3) PROCEDURAL CONDUCT.—’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (f)(2) 

16 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

17 through (E) as subparagraphs (B) through (F), 

18 respectively; and 

19 (B) by inserting before subparagraph (B), 

20 as so redesignated, the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) a description of the consultation conducted 

22 by the Head Start agency with the providers in the 

23 community demonstrating capacity and capability to 

24 provide services under this subchapter, and of the 

25 potential for collaboration with such providers and 
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1 the cost effectiveness of such collaboration as op2 posed to the cost effectiveness of the purchase of a 

3 facility;’’. 

4 SEC. 13. ELIGIBILITY. 

5 Section 645(a) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 9840) is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (1)—

8 (A) in subparagraph (B)(i)—

9 (i) by striking ‘‘to a reasonable ex10 tent’’ and inserting ‘‘not to exceed 10 per11 cent of the total enrollment’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘benefit from such 

13 programs’’ and inserting ‘‘benefit from 

14 such programs, including children referred 

15 by child welfare services,’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘A homeless child shall be deemed to meet the low-income 

18 criteria.’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(3) The amount of a basic allowance provided under 

21 section 403 of title 37, United States Code, on behalf of 

22 an individual who is a member of the uniformed services 

23 for housing that is acquired or constructed under the au24 thority of subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United 

25 States Code, or any other related provision of law, shall 
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1 not be considered to be income for purposes of deter2 mining the eligibility of a child of the individual for pro3 grams assisted under this subchapter.’’. 

4 SEC. 14. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 645A(b) of the Head 

6 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9640a(b)) is amended—

7 (1) by amending paragraphs (4) and (5) to 

8 read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(4) provide services to parents to support their 

10 role as parents (including parenting skills training 

11 and training in basic child development) and to help 

12 the families move toward self-sufficiency (including 

13 educational and employment services as appro14 priate); 

15 ‘‘(5) coordinate services with services (including 

16 home-based services) provided by programs in the 

17 State and programs in the community (including 

18 programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities) 

19 to ensure a comprehensive array of services (such as 

20 health and mental health services, and family sup21 port services);’’; 

22 (2) by amending paragraph (8) to read as fol23 lows: 

24 ‘‘(8) ensure formal linkages with the agencies 

25 and entities described in section 644(b) of the Indi-
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1 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

2 1444(b)) and providers of early intervention services 

3 for infants and toddlers with disabilities under the 

4 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

5 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) and the agency responsible for 

6 administering the section 106 of the Child Abuse 

7 Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a);’’. 

8 (3) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para9 graph (11); and 

10 (4) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(9) develop and implement a systematic proce13 dure for transitioning children and parents from an 

14 Early Head Start program into a Head Start pro15 gram or another local early childhood education pro16 gram; 

17 ‘‘(10) establish channels of communication be18 tween staff of Early Head Start programs and staff 

19 of Head Start programs or other local early child20 hood education programs, to facilitate the coordina21 tion of programs; and’’. 

22 (b) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL PROGRAMS; 

23 COMMUNITY- AND FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.—Sec24 tion 645A(d) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9640a(d)) 

25 is amended—
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1 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(1) entities operating Head Start programs 

4 under this subpart, including migrant and seasonal 

5 Head Start programs; and’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (2) of the Head Start Act (42 

7 US.C. 9643(d)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, in8 cluding community- and faith-based organizations’’ 

9 after ‘‘entities’’ the 2d place it appears. 

10 (c) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AC11 COUNT.—Section 645A(g)(2)(B) of the Head Start Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 9640a(g)(2)(B)) is amended—

13 (1) in clause (iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (2) in clause (iv) by striking the period at the 

15 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(v) providing professional develop18 ment designed to increase program partici19 pation for underserved populations of eligi20 ble children.’’. 

21 (d) CENTER-BASED STAFF.—Section 645A of the 

22 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9640a) is amended by adding 

23 at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(h) CENTER-BASED STAFF.—The Secretary shall 

25 ensure that, not later than September 30, 2008, all teach-
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1 ers providing direct services to Early Head Start children 

2 and families in Early Head Start centers have a minimum 

3 of a child development associate credential or an associate 

4 degree, and have been trained (or have equivalent course 

5 work) in early childhood development.’’. 

