II 

Calendar No. 427 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2452 

To support early learning. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2014 

Mr. HARKIN, from the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 

reported the following original bill; which was read twice and placed on 

the calendar 

A BILL 

To support early learning. 

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 ‘‘Strong Start for Amer5 ica’s Children Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—PREKINDERGARTEN ACCESS 


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Subtitle A—Access to Voluntary Prekindergarten for Low- and ModerateIncome Families 

Sec. 111. Purposes. 

Sec. 112. Definitions. 

Sec. 113. Program authorization. 

Sec. 114. Allotments and reservation of funds. 

Sec. 115. State eligibility criteria. 

Sec. 116. State applications. 

Sec. 117. State use of funds. 

Sec. 118. Performance measures and targets. 

Sec. 119. Matching requirements. 

Sec. 120. Eligible local entity applications. 

Sec. 121. Required subgrant activities. 

Sec. 122. Report and evaluation. 

Sec. 123. Prohibition of required participation or use of funds for assessments. 

Sec. 124. Coordination with Head Start programs. 

Sec. 125. Technical assistance in program administration. 

Sec. 126. Rule of construction. 

Sec. 127. Authorization of appropriations. 

Subtitle B—Prekindergarten Development Grants 

Sec. 151. Prekindergarten development grants. 

TITLE II—LEARNING QUALITY PARTNERSHIPS 

Sec. 201. Purposes. 

Sec. 202. Early learning quality partnerships. 

TITLE III—MATERNAL, INFANT, AND EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME 

VISITING PROGRAM 

Sec. 301. Sense of Senate. 

1 TITLE I—PREKINDERGARTEN 

2 ACCESS 

3 Subtitle A—Access to Voluntary 

4 Prekindergarten for Low- and 

5 Moderate-income Families 

6 SEC. 111. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this subtitle are to— 

8 (1) establish a Federal-State partnership to 

9 provide access to high-quality public prekindergarten 

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1 erate-income families to ensure that the children 

2 enter kindergarten prepared for success; 

3 (2) broaden participation in such programs to 

4 include children from additional middle-class fami5 lies; and 

6 (3) promote access to full-day kindergarten, 

7 and high-quality early childhood education programs 

8 and settings for children. 

9 SEC. 112. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this subtitle: 

11 (1) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

12 ‘‘child with a disability’’ has the meaning— 

13 (A) given the term in section 602 of the 

14 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

15 U.S.C. 1401); and 

16 (B) given the term ‘‘infant or toddler with 

17 a disability’’ in section 632 of such Act (20 

18 U.S.C. 1432). 

19 (2) COMPREHENSIVE EARLY LEARNING ASSESS20 MENT SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘comprehensive early 

21 learning assessment system’’— 

22 (A) means a coordinated and comprehen23 sive system of multiple assessments, each of 

24 which is valid and reliable for its specified pur25 pose and for the population with which it will 


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1 be used, that organizes information about the 

2 process and context of young children’s learning 

3 and development in order to help early child4 hood educators make informed instructional 

5 and programmatic decisions and that conforms 

6 to the recommendations of the National Re7 search Council reports on early childhood; and 

8 (B) includes, at a minimum— 

9 (i) child screening measures to iden10 tify children who may need follow-up serv11 ices to address developmental, learning, or 

12 health needs in, at a minimum, areas of 

13 physical health, behavioral health, oral 

14 health, child development, vision, and hear15 ing; 

16 (ii) child formative assessments; 

17 (iii) measures of environmental qual18 ity; and 

19 (iv) measures of the quality of adult20 child interactions. 

21 (3) DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNER.—The term 

22 ‘‘dual language learner’’ means an individual who is 

23 limited English proficient as defined in section 637 

24 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9832). 


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1 (4) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PRO2 GRAM.—The term ‘‘early childhood education pro3 gram’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

4 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

5 U.S.C. 1003). 

6 (5) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen7 tary school’’ has the meaning given the term in sec8 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

10 (6) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligi11 ble local entity’’ means— 

12 (A) a local educational agency, including a 

13 charter school or a charter management organi14 zation that acts as a local educational agency, 

15 or an educational service agency in partnership 

16 with a local educational agency; 

17 (B) an entity (including a Head Start pro18 gram or licensed child care setting) that carries 

19 out, administers, or supports an early childhood 

20 education program; or 

21 (C) a consortium of entities described 

22 under subparagraph (A) or (B). 

23 (7) ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION DATE.—The 

24 term ‘‘eligibility determination date’’ means the date 

25 used to determine eligibility for public elementary 


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1 school in the community in which the eligible local 

2 entity involved is located. 

3 (8) FULL-DAY.—The term ‘‘full-day’’ means a 

4 day that is— 

5 (A) equivalent to a full school day at the 

6 public elementary schools in the State; and 

7 (B) not less than 5 hours a day. 

8 (9) HIGH-QUALITY PREKINDERGARTEN PRO9 GRAM.—The term ‘‘high-quality prekindergarten 

10 program’’ means a prekindergarten program sup11 ported by an eligible local entity that includes, at a 

12 minimum, the following elements based on nationally 

13 recognized standards: 

14 (A) Serves children who— 

15 (i) are age 4 or children who are age 

16 3 or 4, by the eligibility determination date 

17 (including children who turn age 5 while 

18 attending the program); or 

19 (ii) have attained the legal age for 

20 State-funded prekindergarten. 

21 (B) Requires high staff qualifications, in22 cluding a requirement that a prekindergarten 

23 teacher— 

24 (i) has a bachelor’s degree in early 

25 childhood education or a related field with 


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1 coursework that demonstrates competence 

2 in early childhood education; 

3 (ii)(I) has a bachelor’s degree in any 

4 field; 

5 (II) has demonstrated knowledge of 

6 early childhood education through passage 

7 of a State-approved assessment in early 

8 childhood education; 

9 (III) engages in ongoing professional 

10 development in early childhood education 

11 for not less than 2 years; and 

12 (IV) is enrolled in a State-approved 

13 educator preparation program in which the 

14 teacher receives ongoing training and sup15 port in early childhood education and is 

16 making progress toward the completion of 

17 the program in not more than 3 years; or 

18 (iii) has a bachelor’s degree in any 

19 field with a credential, license, or endorse20 ment that demonstrates competence in 

21 early childhood education. 

22 (C) Maintains a maximum class size of 20 

23 children. 

24 (D) Maintains a child to instructional staff 

25 ratio that does not exceed 10 to 1. 


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1 (E) Offers a full-day program. 

2 (F) Provides developmentally appropriate 

3 learning environments and evidence-based cur4 ricula that are aligned with the State’s early 

5 learning and development standards. 

6 (G) Offers instructional staff salaries com7 parable to kindergarten through grade 12 

8 teaching staff. 

9 (H) Provides for ongoing monitoring and 

10 program evaluation to ensure continuous im11 provement. 

12 (I) Offers accessible comprehensive services 

13 for children that— 

14 (i) include, at a minimum— 

15 (I) screenings for vision, dental, 

16 health (including mental health), and 

17 development and referrals, and assist18 ance obtaining services, when appro19 priate; 

20 (II) family engagement opportu21 nities (taking into account home lan22 guage), such as parent conferences 

23 (including parent input about their 

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1 ices, such as parent education and 

2 family literacy services; 

3 (III) nutrition services, including 

4 nutritious meals and snack options 

5 aligned with requirements set by the 

6 most recent Child and Adult Care 

7 Food Program guidelines promulgated 

8 by the Department of Agriculture as 

9 well as regular, age-appropriate, nu10 trition education for children and 

11 their families; 

12 (IV) programs coordinated with 

13 local educational agencies and entities 

14 providing programs authorized under 

15 section 619 and part C of the Individ16 uals with Disabilities Education Act 

17 (20 U.S.C. 1419 and 1431 et seq.); 

18 (V) physical activity programs 

19 aligned with evidence-based guide20 lines, such as those recommended by 

21 the Institute of Medicine, and that 

22 take into account and accommodate 

23 children with disabilities; and 

24 (VI) additional support services, 

25 as appropriate, based on the findings 


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1 of the needs analysis as described in 

2 section 120; and 

3 (ii) are provided on-site, to the max4 imum extent feasible. 

5 (J) Provides high-quality professional de6 velopment for staff, including regular in-class 

7 observation for teachers and teacher assistants 

8 by individuals trained in observation and which 

9 may include evidence-based coaching. 

10 (K) Meets the education performance 

11 standards in effect under section 641A(a)(1)(B) 

12 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 9836a(a)(1)(B)). 

14 (L) Maintains evidence-based health and 

15 safety standards. 

16 (10) HOMELESS CHILD.—The term ‘‘homeless 

17 child’’ means a child or youth described in section 

18 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)). 

20 (11) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

21 The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

22 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

24 (12) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

25 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 


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1 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec2 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (13) OUTLYING AREA.—The term ‘‘outlying 

4 area’’ means each of the United States Virgin Is5 lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth 

6 of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic 

7 of Palau. 

8 (14) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

9 means the official poverty line (as defined by the Of10 fice of Management and Budget)— 

11 (A) adjusted to reflect the percentage 

12 change in the Consumer Price Index for all con13 sumers, issued by the Bureau of Labor Statis14 tics, occurring in the 1-year period or other in15 terval immediately preceding the date such ad16 justment is made; and 

17 (B) adjusted for family size. 

