110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1429

AN ACT

To reauthorize the Head Start Act, to improve program 

quality, to expand access, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Improving Head Start Act of 2007’’

4 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—The Congress—

5 (1) finds that—

6 (A) while the steady economic growth and 

7 low inflation in the United States has yielded 

8 unprecedented prosperity, many children and 

9 families in this country have not benefited from 

10 this prosperity and continue to be 

11 socioeconomically disadvantaged, 

12 (B) many community- and faith-based or13 ganizations have expertise in moving individuals 

14 and families from dependency to self-sufficiency 

15 by providing families with the tools and skills 

16 they need to participate in the community and 

17 contribute to our economy, 

18 (C) the Head Start Act was established to 

19 help prepare low-income young children to suc20 ceed in school and in life by addressing the 

21 needs of the whole child and providing com22 prehensive services such as health and nutri23 tion, 

24 (D) research confirms that children who 

25 attend Head Start programs enter school better 

26 prepared than low-income children who do not 
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1 attend the program, are less likely to need spe2 cial education services, to repeat a grade, or 

3 commit crimes in adolescence, and are more 

4 likely to graduate from high school, 

5 (E) community- and faith-based organiza6 tions have participated in Head Start programs 

7 since the enactment of the Head Start Act in 

8 1965 and continue to serve more than 90,000 

9 children and their families, 

10 (F) parents have an integral role in the de11 velopment and implementation of Head Start 

12 programs, community- and faith-based pro13 viders of Head Start services employ parents 

14 and encourage parents to volunteer in the pro15 grams because parents are children’s most im16 portant and influential teachers, 

17 (G) community- and faith-based providers 

18 of Head Start services not only serve the needs 

19 of low-income children and their families but 

20 enrich, strengthen and reflect the diversity of 

21 the communities wherein they reside, and 

22 (H) the Head Start Act is a critical com23 ponent of America’s civil rights platform, and 

24 community and faith-based organizations have 
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1 been leaders in the civil rights movement in the 

2 United States, 

3 (2) supports the continued role of community 

4 and faith-based organizations in Head Start pro5 grams as providers of comprehensive services to chil6 dren, families, and communities, and 

7 (3) extends its gratitude to community- and 

8 faith-based organizations that provide Head Start 

9 services, and to the employees and volunteers for 

10 their commitment to the education, health, and eco11 nomic well-being of low-income children and families. 

12 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

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

14 is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 636. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

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

17 school readiness of low-income children—

18 ‘‘(1) by enhancing their cognitive, social, and 

19 emotional development in a learning environment 

20 that supports children’s growth in language, literacy, 

21 mathematics, science, social and emotional func22 tioning, physical skills, and approaches to learning; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(2) through the provision to low-income chil25 dren and their families of health, educational, nutri-
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1 tional, social, and other services that are determined, 

2 based on family needs assessments, to be nec3 essary.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

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

6 is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (16) and (17) 

8 as paragraphs (23) and (24), respectively, 

9 (2) by redesignating paragraph (15) as para10 graph (21), respectively, 

11 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (11) through 

12 (14) as paragraphs (16) through (19), respectively, 

13 (4) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para14 graph (14), 

15 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

16 (9) as paragraphs (3) through (10), respectively, 

17 (6) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘deficiency’ means—

20 ‘‘(A) systemic or significant material fail21 ure of a Head Start agency in an area of per22 formance that the Secretary determines in23 volves—

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

25 civil rights of children or staff; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) a denial to parents of the exer2 cise of their full roles and responsibilities 

3 related to program governance; 

4 ‘‘(iii) a failure to perform the require5 ments of section 641A(a), as determined 

6 by the Secretary; 

7 ‘‘(iv) the misuse of funds received 

8 under this subchapter; 

9 ‘‘(v) loss of legal status (as deter10 mined by the Secretary) or financial viabil11 ity, loss of permits, debarment from receiv12 ing Federal grants or contracts, or the im13 proper use of Federal funds; or 

14 ‘‘(vi) failure to meet any other of Fed15 eral or State requirement; or 

16 ‘‘(B) material failure of the board of direc17 tors of a Head Start agency to meet its legal 

18 and fiduciary responsibilities.’’, 

19 (7) by inserting after paragraph (10), as so re20 designated the following: 

21 ‘‘(11) The term ‘homeless children’ has the 

22 meaning given such term in section 725(2) of the 

23 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 11434a(2)). 
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1 ‘‘(12) The term ‘homeless family’ means the 

2 family of a homeless child. 

3 ‘‘(13) The term ‘inclusive classroom’ means a 

4 Head Start classroom that contains both children 

5 with disabilities and children without disabilities.’’, 

6 (8) by inserting after paragraph (13), as so re7 designated the following: 

8 ‘‘(14) The terms ‘limited English proficient’ 

9 and ‘limited English proficiency’ mean with respect 

10 to an individual, that such individual—

11 ‘‘(A)(i) was not born in the United States 

12 or has a native language that is not English; 

13 ‘‘(ii)(I) is a Native American, an Alaska 

14 Native, or a native resident of a territory or 

15 possession of the United States; and 

16 ‘‘(II) comes from an environment in which 

17 a language that is not English has had a sig18 nificant impact on such individual’s level of 

19 English language proficiency; or 

20 ‘‘(iii) is migratory, has a native language 

21 that is not English, and comes from an environ22 ment in which a language that is not English 

23 is dominant; and 

24 ‘‘(B) has difficulty in speaking or under25 standing the English language to an extent that 
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1 may be sufficient to prevent such individual 

2 from—

3 ‘‘(i) successful achievement in class4 rooms in which the language of instruction 

5 is English; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) fully participating in society.’’, 

7 (9) by inserting after paragraph (18), as so re8 designated the following: 

9 ‘‘(19) The term ‘professional development’ 

10 means high quality activities that will improve the 

11 knowledge and skills of Head Start teachers and 

12 staff, as relevant to their roles and functions, in pro13 gram administration and the provision of services 

14 and instruction, as appropriate, in a manner that 

15 improves service delivery to eligible children and 

16 families, including activities that—

17 ‘‘(A) are part of a sustained effort to im18 prove overall program quality and outcomes for 

19 eligible children and families; 

20 ‘‘(B) are developed or selected with exten21 sive participation of administrators and teach22 ers from Head Start programs; 

23 ‘‘(C) are developmentally appropriate for 

24 the children being served; 
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1 ‘‘(D) include instruction in ways that Head 

2 Start personnel may work more effectively with 

3 parents, as appropriate; 

4 ‘‘(E) are designed to give teachers and 

5 staff the knowledge and skills to provide in6 struction and appropriate support services to 

7 children of diverse backgrounds, as appropriate; 

8 ‘‘(F) if a 1-day or short-term workshop or 

9 conference, must be as part of the professional 

10 development plan defined in section 648A(f) 

11 and be delivered by an institution of higher 

12 education or other entity with expertise in deliv13 ering training in early childhood development, 

14 family support, and other assistance designed to 

15 improve the delivery of Head Start services; 

16 ‘‘(G) assist teachers with—

17 ‘‘(i) the acquisition of the content 

18 knowledge and teaching strategies needed 

19 to provide effective instruction and other 

20 school readiness services in early language 

21 and literacy, early mathematics, early 

22 science, cognitive skills, approaches to 

23 learning, creative arts, science, physical 

24 health and development, and social and 
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1 emotional development linked to school 

2 readiness; 

3 ‘‘(ii) meeting the requirements in 

4 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 648A(a), 

5 as appropriate; 

6 ‘‘(iii) improving classroom manage7 ment skills, as appropriate; 

8 ‘‘(iv) advancing understanding of ef9 fective instructional strategies that are—

10 ‘‘(I) based on scientifically based 

11 research; and 

12 ‘‘(II) aligned with—

13 ‘‘(aa) the Head Start Child 

14 Outcomes Framework developed 

15 by the Secretary and State early 

16 learning standards, as appro17 priate; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) the curricula, ongoing 

19 assessments, and other instruc20 tion and services designed to help 

21 meet the standards described in 

22 section 641A(a)(1); 

23 ‘‘(v) acquiring the knowledge and 

24 skills to provide instruction and appro25 priate language and support services to in-
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1 crease the English language skills of lim2 ited English proficient children, as appro3 priate; or 

4 ‘‘(vi) methods of teaching children 

5 with disabilities, as appropriate.’’, 

6 (10) by inserting after paragraph (20), as so 

7 redesignated, the following: 

8 ‘‘(21) The term ‘scientifically based research’—

9 ‘‘(A) means research that involves the ap10 plication of rigorous, systematic and objective 

11 procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowl12 edge relevant to education activities and pro13 grams; and 

14 ‘‘(B) includes research that—

15 ‘‘(i) employs systematic, empirical 

16 methods that draw on observation or ex17 periment; 

18 ‘‘(ii) involves rigorous data analyses 

19 that are adequate to test the stated 

20 hypotheses and justify the general conclu21 sions drawn; 

22 ‘‘(iii) relies on measurements or obser23 vational methods that provide reliable and 

24 valid data across evaluators and observers, 

25 across multiple measurements and observa-
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1 tions, and across studies by the same or 

2 different investigators; 

3 ‘‘(iv) is evaluated using experimental 

4 or quasi-experimental designs in which in5 dividuals, entities, programs or activities 

6 are assigned to different conditions and 

7 with appropriate controls to evaluate the 

8 effects of the condition of interest, with a 

9 preference for random assignment experi10 ments, or other designs to the extent that 

11 those designs contain within-condition or 

12 across-condition controls; 

13 ‘‘(v) ensures that experimental studies 

14 are presented in sufficient detail and clar15 ity to allow for replication or, at a min16 imum, offer the opportunity to build sys17 tematically on their findings; and 

18 ‘‘(vi) has been accepted by a peer-re19 viewed journal or approved by a panel of 

20 independent experts through a comparably 

21 rigorous, objective, and scientific review.’’, 

22 and 

23 (11) by amending paragraph (23), as so redes24 ignated, to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(23) The term ‘State’ means a State, the 

2 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Co3 lumbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands 

4 of the United States, the Commonwealth of the 

5 Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of 

6 Palau.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

9 is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap12 propriated to carry out this subchapter $7,350,000,000 

13 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary 

14 for fiscal years 2009 through 2012. 

15 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC PROGRAMS.—From the amount ap16 propriated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 

17 available to carry out research, demonstration, and evalua18 tion activities (including longitudinal studies under section 

19 649) not more than $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and 

20 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

21 2009 through 2012, of which not more than $7,000,000 

22 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 shall be 

23 available to carry out impact studies under section 

24 649(g).’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS; LIMITATION ON ASSIST2 ANCE. 

3 (a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—Section 640(a) of the 

4 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)) is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds appropriated 

8 under section 639, the Secretary shall allot such 

9 amounts in accordance with paragraphs (2) through 

10 (4), and subject to paragraphs (5) and (6). 

11 ‘‘(2) THIRTEEN PERCENT SET-ASIDE.—The 

12 Secretary shall reserve 13 percent of the amount ap13 propriated for each fiscal year for use in accordance 

14 with the following order of priorities: 

15 ‘‘(A) SPECIAL POPULATIONS.—For Indian 

16 Head Start programs, services for children with 

17 disabilities, and migrant and seasonal Head 

18 Start programs, except that—

19 ‘‘(i) there shall be made available for 

20 each fiscal year for use by Indian Head 

21 Start programs and by migrant and sea22 sonal Head Start programs, on a nation23 wide basis, not less than the amount that 

24 was obligated for use by Indian Head 

25 Start programs and by migrant and sea-
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1 sonal Head Start programs for fiscal year 

2 2007; 

3 ‘‘(ii) migrant and seasonal Head Start 

4 programs shall receive not less than 5 per5 cent of the amount appropriated for each 

6 fiscal year until such time as the Secretary 

7 can make funding decisions to ensure ac8 cess to funding for eligible children of mi9 grant and seasonal farmworkers is com10 parable to access to funding for other eligi11 ble children based on the data collected 

12 and reported pursuant to section 648(l), 

13 except that no future reduction in funding 

14 shall result in the termination of Head 

15 Start services provided to any eligible child 

16 3 years of age or older who is participating 

17 in any such program on the date a reduc18 tion in funding occurs, and shall, to the ex19 tent possible, continue participation for 

20 children less than 3 years of age receiving 

21 services before such reduction in funding; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(iii) Indian Head Start programs 

24 shall receive not less than 3.5 percent of 

25 the amount appropriated for each fiscal 
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1 year until such time as the Secretary can 

2 make funding decisions to ensure access to 

3 funding for eligible Indian children is com4 parable to access to funding for other eligi5 ble children based on the data collected in 

6 accordance with the requirements of sec7 tion 648(k), except that no future reduc8 tion in funding shall result in the termi9 nation of Head Start services provided to 

10 any eligible child 3 years of age or older 

11 who is participating in any such program 

12 on the date a reduction in funding occurs, 

13 and shall, to the extent possible, continue 

14 participation for children less than 3 years 

15 of age receiving services before such reduc16 tion in funding. 

17 ‘‘(B) PAYMENTS TO TERRITORIES AND

18 FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—Subject to para19 graph (7), for payments to Guam, American 

20 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

21 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the 

22 United States, and the Republic of Palau, ex23 cept that payments to the Republic of Palau 

24 shall not be made after fiscal year 2009. 
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1 ‘‘(C) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSIST2 ANCE.—Not less than 2 percent of the amount 

3 appropriated for such fiscal year for training 

4 and technical assistance activities to foster pro5 gram quality and management improvement as 

6 described in section 648, of which—

7 ‘‘(i) not less than 50 percent shall be 

8 available to local Head Start agencies to 

9 make program improvements identified by 

10 such agencies to use for the training and 

11 technical assistance activities described in 

12 section 648(j); 

13 ‘‘(ii) not less than 30 percent shall be 

14 available to the Secretary to support a 

15 State-based system or a national system, 

16 in the case of migrant and seasonal Head 

17 Start and Indian Head Start programs, of 

18 early childhood education training and 

19 technical assistance to local Head Start 

20 agencies as described in section 648(n); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the remainder of such amount 

23 shall be available to the Secretary to assist 

24 local Head Start agencies in meeting and 

25 exceeding the standards described in sec-
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1 tion 641A(a)(1), including financial assist2 ance to help Head Start programs address 

3 weaknesses identified by monitoring activi4 ties conducted by the Secretary under sec5 tion 641A(c), except that—

6 ‘‘(I) not less than $3,000,000 

7 shall be available to carry out the ac8 tivities described in section 648(c)(4); 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) no more than $5,000,000 

11 shall be reserved to carry out the ac12 tivities described in section 642B(b). 

13 ‘‘(D) MONITORING AND TERMINATIONS.—

14 For discretionary payments made by the Sec15 retary, including payments for all costs (other 

16 than compensation of Federal employees) of re17 views of Head Start agencies, programs under 

18 section 641A(c), and of activities carried out 

19 under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 

20 641A(d) related to correcting deficiencies and 

21 conducting proceedings to terminate the des22 ignation of Head Start agencies. 

23 ‘‘(E) RESEARCH.—For payments for re24 search, demonstration, and evaluation activities 

25 under section 649. 
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1 No funds reserved under this paragraph or para2 graph (3) may be combined with funds appropriated 

3 under any other Act if the purpose of combining 

4 funds is to make a single discretionary grant or a 

5 single discretionary payment, unless such funds ap6 propriated under this subchapter are separately 

7 identified in such grant or payment and are used for 

8 the purposes of this subchapter. 