6 SEC. 15. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR NON7 EMERGENCY INTRUSIVE PHYSICAL EXAMINA8 TIONS. 

9 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is 

10 amended by inserting after section 645A the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 645B. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR NON12 EMERGENCY INTRUSIVE PHYSICAL EXAMINA13 TIONS. 

14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—The term ‘nonemergency intru15 sive physical examination’ means, with respect to a child, 

16 a physical examination that—

17 ‘‘(1) is not immediately necessary to protect the 

18 health or safety of such child, or the health or safety 

19 of another individual; and 

20 ‘‘(2) includes incision or is otherwise invasive, 

21 or includes exposure of private body parts. 

22 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.—Before administering any 

23 health care service (including any nonemergency intrusive 

24 physical examination) to a child (or referring such child 

25 to obtain such service) in connection with participation in 
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1 a program under this subchapter, a Head Start agency 

2 and an entity that receives assistance under section 645A 

3 shall obtain the written consent of a parent of such child. 

4 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall be construed to prohibit a Head Start agency 

6 or an entity that receives assistance under section 645A 

7 from using established methods, for handling cases of sus8 pected or known child abuse and neglect, that are in com9 pliance with applicable Federal, State, or tribal law.’’. 

10 SEC. 16. RIGHT TO APPEAL. 

11 Section 646(a)(3) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 9841(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(3) if financial assistance under this subchapter is 

14 terminated or reduced, an application for a noncompeting 

15 continuation award is denied based on a previous failure 

16 to comply with terms applicable to financial assistance 

17 previously provided this subchapter, or suspension of fi18 nancial assistance is continued for more than 30 days, the 

19 recipient with respect to whom such action is taken shall 

20 have the opportunity to appeal such action in accordance 

21 with such procedures, except that no funds made available 

22 under this subchapter may be used to reimburse any such 

23 recipient for legal fees and other costs incurred in pur24 suing such an appeal;’’. 
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1 SEC. 17. AUDITS. 

2 Section 647 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9842) 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(c)(1) Not later that 60 days after the end of each 

5 fiscal year, each Head Start agency, and each entity that 

6 receives assistance under section 645A, shall submit to the 

7 Secretary an independent financial audit of the Head 

8 Start program carried out with financial assistance pro9 vided under this subchapter. Such audit shall be carried 

10 out by a certified public accountant selected through a 

11 competitive process from among qualified certified ac12 countants by the local oversight board established in ac13 cordance with section 641(a) by such agency, except that 

14 no accountant may perform audits of such program for 

15 a period exceeding 2 consecutive fiscal years. 

16 ‘‘(2) Not later than 60 days after receiving such 

17 audit, the Secretary shall provide to such agency or such 

18 entity, and to the chief executive officer of the State in 

19 which such program is operated, a notice identifying the 

20 actions such agency or such entity is required to take to 

21 correct all deficiencies identified in such audit. 

22 ‘‘(d) Each recipient of financial assistance under this 

23 subchapter shall—

24 ‘‘(1) maintain, and annually submit to the Sec25 retary, a complete accounting of its administrative 

26 expenses (including a detailed statement identifying 
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1 the amount of financial assistance provided under 

2 this subchapter used to pay expenses for salaries 

3 and compensation and the amount (if any) of other 

4 funds used to pay such expenses); and 

5 ‘‘(2) provide such additional documentation as 

6 the Secretary may require.’’. 

7 SEC. 18. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

8 (a) STATE-BASED SYSTEM.—Section 648 of the 

9 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843) is amended—

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) 

11 as subsections (c) through (f), respectively; and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall make available to each State 

15 the money reserved in section 640(a)(2)(C)(ii) to support 

16 a State-based system delivering training and technical as17 sistance that improves the capacity of Head Start pro18 grams within a State to deliver services in accordance with 

19 the Head Start standards in section 641A(a)(1), with par20 ticular attention to the standards set forth in subpara21 graphs (A) and (B) of such section. The Secretary shall—

22 ‘‘(1) ensure eligible entities within a State are 

23 chosen by the Secretary, in consultation with the 

24 State Collaboration Board described in section 

25 640(a)(5)(C)(i), through a competitive bid process; 
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1 ‘‘(2) ensure that existing agencies with dem2 onstrated expertise in providing high quality training 

3 and technical assistance to improve the delivery of 

4 Head Start services, including the State Head Start 

5 Association, State agencies, migrant and seasonal 

6 Head Start programs operating in the State, and 

7 other entities currently providing training and tech8 nical assistance in early education, be included in 

9 the planning and coordination of the State system of 

10 training and technical assistance; and 

11 ‘‘(3) encourage States to supplement the funds 

12 authorized in section 640(a)(2)(C)(ii) with State, 

13 Federal, or local funds other than Head Start funds, 

14 to expand activities beyond Head Start agencies to 

15 include other providers of other early childhood serv16 ices within a State.’’. 