18 (15) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

19 means the Secretary of Education. 

20 (16) STATE.—Except as otherwise provided in 

21 this subtitle, the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50 

22 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

23 of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying areas. 

24 (17) STATE ADVISORY COUNCIL ON EARLY

25 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE.—The term 


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1 ‘‘State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Edu2 cation and Care’’ means the State Advisory Council 

3 on Early Childhood Education and Care designated 

4 or established under section 642B(b) of the Head 

5 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(b)). 

6 SEC. 113. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

8 carry out this subtitle, the Secretary, in consultation with 

9 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall award 

10 grants to States to implement high-quality prekinder11 garten programs, consistent with the purposes of this sub12 title. For each fiscal year, the funds provided under the 

13 grant shall equal the allotment determined for the State 

14 under section 114. 

15 (b) PREKINDERGARTEN FOR 3-YEAR OLDS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State that certifies to 

17 the Secretary that it provides access to universally 

18 available, voluntary, high-quality prekindergarten 

19 programs for 4-year old children who reside within 

20 the State and are from families with incomes at or 

21 below 200 percent of the poverty line, may use the 

22 State’s allotment under section 114(b) to provide 

23 high-quality prekindergarten programs for 3-year old 

24 children who reside within the State and are from 


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1 families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the 

2 poverty line. 

3 (2) SUBGRANTS.—In each State that has a city, 

4 county, or local educational agency that provides 

5 universally available, voluntary, high-quality pre6 kindergarten programs for 4-year old children who 

7 reside within the State and are from families with 

8 incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty line, 

9 the State may use amounts from the State’s allot10 ment under section 114(b) to award subgrants to el11 igible local entities to enable such entities to provide 

12 high-quality prekindergarten programs for 3-year old 

13 children who are from families with incomes at or 

14 below 200 percent of the poverty line and who reside 

15 in such city, county, or local educational agency 

16 without diminishing access for 4-year old children in 

17 other parts of the State. 

18 SEC. 114. ALLOTMENTS AND RESERVATION OF FUNDS. 

19 (a) RESERVATION.—From the amount made avail20 able each fiscal year to carry out this subtitle, the Sec21 retary shall— 

22 (1) reserve not less than 1 percent and not 

23 more than 2 percent for payments to Indian tribes 

24 and tribal organizations (as such terms are defined 


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1 under the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

2 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n)); 

(2) reserve 1 3 ⁄2 of 1 percent for the outlying 

4 areas to be distributed among the outlying areas on 

5 the basis of their relative need, as determined by the 

6 Secretary in accordance with the purposes of this 

7 subtitle; 

(3) reserve not more than 1 8 ⁄2 of 1 percent for 

9 eligible local entities that serve children in families 

10 who are engaged in migrant or seasonal agricultural 

11 labor; and 

12 (4) reserve not more than 1 percent or 

13 $30,000,000, whichever amount is less, for national 

14 activities, including administration, technical assist15 ance, and evaluation. 

16 (b) ALLOTMENTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount made 

18 available each fiscal year to carry out this subtitle 

19 and not reserved under subsection (a), the Secretary 

20 shall make allotments to States in accordance with 

21 paragraph (2) that have submitted an approved ap22 plication. 

23 (2) ALLOTMENT AMOUNT.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara25 graph (B), the Secretary shall allot the amount 


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1 made available under paragraph (1) for a fiscal 

2 year among the States in proportion to the 

3 number of children who are age 4 who reside 

4 within the State and are from families with in5 comes at or below 200 percent of the poverty 

6 line for the most recent fiscal year for which 

7 satisfactory data are available, compared to the 

8 number of such children who reside in all such 

9 States for that fiscal year. 

10 (B) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT AMOUNT.—No 

11 State receiving an allotment under subparagraph (A) may receive less than 1 12 ⁄2 of 1 percent 

13 of the total amount allotted under such sub14 paragraph. 

15 (3) REALLOTMENT AND CARRY OVER.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—If 1 or more States 

17 does not receive an allotment under this sub18 section for any fiscal year, the Secretary may 

19 use the amount of the allotments for such State 

20 or States for either or both of the following, in 

21 such amounts as the Secretary determines ap22 propriate: 

23 (i) To increase the allotments of 

24 States with approved applications, con25 sistent with subparagraph (B). 


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1 (ii) To carry over the funds to the 

2 next fiscal year. 

3 (B) REALLOTMENT.—From the total 

4 amount available under subparagraph (A)(i), if 

5 any, the Secretary shall allot to each State with 

6 an approved application an amount that bears 

7 the same relationship to that total amount, as 

8 the amount the State received under paragraph 

9 (2) for that fiscal year bears to the amount that 

10 all States with approved applications received 

11 under paragraph (2) for that fiscal year. 

12 (4) STATE.—For purposes of this subsection, 

13 the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50 States, the 

14 District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of 

15 Puerto Rico. 

16 (c) FLEXIBILITY.—The Secretary may make minimal 

17 adjustments to allotments under this subsection, which 

18 shall neither lead to a significant increase or decrease in 

19 a State’s allotment determined under subsection (b), based 

20 on a set of factors, such as the level of program participa21 tion and the estimated cost of the activities specified in 

22 the State plan. 

23 (d) APPLICATIONS FOR RESERVED FUNDS.—A tribe, 

24 tribal organization, outlying area, or entity for which the 

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1 sires to receive such funds shall submit an application to 

2 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con3 taining or accompanied by such information as the Sec4 retary may reasonably require, including a description of 

5 how such tribe, organization, area, or entity will carry out 

6 the purposes of this subtitle. 

7 SEC. 115. STATE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA. 

8 A State is eligible to receive a grant under this sub9 title if the State demonstrates that the State— 

10 (1) has established, or will establish, early 

11 learning and development standards that describe 

12 what children from birth to kindergarten entry 

13 should know and be able to do, are universally de14 signed and developmentally, culturally, and linguis15 tically appropriate, are aligned with the State’s chal16 lenging academic content standards and challenging 

17 student academic achievement standards, as adopted 

18 under section 1111(b)(1) of the Elementary and 

19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

20 6311(b)(1)), and cover all of the essential domains 

21 of school readiness, which address— 

22 (A) physical well-being and motor develop23 ment; 

24 (B) social and emotional development; 


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1 (C) approaches to learning, including cre2 ative arts expression; 

3 (D) developmentally appropriate oral and 

4 written language and literacy development; and 

5 (E) cognition and general knowledge, in6 cluding early mathematics and early scientific 

7 development; 

8 (2) has the ability, or will develop the ability, 

9 to link prekindergarten data with its elementary 

10 school and secondary school data for the purpose of 

11 collecting longitudinal information, including 

12 through the use of a unique State-assigned student 

13 identifier number, for all children participating in 

14 the State’s high-quality prekindergarten program 

15 and any other federally funded early childhood pro16 gram; 

17 (3) offers kindergarten for children who are eli18 gible children for that service in the State; and 

19 (4) has established or designated, or will estab20 lish or designate, a State Advisory Council on Early 

21 Childhood Education and Care. 

22 SEC. 116. STATE APPLICATIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Governor, or chief executive 

24 officer, of a State that desires to receive a grant under 

25 this subtitle shall submit an application, in consultation 


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1 with Indian tribes and tribal organizations (as such terms 

2 are defined under the Child Care and Development Block 

3 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n)), if there are Indian 

4 tribes and tribal organizations in the State, to the Sec5 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

6 information as the Secretary may reasonably require. At 

7 a minimum, each such application shall include— 

8 (1) an assurance that the State— 

9 (A) will coordinate with and continue to 

10 participate in the programs authorized under 

11 section 619 and part C of the Individuals with 

12 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419 and 

13 1431 et seq.), the Child Care and Development 

14 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et 

15 seq.), and the maternal, infant, and early child16 hood home visiting programs funded under sec17 tion 511 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 711) for the duration of the grant; 

19 (B) will designate a State-level entity, se20 lected by the Governor or chief executive officer 

21 of the State, such as an agency or joint inter22 agency office, for the administration of the 

23 grant, which shall coordinate and consult with 

24 the State educational agency if the entity is not 

25 the State educational agency; and 


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1 (C) will establish, or certify the existence 

2 of, program standards for all State prekinder3 garten programs consistent with the definition 

4 of a high-quality prekindergarten program 

5 under section 112; and 

6 (2) a description of— 

7 (A) how the State will use funds received 

8 under this subtitle and the State’s matching 

9 funds to provide high-quality prekindergarten 

10 programs with open enrollment for all children 

11 in the State who— 

12 (i) are described in section 112(9)(A); 

13 and 

14 (ii) are from families with incomes at 

15 or below 200 percent of the poverty line; 

16 (B) how the State plans to develop or en17 hance a system for monitoring eligible local en18 tities that are receiving funds under this sub19 title for compliance with quality standards de20 veloped by the State and to provide program 

21 improvement support, which may be accom22 plished through the use of a State-developed 

23 system for quality rating and improvement; 

24 (C) the State’s plan, if applicable, to ex25 pand participation in the State’s high-quality 


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1 prekindergarten programs to children from 