9 ‘‘(3) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FUNDS.—

10 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF FUNDS.—

11 ‘‘(i) For each of the fiscal years 2008 

12 through 2012, to provide assistance for ac13 tivities specified in subparagraph (B), the 

14 Secretary shall reserve, from the amount 

15 (if any) by which the funds appropriated 

16 under section 639(a) for a fiscal year ex17 ceed the adjusted prior year appropriation, 

18 a share equal to the sum of—

19 ‘‘(I) 60 percent of such excess 

20 amount; and 

21 ‘‘(II) any additional part of such 

22 excess amount the Secretary may find 

23 necessary to address a demonstrated 

24 need for such activities. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) As used in clause (i), the term 

2 ‘adjusted prior year appropriation’ means, 

3 with respect to a fiscal year, the amount 

4 appropriated under section 639(a) for the 

5 preceding fiscal year, adjusted to reflect 

6 the percentage change in the Consumer 

7 Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

8 (issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) 

9 during such preceding fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(B) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACTIVI11 TIES.—Funds reserved under this paragraph 

12 shall be used to carry out the following activi13 ties: 

14 ‘‘(i) Not less than one-fourth of the 

15 amount reserved under this paragraph, to 

16 improve the compensation, salary scales, 

17 and benefit standards of educational staff, 

18 family service workers, and child coun19 selors, as described in sections 644(a) and 

20 653, to ensure that salary levels and bene21 fits are adequate to attract and retain 

22 qualified staff for such programs. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Providing on-going professional 

24 development to teachers that improves 

25 their understanding of child development, 
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1 content knowledge, and appropriate teach2 ing strategies needed to provide effective 

3 instruction and other school readiness serv4 ices in the areas of early language and lit5 eracy, early mathematics, cognitive skills, 

6 approaches to learning, creative arts, 

7 science, physical health and development, 

8 and social and emotional development. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Improving the qualifications and 

10 skills of educational personnel to meet the 

11 professional standards established under 

12 section 648A(a)(1), including providing as13 sistance to complete postsecondary course 

14 work, subject to section 648A(a)(2)(D). 

15 ‘‘(iv) Ensuring that the physical envi16 ronments of Head Start programs are con17 ducive to providing effective program serv18 ices to children and families, and are ac19 cessible to children with disabilities and 

20 other individuals with disabilities. 

21 ‘‘(v) Employing additional qualified 

22 classroom staff necessary to reduce the 

23 child to teacher ratio in the classroom and 

24 family to staff ratio for family services 

25 workers. 
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1 ‘‘(vi) Ensuring that such programs 

2 have qualified staff that can promote lan3 guage skills and literacy growth of children 

4 and that can provide children with a vari5 ety of skills that have been identified, 

6 through scientifically based reading re7 search, as predictive of later reading 

8 achievement. 

9 ‘‘(vii) Increasing hours of program op10 eration, including—

11 ‘‘(I) conversion of part-day to 

12 full-day; and 

13 ‘‘(II) number of weeks operated 

14 in a calendar year. 

15 ‘‘(viii) Improving the compensation 

16 and benefits of staff of Head Start agen17 cies in order to improve the quality of 

18 Head Start programs. 

19 ‘‘(ix) Transportation costs associated 

20 with transporting Head Start children 

21 safely, except that—

22 ‘‘(I) no more than ten percent of 

23 funds under this paragraph may be 

24 used for such purposes; 
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1 ‘‘(II) a Head Start agency shall 

2 demonstrate efforts to leverage the 

3 costs of transportation through col4 laboration with other entities; and 

5 ‘‘(III) a Head Start agency shall 

6 submit information to the Secretary 

7 describing how such use of funds is 

8 necessary to prevent reduction or ter9 mination of transportation services or, 

10 in the case of a Head Start agency 

11 serving a rural community, how such 

12 use of funds is necessary to improve 

13 services to such community. 

14 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION.—

15 ‘‘(i) Funds reserved under subpara16 graph (A) shall be allotted by the Sec17 retary as follows: 

18 ‘‘(I) 80 percent of such funds 

19 shall be allotted among the States in 

20 the same proportion as the Secretary 

21 allots funds among the States under 

22 paragraph (4) for the respective fiscal 

23 year. 

24 ‘‘(II) 20 percent of such funds 

25 shall be allotted among the States, 
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1 geographical areas specified in sub2 section (a)(2)(B) and Indian Head 

3 Start programs and migrant and sea4 sonal Head Start programs, and used 

5 to make grants to Head Start agen6 cies, at the discretion of the Sec7 retary. 

8 ‘‘(ii) Funds allotted under clause (i) 

9 shall be used by the Secretary to make 

10 grants to Head Start agencies that receive 

11 grants from funds allotted under para12 graph (4) for such fiscal year, in such 

13 amounts as the Secretary considers to be 

14 appropriate, for expenditure for activities 

15 specified in subparagraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(iii) Funds received under this sub17 paragraph shall be used to supplement, not 

18 to supplant, funds received under para19 graph (2) or (4). 

20 ‘‘(4) GRANT DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 

21 639(b), the Secretary shall allot the remaining 

22 amounts appropriated in each fiscal year among the 

23 States, in accordance with latest satisfactory data so 

24 that—
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1 ‘‘(A) each State receives an amount which 

2 is equal to the amount the State received for 

3 fiscal year 2007; and 

4 ‘‘(B) any amount available after all allot5 ments are made under subparagraph (A) for 

6 such fiscal year shall be distributed proportion7 ately on the basis of the number of children less 

8 than 5 years of age from families whose income 

9 is below the poverty line. 

10 For purposes of this paragraph, for each fiscal year 

11 the Secretary shall use the most recent data avail12 able on the number of children less than 5 years of 

13 age from families whose income is below the poverty 

14 line, as published by the Department of Commerce, 

15 unless the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce 

16 determine that use of the most recent data available 

17 would be inappropriate or unreliable. If the Sec18 retary and the Secretary of Commerce determine 

19 that some or all of the data referred to in this para20 graph are inappropriate or unreliable, the Secre21 taries shall issue a report setting forth their reasons 

22 in detail. 

23 ‘‘(5) COLLABORATION GRANTS.—

24 ‘‘(A) From amounts reserved and allotted 

25 under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall award 
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1 the collaboration grants described in subpara2 graphs (B), (C), and (D). 

3 ‘‘(B)(i) From the reserved sums, the Sec4 retary shall award upon submission of a written 

5 request, a collaboration grant to each State and 

6 to each national administrative office serving 

7 Indian Head Start programs and migrant and 

8 seasonal Head Start programs to facilitate col9 laboration between Head Start agencies and en10 tities (including the State or national adminis11 trative office) that carry out other activities de12 signed to benefit low-income families and chil13 dren from birth to school entry. The national 

14 administrative offices shall use the funds made 

15 available through the grants to carry out the 

16 authorities and responsibilities described in sub17 paragraphs (B) and (C). 

18 ‘‘(ii) Grants described in clause (i) shall be 

19 used to—

20 ‘‘(I) assist Head Start agencies to col21 laborate with entities involved in State and 

22 local planning processes to better meet the 

23 needs of low-income families and children 

24 from birth to school entry; 
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1 ‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies to co2 ordinate activities with the State agency 

3 responsible for administering the State 

4 program carried out under the Child Care 

5 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 

6 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and entities pro7 viding resource and referral services in the 

8 State, to make full-working-day and full 

9 calendar year services available to children; 

10 ‘‘(III) promote alignment of Head 

11 Start curricula and continuity of services 

12 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

13 Framework and State early learning stand14 ards, as appropriate; 

15 ‘‘(IV) promote better linkages between 

16 Head Start agencies and other child and 

17 family agencies, including agencies that 

18 provide health, mental health, or family 

19 services, or other child or family supportive 

20 services, such as services provided under 

21 section 619 or part C of the Individuals 

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

23 1419, 1431 et seq.); and 
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1 ‘‘(V) carry out the activities of the 

2 State Director of Head Start Collaboration 

3 authorized in subparagraph (D). 

4 ‘‘(C) In order to improve coordination and 

5 delivery of early education services to children 

6 in the State, a State that receives a collabora7 tion grant under subparagraph (B) shall—

8 ‘‘(i) appoint or designate an individual 

9 to serve as, or carry out the responsibilities 

10 of, the State Director of Head Start Col11 laboration; 

12 ‘‘(ii) ensure that the State Director of 

13 Head Start Collaboration holds a position 

14 with sufficient authority and access to en15 sure that the collaboration described in 

16 subparagraph (B) is effective and involves 

17 a range of State agencies; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) involve the State Head Start As19 sociation in the selection of the Director 

20 and involve the Association in determina21 tions relating to the ongoing direction of 

22 the collaboration office. 

23 ‘‘(D) The State Director of Head Start 

24 Collaboration shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after the 

2 State receives a collaboration grant under 

3 subparagraph (B), conduct an assessment 

4 that—

5 ‘‘(I) addresses the needs of Head 

6 Start agencies in the State with re7 spect to collaboration, coordination, 

8 and alignment of services, and align9 ment of curricula and assessments 

10 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

11 Framework, and with State early 

12 learning standards, as appropriate; 

13 ‘‘(II) shall be updated on an an14 nual basis; and 

15 ‘‘(III) shall be made available to 

16 the general public within the State; 

17 ‘‘(ii) develop a strategic plan that is 

18 based on the assessment described in 

19 clause (i) that will—

20 ‘‘(I) enhance collaboration and 

21 coordination of Head Start services 

22 with other entities providing early 

23 childhood programs and services (such 

24 as child care or services offered by 

25 museums), health care, mental health 
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1 care, welfare, child protective services, 

2 education and community service ac3 tivities, family literacy services, read4 ing readiness programs (including 

5 such programs offered by public and 

6 school libraries), services relating to 

7 children with disabilities, other early 

8 childhood programs and services for 

9 limited English proficient children and 

10 homeless children, and services pro11 vided for children in foster care and 

12 children referred to Head Start pro13 grams by child welfare agencies, in14 cluding agencies and State officials re15 sponsible for such services; 

16 ‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies 

17 to develop a plan for the provision of 

18 full-working-day, full calendar year 

19 services for children enrolled in Head 

20 Start programs who need such care; 

21 ‘‘(III) assist Head Start agencies 

22 to align curricula and assessments 

23 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

24 Framework and to the State early 
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1 learning standards, as appropriate; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(IV) enable Head Start agencies 

4 in the State to better access profes5 sional development opportunities for 

6 Head Start staff, such as by—

7 ‘‘(aa) working with local 

8 Head Start agencies to meet the 

9 degree requirements described in 

10 section 648A(a)(2)(A), including 

11 providing distance learning op12 portunities for Head Start staff, 

13 where needed to make higher 

14 education more accessible to 

15 Head Start staff; and 

16 ‘‘(bb) enabling the State 

17 Head Start agencies to better 

18 conduct outreach to eligible fami19 lies; 

20 ‘‘(iii) promote partnerships between 

21 Head Start agencies, State and local gov22 ernments, and the private sector to help 

23 ensure that children, who are in Head 

24 Start programs, are receiving comprehen-
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1 sive services to prepare the children to 

2 enter school ready to succeed; 

3 ‘‘(iv) consult with the chief State 

4 school officer, local educational agencies, 

5 and providers of early childhood education 

6 and care, regarding early care and edu7 cation services at both the State and local 

8 levels; 

9 ‘‘(v) promote partnerships between 

10 Head Start agencies, schools, law enforce11 ment, relevant community-based organiza12 tions, and substance abuse and mental 

13 health treatment agencies to strengthen 

14 family and community environments and 

15 to reduce the impact on child development 

16 of substance abuse, child abuse, domestic 

17 violence, and other high risk behaviors that 

18 compromise healthy development; 

19 ‘‘(vi) promote partnerships between 

20 Head Start agencies and other organiza21 tions in order to enhance Head Start pro22 gram quality, including partnerships to 

23 promote inclusion of more books in Head 

24 Start classrooms; 
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1 ‘‘(vii) identify other resources and or2 ganizations (both public and private) for 

3 the provision of in-kind services to Head 

4 Start agencies in the State; and 

5 ‘‘(viii) work with the State Early 

6 Learning Council in order to assist the ef7 forts of Head Start agencies to engage in 

8 effective coordination and collaboration. 

9 ‘‘(6) EARLY HEAD START.—

10 ‘‘(A) AMOUNTS RESERVED.—From 

11 amounts reserved and allotted pursuant to 

12 paragraphs (2) and (4), the Secretary shall use, 

13 for grants for programs described in section 

14 645A(a), a portion of the combined total of 

15 such amounts that is not less than 12 percent 

16 for fiscal year 2008, not less than 14 percent 

17 for fiscal year 2009, not less than 16 percent 

18 for fiscal year 2010, not less than 18 percent 

19 for fiscal year 2011, and not less than 20 per20 cent for fiscal year 2012 of the amount appro21 priated pursuant to section 639(a). 

22 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(i) For any fiscal year for which 

24 the Secretary determines that the 

25 amount appropriated under section 
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1 639(a) is not sufficient to permit the 

2 Secretary to reserve the portion de3 scribed in subparagraph (A) without 

4 reducing the number of children 

5 served by Head Start programs or ad6 versely affecting the quality of Head 

7 Start services, relative to the number 

8 of children served and the quality of 

9 the services during the preceding fis10 cal year, the Secretary may reduce the 

11 percentage of funds required to be re12 served for the portion described in 

13 subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year 

14 for which the determination is made, 

15 but not below the percentage required 

16 to be so reserved for the preceding fis17 cal year. 

18 ‘‘(ii) For any fiscal year for 

19 which the amount appropriated under 

20 section 639(a) is reduced to a level 

21 that requires a lower amount to be 

22 made available under this subchapter 

23 to Head Start agencies and entities 

24 described in section 645A, relative to 

25 the amount made available to such 
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1 agencies and entities for the preceding 

2 fiscal year, adjusted as described in 

3 paragraph (3)(A)(ii), the Secretary 

4 shall proportionately reduce—

5 ‘‘(I) the amounts made 

6 available to such entities for pro7 grams carried out under section 

8 645A; and 

9 ‘‘(II) the amounts made 

10 available to such Head Start 

11 agencies for Head Start pro12 grams. 

13 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term 

14 ‘State’ does not include Guam, American Samoa, the 

15 Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

16 Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micro17 nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 

18 Republic of Palau.’’. 

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

20 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(f)) is amended to 

21 read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(f) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.—

23 ‘‘(1) Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

24 enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 

25 2007, the Secretary shall establish procedures to en-
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1 able Head Start agencies to develop locally designed 

2 or specialized service delivery models to address local 

3 community needs, including models that leverage the 

4 existing capacity and capabilities of the delivery sys5 tem of early childhood education and child care. 

6 ‘‘(2) In establishing the procedures, the Sec7 retary shall establish procedures to provide for—

8 ‘‘(A) the conversion of part-day programs 

9 to full-day programs or part-day slots to full10 day slots; and 

11 ‘‘(B) serving additional infants and tod12 dlers pursuant to section 645(a)(4).’’. 

13 (c) EXPANSION OF HEAD START PROGRAMS.—Sec14 tion 640(g) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(g)) 

15 is amended in paragraph (2)—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘For the purpose of expanding 

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

18 (2) by amending subparagraphs (C) through 

19 (H) to read as follows: 

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

22 needs assessments involving other community orga23 nizations and local public agencies serving children 

24 and families with Federal, State, or local funds (in25 cluding organizations and agencies providing family 
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1 support services, child abuse prevention services, 

2 protective services, and foster care, and organiza3 tions serving families in whose homes English is not 

4 the language customarily spoken), and individuals, 

5 organizations, and public entities serving children 

6 with disabilities or homeless children, including the 

7 local educational agency liaison designated under 

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

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

10 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)); 

11 ‘‘(D) the extent to which the family and com12 munity needs assessment of the applicant reflects a 

13 need to provide full working-day or full calendar 

14 year services and the extent to which, and manner 

15 in which, the applicant demonstrates the ability to 

16 collaborate and participate with the State and local 

17 community providers of child care or preschool serv18 ices to provide full working-day full calendar year 

19 services; 

20 ‘‘(E) the number of eligible children in each 

21 community who are not participating in a Head 

22 Start program or any other early childhood program; 

23 ‘‘(F) the concentration of low-income families in 

24 each community; 
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1 ‘‘(G) the extent to which the applicant proposes 

2 to foster partnerships with other service providers in 

3 a manner that will leverage the existing delivery sys4 tems of such services and enhance the resource ca5 pacity of the applicant; 

6 ‘‘(H) the extent to which the applicant, in pro7 viding services, successfully coordinated its activities 

8 with the local educational agency serving the com9 munity involved, (including the local educational 

10 agency liaison designated under section 

11 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

12 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)) and 

13 with schools in which children participating in a 

14 Head Start program operated by such agency will 

15 enroll following such program, regarding such serv16 ices and the education services provided by such 

17 local educational agency; and 

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

19 to pay administrative expenses and the amount of 

20 available funds received by such agency under this 

21 section to service each enrolled child.’’. 