17 (b) ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES.—Section 648(d) of 

18 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843(d)), as so redesig19 nated, is amended—

20 (1) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘and for ac21 tivities described in section 1221(b)(3) of the Ele22 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965’’ 

23 after ‘‘disabilities’’ ; and 
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1 (2) in paragraph (5) by inserting ‘‘, including 

2 the needs of homeless children and their families’’ 

3 after ‘‘assessment’’; 

4 (3) in paragraph (10) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (4) in paragraph (11) by striking the period at 

7 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (5) by adding the following at the end: 

9 ‘‘(12) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

10 in increasing program participation of homeless chil11 dren.’’. 

12 (c) TRAINING IN USE OF MEDIA.—Section 648(e) of 

13 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843(e)), as so redesig14 nated, is amended by inserting ‘‘, including community15 and faith-based organizations’’ after ‘‘entities’’. 

16 (d) CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND NATIONAL ASSESS17 MENT PROGRAM.—Section 648(f) of the Head Start Act 

18 (42 U.S.C. 9843(f)), as so redesignated, is amended to 

19 read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall provide, either directly or 

21 through grants or other arrangements, funds from pro22 grams authorized under this subchapter to support an or23 ganization to administer a centralized child development 

24 and national assessment program leading to recognized 

25 credentials for personnel working in early childhood devel-
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1 opment and child care programs, training for personnel 

2 providing services to non-English language background 

3 children (including services to promote the acquisition of 

4 the English language), training for personnel providing 

5 services to children determined to be abused or neglected, 

6 training for personnel providing services to children re7 ferred by or receiving child welfare services, training for 

8 personnel in helping children cope with community vio9 lence, and resource access projects for personnel working 

10 with disabled children.’’. 

11 (e) ADDRESSING UNIQUE NEEDS.—Section 648 of 

12 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843) is amended by add13 ing at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(g) HELPING PERSONNEL BETTER SERVE MI15 GRANT AND SEASONAL FARM-WORKING COMMUNITIES

16 AND HOMELESS FAMILIES.—The Secretary shall provide, 

17 either directly or through grants, or other arrangements, 

18 funds for training of Head Start personnel in addressing 

19 the unique needs of migrant and seasonal working fami20 lies, families with a limited English proficiency, and home21 less families. 

22 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—More than 50 per23 cent of funds expended under this section shall be used 

24 to provide high quality, sustained, intensive, and class25 room-focused training and technical assistance in order to 
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1 have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruc2 tion. Funds shall be used to carry out activities related 

3 to any or all of the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) Education and early childhood develop5 ment. 

6 ‘‘(2) Child health, nutrition, and safety. 

7 ‘‘(3) Family and community partnerships. 

8 ‘‘(4) Other areas that impact the quality or 

9 overall effectiveness of Head Start programs. 

10 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.—Funds under 

11 this subchapter used for training shall be used for needs 

12 identified annually by a grant applicant or delegate agency 

13 in their program improvement plan, except that funds 

14 shall not be used for long-distance travel expenses for 

15 training activities available locally or regionally or for 

16 training activities substantially similar to locally or region17 ally available training activities. 

18 ‘‘(j)(1) The Secretary shall work in collaboration with 

19 the Head Start agencies that carry out migrant and sea20 sonal Head Start programs, State Collaboration Directors, 

21 the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Collaboration 

22 Project Director, and other appropriate entities—

23 ‘‘(A) to accurately determine the number of 

24 children nationwide who are eligible to participate in 
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1 migrant and seasonal Head Start programs each 

2 year; and 

3 ‘‘(B) to document how many of these children 

4 are receiving Head Start services each year; and 

5 ‘‘(C) to the extent practicable, to ensure that 

6 access to migrant and seasonal Head Start pro7 grams for eligible children is comparable to access to 

8 other Head Start programs for other eligible chil9 dren; 

10 ‘‘(2) In carrying out paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary 

11 shall consult with the Secretary of Education about the 

12 Department of Education’s systems for collecting and re13 porting data about, and maintaining records on, students 

14 from migrant and seasonal farmworker families. 