2 families with incomes above 200 percent of the 

3 poverty line; 

4 (D) the State’s comprehensive early learn5 ing assessment system, or how the State plans 

6 to develop such a system, ensuring that any as7 sessments are age-appropriate, as well as cul8 turally and developmentally appropriate and, 

9 consistent with the recommendations from the 

10 study on Developmental Outcomes and Assess11 ments for Young Children by the National 

12 Academy of Sciences, consistent with section 

13 649(j) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 9844(j)); 

15 (E) the State’s plan to develop, implement, 

16 and make publicly available the measures and 

17 targets described in section 118; 

18 (F) the State’s plan to increase the num19 ber of teachers with bachelor’s degrees in early 

20 childhood education, or with bachelor’s degrees 

21 in another closely related field and specialized 

22 training and demonstrated competency in early 

23 childhood education, including how higher edu24 cation will support increasing the number of 

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1 ing through the use of assessments of prior 

2 learning, knowledge, and skills to facilitate and 

3 expedite attainment of such degrees; 

4 (G) how activities funded under this sub5 title will be coordinated and integrated with 

6 Federal, State, and local services and programs 

7 that support early childhood education and 

8 care, including programs supported under this 

9 subtitle, the Elementary and Secondary Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), 

11 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

12 (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), the Head Start Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), the Community Serv14 ices Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.), 

15 the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

16 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), the tem17 porary assistance for needy families program 

18 under part A of title IV of the Social Security 

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the State incentive 

20 grant program under section 14006 of the 

21 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

22 2009 (Public Law 111–5), Federally funded 

23 early literacy programs, the maternal, infant, 

24 and early childhood home visiting programs 

25 funded under section 511 of the Social Security 


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1 Act (42 U.S.C. 711), health improvements to 

2 child care funded under title XIX of the Social 

3 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the pro4 gram under subtitle B of title VII of the 

5 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

6 U.S.S. 11431 et seq.), the Investing In Innova7 tion program under section 14007 of the Amer8 ican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

9 (Public Law 111–5), programs authorized 

10 under part E of title IV of the Social Security 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.), programs amended 

12 by the Fostering Connections to Success and 

13 Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 

14 110–351), and any other Federal, State, or 

15 local early childhood education programs used 

16 in the State; 

17 (H) how the State will award subgrants to 

18 eligible local entities, and in awarding such sub19 grants, will facilitate a delivery system of high20 quality prekindergarten programs that includes 

21 diverse providers, such as providers in commu22 nity-based, public school, and private settings, 

23 and will expand options for families; 

24 (I) if the State does not have a funding 

25 mechanism for subgranting funds to implement 


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1 high-quality prekindergarten programs, how the 

2 State will use objective criteria in awarding sub3 grants to eligible local entities that will imple4 ment high-quality prekindergarten programs, 

5 including actions the State will take to ensure 

6 that eligible local entities will coordinate with 

7 local educational agencies or other early learn8 ing providers, as appropriate, to carry out ac9 tivities to provide children served under this 

10 subtitle with a successful transition from pre11 school into kindergarten, which activities shall 

12 include— 

13 (i) aligning curricular objectives and 

14 instruction; 

15 (ii) providing staff professional devel16 opment, including opportunities for joint17 professional development on early learning 

18 and kindergarten through grade 3 stand19 ards, assessments, and curricula; 

20 (iii) coordinating family engagement 

21 and support services; and 

22 (iv) encouraging the shared use of fa23 cilities and transportation, as appropriate; 

24 (J) how the State early learning and devel25 opment standards described under section 


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1 115(1) will address the needs of dual language 

2 learners, including by incorporating benchmarks 

3 related to English language development; 

4 (K) the process by which the State will 

5 identify barriers in the State, and propose solu6 tions to overcome such barriers (which may in7 clude seeking assistance under section 125), to 

8 effectively use and integrate Federal, State, and 

9 local public funds and private funds for early 

10 childhood education that are available to the 

11 State on the date on which the application is 

12 submitted; 

13 (L) the State’s plan to support articulation 

14 agreements among public 2-year and public 4- 

15 year institutions of higher education and other 

16 credit-bearing professional development entities 

17 in the State for early childhood teacher prepa18 ration programs and closely related fields; 

19 (M) an inventory of the State’s higher edu20 cation programs that prepare individuals for 

21 work in a high-quality prekindergarten pro22 gram, including— 

23 (i) certification programs; 

24 (ii) associate degree programs; 

25 (iii) baccalaureate degree programs; 


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1 (iv) master’s degree programs; and 

2 (v) other programs that lead to a spe3 cialization in early childhood education, or 

4 a closely related field; 

5 (N) the State’s plan for ensuring that the 

6 higher education programs in the State have 

7 the capacity to prepare a workforce to provide 

8 high-quality prekindergarten programs; 

9 (O) the State’s plan for supporting work10 force development, including State and local 

11 policies that support prekindergarten instruc12 tional staff’s ability to earn a degree, certifi13 cation, or other specializations or qualifications, 

14 including policies on leave, substitutes, and 

15 child care services, including nontraditional 

16 hour child care; 

17 (P) the State’s plan for holding eligible 

18 local entities accountable for use of funds; 

19 (Q) the State’s process to ensure that the 

20 State’s early learning and development stand21 ards are integrated into the instructional and 

22 programmatic practices of high-quality pre23 kindergarten programs and related programs 

24 and services, such as those provided to children 

25 under section 619 and part C of the Individuals 


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1 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

2 1419 and 1431 et seq.); 

3 (R) if the State funds full-day kinder4 garten programs, but such full-day kinder5 garten programs are not available to all chil6 dren who are eligible to attend such programs 

7 in the State, how the State plans to increase 

8 the number of children in the State who are en9 rolled in full-day kindergarten programs and to 

10 provide a strategy to implement such a plan; 

11 (S) if the State does not fund full-day kin12 dergarten programs, a description of how the 

13 State plans to establish such programs to 

14 strengthen the educational continuum for chil15 dren who will be involved in the State’s high16 quality prekindergarten program supported 

17 through grants authorized under this subtitle; 

18 (T) how the State will encourage eligible 

19 local entities to coordinate with community20 based learning resources, if available, such as li21 braries, arts and arts education programs, ap22 propriate media programs, family literacy pro23 grams, public parks and recreation programs, 

24 museums, nutrition education programs, and 


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1 programs supported by the Corporation for Na2 tional and Community Service; 

3 (U) how the State will work with eligible 

4 local entities, in consultation with elementary 

5 school principals, to ensure that high-quality 

6 prekindergarten programs have sufficient and 

7 appropriate facilities to meet the needs of chil8 dren eligible for prekindergarten; 

9 (V) how the State will support local early 

10 childhood coordinating entities, such as local 

11 early childhood councils and entities admin12 istering shared services networks or models, if 

13 applicable, and help such entities to coordinate 

14 early childhood education programs with high15 quality prekindergarten programs to ensure ef16 fective and efficient delivery of early childhood 

17 education program services; 

18 (W) how the State will ensure that the 

19 provision of high-quality prekindergarten pro20 grams will not lead to a diminution in the qual21 ity or supply of services for infants and toddlers 

22 or disrupt the care of infants and toddlers in 

23 the geographic area served by the eligible local 

24 entity, which may include demonstrating that 

25 the State will direct funds to provide high-qualVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:53 Jun 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.PCS S2452

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1 ity early childhood education and care to in2 fants and toddlers in accordance with section 

3 117(d); 

4 (X) how the State will ensure that all high5 quality prekindergarten programs the State 

6 supports under this Act will conduct criminal 

7 history background checks on employees and 

8 applicants for employment with direct access to 

9 children; and 

10 (Y) how the State will provide technical as11 sistance in rural communities to address unique 

12 barriers to the implementation of high-quality 

13 prekindergarten programs in rural areas. 

14 (b) CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The criminal history back16 ground checks required under subsection (a)(2)(Y) 

17 shall include— 

18 (A) a search of the State criminal registry 

19 or repository in the State in which the employee 

20 resides and previously resided; 

21 (B) a search of the State-based child abuse 

22 and neglect registries and databases in the 

23 State in which the employee resides and pre24 viously resided; 


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1 (C) a Federal Bureau of Investigation fin2 gerprint check using the Integrated Automated 

3 Fingerprint Identification System; and 

4 (D) a search of the National Sex Offender 

5 Registry established under section 119 of the 

6 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 

7 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16919). 

8 (2) PROHIBITION OF EMPLOYMENT.—To be eli9 gible to receive a grant under this subtitle, a State 

10 shall prohibit an individual with direct access to chil11 dren from employment with a program supported 

12 with grant funds under this subtitle if the individual 

13 has been convicted of a violent felony or any violent 

14 or sexual crime against a minor, as defined by the 

15 State. 

16 (3) UPDATED CHECKS.—The criminal history 

17 background check that employees undergo as re18 quired under subsection (a)(2)(Y) shall be periodi19 cally repeated or updated in accordance with State 

20 law. 

21 (4) APPEAL PROCESS.—To be eligible to receive 

22 a grant under this subtitle, a State shall provide an 

23 individual with a timely process by which to— 

24 (A) appeal the results of a criminal history 

25 background check conducted under this section 


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1 to challenge the accuracy or completeness of the 

2 information produced by such background 

3 check; and 

4 (B) seek appropriate relief for any final 

5 employment decision based on materially inac6 curate or incomplete information produced by 

7 such background check. 