22 (d) ENROLLMENT.—Section 640(g) of the Head 

23 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(g)) is amended by adding at 

24 the end the following: 

25 (e) TRANSPORTATION SAFETY.—
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1 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue 

2 regulations establishing requirements for the safety 

3 features, and the safe operation, of vehicles used by 

4 Head Start agencies to transport children partici5 pating in Head Start programs. 

6 (2) GOOD CAUSE WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

7 Secretary shall allow Head Start agencies to annu8 ally request a good cause exception to the require9 ments of regulations promulgated under paragraph 

10 (1) for one or more vehicles used by the agency or 

11 its designee in transporting children enrolled in a 

12 Head Start program or an Early Head Start pro13 gram if—

14 (A) such requirements would create a safe15 ty hazard in the circumstances faced by such 

16 agency; or 

17 (B) such requirements pertain to child re18 straint systems (45 C.F.R. 1310.11, 

19 1310.15(a)) or bus monitors (45 C.F.R. 

20 1310.15(c)); 

21 (C) the agency demonstrates that compli22 ance with such requirements will result in a sig23 nificant disruption to the Head Start program 

24 or the Early Head Start program; and 
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1 (D) the waiver is in the best interest of the 

2 children involved. 

3 (f) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PRO4 GRAMS.—Section 640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 9835(l)) is amended—

6 (1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(3) In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary 

9 shall continue the administrative arrangement at the na10 tional level for meeting the needs of Indian children and 

11 children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and shall 

12 ensure that appropriate funding is provided to meet such 

13 needs, including training and technical assistance and the 

14 appointment of a national migrant and seasonal Head 

15 Start collaboration director and a national Indian Head 

16 Start collaboration director.’’, and 

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

18 ‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Sec19 retary shall conduct an annual consultation in each af20 fected Head Start region, with tribal governments oper21 ating Head Start programs and Early Head Start pro22 grams. 

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

24 better meeting the needs of Indian children and children 

25 of Alaskan Natives, and their families, in accordance with 
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•HR 1429 EH

1 subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 641, taking into 

2 consideration funding allocations, distribution formulas, 

3 and other issues affecting the delivery of Head Start serv4 ices in their geographic locations. 

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

6 consultations in the Federal Register before conducting 

7 the consultations. 

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

9 prepared and made available within 90 days of the annual 

10 consultation to all Indian tribes that receive assistance 

11 under this subchapter.’’. 

12 (g) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN; RULE

13 OF CONSTRUCTION; MATERIALS.—Section 640 of the 

14 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835) is amended by adding 

15 at the end the following: 

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

17 Secretary shall issue rules to establish policies and proce18 dures to remove barriers to the enrollment and participa19 tion of homeless children in Head Start programs. Such 

20 rules shall require Head Start agencies—

21 ‘‘(1) to implement policies and procedures to 

22 ensure that homeless children are identified and 

23 prioritized for enrollment; 

24 ‘‘(2) to allow homeless families to apply to, en25 roll in and attend Head Start programs while re-
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•HR 1429 EH

1 quired documents, such as proof of residency, immu2 nization and other medical records, birth certificates 

3 and other documents, are obtained within a reason4 able time frame; and 

5 ‘‘(3) coordinate individual Head Start programs 

6 with efforts to implement subtitle B of title VII of 

7 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 11431–11435). 

9 ‘‘(n) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub10 chapter shall be construed to require a State to establish 

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

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

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

14 screening before participating in such program, except as 

15 provided under sections 612(a)(3) and 635(a)(5) of the 

16 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

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

18 materials funded under this subchapter shall be based on 

19 scientifically based research, age and developmentally ap20 propriate, and focused on all areas of development (cog21 nitive, social, emotional, and physical), learning (language 

22 and literacy, mathematics, science, and creative arts) and 

23 approaches to learning. Parents shall be permitted to in24 spect, upon request, any curricula or instructional mate25 rials used to carry out this subchapter.’’. 
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1 SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

2 Section 641 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836) 

3 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 641. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

5 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE.—The Secretary is 

6 authorized to designate as a Head Start agency any local 

7 public or private nonprofit agency, including community8 based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agency, 

9 within a community, pursuant to the requirements of this 

10 section, except that until such time that the Secretary de11 velops and implements the system of application review 

12 under this section, the Secretary is authorized to designate 

13 as a Head Start agency, any local public or private non14 profit agency, including community-based and faith-based 

15 organizations, or for-profit agency, within a community, 

16 in the manner and process utilized by the Secretary prior 

17 to the enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 

18 2007. 

19 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR GRANTS.—Each entity shall 

20 submit a plan to the Secretary, at such time and in such 

21 manner as the Secretary may require. 

22 ‘‘(c) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION REVIEW SYS23 TEM.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

25 a system that integrates the recommendations of the 

26 expert panel convened under paragraph (3) to deter-
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•HR 1429 EH

1 mine if a Head Start agency is providing a quality 

2 comprehensive early learning program that meets 

3 the educational, health, and nutritional needs of the 

4 children and families it serves, and meets program 

5 and financial management requirements and per6 formance standards described in section 641A(a)(1), 

7 based on—

8 ‘‘(A) annual budget data; 

9 ‘‘(B) program reviews conducted under 

10 section 641A(c); 

11 ‘‘(C) annual audits required under section 

12 647; 

13 ‘‘(D) classroom quality as measured under 

14 section 641A(c)(2)(H); and 

15 ‘‘(E) Program Information Report. 

16 ‘‘(2) EXPERT PANEL.—No later than six 

17 months after the enactment of the Improving Head 

18 Start Act of 2007, the Secretary shall convene an 

19 expert panel of 7 members to make recommenda20 tions to the Secretary on the development of a trans21 parent, reliable, and valid system for evaluating 

22 grant renewal applications. 

23 ‘‘(3) COMPOSITION OF EXPERT PANEL.—The 

24 Secretary, in convening such panel, shall appoint the 

25 following: 
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•HR 1429 EH

1 ‘‘(A) 5 members, who are competent, by 

2 virtue of their training, expertise, and experi3 ence, in each of at least one of the following 

4 areas: 

5 ‘‘(i) Early childhood program accredi6 tation or quality assessment. 

7 ‘‘(ii) Research on early childhood de8 velopment. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Governance and finance of non10 profit organizations. 

11 ‘‘(iv) Delivery of services to children 

12 and families with limited English pro13 ficiency. 

14 ‘‘(v) Delivery of services to children 

15 with disabilities. 

16 ‘‘(B) An employee from the Office of Head 

17 Start. 

18 ‘‘(C) An executive director of a Head Start 

19 agency. 

20 ‘‘(4) EXPERT PANEL REPORT.—Within 12 

21 months of being convened by the Secretary, the ex22 pert panel shall issue a report to the Secretary that 

23 provides recommendations on a proposed system of 

24 application review that takes into account the cri25 teria in paragraph (1) to evaluate whether a Head 
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•HR 1429 EH

1 Start grantee is meeting its mission to provide a 

2 high quality comprehensive early education program, 

3 including adequately meeting its governance and fi4 nancial management requirements. 

5 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC COMMENT; REPORT TO CON6 GRESS.—No later than 6 months after receiving the 

7 report described in paragraph (4), the Secretary 

8 shall publish a proposed system of application review 

9 in the Federal Register, providing at least 90 days 

10 for public comment and shall provide a report to the 

11 Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 

12 Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu13 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate that pro14 vides a detailed description of such proposed system, 

15 including clear rationale for any differences between 

16 the proposed system and the recommendations of 

17 the expert panel, if any such differences exist. 

18 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION OF APPLICATION RE19 VIEW SYSTEM.—After the Secretary has reviewed all 

20 public comments and finalized the system of applica21 tion review, the Secretary will use this system to de22 termine which grantees are successfully delivering a 

23 high quality comprehensive early education program. 

24 Grantees who are determined under such system to 

25 be—
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•HR 1429 EH

1 ‘‘(A) successfully delivering a high quality 

2 comprehensive early education program shall be 

3 designated a Head Start agency for a period of 

4 5 years; 

5 ‘‘(B) under-performing and may enter into 

6 an open competition as described in subsection 

7 (e); and 

8 ‘‘(C) notwithstanding paragraph (B), if an 

9 Indian Head Start agency is determined to be 

10 underperforming, the Secretary shall engage in 

11 government-to-government consultation with the 

12 appropriate tribal government or governments 

13 for the purpose of establishing a performance 

14 enhancement plan for that agency. Such plan is 

15 to be developed and implemented within 6 

16 months of the Secretary’s determination. Not 

17 more than 6 months after implementation of 

18 that plan, the Secretary shall reevaluate the 

19 performance of the Indian Head Start agency. 

20 If the Indian Head Start agency remains 

21 underperforming, the Secretary shall conduct 

22 an open competition as described in subsection 

23 (e), subject to the following limitations: 

24 ‘‘(i) Except as provided in paragraph 

25 (ii), a non-Indian Head Start agency may 
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1 not receive a grant to carry out an Indian 

2 Head Start program. 

3 ‘‘(ii) In a community in which there is 

4 no Indian Head Start agency available for 

5 designation to carry out an Indian Head 

6 Start program, a non-Indian Head Start 

7 agency, on an interim basis, may receive a 

8 grant to carry out an Indian Head Start 

9 program, but only until such time as an 

10 Indian Head Start agency in such commu11 nity becomes available. 

12 ‘‘(d) TRANSPARENCY, RELIABILITY, AND VALID13 ITY.—The Secretary shall ensure the system of application 

14 evaluation is fair, consistent, and transparent and is ap15 plied in a manner that designates, in a timely manner 

16 grantees as Head Start agencies for a period of 5 years 

17 if such grantees are providing a high quality comprehen18 sive early education program. The Secretary shall periodi19 cally evaluate whether the criteria are being applied in a 

20 manner that is transparent, reliable, and valid. 

21 ‘‘(e) DESIGNATION WHEN NO ENTITY HAS PRI22 ORITY.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If no entity in a commu24 nity is determined to be successfully delivering a 

25 high quality comprehensive early education program, 
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1 as specified in subsection (c), the Secretary shall, 

2 after conducting an open competition, designate for 

3 a 5-year period a Head Start agency from among 

4 qualified applicants in such community. 

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

6 selecting from among qualified applicants for des7 ignation as a Head Start agency, the Secretary shall 

8 consider the effectiveness of each such applicant to 

9 provide Head Start services, based on—

10 ‘‘(A) any past performance of such appli11 cant in providing services comparable to Head 

12 Start services, including how effectively such 

13 applicant provided such comparable services; 

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

15 comprehensive health (including mental and be16 havioral health), educational, nutritional, social, 

17 and other services needed to prepare children to 

18 succeed in school and in life; 

19 ‘‘(C) the plan of such applicant to attract 

20 and retain qualified staff capable of delivering 

21 a high quality comprehensive early education 

22 program, including demonstrating the ability to 

23 provide adequate salary and benefits to main24 tain a high quality staff; 
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1 ‘‘(D) the ability of such applicant to main2 tain child-teacher ratios and family service 

3 worker caseloads that reflect best practices and 

4 are tied to high quality service delivery; 

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

6 serve eligible children with curriculum and 

7 teaching practices that are based on scientif8 ically based research, are developmentally ap9 propriate, and that promote the school readi10 ness of children participating in the program; 

11 ‘‘(F) the plan of such applicant to meet 

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

13 particular attention to the standards set forth 

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

15 ‘‘(G) the proposed budget and plan of such 

16 applicant to maintain strong fiscal controls and 

17 cost effective fiscal management; 

18 ‘‘(H) the plan of such applicant to coordi19 nate the Head Start program the applicant pro20 poses to carry out, with other local early learn21 ing programs for young children, including—

22 ‘‘(i) programs implementing grants 

23 under the Early Reading First and Even 

24 Start programs under subparts 2 and 3 of 

25 part B of title I of the Elementary and 
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1 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

2 U.S.C. 6371 et seq., 6381 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(ii) and programs under section 619 

4 and part C of the Individuals with Disabil5 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 

6 et seq.); 

7 ‘‘(iii) State prekindergarten programs; 

8 ‘‘(iv) child care programs; and 

9 ‘‘(v) the educational programs that 

10 the children participating in the Head 

11 Start program will enter at the age of com12 pulsory school attendance; 

13 ‘‘(I) the plan of such applicant to coordi14 nate the Head Start program that the applicant 

15 proposes to carry out, with public and private 

16 entities that are willing to commit resources to 

17 assist the Head Start program in meeting its 

18 program needs; 

19 ‘‘(J) the plan of such applicant—

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

21 (including grandparents and kinship care22 givers, as appropriate) of children partici23 pating in the proposed Head Start pro24 gram, in activities (at home and, if prac25 ticable, at the location of the Head Start 
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1 program) designed to help such parents be2 come full partners in the education of their 

3 children; 

4 ‘‘(ii) to afford such parents the oppor5 tunity to participate in the development 

6 and overall conduct of the program at the 

7 local level; 

8 ‘‘(iii) to offer (directly or through re9 ferral to local entities, such as entities car10 rying out Even Start programs under sub11 chapter 3 of part B of title I of the Ele12 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), public and 

14 school libraries, and entities carrying out 

15 family support programs) to such par16 ents—

17 ‘‘(I) family literacy services; and 

18 ‘‘(II) parenting skills training; 

19 ‘‘(iv) to offer to parents of partici20 pating children, mental health services (ei21 ther directly or through referral to local 

22 entities), including substance abuse coun23 seling and information on maternal depres24 sion and on the effect of drug-exposure on 

25 infants and fetal alcohol syndrome; 
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1 ‘‘(v) at the option of such applicant, 

2 to offer (directly or through referral to 

3 local entities) to such parents—

4 ‘‘(I) training in basic child devel5 opment (including cognitive, social, 

6 and emotional development); 

7 ‘‘(II) assistance in developing lit8 eracy and communication skills; 

9 ‘‘(III) opportunities to share ex10 periences with other parents (includ11 ing parent mentor relationships); 

12 ‘‘(IV) regular in-home visitation; 

13 ‘‘(V) mental and behavioral 

14 health services; or 

15 ‘‘(VI) any other activity designed 

16 to help such parents become full part17 ners in the education of their children; 

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

19 participating family, a family needs assess20 ment that includes consultation with such 

21 parents, in a manner and language that 

22 such parents can understand, about the 

23 benefits of parent involvement and about 

24 the activities described in subparagraph 

25 (H) in which such parents may choose to 
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1 become involved (taking into consideration 

2 their specific family needs, work schedules, 

3 and other responsibilities); and 

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

5 appropriate cases, in order to strengthen 

6 the role of fathers in families, in the edu7 cation of their young children, and in the 

8 Head Start program, by working directly 

9 with fathers and father figures through ac10 tivities such as—

11 ‘‘(I) in appropriate cases, includ12 ing fathers in home visits and pro13 viding culturally appropriate opportu14 nities for direct father-child inter15 actions; and 

16 ‘‘(II) targeting increased male 

17 participation in the conduct of the 

18 program; 

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

20 the needs of limited English proficient children 

21 and their families, including procedures to iden22 tify such children, plans to provide trained per23 sonnel, and plans to provide services to assist 

24 the children in making progress toward the ac25 quisition of the English language, while making 
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1 meaningful progress in attaining the knowledge, 

2 skills, abilities, and development described in 

3 section 641A(a)(1)(B); 

4 ‘‘(L) the plan of such applicant to meet 

5 the diverse cultural needs of the population 

6 served; 

7 ‘‘(M) the plan of such applicant to meet 

8 the needs of children with disabilities; 

9 ‘‘(N) the plan of such applicant who choos10 es to assist younger siblings of children who will 

11 participate in the Head Start program to obtain 

12 health, including mental health, services from 

13 other sources; 

14 ‘‘(O) the plan of such applicant to collabo15 rate with other entities carrying out public or 

16 private early childhood education and child care 

17 programs in the community; 

18 ‘‘(P) the plan of such applicant to meet the 

19 needs of homeless children, including transpor20 tation needs, and children in foster care and 

21 children and families experiencing toxic stress; 

22 ‘‘(Q) the plan of such applicant to main23 tain a qualified staff, including a teaching staff 

24 qualified to implement research-based curricula 

25 aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes 
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1 Framework developed by the Secretary and to 

2 the early learning standards in State in which 

3 such program would operate; 

4 ‘‘(R) the plan of such applicant to enter 

5 into memoranda of understanding with local 

6 educational agencies within the service area, as 

7 described in section 642B(a); and 

8 ‘‘(S) other factors related to the require9 ments of this subchapter. 

