I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6509 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify, review, 

and implement effective interventions in Head Start programs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2022 

Mr. DESAULNIER (for himself, Ms. MATSUI, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

identify, review, and implement effective interventions 

in Head Start programs, 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 ‘‘Early Childhood Men5 tal Health Support Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS IN 

7 HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

8 (a) INTERVENTIONS THAT IMPROVE SOCIAL-EMO9 TIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

2 Human Services acting through the Director for the 

3 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (in this 

4 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall identify 

5 and review interventions, best practices, curricula, 

6 and staff trainings— 

7 (A) that improve the behavioral health of 

8 children; and 

9 (B) that are evidence based. 

10 (2) FOCUS.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the 

11 Secretary shall focus on interventions, best practices, 

12 curricula, and staff trainings that— 

13 (A) can be delivered by a provider or other 

14 staff member in or associated with a Head 

15 Start program or Early Head Start center; 

16 (B) are demonstrated to improve or sup17 port healthy social, emotional, or cognitive de18 velopment for children in Head Start or Early 

19 Head Start programs, with an empirical or the20 oretical relationship to later mental health or 

21 substance abuse outcomes; 

22 (C) involve changes to center-wide policies 

23 or practices, or other services and supports of24 fered in conjunction with Head Start programs 

25 or Early Head Start centers, including services 


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1 provided to adults or families (with or without 

2 a child present) for the benefit of the children; 

3 (D) demonstrate effectiveness across ra4 cial, ethnic, and geographic populations or dem5 onstrate the capacity to be adapted to be effec6 tive across populations; 

7 (E) offer a tiered approach to addressing 

8 need, including— 

9 (i) universal interventions for all chil10 dren; 

11 (ii) selected prevention for children 

12 demonstrating increased need; and 

13 (iii) indicated prevention for children 

14 demonstrating substantial need; 

15 (F) incorporate trauma-informed care ap16 proaches; or 

17 (G) have a proven record of improving 

18 early childhood and social emotional develop19 ment. 

20 (b) INTERVENTIONS THAT SUPPORT STAFF

21 WELLNESS.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary 

22 shall identify and review interventions, best practices, cur23 ricula, and staff trainings that support staff wellness and 

24 self-care. 


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1 (c) CREDENTIALS.—In carrying out subsections (a) 

2 and (b), the Secretary, in consultation with relevant ex3 perts, shall determine the appropriate credentials for indi4 viduals who deliver the interventions, best practices, cur5 ricula, and staff trainings identified by the Secretary. 

6 (d) CONSULTATION; PUBLIC INPUT.—In carrying out 

7 this section, the Secretary shall— 

8 (1) consult with relevant agencies, experts, aca9 demics, think tanks, and nonprofit organizations 

10 with expertise in early childhood, mental health, and 

11 trauma-informed care, including the National Insti12 tute of Mental Health, the Administration for Chil13 dren and Families, the Substance Abuse and Mental 

14 Health Services Administration, the Institute of 

15 Education Sciences, and the Centers for Disease 

16 Control and Prevention; and 

17 (2) solicit public input on— 

18 (A) the design of the reviews under sub19 sections (a) and (b); and 

20 (B) the findings and conclusions resulting 

21 from such reviews. 

22 (e) TIMING.—The Secretary shall— 

23 (1) complete the initial reviews required by sub24 sections (a) and (b) not later than 1 year after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act; and 


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1 (2) update such reviews and the findings and 

2 conclusions therefrom at least every 5 years. 

3 (f) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, 

5 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress on 

6 the results of implementing this section. 

7 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTING THE INTERVENTIONS IN HEAD 

8 START PROGRAMS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary for the 

10 Administration for Children and Families shall award 

11 grants to participating Head Start agencies to implement 

12 the interventions, best practices, curricula, and staff 

13 trainings that are identified pursuant to section 2. 

14 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

15 ensure that grants awarded under this section are award16 ed to grantees representing a diversity of geographic areas 

17 across the United States, including urban, suburban, and 

18 rural areas. 

19 SEC. 4. EVALUATING IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERVEN20 TIONS IN HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary 

23 for Planning and Evaluation and in coordination with the 

24 Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children 

25 and Families, shall— 


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1 (1) determine whether the interventions, best 

2 practices, curricula, and staff trainings implemented 

3 pursuant to section 3— 

4 (A) are effectively implemented pursuant 

5 to section 3 and other relevant provisions of law 

6 such that the anticipated effect sizes of the 

7 interventions, best practices, curricula, and 

8 staff trainings are achieved; and 

9 (B) yield long-term savings; 

10 (2) develop a method for making the determina11 tion required by paragraph (1); 

12 (3) ensure that such method includes com13 petency and testing approaches, performance or out14 come measures, or any other methods deemed appro15 priate by the Assistant Secretary, taking into consid16 eration existing monitoring components of the Head 

17 Start and Early Head Start programs; and 

18 (4) the Assistant Secretaries shall solicit public 

19 input on the design, findings, and conclusions of this 

20 process and shall consider whether updates are nec21 essary at least every 5 years. 

22 (b) PROCESS.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 

23 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall— 

24 (1) conduct any research and evaluation studies 

25 needed; and 


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1 (2) solicit public input on— 

2 (A) the design of the method developed 

3 pursuant to subsection (a)(2); and 

4 (B) the resulting findings and conclusions. 

5 (c) TIMING.—The Secretary of Health and Human 

6 Services shall— 

7 (1) develop the method required by subsection 

8 (a)(2) and make the initial determination required 

9 by subsection (a)(1) not later than 2 years after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act; and 

11 (2) update such method and determination at 

12 least every 5 years. 

13 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTING THE EVALUATION FRAMEWORK 

14 FOR HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

15 (a) EVALUATION METHOD.—The Assistant Secretary 

16 for the Administration for Children and Families shall im17 plement the evaluation method developed pursuant to sec18 tion 4(a) in the Head Start program as a voluntary mech19 anism for interested Head Start programs or Early Head 

20 Start centers to evaluate the extent to which such pro21 grams or centers have effectively implemented the inter22 ventions, best practices, curricula, and staff trainings 

23 identified pursuant to section 2, with minimal burden or 

24 disruption to programs and centers interested in partici25 pating. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Assistant Sec2 retary for the Administration for Children and Families 

3 shall provide guidance, tools, resources, and technical as4 sistance to grantees for implementing and evaluating 

5 interventions, best practices, curricula, and staff trainings 

6 identified pursuant to section 2 and optimizing the per7 formance of such grantees on the annual evaluations. 

8 SEC. 6. BEST PRACTICE CENTERS. 

9 The Assistant Secretary for the Administration for 

10 Children and Families may fund up to 5 Best Practice 

11 Centers in Early Childhood Training in universities and 

12 colleges to prepare future Head Start agencies and staff 

13 able to deliver the interventions, best practices, curricula, 

14 and staff trainings identified pursuant to section 2. 

15 SEC. 7. FUNDING. 

16 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for the period 

18 of fiscal years 2023 through 2032 for carrying out sec19 tions 3(b), 4, 6, and 7. 

20 (b) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Amounts 

21 authorized to be appropriated by subsection (a) are au22 thorized to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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