8 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION.—In developing 

9 an application for a grant under this subtitle, a State shall 

10 consult with the State Advisory Council on Early Child11 hood Education and Care and incorporate such Council’s 

12 recommendations, where applicable. 

13 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

14 construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights, remedies, 

15 and procedures afforded school employees, school district 

16 employees, and the employees of early childhood education 

17 programs under Federal, State, or local laws (including 

18 applicable regulations or court orders) or under the terms 

19 of collective bargaining agreements, memoranda of under20 standing, or other agreements between such employees 

21 and their employers. 

22 SEC. 117. STATE USE OF FUNDS. 

23 (a) RESERVATION FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AC24 TIVITIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 

2 grant under this subtitle may reserve, for not more 

3 than the first 4 years such State receives such a 

4 grant, not more than 20 percent of the grant funds 

5 for quality improvement activities that support the 

6 elements of high-quality prekindergarten programs 

7 or the activities described in section 116(a)(2). Such 

8 quality improvement activities may include— 

9 (A) supporting teachers, principals, and 

10 center directors, in a State’s high-quality pre11 kindergarten program, licensed or regulated 

12 child care, or Head Start programs to enable 

13 such teachers or directors to earn a bacca14 laureate degree in early childhood education, or 

15 a closely related field, through activities which 

16 may include expanding or establishing scholar17 ships, counseling, and compensation initiatives 

18 to cover the cost of tuition, fees, materials, 

19 transportation, and release time for such teach20 ers; 

21 (B) providing ongoing professional develop22 ment opportunities, including regular in-class 

23 observation by individuals trained in observa24 tion and evidence-based coaching or mentoring, 

25 for such teachers, directors, and principals, if 


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1 applicable, and teacher assistants to enable 

2 such teachers, directors, and principals, if appli3 cable, and teacher assistants to carry out the 

4 elements of high-quality prekindergarten pro5 grams, which may include activities that ad6 dress— 

7 (i) promoting children’s development 

8 across all of the essential domains of early 

9 learning and development; 

10 (ii) developmentally appropriate cur11 ricula and teacher-child interaction; 

12 (iii) effective family engagement; 

13 (iv) providing culturally competent in14 struction; 

15 (v) working with a diversity of chil16 dren and families, including children with 

17 special needs and dual language learners; 

18 (vi) childhood nutrition and physical 

19 education programs; 

20 (vii) social and emotional develop21 ment; and 

22 (viii) incorporating age-appropriate 

23 strategies of positive behavioral interven24 tions and supports; and 


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1 (C) providing families with increased op2 portunities to learn how best to support their 

3 children’s physical, cognitive, social, and emo4 tional development during the first 5 years of 

5 life. 

6 (2) NOT SUBJECT TO MATCHING.—The amount 

7 reserved under paragraph (1) shall not be subject to 

8 the matching requirements under section 119. 

9 (3) COORDINATION.—A State that reserves an 

10 amount under paragraph (1) shall coordinate the 

11 use of such amount with activities funded under sec12 tion 658G of the Child Care and Development Block 

13 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) and the Head 

14 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). 

15 (4) CONSTRUCTION.—A State may not use 

16 funds reserved under this subsection to meet the re17 quirement described in section 112(9)(G). 

18 (b) SUBGRANTS FOR HIGH-QUALITY PREKINDER19 GARTEN PROGRAMS.—A State that receives a grant under 

20 this subtitle shall award subgrants of sufficient size to eli21 gible local entities to enable such eligible local entities to 

22 implement high-quality prekindergarten programs for chil23 dren described in section 112(9)(A) who reside within the 

24 State and are from families with incomes at or below 200 

25 percent of the poverty line. 


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1 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—A State that receives a grant 

2 under this subtitle may reserve not more than 1 percent 

3 of the grant funds for administration of the grant, and 

4 may use part of that reservation for the maintenance of 

5 the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education 

6 and Care. 

7 (d) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE PRO8 GRAMS FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS.— 

9 (1) USE OF ALLOTMENT FOR INFANTS AND

10 TODDLERS.—An eligible State may apply to use, and 

11 the appropriate Secretary may grant permission for 

12 the State to use, not more than 15 percent of the 

13 funds made available through a grant received under 

14 this subtitle to award subgrants to early childhood 

15 education programs to provide high-quality early 

16 childhood education and care, consistent with the 

17 State’s early learning and development guidelines for 

18 infants and toddlers, to infants and toddlers who re19 side within the State and are from families with in20 comes at or below 200 percent of the poverty line. 

21 (2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to use the 

22 grant funds as described in paragraph (1), the State 

23 shall submit an application to the appropriate Sec24 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

25 such information as the Secretary may require. Such 


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1 application shall, at a minimum, include a descrip2 tion of how the State will— 

3 (A) designate a lead agency which shall ad4 minister such funds; 

5 (B) ensure that such lead agency, in co6 ordination with the State Advisory Council on 

7 Early Childhood Education and Care, will col8 laborate with other agencies in administering 

9 programs supported under this subsection for 

10 infants and toddlers in order to obtain input 

11 about the appropriate use of such funds and en12 sure coordination with programs for infants and 

13 toddlers funded under the Child Care and De14 velopment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

15 9858 et seq.), the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 9831 et seq.) (including any early learning 

17 quality partnerships established under section 

18 645B of the Head Start Act), the Race to the 

19 Top and Early Learning Challenge program 

20 under section 14006 of the American Recovery 

21 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 

22 111–5), the maternal, infant, and early child23 hood home visiting programs funded under sec24 tion 511 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

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1 abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et 

2 seq.); 

3 (C) ensure that infants and toddlers who 

4 benefit from amounts made available under this 

5 subsection will transition to and have the oppor6 tunity to participate in a high-quality pre7 kindergarten program supported under this 

8 subtitle; 

9 (D) in awarding subgrants, give preference 

10 to early childhood education programs that 

11 have a plan to increase services to children with 

12 special needs, including children with develop13 mental delays or disabilities, children who are 

14 dual language learners, homeless children, chil15 dren who are in foster care, children of migrant 

16 families, children eligible for nutrition assist17 ance under the United States Department of 

18 Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, or 

19 children in the child welfare system; and 

20 (E) give priority to activities carried out 

21 under this subsection that will increase access 

22 to high-quality early childhood education pro23 grams for infants and toddlers in local areas 

24 with significant concentrations of low-income 


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1 families that do not currently benefit from such 

2 programs. 

3 (3) ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS.—A State may use 

4 the grant funds as described in paragraph (1) to 

5 serve infants and toddlers only by working with 

6 early childhood education program providers that— 

7 (A) offer full-day, full-year care, or other8 wise meet the needs of working families; and 

9 (B) meet high-quality standards, such as— 

10 (i) Early Head Start program per11 formance standards under the Head Start 

12 Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.); or 

13 (ii) high-quality, demonstrated, valid, 

14 and reliable program standards that have 

15 been established through a national entity 

16 that accredits early childhood education 

17 programs. 

18 (4) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Edu20 cation shall bear responsibility for obligating 

21 and disbursing funds to support activities under 

22 this subsection and ensuring compliance with 

23 applicable laws and administrative require24 ments, subject to subparagraph (B). 


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1 (B) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.—The Sec2 retary of Education and the Secretary of 

3 Health and Human Services shall jointly ad4 minister activities supported under this sub5 section on such terms as such Secretaries shall 

6 set forth in an interagency agreement. The Sec7 retary of Health and Human Services shall be 

8 responsible for any final approval of a State’s 

9 application under this subsection that addresses 

10 the use of funds designated for services to in11 fants and toddlers. 

12 (C) APPROPRIATE SECRETARY.—In this 

13 subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate Secretary’’, 

14 when used with respect to a function, means 

15 the Secretary designated for that function 

16 under the interagency agreement. 

17 SEC. 118. PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND TARGETS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a grant 

19 under this subtitle shall develop, implement, and make 

20 publicly available performance measures and targets for 

21 the activities carried out with grant funds. Such measures 

22 shall, at a minimum, track the State’s progress in— 

23 (1) increasing school readiness across all do24 mains for all categories of children described in secVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:53 Jun 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.PCS S2452

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1 tion 122(b)(7), including children with disabilities 

2 and dual language learners; 

3 (2) narrowing school readiness gaps between 

4 minority and nonminority children, and low-income 

5 children and more advantaged children, in prepara6 tion for kindergarten entry; 

7 (3) increasing developmental screening and ap8 propriate referral under section 619 and part C of 

9 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

10 U.S.C. 1419 and 1431 et seq.) to identify children 

11 early who are eligible for services under such Act; 

12 (4) increasing the number of programs meeting 

13 the criteria for high-quality prekindergarten pro14 grams across all types of eligible local entities, as de15 fined by the State and in accordance with section 

16 112; 

17 (5) decreasing the need for grade-to-grade re18 tention in elementary school; 

19 (6) if applicable, ensuring that high-quality pre20 kindergarten programs do not experience instances 

21 of chronic absence among the children who partici22 pate in such programs; 

23 (7) increasing the number and percentage of 

24 low-income children in high-quality early childhood 


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1 education programs that receive financial support 

2 through funds provided under this subtitle; and 

3 (8) providing high-quality nutrition services, 

4 nutrition education, physical activity, and obesity 

5 prevention programs. 