10 ‘‘(3) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.—Faith-based 

11 and community-based organizations continue to be 

12 eligible, on the same basis as other organizations, to 

13 participate in any program under this subchapter for 

14 which they are otherwise eligible. 

15 ‘‘(f) INTERIM PROVIDER.—If no agency in the com16 munity receives priority designation under subsection (c), 

17 and there is no qualified applicant in the community, the 

18 Secretary shall designate a qualified agency to carry out 

19 the Head Start program in the community on an interim 

20 basis until a qualified applicant from the community is 

21 so designated. 

22 ‘‘(g) PARENT AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION.—

23 The Secretary shall require that the practice of signifi24 cantly involving parents and area residents affected by the 
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1 program in the selection of Head Start agencies be contin2 ued. 

3 ‘‘(h) COMMUNITY.—For purposes of this subchapter, 

4 a community may be a city, county, or multicity or multi5 county unit within a State, an Indian reservation (includ6 ing Indians in any off-reservation area designated by an 

7 appropriate tribal government in consultation with the 

8 Secretary) or a neighborhood or other area (irrespective 

9 of boundaries or political subdivisions) which provides a 

10 suitable organizational base and possesses the com11 monality of interest needed to operate a Head Start pro12 gram.’’. 

13 SEC. 7. QUALITY STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD 

14 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

15 Section 641A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 9836a) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 641A. QUALITY STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD 

18 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

19 ‘‘(a) QUALITY STANDARDS.—

20 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS.—The 

21 Secretary shall modify, as necessary, program per22 formance standards by regulation applicable to Head 

23 Start agencies, programs, and projects under this 

24 subchapter, including—
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1 ‘‘(A) performance standards with respect 

2 to services required to be provided, including 

3 health, parental involvement, nutritional, social, 

4 transition activities described in section 642(d), 

5 and other services; 

6 ‘‘(B) scientifically based and develop7 mentally appropriate early learning standards 

8 related to school readiness that are based on 

9 the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework to 

10 ensure that the children participating in the 

11 program, at a minimum develop and dem12 onstrate—

13 ‘‘(i) language knowledge and skills, in14 cluding oral language and listening com15 prehension; 

16 ‘‘(ii) prereading knowledge and skills 

17 that prepare children for early literacy in 

18 schools including phonological awareness, 

19 print awareness and print skills, and al20 phabetic knowledge; 

21 ‘‘(iii) mathematics knowledge and 

22 skills, including aspects of classification, 

23 seriation, number, spatial relations, and 

24 time; 
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1 ‘‘(iv) science knowledge and skills, in2 cluding measurement; 

3 ‘‘(v) cognitive abilities related to aca4 demic achievement and general knowledge; 

5 ‘‘(vi) social and emotional develop6 ment related to early learning, school suc7 cess, social problem-solving, and overall 

8 well-being; 

9 ‘‘(vii) approaches to learning related 

10 to child development and early learning; 

11 ‘‘(viii) creative arts; and 

12 ‘‘(ix) in the case of limited-English 

13 proficient children, progress toward acqui14 sition of the English language while mak15 ing meaningful progress in attaining the 

16 knowledge, skills, abilities, and develop17 ment described in clauses (i) through (viii), 

18 including progress made through the use of 

19 culturally and linguistically appropriate in20 structional services; 

21 ‘‘(C) administrative and financial manage22 ment standards; 

23 ‘‘(D) standards relating to the condition 

24 and location of facilities for such agencies, pro25 grams, and projects; and 
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1 ‘‘(E) such other standards as the Secretary 

2 finds to be appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS IN DEVELOPING STAND4 ARDS.—In developing the standards required under 

5 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

6 ‘‘(A) consult with experts in the fields of 

7 child development, early childhood education, 

8 child health care, family services (including lin9 guistically and culturally appropriate services to 

10 limited English proficient children and their 

11 families), administration, and financial manage12 ment, and with persons with experience in the 

13 operation of Head Start programs; 

14 ‘‘(B) take into consideration—

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

16 standards in effect under this subchapter 

17 on October 27, 1998; 

18 ‘‘(ii) changes over the period since Oc19 tober 27, 1998, in the circumstances and 

20 problems typically facing children and fam21 ilies served by Head Start agencies; 

22 ‘‘(iii) recommendations from the re23 port on Developmental Outcomes and As24 sessments for Young Children by the Na-
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1 tional Academy of Sciences, when it be2 comes available; 

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

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

9 ‘‘(v) projected needs of an expanding 

10 Head Start program; 

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

13 promote child health services and physical 

14 development, including outdoor activity 

15 that supports children’s motor development 

16 and overall health and nutrition; 

17 ‘‘(vii) changes in the population of 

18 children who are eligible to participate in 

19 Head Start programs, including the lan20 guage and cultural background and family 

21 structure of such children; 

22 ‘‘(viii) mechanisms to ensure that chil23 dren participating in Head Start programs 

24 make a successful transition to the schools 

25 that the children will be attending; and 
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1 ‘‘(ix) the unique challenges faced by 

2 individual programs, including those that 

3 are seasonal or short term, and those that 

4 serve rural populations; and 

5 ‘‘(C)(i) review and revise as necessary the 

6 performance standards in effect under this sub7 section; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) ensure that any such revisions in the 

9 performance standards will not result in the 

10 elimination of or any reduction in quality, scope 

11 or types of health, education, parental involve12 ment, nutritional, social, or other services re13 quired to be provided under such standards as 

14 in effect on October 27, 1998. 

15 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS

16 TO DELEGATE AGENCIES.—In developing standards 

17 under this subsection, the Secretary shall describe 

18 the obligations of a Head Start agency to a delegate 

19 agency to which the Head Start agency has dele20 gated responsibility for providing services under this 

21 subchapter and determine whether the Head Start 

22 agency complies with the standards. The Secretary 

23 shall consider such compliance during the review de24 scribed in subsection (c)(1)(A) and in determining 
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1 whether to renew financial assistance to the Head 

2 Start agency under this subchapter. 

3 ‘‘(b) MEASURES.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta5 tion with representatives of Head Start agencies and 

6 with experts in the fields of early childhood edu7 cation and development, shall use the study on De8 velopmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young 

9 Children by the National Academy of Sciences to 

10 provide guidance to Head Start agencies for utilizing 

11 scientifically-based measures that support, as appro12 priate—

13 ‘‘(A) classroom instructional practices; 

14 ‘‘(B) identification of special needs; and 

15 ‘‘(C) program evaluation. 

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

17 measures under this subsection shall 

18 ‘‘(A) be developmentally, linguistically, and 

19 culturally appropriate for the population served; 

20 ‘‘(B) be reviewed not less than every 4 

21 years, based on advances in the science of early 

22 childhood development; 

23 ‘‘(C) be consistent with relevant, nationally 

24 recognized professional and technical standards 

25 related to the assessment of young children; 
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1 ‘‘(D) be valid and reliable (in English, 

2 Spanish, and any other language, as appro3 priate); 

4 ‘‘(E) be administered by staff with appro5 priate training for such administration; 

6 ‘‘(F) provide appropriate accommodations 

7 for children with disabilities and children who 

8 are limited English proficient; and 

9 ‘‘(G) be high-quality research-based meas10 ures that have been demonstrated to assist with 

11 the purposes for which they were devised. 

12 ‘‘(3) USE OF MEASURES; LIMITATIONS ON

13 USE.—

14 ‘‘(A) Measures shall be designed for the 

15 purpose of—

16 ‘‘(i) promoting the skills, knowledge, 

17 and competencies of children participating 

18 in Head Start programs specified in sub19 section (a)(1)(B)(ii), with an emphasis on 

20 measuring skills that scientifically-based 

21 research has demonstrated are related to 

22 children’s school readiness and later suc23 cess in school; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) improving classroom practices, 

2 including reviewing children’s strengths 

3 and weaknesses; 

4 ‘‘(iii) identifying special needs; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) improving overall program per6 formance in order to help programs iden7 tify problem areas that may require addi8 tional training and technical assistance re9 sources. 

10 ‘‘(B) Such measures shall not be used to 

11 exclude children from Head Start programs. 

12 ‘‘(4) SUSPENDED IMPLEMENTATION OF NA13 TIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall—

14 ‘‘(A) suspend implementation and termi15 nate further development and use of the Na16 tional Reporting System; and 

17 ‘‘(B) incorporate, as appropriate, rec18 ommendations from the study on Develop19 mental Outcomes and Assessments for Young 

20 Children by the National Academy of Sciences 

21 into any assessment used in the Head Start 

22 programs, in accordance with paragraphs (2) 

23 and (3). 

24 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE.—The use of assessment 

25 items and data on any assessment authorized under 
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1 this subchapter by an agent or agents of the Federal 

2 Government to provide rewards or sanctions for indi3 vidual children or teachers is prohibited. The Sec4 retary shall not use the results of a single assess5 ment as the sole or primary method for assessing 

6 program effectiveness or making grantee funding de7 terminations at the national, regional, or local level. 

8 ‘‘(6) CONFIDENTIALITY.—

9 ‘‘(A) The Secretary, through regulation, 

10 shall ensure the confidentiality of any person11 ally identifiable data, information and records 

12 collected or maintained by the Secretary and 

13 any Head Start agency. Such regulations shall 

14 provide the policies, protections, and rights 

15 equivalent to those provided a parent, student, 

16 or educational agency or institution under sec17 tion 444 of the General Education Provisions 

18 Act. 

19 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this subsection shall be 

20 construed to authorize the development of a na21 tionwide database of personally identifiable in22 formation on children participating in measures 

23 under this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(c) MONITORING OF LOCAL AGENCIES AND PRO25 GRAMS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To determine whether 

2 Head Start agencies meet standards established 

3 under this subchapter with respect to program, ad4 ministrative, financial management, and other re5 quirements and in order to help programs identify 

6 areas for improvement and areas of strengths as 

7 part of an on-going self-assessment process, the Sec8 retary shall develop and use a risk-based assessment 

9 system to conduct the following reviews of Head 

10 Start agencies, and of the Head Start programs op11 erated by such agencies: 

12 ‘‘(A) A full review of each such agency at 

13 least once during each 3-year period. 

14 ‘‘(B) A review of each newly designated 

15 Head Start agency immediately after the com16 pletion of the first year such agency carries out 

17 a Head Start program. 

18 ‘‘(C) Followup reviews, including unan19 nounced reviews as appropriate, of programs 

20 with 1 or more findings of deficiencies not later 

21 than 12 months after the date of such finding. 

22 ‘‘(D) other reviews, including unannounced 

23 site inspections of Head Start centers, as ap24 propriate. 
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1 ‘‘(2) CONDUCT OF REVIEWS.—The Secretary 

2 shall ensure that reviews described in subparagraphs 

3 (A) through (C) of paragraph (1)—

4 ‘‘(A) are conducted by review teams that—

5 ‘‘(i) include individuals who are 

6 knowledgeable about Head Start programs 

7 and, to the maximum extent practicable, 

8 the diverse (including linguistic and cul9 tural) needs of eligible children (including 

10 children with disabilities) and limited11 English proficient children and their fami12 lies; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) include, to the maximum extent 

14 practicable, current or former employees of 

15 the Department of Health and Human 

16 Services who are knowledgeable about 

17 Head Start programs; 

18 ‘‘(B) include as part of the reviews of the 

19 programs, a review and assessment of program 

20 strengths and areas in need of improvement; 

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

22 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

23 programs have adequately addressed the popu24 lation and community needs (including popu25 lations of children with limited English pro-
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1 ficiency and children of migrant and seasonal 

2 farm-working families); 

3 ‘‘(D) include as part of the review the ex4 tent to which the program addresses the com5 munity needs and strategic plan identified in 

6 section 640(g)(2)(C); 

7 ‘‘(E) include as part of the review the im8 plementation by qualified individuals with dem9 onstrated reliability, of a valid and reliable re10 search-based observational instrument that as11 sesses classroom quality, including multiple di12 mensions of teacher-child interactions that are 

13 linked to positive child development and later 

14 achievement; 

15 ‘‘(F) are conducted in a manner that eval16 uates program performance, quality, and overall 

17 operations with consistency and objectivity, and 

18 based on a transparent and reliable system of 

19 review; 

20 ‘‘(G) in the case of Early Head Start pro21 grams, are conducted by a review team that in22 cludes individuals who are knowledgeable about 

23 the development of infants and toddlers; and 

24 ‘‘(H) include as part of the review a pro25 tocol for fiscal management that shall be used 
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1 to assess the compliance with program require2 ments for—

3 ‘‘(i) using federal funds appropriately; 

4 ‘‘(ii) using federal funds specifically to 

5 purchase property and to compensate per6 sonnel; 

7 ‘‘(iii) securing and using qualified fis8 cal officer support; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) reporting financial information 

10 and implementing appropriate internal 

11 controls to safeguard federal funds. 

12 ‘‘(3) USE OF REVIEW FINDINGS.—The findings 

13 of the review shall, at a minimum—

14 ‘‘(A) be presented to an agency in a timely, 

15 transparent, and uniform manner that conveys 

16 information of program strengths and weak17 nesses and assists with program improvement; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) be used by the Head Start agencies 

20 to inform the development and implementation 

21 of their plan for training and technical assist22 ance. 

23 ‘‘(d) EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS FOR

24 DELEGATE AGENCIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURES.—The Head Start agency 

2 shall establish procedures relating to its delegate 

3 agencies, including—

4 ‘‘(A) procedures for evaluating delegate 

5 agencies; 

6 ‘‘(B) procedures for defunding delegate 

7 agencies; and 

8 ‘‘(C) procedures for appealing a defunding 

9 decision relating to a delegate agency. 

10 ‘‘(2) EVALUATIONS.—Each Head Start agen11 cy—

12 ‘‘(A) shall evaluate its delegate agencies 

13 using the procedures established under this sec14 tion; and 

15 ‘‘(B) shall inform the delegate agencies of 

16 the deficiencies identified through the evalua17 tion that are required to be corrected. 

18 ‘‘(3) REMEDIES TO ENSURE CORRECTIVE AC19 TIONS.—If the Head Start agency identifies a defi20 ciency of a delegate agency through the evaluation, 

21 the Head Start agency may—

22 ‘‘(A) initiate procedures to terminate the 

23 designation of the delegate agency unless such 

24 agency corrects the deficiency; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) conduct monthly monitoring visits to 

2 such delegate agency until all deficiencies are 

3 corrected or the Head Start agency decides to 

4 defund such delegate agency. 

5 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

6 this subsection shall be construed to modify, super7 sede, or affect the powers, duties, or functions of the 

8 Secretary with respect to Head Start agencies or 

9 delegate agencies that receive financial assistance 

10 under this subchapter. 

11 ‘‘(e) CORRECTIVE ACTION; TERMINATION.—

12 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—If the Secretary deter13 mines, on the basis of a review pursuant to sub14 section (c), that a Head Start agency designated 

15 pursuant to section 641 fails to meet the standards 

16 described in subsection (a) or fails to adequately ad17 dress the community needs and strategic plan identi18 fied in section 640(g)(2)(C), the Secretary shall—

19 ‘‘(A) inform the agency of the deficiencies 

20 that shall be corrected; 

21 ‘‘(B) with respect to each identified defi22 ciency, require the agency—

23 ‘‘(i) to correct the deficiency imme24 diately, if the Secretary finds that the defi25 ciency threatens the health or safety of 
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1 staff or program participants or poses a 

2 threat to the integrity of Federal funds; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to correct the deficiency not later 

4 than 90 days after the identification of the 

5 deficiency if the Secretary finds, in the dis6 cretion of the Secretary, that such a 90-

7 day period is reasonable, in light of the na8 ture and magnitude of the deficiency; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) in the discretion of the Sec10 retary (taking into consideration the seri11 ousness of the deficiency and the time rea12 sonably required to correct the deficiency), 

13 to comply with the requirements of para14 graph (2) concerning a quality improve15 ment plan; and 

16 ‘‘(C) initiate proceedings to terminate the 

17 designation of the agency unless the agency cor18 rects the deficiency. 