15 ‘‘(3) Not later than 1 year after the effective date 

16 of this subsection, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

17 the Congress detailing how the Department of Health and 

18 Human Services plans to carry out paragraph (1).’’. 

19 ‘‘(k) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

20 term ‘eligible entities’ means an institution of higher edu21 cation or other entity with expertise in delivering training 

22 in early childhood development, family support, and other 

23 assistance designed to improve the delivery of Head Start 

24 services.’’. 
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1 SEC. 19. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT. 

2 (a) CLASSROOM TEACHERS.—Section 648A(a)(2) of 

3 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843a(a)(2)) is amended 

4 to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(2) DEGREE REQUIREMENTS.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

7 ensure that not later than September 30, 2010, 

8 at least 50 percent of all Head Start teachers 

9 nationwide in center-based programs have—

10 ‘‘(i) a baccalaureate or advanced de11 gree in early childhood education; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a baccalaureate or advanced de13 gree in a field related to early childhood 

14 education, with experience in teaching pre15 school children. 

16 ‘‘(B) PROGRESS.—Each Head State agen17 cy shall provide to the Secretary a report indi18 cating the number and percentage of classroom 

19 instructors with child development associate 

20 credentials and associate, baccalaureate, or ad21 vanced degrees. The Secretary shall compile all 

22 program reports and make them available to 

23 the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

24 of the United States House of Representatives 

25 and the Committee on Health, Education, 
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1 Labor, and Pensions of the United States Sen2 ate. 

3 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENT FOR NEW HEAD

4 START TEACHERS.—Within 3 years after the ef5 fective date of this subparagraph, the Secretary 

6 shall require that all Head Start teachers na7 tionwide in center-based programs hired fol8 lowing the effective date of this subparagraph—

9 ‘‘(i) have an associate, baccalaureate, 

10 or advanced degree in early childhood edu11 cation; 

12 ‘‘(ii) have an associate, baccalaureate, 

13 or advanced degree in a field related to 

14 early childhood education, with experience 

15 in teaching preschool children; or 

16 ‘‘(iii) be currently enrolled in a pro17 gram of study leading to an associate de18 gree in early childhood education and 

19 agree to complete degree requirements 

20 within 3 years from the date of hire. 

21 ‘‘(D) SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec22 retary shall establish requirements to ensure 

23 that individuals who receive financial assistance 

24 under this subchapter in order to comply with 

25 the requirements under section 648A(a)(2) 
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1 shall subsequently teach in a Head Start center 

2 for a period of time equivalent to the period for 

3 which they received assistance or repay the 

4 amount of the funds. 

5 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall 

6 require that any Federal funds provided directly 

7 or indirectly to comply with subparagraph (A) 

8 shall be used toward degrees awarded by an in9 stitution of higher education, as defined by sec10 tions 101 or 102 of the Higher Education Act 

11 (20 U.S.C. 1001–1002).’’. 

12 (b) CLASSROOM TEACHERS.—Section 648A of the 

13 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843a) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(f) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS.—Each 

16 Head Start agency and program shall create, in consulta17 tion with an employee, a professional development plan for 

18 all full-time employees who provide direct services to chil19 dren.’’. 

20 SEC. 20. RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EVALUATION. 

21 (a) NEW IDEAS AND APPROACHES.—Section 

22 649(a)(1)(B) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 9844(a)(1)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(B) use the Head Start programs to de25 velop, test, and disseminate new ideas and ap-
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1 proaches based on existing scientifically based 

2 research, for addressing the needs of low-in3 come preschool children (including children with 

4 disabilities and children determined to be 

5 abused or neglected) and their families and 

6 communities (including demonstrations of inno7 vative non-center based program models such as 

8 home-based and mobile programs), and other9 wise to further the purposes of this sub10 chapter.’’. 

11 (b) STUDY.—Section 649(d) of the Head Start Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 9844(d) is amended—

13 (1) in paragraph (7) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

14 end; 

15 (2) in paragraph (8) by striking the semicolon 

16 and inserting a period; 

17 (3) by striking paragraph (9); and 

18 (4) by striking the last sentence. 