6 (b) PROHIBITION OF MISDIAGNOSIS PRACTICES.—A 

7 State shall not, in order to meet the performance meas8 ures and targets described in subsection (a), engage in 

9 practices or policies that will lead to the misdiagnosis or 

10 under-diagnosis of disabilities or developmental delays 

11 among children who are served through programs sup12 ported under this subtitle. 

13 SEC. 119. MATCHING REQUIREMENTS. 

14 (a) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), a State that receives a grant under this 

17 subtitle shall provide matching funds from non-Fed18 eral sources, as described in subsection (c), in an 

19 amount equal to— 

20 (A) 10 percent of the Federal funds pro21 vided under the grant in the first year of grant 

22 administration; 

23 (B) 10 percent of the Federal funds pro24 vided under the grant in the second year of 

25 grant administration; 


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1 (C) 20 percent of the Federal funds pro2 vided under the grant in the third year of grant 

3 administration; 

4 (D) 30 percent of the Federal funds pro5 vided under the grant in the fourth year of 

6 grant administration; 

7 (E) 40 percent of the Federal funds pro8 vided under the grant in the fifth year of grant 

9 administration; 

10 (F) 50 percent of the Federal funds pro11 vided under the grant in the sixth year of grant 

12 administration; 

13 (G) 75 percent of the Federal funds pro14 vided under the grant in the seventh year of 

15 grant administration; and 

16 (H) 100 percent of the Federal funds pro17 vided under the grant in the eighth and all fol18 lowing years of grant administration. 

19 (2) REDUCED MATCH RATE.—A State that 

20 meets the requirements under subsection (b) may 

21 provide matching funds from non-Federal sources at 

22 a reduced rate. The full reduced matching funds 

23 rate shall be in an amount equal to— 


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1 (A) 5 percent of the Federal funds pro2 vided under the grant in the first year of grant 

3 administration; 

4 (B) 5 percent of the Federal funds pro5 vided under the grant in the second year of 

6 grant administration; 

7 (C) 10 percent of the Federal funds pro8 vided under the grant in the third year of grant 

9 administration; 

10 (D) 20 percent of the Federal funds pro11 vided under the grant in the fourth year of 

12 grant administration; 

13 (E) 30 percent of the Federal funds pro14 vided under the grant in the fifth year of grant 

15 administration; 

16 (F) 40 percent of the Federal funds pro17 vided under the grant in the sixth year of grant 

18 administration; 

19 (G) 50 percent of the Federal funds pro20 vided under the grant in the seventh year of 

21 grant administration; 

22 (H) 75 percent of the Federal funds pro23 vided under the grant in the eighth year of 

24 grant administration; and 


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1 (I) 100 percent of the Federal funds pro2 vided under the grant in the ninth and fol3 lowing years of the grant administration. 

4 (b) REDUCED MATCH RATE ELIGIBILITY.—A State 

5 that receives a grant under this subtitle may provide 

6 matching funds from non-Federal sources at the full re7 duced rate under subsection (a)(2) if the State, across all 

8 publicly funded programs (including locally funded pro9 grams)— 

10 (1)(A) offers enrollment in high-quality pre11 kindergarten programs to not less than half of chil12 dren in the State who are— 

13 (i) age 4 on the eligibility determination 

14 date; and 

15 (ii) from families with incomes at or below 

16 200 percent of the poverty line; and 

17 (B) has a plan for continuing to expand access 

18 to high-quality prekindergarten programs for such 

19 children in the State; and 

20 (2) has a plan to expand access to high-quality 

21 prekindergarten programs to children from moderate 

22 income families with incomes above 200 percent of 

23 the poverty line. 

24 (c) NON-FEDERAL RESOURCES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State shall provide the 

2 matching funds under this section from non-Federal 

3 resources, which may include State funding, local 

4 funding, or contributions from philanthropy or other 

5 private sources, or a combination of such sources. 

6 (2) FUNDS TO BE CONSIDERED AS MATCHING

7 FUNDS.—A State may include, as part of the State’s 

8 matching funds under this section, not more than 10 

9 percent of the amount of State or local funds des10 ignated for State or local public prekindergarten 

11 programs or to supplement Head Start programs 

12 under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) 

13 as of the date of enactment of this Act, but may not 

14 include any funds that are attributed as matching 

15 funds, as part of a non-Federal share, or as a main16 tenance of effort requirement, for any other Federal 

17 program. 

18 (d) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a State reduces its com20 bined fiscal effort per student or the aggregate ex21 penditures within the State to support early child22 hood education programs for any fiscal year that a 

23 State receives a grant authorized under this subtitle 

24 relative to the previous fiscal year, the Secretary 

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1 title by the same amount as the decline in State and 

2 local effort for such fiscal year. 

3 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the re4 quirements of paragraph (1) if the Secretary deter5 mines that a waiver would be appropriate— 

6 (A) due to a precipitous decline in the fi7 nancial resources of a State as a result of un8 foreseen economic hardship or a natural dis9 aster that has necessitated across-the-board re10 ductions in State services, including early child11 hood education programs; or 

12 (B) due to the circumstances of a State re13 quiring reductions in specific programs, includ14 ing early childhood education, if the State pre15 sents to the Secretary a justification and dem16 onstration why other programs could not be re17 duced and how early childhood programs in the 

18 State will not be disproportionately harmed by 

19 such State action. 

20 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds re21 ceived under this title shall be used to supplement and 

22 not supplant other Federal, State, and local public funds 

23 expended on public prekindergarten programs in the 

24 State. 


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1 SEC. 120. ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITY APPLICATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local entity desiring to 

3 receive a subgrant under section 117(b) shall submit an 

4 application to the State, at such time, in such manner, 

5 and containing such information as the State may reason6 ably require. 

7 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted under 

8 subsection (a) shall include the following: 

9 (1) PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT.—A de10 scription of how the eligible local entity plans to en11 gage the parents and families of the children such 

12 entity serves and ensure that parents and families of 

13 eligible children, as described in clauses (i) and (ii) 

14 of section 116(a)(2)(A), are aware of the services 

15 provided by the eligible local entity, which shall in16 clude a plan to— 

17 (A) carry out meaningful parent and fam18 ily engagement, through the implementation 

19 and replication of evidence-based or promising 

20 practices and strategies, which shall be coordi21 nated with parent and family engagement strat22 egies supported under the Individuals with Dis23 abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) 

24 and part A of title I and title V of the Elemen25 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 


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1 U.S.C. 6311 et seq. and 7201 et seq.), if appli2 cable, in order to— 

3 (i) provide parents and family mem4 bers with the skills and opportunities nec5 essary to become engaged and effective 

6 partners in their child’s education, particu7 larly the families of dual language learners 

8 and children with disabilities, which may 

9 include access to family literacy services; 

10 (ii) improve child development; and 

11 (iii) strengthen relationships among 

12 prekindergarten staff and parents and 

13 family members; and 

14 (B) participate in community outreach to 

15 encourage families with eligible children to par16 ticipate in the eligible local entity’s high-quality 

17 prekindergarten program, including— 

18 (i) homeless children; 

19 (ii) dual language learners; 

20 (iii) children in foster care; 

21 (iv) children with disabilities; and 

22 (v) migrant children. 

23 (2) COORDINATION & ALIGNMENT.—A descrip24 tion of how the eligible local entity will— 


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1 (A) coordinate, if applicable, the eligible 

2 local entity’s activities with— 

3 (i) Head Start agencies (consistent 

4 with section 642(e)(5) of the Head Start 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 9837(e)(5)), if the local en6 tity is not a Head Start agency; 

7 (ii) local educational agencies, if the 

8 local entity is not a local educational agen9 cy; 

10 (iii) providers of services under part C 

11 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu12 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.); 

13 (iv) programs carried out under sec14 tion 619 of the Individuals with Disabil15 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419); and 

16 (v) if feasible, other entities carrying 

17 out early childhood education programs 

18 and services within the area served by the 

19 local educational agency; 

20 (B) develop a process with local elementary 

21 schools to promote continuity of develop22 mentally appropriate instructional programs 

23 and shared expectations for children’s learning 

24 and development as children transition to kin25 dergarten; 


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1 (C) organize, if feasible, and participate in 

2 joint training, when available, including transi3 tion-related training for school staff and early 

4 childhood education program staff; 

5 (D) establish comprehensive transition 

6 policies and procedures with elementary school 

7 principals, as applicable, for children served by 

8 the eligible local entity that support the school 

9 readiness of children transitioning to kinder10 garten, including the transfer of early childhood 

11 education program records with parental con12 sent; 

13 (E) conduct outreach to parents, families, 

14 and elementary school teachers and principals 

15 to discuss the educational, developmental, and 

16 other needs of children entering kindergarten; 

17 (F) help parents, including parents of chil18 dren who are dual language learners, under19 stand and engage with the instructional and 

20 other services provided by the kindergarten in 

21 which such child will enroll after participation 

22 in a high-quality prekindergarten program; and 

23 (G) develop and implement a system to in24 crease program participation of underserved 

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1 less children, children eligible for a free or re2 duced price lunch under the Richard B. Russell 

3 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 

4 seq.), parents of children who are dual language 

5 learners, and parents of children with disabil6 ities. 