19 ‘‘(2) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—

20 ‘‘(A) AGENCY AND PROGRAM RESPONSIBIL21 ITIES.—To retain a designation as a Head 

22 Start agency under this subchapter, or in the 

23 case of a Head Start program to continue to re24 ceive funds from such agency, a Head Start 

25 agency, or Head Start program that is the sub-
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1 ject of a determination described in paragraph 

2 (1) (excluding an agency or program required 

3 to correct a deficiency immediately or during a 

4 90-day period under clause (i) or (ii) of para5 graph (1)(B)) shall—

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

7 quality improvement plan that shall be 

8 subject to the approval of the secretary, or 

9 in the case of a program, the sponsoring 

10 agency, and which shall specify—

11 ‘‘(I) the deficiencies to be cor12 rected; 

13 ‘‘(II) the actions to be taken to 

14 correct such deficiencies; and 

15 ‘‘(III) the timetable for accom16 plishment of the corrective actions 

17 specified; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) eliminate each deficiency identi19 fied, not later than the date for elimination 

20 of such deficiency specified in such plan 

21 (which shall not be later than 10 months 

22 after the date the agency or program ob23 tains approval of its quality improvement 

24 plan). 
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1 ‘‘(B) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Not 

2 later than 30 days after receiving from a Head 

3 Start agency a proposed quality improvement 

4 plan pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Sec5 retary shall either approve such proposed plan 

6 or specify the reasons why the proposed plan 

7 cannot be approved. 

8 ‘‘(C) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRO9 GRAM IMPROVEMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

10 after receiving from a Head Start program, a 

11 proposed quality improvement plan pursuant to 

12 subparagraph (A), the Head Start agency shall 

13 either approve such proposed plan or specify 

14 the reasons why the proposed plan cannot be 

15 approved. 

16 ‘‘(3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

17 The Secretary shall provide training and technical 

18 assistance to Head Start agencies and programs 

19 with respect to the development or implementation 

20 of such quality improvement plans to the extent the 

21 Secretary finds such provision to be feasible and ap22 propriate given available funding and other statutory 

23 responsibilities. 

24 ‘‘(f) SUMMARIES OF MONITORING OUTCOMES.—Not 

25 later than 120 days after the end of each fiscal year, the 
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1 Secretary shall publish a summary report on the findings 

2 of reviews conducted under subsection (c) and on the out3 comes of quality improvement plans implemented under 

4 subsection (e), during such fiscal year. Such report shall 

5 be made available to all parents with children receiving 

6 assistance under this subchapter in an understandable and 

7 uniform format, and to the extent practicable, provided 

8 in a language that the parents can understand, and in ad9 dition, make the information widely available through pub10 lic means such as distribution through public agencies, 

11 and at a minimum posting such information on the Inter12 net immediately upon publication. Such reports shall con13 tain detailed data on compliance with specific performance 

14 standards and measures sufficient to allow individual 

15 Head Start agencies to use such data to improve the qual16 ity of their program. 

17 ‘‘(g) SELF-ASSESSMENTS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

19 once each program year, with the consultation and 

20 participation of policy councils, and as applicable, 

21 policy committees, and as appropriate, other commu22 nity members, each Head Start agency and each del23 egate agency that receives financial assistance under 

24 this subchapter shall conduct a comprehensive self25 assessment of its effectiveness and progress in meet-
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1 ing program goals and objectives (including profes2 sional development plans) and in implementing and 

3 complying with Head Start program performance 

4 standards. 

5 ‘‘(2) REPORT AND IMPROVEMENT PLANS.—

6 ‘‘(A) REPORT.—An agency conducting a 

7 self-assessment shall report the findings of the 

8 self-assessment to the relevant policy council, 

9 policy committee, governing body, and Sec10 retary. Each self-assessment shall identify areas 

11 of strength and weakness. 

12 ‘‘(B) IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—The agency 

13 shall develop and report to the Secretary an im14 provement plan approved by the governing body 

15 of the agency to strengthen any areas identified 

16 in the self-assessment as weaknesses or in need 

17 of improvement. 

18 ‘‘(3) ONGOING MONITORING.—Each Head Start 

19 agency, delegate Head Start agency, and entity that 

20 carries out an Early Head Start program shall es21 tablish and implement procedures for the ongoing 

22 monitoring of their respective programs, to ensure 

23 that the operations of the programs work toward 

24 meeting program goals and objectives and Head 

25 Start performance standards. 
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1 ‘‘(h) ENROLLMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—

2 ‘‘(1) Head Start agencies shall report on a reg3 ular basis to the Secretary—

4 ‘‘(A) the actual enrollment in such pro5 gram; and 

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

7 the funded enrollment, any apparent reason for 

8 such enrollment shortfall. 

9 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall determine on a regular 

10 basis which Head Start agencies are operating with 

11 an actual enrollment that is less than the funded en12 rollment and shall provide appropriate and timely 

13 training and technical assistance to increase actual 

14 enrollment, as appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(3) In this subsection: 

16 ‘‘(A) The term ‘actual enrollment’ means, 

17 with respect to a Head Start program, the ac18 tual number of children enrolled in such pro19 gram in a given month. 

20 ‘‘(B) The term ‘base grant’ means, with 

21 respect to Head Start agency for a fiscal year, 

22 that portion of the grant derived from—

23 ‘‘(i) amounts reserved for use in ac24 cordance with section 640(a)(2)(A), for a 

25 Head Start agency administering an In-
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1 dian Head Start program or migrant and 

2 seasonal Head Start program; 

3 ‘‘(ii) amounts reserved for payments 

4 under section 640(a)(2)(B); or 

5 ‘‘(iii) amounts available under section 

6 640(a)(2)(D) or allotted among States 

7 under section 640(a)(4). 

8 ‘‘(C) The term ‘funded enrollment’ means, 

9 with respect to the program of a Head Start 

10 agency in a fiscal year, the number of children 

11 that the agency is funded to serve through a 

12 grant for the program during such fiscal year, 

13 as indicated in the grant award. 

14 ‘‘(i) REDISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Funds held by 

15 the Secretary as a result of recapturing, withholding, or 

16 reducing a base grant, except when such action is the re17 sult of an open competition 641(d)) or termination 646(d) 

18 shall be redistributed in such fiscal year as follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) If such funds are derived from an Indian 

20 Head Start program, then such funds shall be redis21 tributed to increase enrollment in such fiscal year in 

22 1 or more Indian Head Start programs. 

23 ‘‘(2) If such funds are derived from the oper24 ation of a migrant and seasonal Head Start pro25 gram, then such funds shall be redistributed to in-
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1 crease enrollment in such fiscal year in 1 or more 

2 migrant and seasonal Head Start programs. 

3 ‘‘(3) If such funds are derived from the oper4 ation of a Head Start program in a State (excluding 

5 Indian Head Start program and migrant and sea6 sonal Head Start programs), then such funds shall 

7 be redistributed to increase enrollment in such fiscal 

8 year in 1 or more Head Start programs (excluding 

9 Indian Head Start programs and migrant and sea10 sonal Head Start programs) that are carried out in 

11 such State, except that—

12 ‘‘(A) not less than 50 percent of the funds 

13 shall be prioritized to increase the program par14 ticipation of children and families served under 

15 Early Head Start; and 

16 ‘‘(B) not less than 25 percent of the funds 

17 shall be prioritized to increase program partici18 pation of underserved populations of eligible 

19 children.’’. 

20 SEC. 8. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN21 CIES. 

22 Section 642 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837) 

23 is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 642. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN2 CIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) LEGAL AUTHORITY.—To be designated as a 

4 Head Start agency under this subchapter, an agency must 

5 have authority under its charter or applicable law to re6 ceive and administer funds under this subchapter, funds 

7 and contributions from private or local public sources 

8 which may be used in support of a Head Start program, 

9 and funds under any Federal or State assistance program 

10 pursuant to which a public or private nonprofit or for11 profit agency (as the case may be) organized in accordance 

12 with this subchapter, could act as grantee, contractor, or 

13 sponsor of projects appropriate for inclusion in a Head 

14 Start program. Such an agency must also be empowered 

15 to transfer funds so received, and to delegate powers to 

16 other agencies, subject to the powers of its governing 

17 board and its overall program responsibilities. The power 

18 to transfer funds and delegate powers must include the 

19 power to make transfers and delegations covering compo20 nent projects in all cases where this will contribute to effi21 ciency and effectiveness or otherwise further program ob22 jectives. 

23 ‘‘(b) FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT; FAM24 ILY SERVICES.—To be so designated, a Head Start agency 

25 shall, at a minimum, do all the following to involve and 

26 serve families and communities: 
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1 ‘‘(1) Establish effective procedures by which 

2 parents and area residents concerned will be enabled 

3 to directly participate in decisions that influence the 

4 character of programs affecting their interests. 

5 ‘‘(2) Seek the involvement of parents, area resi6 dents, and local business in the design and imple7 mentation of the program. 

8 ‘‘(3) Establish effective procedures to facilitate 

9 and seek the involvement of parents of participating 

10 children in activities designed to help such parents 

11 become full partners in the education of their chil12 dren, and to afford such parents the opportunity to 

13 participate in the development and overall conduct of 

14 the program at the local level, including a process 

15 through which parents of children currently partici16 pating in a Head Start program or an Early Head 

17 Start program select the parent representatives to 

18 serve on the council under section 642(b)(4)(B)(ii). 

19 ‘‘(4) Offer (directly or through referral to local 

20 entities, such as entities carrying out Even Start 

21 programs under subpart 3 of part B of title I of the 

22 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

23 (20 U.S.C. 2741 et seq.)), to parents of partici24 pating children, family literacy services and par25 enting skills training. 
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1 ‘‘(5) Offer to parents of participating children 

2 mental health services (either directly or through re3 ferral to local entities), including substance abuse 

4 counseling, and including information on maternal 

5 depression and on drug-exposed infants and fetal al6 cohol syndrome. 

7 ‘‘(6) At the option of such agency, offer (di8 rectly or through referral to local entities) to such 

9 parents—

10 ‘‘(A) training in basic child development 

11 (including cognitive, social, and emotional devel12 opment); 

13 ‘‘(B) assistance in developing literacy and 

14 communication skills; 

15 ‘‘(C) opportunities to share experiences 

16 with other parents (including parent-mentor re17 lationships); 

18 ‘‘(D) mental and behavioral health serv19 ices; 

20 ‘‘(E) regular in-home visitation; or 

21 ‘‘(F) any other activity designed to help 

22 such parents become full partners in the edu23 cation of their children. 

24 ‘‘(7) Provide, with respect to each participating 

25 family, a family needs assessment that includes con-
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1 sultation with such parents, in a manner and lan2 guage that such parents can understand, about the 

3 benefits of parent involvement and about the activi4 ties described in paragraphs (5) through (8) in 

5 which such parents may choose to be involved (tak6 ing into consideration their specific family needs, 

7 work schedules, and other responsibilities). 

8 ‘‘(8) Consider providing services to assist 

9 younger siblings of children participating in its Head 

10 Start program to obtain health, including mental 

11 health, services from other sources. 

12 ‘‘(9) Perform community outreach to encourage 

13 individuals previously unaffiliated with Head Start 

14 programs to participate in its Head Start program 

15 as volunteers. 

16 ‘‘(10)(A) Inform custodial parents in single-par17 ent families that participate in programs, activities, 

18 or services carried out or provided under this sub19 chapter about the availability of child support serv20 ices for purposes of establishing paternity and ac21 quiring child support; and 

22 ‘‘(B) Refer eligible parents to the child support 

23 offices of State and local governments. 

24 ‘‘(11) Provide parents of limited English pro25 ficient children outreach and services under this sub-
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1 chapter, in an understandable and uniform format 

2 and, to the extent practicable, in a language that 

3 such parents can understand. 

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

6 their own behalf available assistance from public and 

7 private sources. 

8 ‘‘(13) Promote the continued involvement of the 

9 parents (including grandparents and kinship care10 givers, as appropriate) of children that participate in 

11 Head Start programs in the education of their chil12 dren upon transition to school, the Head Start agen13 cy shall work with the local educational agency—

14 ‘‘(A) to provide training to the parents; 

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

16 rights and responsibilities concerning the 

17 education of their children; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) to enable the parents—

19 ‘‘(I) to understand and work with 

20 schools in order to communicate with 

21 teachers and other school personnel; 

22 ‘‘(II) to support the schoolwork 

23 of their children; and 
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1 ‘‘(III) to participate as appro2 priate in decisions relating to the edu3 cation of their children; and 

4 ‘‘(B) to take other actions, as appropriate 

5 and feasible, to support the active involvement 

6 of the parents with schools, school personnel, 

7 and school-related organizations. 

8 ‘‘(14) Provide parents of a child suspected of 

9 having a disability information about services avail10 able under section 619 or part C of the Individuals 

11 With Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 

12 1431 et seq.) and refer such child to the appropriate 

13 agency for an evaluation of eligibility under such 

14 Act. 

15 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM GOVERNANCE.—Head Start agencies 

16 must establish and maintain a formal structure of shared 

17 governance through which an independent governing body 

18 with legal and fiscal responsibility for administering and 

19 overseeing programs under this subchapter and a parent 

20 policy council and parent policy committee, as appropriate, 

21 shall ensure that such agency operates a high quality 

22 Head Start program in compliance with all applicable 

23 Federal, State, and local laws. 

24 ‘‘(1) GOVERNING BODY.—
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1 ‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.—The governing body 

2 shall be composed as follows: 

3 ‘‘(i) Not less than 1 member with sig4 nificant financial management or account5 ing experience. 

6 ‘‘(ii) Not less than 1 member shall 

7 have a background and expertise in early 

8 childhood development. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Not less than 1 member shall be 

10 a licensed attorney familiar with issues 

11 that come before the governing body. 

12 ‘‘(iv) Additional members shall be se13 lected for their expertise in education, 

14 business administration, and community 

15 affairs and shall reflect the community 

16 served. 

17 ‘‘(v) Exceptions shall be made when 

18 members of the governing body oversee a 

19 public entity and are selected by public 

20 election or are political appointments. 

21 ‘‘(B) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Members 

22 of the governing body shall—

23 ‘‘(i) not have a conflict of interest 

24 with the Head Start agency or delegate 

25 agencies, exceptions shall be made when a 
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1 board member of a public entity is selected 

2 by election or politically appointed; 

3 ‘‘(ii) not receive compensation for the 

4 purposes of serving on the governing body 

5 or for providing services to the Head Start 

6 agency, exceptions shall be made when a 

7 board member of a public entity is selected 

8 by election or politically appointed; 

9 ‘‘(iii) not be employed nor shall mem10 bers of their immediate family be employed 

11 by the Head Start agency or one of its del12 egate agencies, exceptions shall be made 

13 when a board member of a public entity is 

14 selected by election or politically appointed; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(iv) operate as an entity independent 

17 of staff employed by the Head Start agen18 cy entity or applicant, exceptions shall be 

19 made when a board member of a public en20 tity is selected by election or politically ap21 pointed. 

22 ‘‘(C) CONSULTANTS.—In the case that 

23 persons described in subparagraph (A) are not 

24 available to serve as members, the governing 

25 body shall make use of consultants in the areas 
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1 described in subparagraph (A) to work directly 

2 with the governing body. 

3 ‘‘(D) TRAINING.—All members of the gov4 erning body shall receive training in manage5 ment responsibilities and obligations, ethics, 

6 and financial literacy management. 