19 (c) EXPERT PANEL.—Section 649(g) of the Head 

20 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9844(g)) is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (1)—

22 (A) by striking clause (i); and 

23 (B) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) 

24 as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; and 
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1 (2) in paragraph (7)(C)(i) is amended to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(i) Not later than September 30, 

4 2007, the Secretary shall transmit to the 

5 committees specified in clause (ii) the final 

6 report.’’. 

7 (d) NAS STUDY.—Section 649(h) of the Head Start 

8 Act (42 U.S.C. 9844(h)) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(h) NAS STUDY.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

11 funds allocated in section 640(a)(2)(C)(iii) to con12 tract with the National Academy of Sciences for the 

13 Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the Na14 tional Research Council to establish an independent 

15 panel of experts which shall review and synthesize 

16 research, theory and applications in the social, be17 havioral and biological sciences and shall make rec18 ommendations on early childhood pedagogy with re19 gard to each of the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) Age and developmentally appropriate 

21 Head Start academic requirements and out22 comes, including the domains in 641A(a)(B). 

23 ‘‘(B) Differences in the type, length, mix 

24 and intensity of services necessary to ensure 

25 that children from challenging family and social 
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1 backgrounds including: low-income children, 

2 children of color, children with special needs, 

3 and children with limited English proficiency 

4 enter kindergarten ready to succeed. 

5 ‘‘(C) Appropriate assessments of young 

6 children (including systematic observation as7 sessment in a child’s natural environment, and 

8 parent and provider interviews) for purposes of 

9 improving instruction, services, and program 

10 quality , and accommodations for children with 

11 disabilities and appropriate assessments for 

12 children with special needs (including needs re13 lated to the acquisition of the English lan14 guage). 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The panel shall consist of 

16 multiple experts in each of the following areas: 

17 ‘‘(A) Child development and education, in18 cluding cognitive, social, emotional, physical, 

19 approaches to learning, and other domains of 

20 child development and learning. 

21 ‘‘(B) Professional development, including 

22 teacher preparation, to individuals who teach 

23 young children in programs. 

24 ‘‘(C) Assessment of young children, includ25 ing screening, diagnostic and classroom-based 
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1 instructional assessment; children with special 

2 needs, including children with disabilities and 

3 limited English proficient children. 

4 ‘‘(3) TIMING.—The National Academy of 

5 Sciences and the Board shall establish the panel not 

6 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 

7 the date of the enactment of the School Readiness 

8 Act of 2005. The panel shall complete its rec9 ommendations within 18 months of its convening. 

10 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION OF PANEL REPORT REC11 OMMENDATIONS.—The recommendations of the 

12 panel shall be used as guidelines by the Secretary to 

13 develop, inform and revise, where appropriate, the 

14 Head Start education performance measures and 

15 standards and the assessments utilized in the Head 

16 Start program.’’. 

17 SEC. 21. REPORTS. 

18 Section 650(a) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 9845) is amended— 

20 (1) by amending the first sentence to read as 

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘At least once during every 2-year period, the Secretary 

23 shall prepare and submit, to the Committee on Education 

24 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and 

25 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions 
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1 of the Senate, a report concerning the status of children 

2 (including disabled, homeless, and non-English language 

3 background children) in Head Start programs, including 

4 the number of children and the services being provided 

5 to such children.’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (8) by inserting ‘‘, homeless7 ness’’ after ‘‘background’’. 

8 SEC. 22. LIMITATION ON RATE OF FEDERAL FUNDING FOR 

9 COMPENSATION. 

10 Section 653 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9848) 

11 is amended—

12 (1) by striking the heading; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘SEC. 653. The’’ and inserting 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 653. WAGES AND COMPENSATION. 

16 ‘‘(a) COMPARABILITY OF WAGES.—The’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL RATE LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding 

19 any other provision of law, no Federal funds shall be used 

20 to pay all or any part of the compensation of an individual 

21 employed by a Head Start agency in carrying out pro22 grams under this subchapter, either as direct or indirect 

23 costs or any proration thereof, at a rate in excess of the 

24 rate then payable for level II of the Executive Schedule 

25 under section 5316 of title 5, United State Code.’’. 
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1 SEC. 23. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as pro3 vided in subsection (b), this Act and the amendments 

4 made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the enact5 ment of this Act. 

6 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend7 ments made by this Act shall not apply with respect to 

8 any fiscal year that begins before the date of the enact9 ment of this Act.

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