7 (3) PROTECTIONS FOR SPECIAL POPU8 LATIONS.—A description of how the eligible local en9 tity will meet the diverse needs of children in the 

10 community to be served, including children with dis11 abilities, children whose native language is not 

12 English, children with other special needs, children 

13 in the State foster care system, and homeless chil14 dren. Such description shall demonstrate, at a min15 imum, how the entity plans to— 

16 (A) ensure the eligible local entity’s high17 quality prekindergarten program is accessible 

18 and appropriate for children with disabilities 

19 and dual language learners; 

20 (B) establish effective procedures for pro21 viding early developmental screening and appro22 priate referral to local agencies responsible for 

23 providing services under section 619 or part C 

24 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

25 Act (20 U.S.C. 1419 and 1431 et seq.); 


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1 (C) establish effective procedures for time2 ly referral of children with disabilities to the 

3 State or local agency described in subparagraph 

4 (B); 

5 (D) ensure that the eligible local entity’s 

6 high-quality prekindergarten program works 

7 with appropriate entities to address the elimi8 nation of barriers to immediate and continuous 

9 enrollment for homeless children; and 

10 (E) ensure access to and continuity of en11 rollment in high-quality prekindergarten pro12 grams for migratory children, as defined under 

13 section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6399), if ap15 plicable, and homeless children, including 

16 through policies and procedures that require— 

17 (i) outreach to identify migratory and 

18 homeless children; 

19 (ii) immediate enrollment, including 

20 enrollment during the period of time when 

21 documents typically required for enroll22 ment, including health and immunization 

23 records, proof of eligibility, and other docu24 ments, are obtained; 


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1 (iii) continuous enrollment and par2 ticipation in the same high-quality pre3 kindergarten program for a child, even if 

4 the child moves out of the program’s serv5 ice area, if that enrollment and participa6 tion are in the child’s best interest, includ7 ing by providing transportation when nec8 essary; 

9 (iv) professional development for high10 quality prekindergarten program staff re11 garding migratory children and homeless12 ness among families with young children; 

13 and 

14 (v) in serving homeless children, col15 laboration with local educational agency li16 aisons designated under section 

17 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento 

18 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)), and local homeless 

20 service providers. 

21 (4) COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES.—A description 

22 of how the eligible local entity plans to provide com23 prehensive services, as described in section 

24 112(9)(I), to the children the eligible local entity 


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1 serves. Such description shall provide information on 

2 how the entity will— 

3 (A) use a recently conducted data-driven 

4 assessment or conduct a data-driven community 

5 assessment in coordination with members of the 

6 community, including parents and community 

7 organizations, which— 

8 (i) may involve an external partner 

9 with expertise in conducting such needs 

10 analysis, to determine the most appro11 priate social or other support services to 

12 offer through the eligible local entity’s on13 site comprehensive services to children who 

14 participate in high-quality prekindergarten 

15 programs; and 

16 (ii) shall consider the resources avail17 able at the school, local educational agen18 cy, and community levels to address the 

19 needs of the community and improve child 

20 outcomes; and 

21 (B) have a coordinated system to facilitate 

22 the screening, referral, and provision of services 

23 related to health, nutrition, mental health, dis24 ability, and family support for children served 

25 by the eligible local entity. 


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1 (5) WORKFORCE.—A description of how the eli2 gible local entity plans to support the instructional 

3 staff of such entity’s high-quality prekindergarten 

4 program, which shall, at a minimum, include a plan 

5 to provide high-quality professional development, or 

6 facilitate the provision of high-quality professional 

7 development through an outside partner with exper8 tise and a demonstrated track record of success, 

9 based on scientifically valid research, that will im10 prove the knowledge and skills of high-quality pre11 kindergarten teachers and staff through activities, 

12 which may include— 

13 (A) acquiring content knowledge and learn14 ing teaching strategies needed to provide effec15 tive instruction that addresses the State’s early 

16 learning and development standards described 

17 under section 115(1), including professional 

18 training to support the social and emotional de19 velopment of children; 

20 (B) enabling high-quality prekindergarten 

21 teachers and staff to pursue specialized training 

22 in early childhood development; 

23 (C) enabling high-quality prekindergarten 

24 teachers and staff to acquire the knowledge and 

25 skills to provide instruction and appropriate 


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1 language and support services to increase the 

2 English language skills of dual language learn3 ers; 

4 (D) enabling high-quality prekindergarten 

5 teachers and staff to acquire the knowledge and 

6 skills to provide developmentally appropriate in7 struction for children with disabilities; 

8 (E) promoting classroom management; 

9 (F) providing high-quality induction and 

10 support for incoming teachers and staff serving 

11 high-quality prekindergarten programs, includ12 ing through the use of mentoring programs and 

13 coaching that have a demonstrated track record 

14 of success; 

15 (G) promoting the acquisition of relevant 

16 credentials, including in ways that support ca17 reer advancement through career ladders; and 

18 (H) enabling high-quality prekindergarten 

19 teachers and staff to acquire the knowledge and 

20 skills to provide culturally competent instruc21 tion for children from diverse backgrounds. 

22 SEC. 121. REQUIRED SUBGRANT ACTIVITIES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local entity that 

25 receives a subgrant under section 117(b) shall use 


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1 the subgrant funds to implement the elements of a 

2 high-quality prekindergarten program for the chil3 dren described in section 117(b). 

4 (2) TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS.— 

5 (A) NEW PREKINDERGARTEN TEACH6 ERS.—Each eligible local entity that receives a 

7 subgrant under section 117(b) shall ensure that 

8 all prekindergarten teachers hired after the 

9 date of receipt of such subgrant and working in 

10 a program supported with funds under such 

11 subgrant meet the requirements in section 

12 112(9)(B). 

13 (B) EXISTING PREKINDERGARTEN TEACH14 ERS.—Each eligible local entity that receives a 

15 subgrant under section 117(b) shall ensure that 

16 all prekindergarten teachers hired before the 

17 date of receipt of such subgrant and working in 

18 a program supported with funds under such 

19 subgrant meet the requirements in section 

20 112(9)(B) not later than 3 years after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act. 

22 (b) COORDINATION.— 

23 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PARTNER24 SHIPS WITH LOCAL EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

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1 ceives a subgrant under this subtitle shall provide an 

2 assurance that the local educational agency will 

3 enter into strong partnerships with local early child4 hood education programs, including programs sup5 ported through the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 

6 et seq.). 

7 (2) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITIES THAT ARE NOT

8 LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—An eligible local 

9 entity that is not a local educational agency that re10 ceives a subgrant under this subtitle shall provide an 

11 assurance that such entity will enter into strong 

12 partnerships with local educational agencies. 

13 SEC. 122. REPORT AND EVALUATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State that receives a grant 

15 under this subtitle shall prepare an annual report, in such 

16 manner and containing such information as the Secretary 

17 may reasonably require. 

18 (b) CONTENTS.—A report prepared under subsection 

19 (a) shall contain, at a minimum— 

20 (1) a description of the manner in which the 

21 State has used the funds made available through the 

22 grant and a report of the expenditures made with 

23 the funds; 

24 (2) a summary of the State’s progress toward 

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1 grams for children eligible for such services, as de2 termined by the State, from families with incomes at 

3 or below 200 percent of the poverty line, including 

4 the percentage of funds spent on children from fami5 lies with incomes— 

6 (A) at or below 100 percent of the poverty 

7 line; 

8 (B) above 100 percent and at or below 150 

9 percent of the poverty line; and 

10 (C) above 150 percent and at or below 200 

11 percent of the poverty line; 

12 (3) an evaluation of the State’s progress toward 

13 achieving the State’s performance targets, described 

14 in section 118; 

15 (4) data on the number of high-quality pre16 kindergarten program teachers and staff in the 

17 State who received training or education during the 

18 period of the grant and remained in the early child19 hood education program field, including teacher 

20 turnover rates and teacher compensation levels com21 pared to teachers in elementary schools and sec22 ondary schools, according to the setting in which 

23 such teachers and staff work (which settings shall 

24 include, at a minimum, Head Start programs, public 

25 prekindergarten, and child care programs); 


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1 (5) data on the kindergarten readiness of chil2 dren in the State; 

3 (6) a description of the State’s progress in ef4 fectively using Federal, State, and local public funds 

5 and private funds for early childhood education; 

6 (7) the number and percentage of children in 

7 the State participating in high-quality prekinder8 garten programs, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, 

9 family income, child age, disability, whether the chil10 dren are homeless children, and whether the children 

11 are dual language learners; 

12 (8) data on the availability, affordability, and 

13 quality of infant and toddler care in the State; 

14 (9) the local educational agency and zip code in 

15 which each eligible local entity that receives a 

16 subgrant operates; 

17 (10) information, for each of the local edu18 cational agencies described in paragraph (9), on the 

19 percentage of the costs of the public early childhood 

20 education programs that is funded from Federal, 

21 from State, and from local sources, including the 

22 percentages from specific funding programs; 

23 (11) data on the number and percentage of 

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1 come, child age, disability, whether the children are 

2 homeless children, and whether the children are dual 

3 language learners, with information on whether such 

4 programs are offered— 

5 (A) for a full day; and 

6 (B) at no cost to families; 

7 (12) data on the number of individuals in the 

8 State who are supported with scholarships, if appli9 cable, to meet the baccalaureate degree requirement 

10 for high-quality prekindergarten programs, as de11 fined in section 112; and 

12 (13) if applicable, data on the rates of expul13 sion, suspension, and similar disciplinary action, of 

14 children in the State participating in high-quality 

15 prekindergarten programs, disaggregated by race, 

16 ethnicity, family income, child age, and disability. 