7 ‘‘(E) RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNING

8 BODY.—The governing body shall be responsible 

9 for—

10 ‘‘(i) adoption of practices that assure 

11 active, independent and informed govern12 ance of the Head Start agency; 

13 ‘‘(ii) oversight to ensure that the 

14 Head Start agency under the direction of 

15 the executive director is delivering high 

16 quality services to children and families in 

17 compliance with all applicable standards in 

18 effect under this subchapter and with the 

19 applicable performance measures estab20 lished by the Secretary under section 644; 

21 ‘‘(iii) establish an audit and finance 

22 committee whose primary responsibility 

23 shall be—
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1 ‘‘(I) to approve annually the op2 erating budget of the Head Start 

3 agency; 

4 ‘‘(II) to review and recommend 

5 to the governing body the selection of 

6 independent auditors who shall report 

7 all critical accounting policies and 

8 practices to the finance and audit 

9 committee, except when the auditor is 

10 assigned by the State under State 

11 law; 

12 ‘‘(III) to review and recommend 

13 to the governing body the termination 

14 or extension of the existing audit firm 

15 at least once every 5 years; 

16 ‘‘(IV) to review and advise the 

17 governing body of the audit manage18 ment letter provided pursuant to the 

19 chapter 75 of title 31, United States 

20 Code, and of any audit findings; and 

21 ‘‘(V) to monitor agency actions to 

22 correct any such audit findings or 

23 other actions necessary to comply with 

24 applicable laws (including regulations) 
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1 governing financial statements and ac2 counting practices; 

3 ‘‘(iv) approve all major policies of the 

4 agency, including the mission of the agency 

5 and policies addressing accounting, finan6 cial management, procurement, record con7 fidentiality, and personnel (including spe8 cific standards governing salaries, salary 

9 adjustments, travel and per diem allow10 ances, and other employee benefits); 

11 ‘‘(v) approve all major financial ex12 penditures of the agency; 

13 ‘‘(vi) approve the selection or dis14 missal of the Head Start Director or the 

15 equivalent position within the Head Start 

16 agency; 

17 ‘‘(vii) approve or disapprove all poli18 cies, applications, and decisions of the Pol19 icy Council made under the authority of 

20 paragraph (2); 

21 ‘‘(viii) to oversee the program plan22 ning of the Head Start agency, including 

23 adoption of policies for setting long- and 

24 short-range goals and objectives; 
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1 ‘‘(ix) oversee and approve the agency’s 

2 applications to receive funds made avail3 able under this subchapter; and 

4 ‘‘(x) to establish, adopt and periodi5 cally update written standards of conduct 

6 that establish standards and formal proce7 dures for disclosing, addressing, and re8 solving—

9 ‘‘(I) any conflict of interest, and 

10 any appearance of a conflict of inter11 est, by members of the governing 

12 body, officers, employees, consultants 

13 and agents who provide services or 

14 furnish goods to the Head Start agen15 cy; and 

16 ‘‘(II) complaints, including inves17 tigations, when appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(2) POLICY COUNCIL.—

19 ‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.—The Policy Council 

20 or Policy Committee, as appropriate, shall be 

21 composed as follows: 

22 ‘‘(i) Members of the Policy Council 

23 shall be either parents of children currently 

24 enrolled in the Head Start agency’s (or 

25 delegate’s) Head Start or Early Head 
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1 Start program or that are parents of chil2 dren who were enrolled in the program in 

3 the previous year (Parent Members) or 

4 shall be members of the community served 

5 by the Head Start agency or delegate 

6 (Community Members). 

7 ‘‘(ii) Parent members of the Policy 

8 Council shall constitute a majority of the 

9 members of the Policy Council and shall be 

10 elected by parents of currently enrolled 

11 children. 

12 ‘‘(iii) Parent members shall represent, 

13 proportionately, all program options and 

14 settings operated by the Head Start agen15 cy or delegate. 

16 ‘‘(iv) The term of a Policy Council 

17 member shall be no more than 2 years and 

18 no Policy Council member shall serve 

19 longer than 6 years. 

20 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES OF POLICY COUN21 CIL.—In order to be designated as a Head 

22 Start agency, an entity or delegate of such an 

23 entity shall have a Policy Council which shall 

24 approve and submit to the governing body deci25 sions about the following activities: 
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1 ‘‘(i) The strategic direction of the pro2 gram, including long and short-term plan3 ning goals and objectives (such planning 

4 and goals shall take into account the an5 nual community assessment and self-as6 sessment). 

7 ‘‘(ii) Selection of delegate agencies 

8 and their service areas. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Recruitment, selection and en10 rollment priorities. 

11 ‘‘(iv) Funding applications and 

12 amendments to funding applications for 

13 Head Start or Early Head Start prior to 

14 submission of such applications. 

15 ‘‘(v) Budget planning for program ex16 penditures. 

17 ‘‘(vi) Bylaws for the operation of the 

18 Policy Council including procedures by 

19 which Policy Council members are chosen. 

20 ‘‘(vii) Program personnel policies, in21 cluding standards of conduct for program 

22 staff, contractors and volunteers. 

23 ‘‘(viii) Decisions regarding employ24 ment of Head Start staff other than the 

25 director and executive director. 
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1 ‘‘(ix) Activities to support the active 

2 involvement of parents in supporting pro3 gram operations. 

4 ‘‘(x) Program responsiveness to com5 munity and parent needs. 

6 ‘‘(C) TRAINING.—Appropriate training and 

7 technical assistance shall be provided to the 

8 members of the Policy Council to ensure that 

9 the members understand the information the 

10 members receive and effectively oversee and 

11 participate in the programs of the Head Start 

12 agency or delegate. 

13 ‘‘(3) IMPASSE POLICY.—The Secretary shall de14 velop policies and procedures describing how Head 

15 Start agencies will implement shared decision-mak16 ing, including a process for resolving any impasse 

17 between the Governing Body and the Policy Council. 

18 ‘‘(d) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—To be 

19 so designated, a Head Start agency must collaborate and 

20 coordinate with public and private entities to improve the 

21 available services to Head Start children and families, in22 cluding the following activities: 

23 ‘‘(1) Conduct outreach to schools in which chil24 dren participating in Head Start programs enroll, 

25 local educational agencies, the local business commu-
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1 nity, community-based organizations, faith-based or2 ganizations, museums, and libraries to generate sup3 port and leverage the resources of the entire local 

4 community in order to improve school readiness. 

5 ‘‘(2) In communities where both public pre6 kindergarten programs and Head Start programs 

7 operate, a Head Start agency shall collaborate and 

8 coordinate activities with the local educational agen9 cy or other public agency responsible for the oper10 ation of the prekindergarten program and providers 

11 of prekindergarten, including outreach activities to 

12 identify eligible children, as possible. 

13 ‘‘(3) Head Start agency staff shall, with the 

14 permission of the parents of children enrolled in 

15 Head Start programs, regularly communicate with 

16 the elementary schools such children will be attend17 ing—

18 ‘‘(A) to share information about such chil19 dren; and 

20 ‘‘(B) to ensure a smooth transition to ele21 mentary school for such children. 

22 ‘‘(4) Each Head Start agency shall collaborate, 

23 as appropriate, with providers of social and commu24 nity services available to children and families par25 ticipating in Head Start programs, and may support 
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1 such partnerships with financial agreements, when 

2 applicable, for the provision of such services. 

3 ‘‘(5) A Head Start agency shall take steps to 

4 coordinate activities with the local educational agen5 cy serving the community involved and with schools 

6 in which children participating in a Head Start pro7 gram operated by such agency will enroll following 

8 such program, including—

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

10 transportation and facilities; 

11 ‘‘(B) collaborating to enhance the effi12 ciency of services while increasing the program 

13 participation of underserved populations of eli14 gible children; and 

15 ‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi16 sion of noneducational services to such children. 

17 ‘‘(6) The Secretary, in consultation with the 

18 Secretary of Education, shall—

19 ‘‘(A) evaluate the effectiveness of the 

20 projects and activities funded under section 

21 642A; 

22 ‘‘(B) disseminate to Head Start agencies 

23 information (including information from the 

24 evaluation required by subparagraph (A)) on ef25 fective policies and activities relating to the 
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1 transition of children from Head Start pro2 grams to public schools; and 

3 ‘‘(C) provide technical assistance to such 

4 agencies to promote and assist such agencies to 

5 adopt and implement such effective policies and 

6 activities. 

7 ‘‘(e) QUALITY STANDARDS, CURRICULA AND ASSESS8 MENT.—To be so designated, each Head Start agency 

9 shall—

10 ‘‘(1) take steps to ensure, to the maximum ex11 tent possible, that children maintain the develop12 mental and educational gains achieved in Head Start 

13 programs and build upon such gains in further 

14 schooling; 

15 ‘‘(2) establish a program with standards set 

16 forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular atten17 tion to the standards set forth in subparagraphs (A) 

18 and (B) of such section; 

19 ‘‘(3) implement a research-based early child20 hood curriculum that promotes young children’s 

21 school readiness in the areas of language and cog22 nitive development, early reading and 

23 premathematics skills, socio-emotional development, 

24 physical development, and approaches to learning. 

25 Such curricula shall be—
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1 ‘‘(A) based on scientifically based research 

2 and have standardized training procedures and 

3 curriculum materials to support implementa4 tion; 

5 ‘‘(B) comprehensive, linked to ongoing as6 sessment, with developmental and learning 

7 goals and measurable objectives; and focused on 

8 improving the learning environment, teaching 

9 practices, family involvement, and child out10 comes across all areas of development; and 

11 ‘‘(C) aligned to the Head Start Child Out12 comes Framework developed by the Secretary 

13 and to State early learning standards, as appro14 priate; 

15 ‘‘(4) use ongoing, research-based assessment 

16 methods that are developmentally appropriate, cul17 turally and linguistically responsive, and tied to chil18 dren’s daily activities in order to support the edu19 cational instruction of children in the program, in20 cluding language skills, prereading knowledge and 

21 premathematics knowledge. Assessment instruments 

22 shall be those designed and validated for making de23 cisions about teaching and learning and aligned with 

24 the programs curricula and section 641A(a)(1); 
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1 ‘‘(5) use high-quality research-based develop2 mental screening tools that have been demonstrated 

3 to be standardized, reliable, valid, and accurate for 

4 children from a range of racial, ethnic, linguistic, 

5 and cultural backgrounds, for the purpose of meet6 ing the relevant performance standards; 

7 ‘‘(6) adopt, in consultation with experts in child 

8 development and with classroom teachers, an assess9 ment to be used when hiring or evaluating any class10 room teacher in a center-based Head Start program. 

11 Such assessment shall measure whether such teacher 

12 has mastered the functions described in section 

13 648A(a)(1) and attained a level of literacy appro14 priate to implement Head Start curricula; 

15 ‘‘(7) use the information provided from the as16 sessment conducted under section 640A(c)(2)(H) to 

17 adopt a professional development plan that leads to 

18 improved teacher effectiveness; 

19 ‘‘(8) establish measurable objectives for the pro20 vision of health, educational, nutritional, and social 

21 services related to the program mission and to 

22 school readiness and provided under this subchapter; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(9) develop procedures for identifying children 

25 as limited English proficient, and inform the parents 
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1 of such children as to the instructional services used 

2 to help children make progress towards acquiring 

3 the knowledge and skills described in section 

4 641A(a)(1)(B) and acquisition of the English lan5 guage. 

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

7 Head Start agency shall enroll 100 percent of its funded 

8 enrollment and maintain an active waiting list at all times 

9 with ongoing outreach to the community and activities to 

10 identify underserved populations. 

11 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING

12 PLAN.—In order to receive funds under this subchapter, 

13 a Head Start agency shall develop an annual technical as14 sistance and training plan. Such plan shall be based on 

15 the agency’s self-assessment, the community-wide needs 

16 assessment, the needs of parents and children to be serv17 iced by such agency, and the results of the reviews con18 ducted under section 641A(c). 

19 ‘‘(h) FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.—In order to receive 

20 funds under this subchapter, a Head Start agency shall 

21 document strong fiscal controls, including the employment 

22 of well-qualified fiscal staff with a history of successful 

23 management of a public or private organization.’’. 
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1 SEC. 9. HEAD START TRANSITION AND ALIGNMENT WITH K2 12 EDUCATION. 

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

4 9837a) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 642A. HEAD START TRANSITION AND ALIGNMENT 

6 WITH K-12 EDUCATION. 

7 ‘‘Each Head Start agency shall take steps to coordi8 nate with the local educational agency serving the commu9 nity involved and with schools in which children partici10 pating in a Head Start program operated by such agency 

11 will enroll following such program to promote continuity 

12 of services and effective transitions, including—

13 ‘‘(1) developing and implementing a systematic 

14 procedure for transferring, with parental consent, 

15 Head Start program records for each participating 

16 child to the school in which such child will enroll; 

17 ‘‘(2) establishing ongoing channels of commu18 nication between Head Start staff and their counter19 parts in the schools (including teachers, social work20 ers, McKinney-Vento liaisons as established under 

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

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

23 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)), and health staff) to facilitate co24 ordination of programs; 

25 ‘‘(3) establish on-going communication for de26 veloping continuity of developmentally appropriate 
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1 curricula between Head Start and local educational 

2 agencies to ensure an effective transition and appro3 priate shared expectations for children’s learning 

4 and development as they make such transition to 

5 school; 

6 ‘‘(4) organizing and participating in joint train7 ing, including transition-related training for school 

8 staff and Head Start staff; 

9 ‘‘(5) conducting meetings involving parents, 

10 kindergarten or elementary school teachers, and 

11 Head Start program teachers to discuss the edu12 cational, developmental, and other needs of indi13 vidual children; 

14 ‘‘(6) helping parents of limited English Pro15 ficient children understand the method of instruction 

16 and other services provided by the school in which 

17 such child will enroll after participation in Head 

18 Start and as appropriate, information provided to 

19 parents of limited English proficient children under 

20 section 3302 of title III of the Elementary and Sec21 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20U.S.C. 7012); 

22 ‘‘(7) developing and implementing a family out23 reach and support program in cooperation with enti24 ties carrying out parental involvement efforts under 

25 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
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1 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and family 

2 outreach and support efforts under subtitle B of title 

3 VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 11431–11435); 

5 ‘‘(8) assisting families, administrators, and 

6 teachers in enhancing educational and developmental 

7 continuity and continuity in parental involvement ac8 tivities between Head Start services and elementary 

9 school classes; 

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

11 Start program with the education services, including 

12 services relating to language, literacy, and 

13 numeracy, provided by such local educational agen14 cy; 

15 ‘‘(10) helping parents (including grandparents 

16 and kinship caregivers, as appropriate) to under17 stand the importance of parental involvement in a 

18 child’s academic success while teaching them strate19 gies for maintaining parental involvement as their 

20 child moves from Head Start to elementary school; 

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

22 increase program participation of underserved popu23 lations of eligible children; and 
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1 ‘‘(12) coordinating activities and collaborating 

2 to ensure that curricula used in the Head Start pro3 gram are aligned with—

4 ‘‘(A) the Head Start Child Outcomes 

5 Framework as developed by the Secretary; and 

6 ‘‘(B) State early learning standards, as ap7 propriate, with regard to cognitive, social, emo8 tional, and physical competencies that children 

9 entering kindergarten are expected to dem10 onstrate.’’. 

11 SEC. 10. LOCAL AND STATE INTEGRATION OF EARLY 

12 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 

13 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831) is amended 

14 by inserting after section 642A the following: 

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

16 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 

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

18 agencies shall enter into ongoing partnerships with local 

19 educational agencies and with State-funded preschool and 

20 other early childhood programs. 

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

22 Head Start agency shall enter into a memorandum 

23 of understanding with any local educational agencies 

24 or local councils, responsible for managing publicly 

25 funded prekindergarten programs in the service area 
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1 of the Head Start agency (or if such agencies and 

2 such councils are not applicable in the service area, 

3 with the largest provider of publicly funded pre4 kindergarten in the service area), that shall include 

5 plans to coordinate the following activities: 

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

7 instruction. 

8 ‘‘(B) Public information dissemination and 

9 access to programs for families contacting any 

10 of the early childhood programs. 

11 ‘‘(C) Selection priorities for eligible chil12 dren to be served by programs. 

13 ‘‘(D) Service delivery areas. 

14 ‘‘(E) Staff training, including opportunities 

15 for joint staff training on topics such as aca16 demic content standards, instructional methods, 

17 and social and emotional development. 

18 ‘‘(F) Program technical assistance. 

19 ‘‘(G) Provision of additional services to 

20 meet the needs of working parents. 

