I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2217 

To amend the Head Start Act to promote trauma-informed practices, ageappropriate positive behavioral intervention and support, services for 

young children who have experienced trauma or toxic stress, and improved coordination between Head Start agencies and other programs 

that serve very young children. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2015 

Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Head Start Act to promote trauma-informed 

practices, age-appropriate positive behavioral intervention 

and support, services for young children who have experienced trauma or toxic stress, and improved coordination 

between Head Start agencies and other programs that 

serve very young children. 

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 ‘‘Caring Start Act of 

5 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Neglect, hunger, abuse, and other forms of 

4 trauma present significant challenges to young chil5 dren’s learning and social-emotional development. 

6 (2) Trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive 

7 caregiving is an ideal targeted intervention for vul8 nerable children who experience trauma. 

9 (3) A child’s development relies significantly on 

10 the development of executive function skills, includ11 ing cognitive flexibility, self-regulation, and effortful 

12 control and attention. 

13 (4) Focusing on these skills, even though they 

14 are not obviously academic, is critical in order to im15 prove children’s long-term outcomes. 

16 (5) Providing high-quality early childhood edu17 cation can protect young children from some of the 

18 most adverse effects of poverty, enable their healthy 

19 development, strengthen their health, and reduce or 

20 mediate toxic stress responses to adverse experi21 ences. 

22 (6) Robust support, professional development, 

23 and specialized training for the early education and 

24 care workforce is essential to providing a high-qual25 ity early education to every child. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS. 

2 Section 648 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

6 (i) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end, 

8 (ii) in clause (iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end, and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(iv) activities that support the imple13 mentation of evidence-based trauma-in14 formed practices, age-appropriate positive 

15 behavioral interventions and supports, 

16 early childhood mental health consultation, 

17 and prevention of suspension and expul18 sion; and 

19 ‘‘(v) activities that appropriately in20 crease the level of coordination between 

21 Head Start agencies and other programs 

22 that serve very young children, in order to 

23 increase the general quality, availability, 

24 and reliability of services provided; and’’, 

25 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (i) in clause (xv) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end, 

3 (ii) in clause (xvi) by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(xvii) assist Head Start agencies in 

8 adopting evidence-based approaches to best 

9 identify and serve children whose experi10 ences have elicited a toxic stress re11 sponse.’’, 

12 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (F) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

14 at the end, 

15 (B) in subparagraph (G) by striking the 

16 period at the end and inserting a semicolon, 

17 and 

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

19 ‘‘(H) in evidence-based trauma-informed 

20 practices, as well as early childhood mental 

21 health consultation and age-appropriate positive 

22 behavioral interventions and supports; and 

23 ‘‘(I) in helping children who have experi24 enced, or are experiencing, trauma or toxic 

25 stress.’’, and 


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1 (3) in subsection (d)(1)— 

2 (A) in subparagraph (G) by striking ‘‘and 

3 children under 3 years of age, where applica4 ble’’ and inserting ‘‘children who experience 

5 trauma, and children under 3 years of age, es6 pecially for whom such experiences have caused 

7 a toxic stress response, including appropriate 

8 training and professional development on evi9 dence-based trauma-informed practices and 

10 early childhood mental health consultation’’, 

11 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as 

12 subparagraph (J), and 

13 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(I) Activities designed to prevent suspen16 sion and expulsion and to increase utilization of 

17 age-appropriate positive behavioral interven18 tions and supports.’’. 

Æ 


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