17 (c) SUBMISSION.—A State shall submit the annual 

18 report prepared under subsection (a), at the end of each 

19 fiscal year, to the Secretary, the Secretary of Health and 

20 Human Services, and the State Advisory Council on Early 

21 Childhood Education and Care. 

22 (d) COOPERATION.—An eligible local entity that re23 ceives a subgrant under this subtitle shall cooperate with 

24 all Federal and State efforts to evaluate the effectiveness 

25 of the program the entity implements with subgrant funds. 


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1 (e) NATIONAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall compile 

2 and summarize the annual State reports described under 

3 subsection (c) and shall prepare and submit an annual re4 port to Congress that includes a summary of such State 

5 reports. 

6 SEC. 123. PROHIBITION OF REQUIRED PARTICIPATION OR 

7 USE OF FUNDS FOR ASSESSMENTS. 

8 (a) PROHIBITION ON REQUIRED PARTICIPATION.—A 

9 State receiving a grant under this subtitle shall not re10 quire any child to participate in any Federal, State, local, 

11 or private early childhood education program, including a 

12 high-quality prekindergarten program. 

13 (b) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR ASSESS14 MENT.—A State receiving a grant under this subtitle and 

15 an eligible local entity receiving a subgrant under this sub16 title shall not use any grant or subgrant funds to carry 

17 out any of the following activities: 

18 (1) An assessment that provides rewards or 

19 sanctions for individual children or teachers. 

20 (2) An assessment that is used as the primary 

21 or sole method for assessing program effectiveness. 

22 (3) Evaluating children, other than for the pur23 poses of— 

24 (A) improving instruction or the classroom 

25 environment; 


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1 (B) targeting professional development; 

2 (C) determining the need for health, men3 tal health, disability, or family support services; 

4 (D) program evaluation for the purposes of 

5 program improvement and parent information; 

6 and 

7 (E) improving parent and family engage8 ment. 

9 SEC. 124. COORDINATION WITH HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

10 (a) INCREASED ACCESS FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN.— 

11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

12 Act, the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and 

13 Human Services shall develop a process for use in the 

14 event that Head Start programs funded under the Head 

15 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) operate in States or 

16 regions that have achieved sustained universal, voluntary 

17 access to 4-year old children who reside within the State 

18 and who are from families with incomes at or below 200 

19 percent of the poverty line, to high-quality prekinder20 garten programs and how such Head Start programs will 

21 begin converting slots for children who are age 4 on the 

22 eligibility determination date to children who are age 3 

23 on the eligibility determination date, or, when appropriate, 

24 converting Head Start Programs into Early Head Start 

25 programs to serve infants and toddlers. 


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1 (b) COMMUNITY NEED AND RESOURCES.—The proc2 ess described in subsection (a) shall— 

3 (1) be carried out on a case-by-case basis and 

4 shall ensure that sufficient resources and time are 

5 allocated for the development of such a process so 

6 that no child or cohort is excluded from currently 

7 available services; and 

8 (2) ensure that any conversion shall be based 

9 on community need and not on the aggregate num10 ber of children served in a State or region that has 

11 achieved sustained, universal, voluntary access to 

12 high-quality prekindergarten programs. 

13 (c) PUBLIC COMMENT AND NOTICE.—Not fewer than 

14 90 days after the development of the proposed process de15 scribed in subsection (a), the Secretary and the Secretary 

16 of Health and Human Services shall publish a notice de17 scribing such proposed process for conversion in the Fed18 eral Register providing at least 90 days for public com19 ment. The Secretaries shall review and consider public 

20 comments prior to finalizing the process for conversion of 

21 Head Start slots and programs. 

22 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Concurrently with 

23 publishing a notice in the Federal Register as described 

24 in subsection (c), the Secretaries shall provide a report 

25 to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 


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1 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

2 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate that pro3 vides a detailed description of the proposed process de4 scribed in subsection (a), including a description of the 

5 degree to which Head Start programs are providing State6 funded high-quality prekindergarten programs as a result 

7 of the grant opportunity provided under this subtitle in 

8 States where Head Start programs are eligible for conver9 sion described in subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 125. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN PROGRAM ADMINIS11 TRATION. 

12 In providing technical assistance to carry out activi13 ties under this title, the Secretary shall coordinate that 

14 technical assistance, in appropriate cases, with technical 

15 assistance provided by the Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services to carry out the programs authorized 

17 under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), the 

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

19 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), and the maternal, infant and early 

20 childhood home visiting programs assisted under section 

21 511 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 711). 

22 SEC. 126. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

23 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit dis24 crimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (except 

25 as otherwise permitted under title IX of the Education 


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1 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) (also 

2 known as the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity 

3 in Education Act)), national origin, or disability in any 

4 program funded under this Act. 

5 SEC. 127. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

7 this subtitle— 

8 (1) $1,300,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; 

9 (2) $3,250,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; 

10 (3) $5,780,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; 

11 (4) $7,580,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

12 (5) $8,960,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 

13 (6) such sums as may be necessary for each of 

14 fiscal years 2020 through 2023. 

15 Subtitle B—Prekindergarten 

16 Development Grants 

17 SEC. 151. PREKINDERGARTEN DEVELOPMENT GRANTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education, in 

19 consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 

20 Services, shall award competitive grants to States, local 

21 educational agencies, or other local government entities 

22 that wish to increase their capacity and build the infra23 structure within the State to offer high-quality prekinder24 garten programs. 


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1 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF STATES.—A State that is not re2 ceiving funds under section 115 may compete for grant 

3 funds under this subtitle if the State provides an assur4 ance that the State will, through the support of grant 

5 funds awarded under this subtitle, meet the eligibility re6 quirements of section 115 not later than 3 years after the 

7 date the State first receives grant funds under this sub8 title. 

9 (c) GRANT DURATION.—The Secretary shall award 

10 grants under this subtitle for a period of not more than 

11 3 years. Such grants shall not be renewed. 

12 (d) APPLICATION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Governor, or chief execu14 tive officer of a State, a local educational agency, or 

15 another local government entity that desires to re16 ceive a grant under this subtitle shall submit an ap17 plication to the Secretary of Education at such time, 

18 in such manner, and accompanied by such informa19 tion as the Secretary may reasonably require, includ20 ing, if applicable, a description of how the State 

21 plans to become eligible for grants under section 115 

22 by not later than 3 years after the date the State 

23 first receives grant funds under this subtitle. 

24 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF STATE APPLICATION.— 

25 In developing an application for a grant under this 


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1 subtitle, a State shall consult with the State Advi2 sory Council on Early Childhood Education and 

3 Care and incorporate their recommendations, where 

4 applicable. 

5 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

7 grant under this subtitle, a State, local educational 

8 agency, or other local government entity shall con9 tribute for the activities for which the grant was 

10 awarded non-Federal matching funds in an amount 

11 equal to not less than 20 percent of the amount of 

12 the grant. 

13 (2) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—To satisfy the re14 quirement of paragraph (1), a State, local edu15 cational agency, or other local government entity 

16 may use— 

17 (A) non-Federal resources in the form of 

18 State funding, local funding, or contributions 

19 from philanthropy or other private sources, or 

20 a combination of such resources; or 

21 (B) in-kind contributions. 

22 (3) FINANCIAL HARDSHIP WAIVER.—The Sec23 retary may waive paragraph (1) or reduce the 

24 amount of matching funds required under that para25 graph for a State, local educational agency, or other 


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1 local government entity that has submitted an appli2 cation for a grant under this subsection if the State, 

3 local educational agency, or other local government 

4 entity demonstrates, in the application, a need for 

5 such a waiver or reduction due to extreme financial 

6 hardship, as determined by the Secretary. 

7 (f) SUBGRANTS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State, local educational 

9 agency, or other local government entity awarded a 

10 grant under this subtitle may use the grant funds to 

11 award subgrants to eligible local entities, as defined 

12 in section 112, to carry out the activities under the 

13 grant. 

14 (2) SUBGRANTEES.—An eligible local entity 

15 awarded a subgrant under paragraph (1) shall com16 ply with the requirements of this subtitle relating to 

17 grantees, as appropriate. 

18 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec20 tion— 

21 (1) $750,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; and 

22 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of 

23 fiscal years 2016 through 2024. 


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1 TITLE II—LEARNING QUALITY 

2 PARTNERSHIPS 

3 SEC. 201. PURPOSES. 

4 The purposes of this title are to— 

5 (1) increase the availability of, and access to, 

6 high-quality early childhood education and care pro7 gramming for infants and toddlers; 

8 (2) support a higher quality of, and increase ca9 pacity for, that programming in both child care cen10 ters and family child care homes; and 

11 (3) encourage the provision of comprehensive, 

12 coordinated full-day services and supports for in13 fants and toddlers. 