21 ‘‘(H) Planning and parent education for 

22 smooth transitions to kindergarten as required 

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

24 ‘‘(I) Provision and use of facilities, trans25 portation, and other program elements. 
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1 ‘‘(J) Other elements mutually agreed to by 

2 the parties to such memorandum. 

3 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF MEMORANDA.—Each Head 

4 Start agency shall enter into a memorandum of un5 derstanding under paragraph (1) not later than 1 

6 year after the effective date of this section. 

7 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.—Each memo8 randum of understanding entered into under para9 graph (1) shall be submitted to the Secretary not 

10 later than 30 days after entering into such memo11 randum. 

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

13 comply with the requirement in paragraph (1) 

14 the Head Start agency shall notify the Sec15 retary and the chief executive officer of the 

16 State not later than 30 days after determining 

17 that they are unable to enter into such memo18 randum. The Secretary, in cooperation with the 

19 State Early Learning Council and the State Di20 rector of Head Start Collaboration, shall evalu21 ate the causes of failure to enter into a memo22 randum of understanding under paragraph (1). 

23 With the assistance of the State Early Learning 

24 Council and the State Director of Head Start 

25 Collaboration, all parties shall again attempt to 
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1 enter into a memorandum of understanding 

2 under paragraph (1). Then if no such memo3 randum of understanding is entered into, the 

4 Secretary shall make 1 of the following deter5 minations: 

6 ‘‘(i) The local educational agency, 

7 local council, or other appropriate entity is 

8 unable or unwilling to enter into such a 

9 memorandum despite reasonable efforts on 

10 the part of the Head Start agency. 

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

12 engaged in reasonable efforts to success13 fully negotiate and enter into a memo14 randum of understanding pursuant to 

15 paragraph (1). 

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

17 funded prekindergarten in the service area 

18 of the Head Start agency. 

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

20 Start agency is not making reasonable efforts 

21 to enter into a memorandum of understanding 

22 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Head Start 

23 agency shall be found to be noncompliant with 

24 program performance standards. 
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1 ‘‘(C) If the Secretary concludes that the 

2 local educational agency, local council, or other 

3 appropriate entity is not making reasonable ef4 forts to reach such a memorandum of under5 standing, the Head Start agency shall not be 

6 found out of compliance with paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(4) REVISION OF MEMORANDA.—Each memo8 randum of understanding shall be revised and re9 newed annually by the parties to such memorandum, 

10 in alignment with the beginning of the school year. 

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

12 absence of publicly funded prekindergarten in the 

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

14 agency shall submit notice to the Secretary and the 

15 chief executive officer of the State and shall work 

16 with the State Early Learning Council and the State 

17 Director of Head Start Collaboration to improve co18 ordination in their service area. 

19 ‘‘(b) STATE EARLY LEARNING COUNCILS.—From 

20 the amounts reserved under section 640(a)(2)(C)(iii), the 

21 Secretary shall award, upon submission of a written re22 quest and pursuant to the requirements of paragraph (2), 

23 an early learning collaboration grant to each State for the 

24 purposes of supporting a State Early Learning Council re25 sponsible for advancing the development of a coordinated 
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1 early childhood services delivery system in the State. A 

2 State that receives a grant under this subparagraph 

3 shall—

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

5 which shall include—

6 ‘‘(A) the State Director of Head Start Col7 laboration; 

8 ‘‘(B) representatives from the State pre9 school programs; 

10 ‘‘(C) representatives of local educational 

11 agencies; 

12 ‘‘(D) the State official who oversees child 

13 care programs; 

14 ‘‘(E) the State official who oversees section 

15 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabil16 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et 

17 seq.); 

18 ‘‘(F) the State official who oversees the 

19 State educational agency; 

20 ‘‘(G) representatives from Head Start 

21 agencies located in the State, including migrant 

22 and seasonal Head Start programs and Indian 

23 Head Start programs; 

24 ‘‘(H) representatives of local child care 

25 programs or organizations; and 
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1 ‘‘(I) a representative of the State agency 

2 responsible for health and mental health care; 

3 except that the chief executive officer of the State 

4 may designate an existing entity to serve as the 

5 Early Learning Council if such entity includes rep6 resentatives described in this paragraph; 

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

8 State for a fiscal year to carry out this subsection 

9 may be used by the State to pay not more than 50 

10 percent of the cost of carrying out this subsection; 

11 ‘‘(3) direct the early learning council to improve 

12 the coordination and quality of early childhood serv13 ices within the State, including—

14 ‘‘(A) to increase coordination and collabo15 ration among State preschool, Head Start pro16 grams, child care programs, early childhood 

17 special education, and other early childhood 

18 programs, including in the areas of outcomes 

19 and standards, technical assistance, coordina20 tion of services, cross-sector professional devel21 opment and training, community outreach, com22 munication, and better serving the needs of 

23 working families through provision of full-day 

24 and full-year early education services; 
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1 ‘‘(B) to work with State agencies respon2 sible for education, child care, and early inter3 vention to provide leadership and assistance to 

4 local Head Start programs, local education 

5 agencies, and State and locally funded pre6 school and child care programs to increase inte7 gration among early childhood programs 

8 through adoption of local memoranda of under9 standing described in subparagraph (A) and 

10 other means; 

11 ‘‘(C) to work with State agencies respon12 sible for education, child care, and early inter13 vention to provide leadership and assistance to 

14 develop developmentally appropriate standards 

15 for children birth through the early elementary 

16 grades to effect a smooth transition to and suc17 cess in the early elementary grades; 

18 ‘‘(D) to develop or conduct periodic State19 wide needs assessments concerning early care 

20 and education programs for children from birth 

21 to school entry; 

22 ‘‘(E) to work to identify and address bar23 riers to and opportunities for integration be24 tween entities carrying out Federal and State 
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1 child development, child care, and early child2 hood education programs; 

3 ‘‘(F) to develop recommendations regard4 ing means of establishing a unified data collec5 tion system for early care and education pro6 grams operating throughout the State; 

7 ‘‘(G) to address coordination of early 

8 learning programs with health care (including 

9 mental and behavioral health care), welfare, 

10 family literacy and services for homeless chil11 dren; 

12 ‘‘(H) to support a State system of early 

13 childhood education, and training and technical 

14 assistance that improves the quality of early 

15 learning programs and the capacity of such pro16 grams to deliver services pursuant to section 

17 648(b); 

18 ‘‘(I) to develop a plan for increasing the 

19 participation of children underrepresented in 

20 State early childhood education and child care 

21 programs, including Head Start, State pre22 school programs, and programs carried out 

23 under the Child Care and Development Block 

24 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 
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1 ‘‘(J) developing a Statewide professional 

2 development and career ladder plan for early 

3 care and education in the State; and 

4 ‘‘(K) assisting 2- and 4-year public and 

5 private institutions of higher education to de6 velop articulation agreements concerning de7 grees in early childhood and related fields. 

8 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be con9 strued to provide the Early Learning Council with 

10 authority to modify, supersede, or affect the oper11 ation of this subchapter. 

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

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

14 Federal, State, and local funds that would otherwise 

15 be expended to carry out the purposes of this sec16 tion.’’. 

17 SEC. 11. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND STAND18 ARDS. 

19 Section 644 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9839) 

20 is amended—

21 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

24 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS.—Each Head Start agency 

25 shall observe standards of organization, manage-
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1 ment, and administration which will ensure, so far 

2 as reasonably possible, that all program activities 

3 are conducted in a manner consistent with the pur4 poses of this subchapter and the objective of pro5 viding assistance effectively, efficiently, and free of 

6 any taint of partisan political bias or personal or 

7 family favoritism. Each such agency shall establish 

8 or adopt rules to carry out this section, which shall 

9 include rules to assure full staff accountability in 

10 matters governed by law, regulations, or agency pol11 icy. Each agency shall also provide for reasonable 

12 public access to information, including public hear13 ings at the request of appropriate community groups 

14 and reasonable public access to books and records of 

15 the agency or other agencies engaged in program ac16 tivities or operations involving the use of authority 

17 or funds for which it is responsible. 

18 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each Head Start 

19 agency shall make available to the public a report 

20 published at least once in each fiscal year that dis21 closes the following information from the then most 

22 recently concluded fiscal year, except that reporting 

23 such information shall not reveal personally identifi24 able information about an individual child or parent: 
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1 ‘‘(A) The total amount of public and pri2 vate funds received and the amount from each 

3 source. 

4 ‘‘(B) An explanation of budgetary expendi5 tures and proposed budget for the following fis6 cal year. 

7 ‘‘(C) The total number of children and 

8 families served and percent of average monthly 

9 enrollment, including the percent of eligible 

10 children served. 

11 ‘‘(D) The results of the most recent review 

12 by the Secretary and the financial audit. 

13 ‘‘(E) The percentage of enrolled children 

14 that received medical and dental exams. 

15 ‘‘(F) Information about parent involvement 

16 activities. 

17 ‘‘(G) The agency’s efforts to prepare chil18 dren for kindergarten. 

19 ‘‘(H) Any other information required by 

20 the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(3) PROCEDURAL CONDUCT.—Each such 

22 agency shall adopt for itself and other agencies 

23 using funds or exercising authority for which it is 

24 responsible, rules designed to—
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1 ‘‘(A) establish specific standards governing 

2 salaries, salary increases, travel and per diem 

3 allowances, and other employee benefits; 

4 ‘‘(B) assure that only persons capable of 

5 discharging their duties with competence and 

6 integrity are employed and that employees are 

7 promoted or advanced under impartial proce8 dures calculated to improve agency performance 

9 and effectiveness; 

10 ‘‘(C) guard against personal or financial 

11 conflicts of interest; and 

12 ‘‘(D) define employee duties in an appro13 priate manner which will in any case preclude 

14 employees from participating, in connection 

15 with the performance of their duties, in any 

16 form of picketing, protest, or other direct action 

17 which is in violation of law.’’, and 

18 (2) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(f) FACILITIES.—

21 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall establish uniform pro22 cedures for Head Start agencies to request approval 

23 to purchase facilities, or to request approval of the 

24 purchase (after December 31, 1986) of facilities, to 

25 be used to carry out Head Start programs. The Sec-
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1 retary shall suspend any proceedings pending 

2 against any Head Start agency to claim costs in3 curred in purchasing such facilities until the agency 

4 has been afforded an opportunity to apply for ap5 proval of the purchase and the Secretary has deter6 mined whether the purchase will be approved. The 

7 Secretary shall not be required to repay claims pre8 viously satisfied by Head Start agencies for costs in9 curred in the purchase of such facilities. 

10 ‘‘(2) Financial assistance provided under this 

11 subchapter may not be used by a Head Start agency 

12 to purchase a facility (including paying the cost of 

13 amortizing the principal and paying interest on 

14 loans) to be used to carry out a Head Start program 

15 unless the Secretary approves a request that is sub16 mitted by such agency and contains—

17 ‘‘(A) a description of the consultation con18 ducted by the Head Start agency with the pro19 viders in the community demonstrating capacity 

20 and capability to provide services under this 

21 subchapter, and of the potential for collabora22 tion with such providers and the cost effective23 ness of such collaboration as opposed to the 

24 cost effectiveness of the purchase of a facility; 
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1 ‘‘(B) a description of the site of the facility 

2 proposed to be purchased or that was previously 

3 purchased; 

4 ‘‘(C) the plans and specifications of such 

5 facility; 

6 ‘‘(D) information demonstrating that—

7 ‘‘(i) the proposed purchase will result, 

8 or the previous purchase has resulted, in 

9 savings when compared to the costs that 

10 would be incurred to acquire the use of an 

11 alternative facility to carry out such pro12 gram; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the lack of alternative facilities 

14 will prevent, or would have prevented, the 

15 operation of such program; 

16 ‘‘(E) in the case of a request regarding a 

17 previously purchased facility, information dem18 onstrating that the facility will be used prin19 cipally as a Head Start center, or a direct sup20 port facility for a Head Start program; and 

21 ‘‘(F) such other information and assur22 ances as the Secretary may require. 

23 ‘‘(3) Upon a determination by the Secretary 

24 that suitable facilities are not otherwise available to 

25 Indian tribes to carry out Head Start programs, and 
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1 that the lack of suitable facilities will inhibit the op2 eration of such programs, the Secretary may author3 ize the use of financial assistance, from the amount 

4 reserved under section 640(a)(2)(A), to make pay5 ments for the purchase of facilities owned by such 

6 tribes. The amount of such a payment for such a fa7 cility shall not exceed the fair market value of the 

8 facility.’’. 

9 SEC. 12. PARTICIPATION IN HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

10 Section 645 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840) 

11 is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (a)—

13 (A) by amending paragraph (1)(B)(i) to 

14 read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(i) programs assisted under this sub16 chapter may include, to a reasonable ex17 tent, participation of children in the area 

18 served who would benefit from such pro19 grams, including children referred by child 

20 welfare services, but whose families do not 

21 meet the low-income criteria prescribed 

22 pursuant to subparagraph (A) (A homeless 

23 child shall be deemed to meet the low-in24 come criteria.); and’’, and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(3) The amount of a basic allowance provided under 

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

3 an individual who is a member of the uniformed services 

4 for housing that is acquired or constructed under the au5 thority of subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United 

6 States Code, or any other related provision of law, shall 

7 not be considered to be income for purposes of deter8 mining the eligibility of a child of the individual for pro9 grams assisted under this subchapter. 

10 ‘‘(4)(A) Upon written request and pursuant to the 

11 requirements of this paragraph, a Head Start agency may 

12 use funds under section 640(a) to serve infants and tod13 dlers if the agency submits an application to the Secretary 

14 containing the following information, as specified in rules 

15 issued by the Secretary—

16 ‘‘(i) the amount of funds under section 

17 640(a) that are proposed to be used in accord18 ance with section 645A(b); 

19 ‘‘(ii) a community-wide needs assessment 

20 demonstrating how the use of such funds would 

21 best meet the needs of the community; 

22 ‘‘(iii) a description of how the needs of 

23 pregnant women, and of infants and toddlers, 

24 will be addressed in accordance with section 

25 645A(b), and with regulations prescribed by the 
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1 Secretary pursuant to section 641A in areas in2 cluding the agency’s approach to child develop3 ment and provision of health services, approach 

4 to family and community partnerships, and ap5 proach to program design and management; 

6 ‘‘(iv) a description of how the needs of eli7 gible Head Start children will be met in the 

8 community; 

9 ‘‘(v) assurances that the agency will par10 ticipate in technical assistance activities (includ11 ing a planning period, start-up site visits, and 

12 national training activities) in the same manner 

13 as recipients of grants under section 645A; and 

14 ‘‘(vi) evidence that the agency meets the 

15 same eligibility criteria as recipients of grants 

16 under section 645A. 

17 ‘‘(B) An application that satisfies the require18 ments specified in subparagraph (A) shall be ap19 proved by the Secretary unless the Secretary finds 

20 that—

21 ‘‘(i) the agency lacks adequate capacity 

22 and capability to carry out an effective Early 

23 Head Start program; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) the information provided under sub25 paragraph (A) is inadequate. 
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1 ‘‘(C) Any Head Start agency approved under 

2 subparagraph (B) shall be considered to be an entity 

3 that receives assistance under section 645A, and 

4 such funds under (i) shall be subject to the same 

5 rules, regulations, and conditions as apply to recipi6 ents of grants under section 645A. 

7 ‘‘(5)(A) Upon written request and pursuant to 

8 the requirements of this paragraph, a Head Start 

9 agency may consider children from low-income fami10 lies to be eligible for participation in programs as11 sisted under this subchapter if their family income 

12 is at or above the poverty line but below 130 percent 

13 of the poverty line, if the agency submits an applica14 tion to the Secretary containing the following infor15 mation, as specified in rules issued by the Sec16 retary—

17 ‘‘(i) a description of how the needs of 

18 eligible Head Start children, as described 

19 in paragraph (1)(A) are being adequately 

20 met in the agency’s service area; 

21 ‘‘(ii) a description of outreach efforts 

22 to the community to reach full enrollment 

23 under the eligibility guidelines under para24 graph (1), including using outreach efforts 
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1 that are linguistically and culturally appro2 priate; 

3 ‘‘(iii) assurance that the agency will 

4 prioritize serving children currently eligible 

5 under the guidelines under paragraph (1); 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(iv) a description of why increasing 

8 the number of infants and toddlers being 

9 served, as described in paragraph (4), is 

10 not appropriate based upon the com11 munitywide needs assessment or the agen12 cy’s capability. 