14 SEC. 202. EARLY LEARNING QUALITY PARTNERSHIPS. 

15 The Head Start Act is amended— 

16 (1) section 645A(e) (42 U.S.C. 9840a(e)) is 

17 amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(e) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—The Sec19 retary shall award grants under this section on a competi20 tive basis to applicants meeting the criteria in subsection 

21 (d) (giving priority to entities with a record of providing 

22 early, continuous, and comprehensive childhood develop23 ment and family services and entities that agree to partner 

24 with a center-based or family child care provider to carry 

25 out the activities described in section 645B).’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 645A (42 U.S.C. 

2 9840a) the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 645B. EARLY LEARNING QUALITY PARTNERSHIPS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants 

5 to Early Head Start agencies to partner with center-based 

6 or family child care providers, particularly those that re7 ceive support under the Child Care and Development 

8 Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), that agree 

9 to meet program performance standards that are de10 scribed in section 641A(a)(1) and applicable Early Head 

11 Start standards described in section 645A, with funding 

12 and technical assistance from the Early Head Start agen13 cy. 

14 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graphs (2) and (3), the Secretary shall award grants 

17 under this section in a manner consistent with sec18 tion 645A(e). 

19 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE PRIORITY.—In awarding 

20 grants under this section, the Secretary shall give 

21 priority to applicants— 

22 ‘‘(A) that propose to create strong align23 ment of programs with maternal, infant, and 

24 early childhood home visiting programs assisted 

25 under section 511 of the Social Security Act 


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1 (42 U.S.C. 711), State-funded prekindergarten 

2 programs, programs carried out under the 

3 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

4 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), and other 

5 programs supported under this Act, to create a 

6 strong continuum of high-quality services for 

7 children from birth to school entry; and 

8 ‘‘(B) that seek to work with child care pro9 viders across settings, including center-based 

10 and home-based programs. 

11 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) RESERVATION.—From funds appro13 priated to carry out this section, the Secretary 

14 shall reserve— 

15 ‘‘(i) not less than 3 percent of such 

16 funds for Indian Head Start programs 

17 that serve young children; 

18 ‘‘(ii) not less than 4.5 percent for mi19 grant and seasonal Head Start programs 

20 that serve young children; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) not less than 0.2 percent for 

22 programs funded under clause (iv) or (v) 

23 of section 640(a)(2)(B). 

24 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION AMONG STATES.—The 

25 Secretary shall allocate funds appropriated to 


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1 carry out this section and not reserved under 

2 subparagraph (A), through grants to Early 

3 Head Start agencies, among the States propor4 tionally based on the number of young children 

5 from families whose income is below the poverty 

6 line residing in such States. 

7 ‘‘(C) REALLOCATION.—After allocating 

8 funds made available under this section in a 

9 manner consistent with the purposes and re10 quirements of this section, the Secretary may 

11 use any unallocated funds for unfunded, high12 quality partnership applications in other States 

13 or to expand Early Head Start slots in commu14 nities without center-based or family child care 

15 providers with which to partner. 

16 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY OF CHILDREN.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Partnerships formed 

18 through assistance provided under this section may 

19 serve children through age 3. 

20 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS.—The standards applied to 

21 children served under this section shall be consistent 

22 with those applied to children through age 3 who are 

23 otherwise served under this Act. 

24 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM DURATION.—Children deter25 mined eligible and subsequently served under this 


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1 section shall be deemed eligible for the full com2 plement of services provided under the partnership 

3 through the end of the succeeding program year, 

4 consistent with section 645(a)(1)(B)(v). 

5 ‘‘(d) PARTNERSHIPS.—An Early Head Start agency 

6 that receives a grant under this section shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) develop and implement a proposal to re8 cruit and enter into the contract with a center-based 

9 or family child care provider, particularly a provider 

10 that serves children who receive assistance under the 

11 Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990 

12 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 

13 ‘‘(2) enter into a contractual relationship with 

14 a center-based or family child care provider to raise 

15 the quality of such provider’s programs so that the 

16 provider meets the program performance standards 

17 described in subsection (a) through activities that 

18 may include— 

19 ‘‘(A) expanding the center-based or family 

20 child care provider’s programs through financial 

21 support or the addition of Early Head Start 

22 slots in the child care provider’s setting; 

23 ‘‘(B) providing training, technical assist24 ance, and support to the provider in order to 

25 help the provider meet the program performVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:53 Jun 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.PCS S2452

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1 ance standards, which may include supporting 

2 program and partner staff in earning a child 

3 development associate credential, associate’s de4 gree, or baccalaureate degree in early childhood 

5 education or a closely related field for working 

6 with infants and toddlers; and 

7 ‘‘(C) blending funds received under the 

8 Child Care and Development Block Grant of 

9 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) or other sources 

10 of child care support with the Early Head Start 

11 program carried out under section 645A in 

12 order to provide high-quality child care, for a 

13 full day, that meets the program performance 

14 standards; 

15 ‘‘(3) create a clear and realizable timeline to in16 crease the quality and capacity of a center-based or 

17 family child care provider so that the provider meets 

18 the program performance standards described in 

19 subsection (a); and 

20 ‘‘(4) align activities and services provided 

21 through funding under this section with the Head 

22 Start Child Outcomes Framework. 

23 ‘‘(e) STANDARDS.—Prior to awarding grants under 

24 this section, the Secretary shall establish standards to en25 sure that the responsibility and expectations of the Early 


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1 Head Start Agency and the partner child care providers 

2 are clearly defined. 

3 ‘‘(f) DESIGNATION RENEWAL.—A partner child care 

4 provider that receives assistance through a grant provided 

5 under this section shall be exempt, for a period of 18 

6 months (from the start of the provision of services under 

7 the grant), from the designation renewal requirements 

8 under section 641(c). 

9 ‘‘(g) SURVEY OF EARLY HEAD START AGENCIES AND

10 REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

11 date of enactment of the Strong Start for America’s Chil12 dren Act, the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) conduct a survey of Early Head Start 

14 agencies to determine the extent of barriers to enter15 ing into early learning quality partnership agree16 ments under this section on Early Head Start agen17 cies and on child care providers; and 

18 ‘‘(2) submit information obtained from the sur19 vey conducted under paragraph (1), with suggested 

20 steps to overcome such barriers, in a report to the 

21 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

22 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen24 ate, including a detailed description of the degree to 


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1 which Early Head Start agencies are utilizing the 

2 funds provided. 

3 ‘‘(h) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall establish 

4 and ensure monitoring that is sensitive and appropriate 

5 to the model used for partnerships administered under 

6 this section. 

7 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec9 tion— 

10 ‘‘(1) $4,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; and 

11 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for each 

12 of fiscal years 2016 through 2024.’’. 

13 TITLE III—MATERNAL, INFANT, 

14 AND EARLY CHILDHOOD 

15 HOME VISITING PROGRAM 

16 SEC. 301. SENSE OF SENATE. 

17 It is the sense of the Senate that— 

18 (1) from the prenatal period to the first day of 

19 kindergarten, children’s development rapidly pro20 gresses at a pace exceeding that of any subsequent 

21 stage of life; 

22 (2) as reported by the National Academy of 

23 Sciences in 2001, striking disparities exist in what 

24 children know and can do that are evident well be25 fore they enter kindergarten; these differences are 


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1 strongly associated with social and economic cir2 cumstances, and they are predictive of subsequent 

3 academic performance; 

4 (3) research has consistently demonstrated that 

5 investments in high-quality programs that serve in6 fants and toddlers better positions those children for 

7 success in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary 

8 education as well as helping children develop the 

9 critical physical, emotional, social, and cognitive 

10 skills that they will need for the rest of their lives; 

11 (4) in 2011, there were 11,000,000 infants and 

12 toddlers living in the United States and 49 percent 

13 of these children came from low-income families liv14 ing with incomes at or below 200 percent of the 

15 Federal poverty guidelines; 

16 (5) the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood 

17 Home Visiting (MIECHV) program was authorized 

18 by Congress to facilitate collaboration and partner19 ship at the Federal, State, and community levels to 

20 improve health and development outcomes for at-risk 

21 children, including those from low-income families, 

22 through evidence-based home visiting programs; 

23 (6) MIECHV is an evidence-based policy initia24 tive and its authorizing legislation requires that at 

25 least 75 percent of funds dedicated to the program 


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1 must support programs to implement evidence-based 

2 home visiting models, which includes the home-based 

3 model of Early Head Start; and 

4 (7) Congress should continue to provide re5 sources to MIECHV to support the work of States 

6 to help at-risk families voluntarily receive home vis7 its from nurses and social workers to— 

8 (A) promote maternal, infant, and child 

9 health; 

10 (B) improve school readiness and achieve11 ment; 

12 (C) prevent potential child abuse or neglect 

13 and injuries; 

14 (D) support family economic self-suffi15 ciency; 

16 (E) reduce crime or domestic violence; and 

17 (F) improve coordination or referrals for 

18 community resources and supports. 


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Calendar No. 427 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2452 

A BILL 

To support early learning. 

JUNE 10, 2014 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 


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