13 ‘‘(B) In approving such applications, the 

14 Secretary shall take into account the—

15 ‘‘(i) cost of living for families living in 

16 the area served by the Head Start agency; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the efforts the Head Start agen18 cy has undertaken to be fully enrolled 

19 under the eligibility criteria in paragraph 

20 (1); and 

21 ‘‘(iii) the policies and procedures the 

22 Head Start agency will implement to en23 sure that children currently eligible under 

24 the criteria described under paragraph (1) 

25 will be prioritized. 
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1 ‘‘(C) No more than 20 percent of children 

2 served by such Head Start agency may be from 

3 families above the poverty line.’’, 

4 (2) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘(age 3 to 

5 compulsory school attendance)’’, and 

6 (3) in subsection (d) by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 

9 an Indian tribe that operates both a Head Start program 

10 and an Early Head Start program under section 645A 

11 may, at its discretion, at any time during the grant period 

12 involved, reallocate funds between the Head Start pro13 gram and the Early Head Start program in order to ad14 dress fluctuations in client population, including pregnant 

15 women and children birth to compulsory school age. The 

16 reallocation of such funds between programs by an Indian 

17 tribe shall not serve as the basis for the Secretary to re18 duce a base grant (as defined in section 641A(g)(1)) for 

19 either program in succeeding years.’’. 

20 SEC. 13. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

21 Section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 9840a) is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 645A. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS FOR FAMILIES 

2 WITH CHILDREN UNDER 3 YEARS OF AGE. 

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

4 grants, in accordance with this section for programs (to 

5 be known as ‘Early Head Start programs’) that provide 

6 family-centered services for low-income families with very 

7 young children designed to promote the development of the 

8 children, and to enable their parents to fulfill their roles 

9 as parents and to move toward self-sufficiency. Faith10 based and community-based organizations continue to be 

11 eligible, on the same basis as other organizations, to par12 ticipate in any program under this section for which they 

13 are otherwise eligible. 

14 ‘‘(b) SCOPE AND DESIGN OF PROGRAMS.—In car15 rying out a program described in subsection (a), an entity 

16 receiving assistance under this section shall—

17 ‘‘(1) provide, either directly or through referral, 

18 early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child 

19 development and family support services that will 

20 enhance the physical, social, emotional, and intellec21 tual development of participating children; 

22 ‘‘(2) ensure that the level of services provided 

23 to families responds to their needs and cir24 cumstances; 

25 ‘‘(3) promote positive parent-child interactions; 
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1 ‘‘(4) provide services to parents to support their 

2 role as parents (including parenting skills training 

3 and training in basic child development) and to help 

4 the families move toward self-sufficiency (including 

5 educational and employment services as appro6 priate); 

7 ‘‘(5) coordinate services with services provided 

8 by programs in the State (including home-based 

9 services) and programs in the community (including 

10 programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities 

11 and programs for homeless infants and toddlers) to 

12 ensure a comprehensive array of services (such as 

13 health and mental health services and family support 

14 services); 

15 ‘‘(6) ensure formal linkages with local Head 

16 Start programs in order to provide for continuity of 

17 services for children and families; 

18 ‘‘(7) in the case of a Head Start agency that 

19 operates a program and that also provides Head 

20 Start services through the age of mandatory school 

21 attendance, ensure that children and families partici22 pating in the program receive such services through 

23 such age; 

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

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

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

3 for infants and toddlers with disabilities under the 

4 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

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

6 administering section 106 of the Child Abuse Pre7 vention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a); 

8 ‘‘(9) develop and implement a systematic proce9 dure for transitioning children and parents from an 

10 Early Head Start program under this section into a 

11 Head Start program or other local early childhood 

12 education program; 

13 ‘‘(10) establish channels of communication be14 tween staff of Early Head Start programs under 

15 this section and staff of Head Start programs or 

16 other local early childhood education programs, to 

17 facilitate the coordination of programs; and 

18 ‘‘(11) meet such other requirements concerning 

19 design and operation of the program described in 

20 subsection (a) as the Secretary may establish. 

21 ‘‘(c) PERSONS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE.—Persons 

22 who may participate in programs described in subsection 

23 (a) include—

24 ‘‘(1) pregnant women; and 

25 ‘‘(2) families with children under age 3; 
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1 who meet the income criteria specified for families in sec2 tion 645(a)(1). 

3 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE SERVICE PROVIDERS.—To be eligible 

4 to receive assistance under this section, an entity shall 

5 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

6 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec7 retary may require. Entities that may apply to carry out 

8 activities under this section include—

9 ‘‘(1) entities operating Head Start programs 

10 under this subpart; 

11 ‘‘(2) Indian Head Start programs; and 

12 ‘‘(3) other public entities, and nonprofit or for13 profit private entities, including community-based 

14 and faith-based organizations, capable of providing 

15 child and family services that meet the standards for 

16 participation in programs under this subchapter and 

17 meet such other appropriate requirements relating to 

18 the activities under this section as the Secretary may 

19 establish. 

20 ‘‘(e) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—From the 

21 portion specified in section 640(a)(6), the Secretary shall 

22 award grants under this subsection on a competitive basis 

23 to applicants meeting the criteria specified in subsection 

24 (d) (giving priority to entities with a record of providing 
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1 early, continuous, and comprehensive childhood develop2 ment and family services). 

3 ‘‘(f) DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding grants to eligible 

4 applicants under this section, the Secretary shall—

5 ‘‘(1) ensure an equitable national geographic 

6 distribution of the grants; and 

7 ‘‘(2) award grants to applicants proposing to 

8 serve communities in rural areas and to applicants 

9 proposing to serve communities in urban areas. 

10 ‘‘(g) MONITORING, TRAINING, TECHNICAL ASSIST11 ANCE, AND EVALUATION.—

12 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—To ensure the successful 

13 operation of programs assisted under this section, 

14 the Secretary shall use funds from the portion speci15 fied in section 640(a)(6) to monitor the operation of 

16 such programs, evaluate their effectiveness, and pro17 vide training and technical assistance tailored to the 

18 particular needs of such programs. 

19 ‘‘(2) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

20 ACCOUNT.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made 

22 available to carry out this section for any fiscal 

23 year, not less than 5 percent, and not more 

24 than 10 percent, shall be reserved to fund a 

25 training and technical assistance account. In 
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1 determining the amount so reserved, the Sec2 retary shall consider the number of new pro3 grams serving pregnant women, infants, tod4 dlers, and their families, recognizing their need 

5 for more intensive training and technical assist6 ance services during program expansion. 

7 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES.—Of the funds in the ac8 count described in subparagraph (A) 

9 ‘‘(i) not less than 50 percent shall be 

10 available to local entities that carry out 

11 Early Head Start programs for training 

12 and technical assistance activities in order 

13 to make program improvements identified 

14 by such entities; 

15 ‘‘(ii) not less than 30 percent shall be 

16 available to the Secretary to support a 

17 State-based system of early childhood edu18 cation training and technical assistance to 

19 local entities that carry out Early Head 

20 Start programs that shall meet the re21 quirements of subparagraph (C), including 

22 the creation, management, and support of 

23 a national network of the State-based in24 fant-toddler specialists specified in such 

25 subparagraph; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) the remainder of such amount 

2 shall be available to the Secretary to assist 

3 local entities that carry out Early Head 

4 Start programs in meeting and exceeding 

5 the standards described in section 

6 641A(a)(1), including—

7 ‘‘(I) making grants to, and enter8 ing into contracts with, organizations 

9 with specialized expertise relating to 

10 infants, toddlers, and families and the 

11 capacity needed to provide direction 

12 and support to a national training 

13 and technical assistance system, in 

14 order to provide such direction and 

15 support; 

16 ‘‘(II) providing ongoing training 

17 and technical assistance on Early 

18 Head Start program development and 

19 improvement for regional staff 

20 charged with monitoring and over21 seeing the administration of the pro22 gram carried out under this section; 

23 ‘‘(III) developing training and 

24 technical assistance materials and re25 sources to support program develop-
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1 ment and improvement and best prac2 tices in providing services to children 

3 and families served by Early Head 

4 Start programs; 

5 ‘‘(IV) creating special training 

6 and technical assistance initiatives 

7 targeted to serving high risk popu8 lations, such as children in the child 

9 welfare system and homeless children; 

10 ‘‘(V) providing ongoing training 

11 and technical assistance to Early 

12 Head Start grantees, and support and 

13 program planning and implementation 

14 assistance for new recipients of such 

15 grants, including the conversion of 

16 Head Start grants to Early Head 

17 Start grants; and 

18 ‘‘(VI) providing professional de19 velopment designed to increase pro20 gram participation for underserved 

21 populations of eligible children. 

22 ‘‘(C) CONTRACTS.—For the purposes of 

23 delivering a State-based training and technical 

24 assistance system, as described in subparagraph 

25 (B)(ii), that will meet the needs of local grant-
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1 ees and provide high quality, sustained, and in2 tensive training and technical assistance on pro3 gramming for infants and toddlers to Early 

4 Head Start programs and in order to help such 

5 programs meet or exceed the program perform6 ance standards described in section 641A(a)(1), 

7 the Secretary shall—

8 ‘‘(i) enter into contracts in each State 

9 with 1 or more entities that have a dem10 onstrated expertise in supporting the deliv11 ery of high quality programs for pregnant 

12 women and children less that 3 years of 

13 age, except that bi-State or multi-State 

14 contracts may be entered into if the demo15 graphics of proximal States make such a 

16 system more appropriate; 

17 ‘‘(ii) ensure that contracts awarded 

18 under clause (I) are in an amount suffi19 cient to provide for each state a minimum 

20 of one full-time specialist with expertise in 

21 the development of children under age 

22 three and programming for pregnant 

23 women and such children; 

24 ‘‘(iii) to the maximum extent prac25 ticable, ensure that the contracts awarded 
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1 Under clause (I) and the services provided 

2 therein are integrated with and augment 

3 the contract or contracts awarded and 

4 services provided under section 648 (n); 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iv) ensure that the entities de7 scribed in clause (I) determine the types of 

8 services to be provided through consulta9 tion with—

10 ‘‘(I) local entities that carry out 

11 Early Head Start programs; 

12 ‘‘(II) the State Head Start col13 laboration office; and 

14 ‘‘(III) the State Head Start As15 sociation. 

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

17 ensure that, not later than September 30, 2009, all teach18 ers providing direct services to children and families par19 ticipating in early Head Start programs located in early 

20 Head Start centers have a minimum of a child develop21 ment associate credential, and have been trained (or have 

22 equivalent course work) in early childhood development. 

23 ‘‘(i) STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT.—

24 ‘‘(1) HOME VISITOR STAFF STANDARDS.—In 

25 order to further enhance the quality of home visiting 
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1 services provided to families of children participating 

2 in home-based, center-based, or combination pro3 gram options under this subchapter, the Secretary 

4 shall establish standards for training, qualifications, 

5 and the conduct of home visits for home visitor staff 

6 in Early Head Start programs. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF STANDARDS.—The stand8 ards for training, qualifications, and the conduct of 

9 home visits shall include content related to—

10 ‘‘(A) structured child-focused home visiting 

11 that promotes parents’ ability to support the 

12 child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical 

13 development; 

14 ‘‘(B) effective strengths-based parent edu15 cation, including methods to encourage parents 

16 as their child’s first teachers; 

17 ‘‘(C) early childhood development with re18 spect to children from birth through age 3; 

19 ‘‘(D) methods to help parents promote 

20 emergent literacy in their children from birth 

21 through age 3; 

22 ‘‘(E) ascertaining what health and develop23 mental services the family receives and working 

24 with these providers to eliminate gaps in service 

25 by offering annual health, vision, hearing, and 
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1 developmental screening for children from birth 

2 to entry into kindergarten, when needed; 

3 ‘‘(F) strategies for helping families coping 

4 with crisis; and 

5 ‘‘(G) the relationship of health and well6 being of pregnant women to prenatal and early 

7 child development.’’. 

8 SEC. 14. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR HEALTH 

9 CARE SERVICES. 

10 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831) is amended 

11 by inserting after section 645A the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 645B. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR 

13 HEALTH CARE SERVICES. 

14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) The term ‘health care service’ includes—

16 ‘‘(A) any nonemergency intrusive physical 

17 examination; and 

18 ‘‘(B) any screening, including but not lim19 ited to, a medical, dental, developmental, men20 tal health, social, or behavioral screening. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘nonemergency intrusive physical 

22 examination’ means, with respect to a child, a phys23 ical examination that—
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1 ‘‘(A) is not immediately necessary to pro2 tect the health or safety of such child, or the 

3 health or safety of another individual; and 

4 ‘‘(B) includes incision or is otherwise 

5 invasive, or includes exposure of private body 

6 parts. 

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

8 health care service to a child (or referring a child to obtain 

9 such service) in connection with participation in a program 

10 under this subchapter, a Head Start agency and an entity 

11 that receives assistance under section 645A shall obtain 

12 the written consent of a parent of such child indicating 

13 consent for each specific health care service to be per14 formed. 

15 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—

16 ‘‘(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed 

17 to prohibit a Head Start agency or an entity that re18 ceives assistance under section 645A from using es19 tablished methods for handling cases of suspected or 

20 known child abuse and neglect, that are in compli21 ance with applicable Federal, State, or tribal law. 

22 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this subchapter shall be con23 strued to permit a Head Start agency, an entity that 

24 receives assistance under section 645A, or the per25 sonnel of such agency or entity to administer any 
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1 health care service to a child (or to refer a child to 

2 obtain such service) without the informed written 

3 consent of a parent of such child indicating consent 

4 for each specific health care service to be performed. 

5 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed 

6 to require a Head Start agency or an entity that re7 ceives assistance under section 645A to provide sep8 arate consent forms for each specific health care 

9 service.’’. 

10 SEC. 15. APPEALS, NOTICE, AND HEARING. 

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

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

13 ‘‘(3) if financial assistance under this sub14 chapter is terminated or reduced, an application for 

15 a noncompeting continuation award is denied based 

16 on a previous failure to comply with terms applicable 

17 to financial assistance previously provided under this 

18 subchapter, or suspension of financial assistance is 

19 continued for more than 30 days, the recipient with 

20 respect to whom such action is taken shall have the 

21 opportunity to appeal such action in accordance with 

22 such procedures, except that no funds made avail23 able under this subchapter may be used to reimburse 

24 any such recipient for legal fees and other costs in25 curred in pursuing such an appeal; and’’. 
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1 SEC. 16. RECORDS AND AUDITS. 

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

3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(c) Each recipient of financial assistance under this 

5 subchapter shall—

6 ‘‘(1) maintain, and annually submit to the Sec7 retary, a complete accounting of its administrative 

8 expenses (including a detailed statement identifying 

9 the amount of financial assistance provided under 

10 this subchapter used to pay expenses for salaries 

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

12 funds used to pay such expenses); 

13 ‘‘(2) within 30 days after the completion of an 

14 audit conducted in the manner and to the extent 

15 provided in chapter 75 of title 31, United States 

16 Code (commonly known as the ‘Single Audit Act 

17 Amendments of 1996’), submit to the Secretary a 

18 copy of the audit management letter and of any 

19 audit findings as it relates to the Head Start pro20 gram; and 

21 ‘‘(3) provide such additional documentation as 

22 the Secretary may require.’’. 

23 SEC. 17. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

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

25 is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 648. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

2 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall provide, directly or through 

3 grants or other arrangements—

4 ‘‘(1) technical assistance to communities in de5 veloping, conducting, and administering programs 

6 under this subchapter; and 

7 ‘‘(2) training for specialized or other personnel 

8 needed in connection with Head Start programs, in 

9 accordance with the process, and the provisions for 

10 allocating resources, set forth in subsections (b) and 

11 (c). 

12 ‘‘(b) The process for determining the technical assist13 ance and training activities to be carried out under this 

14 section shall—

15 ‘‘(1) ensure that the needs of local Head Start 

16 agencies and programs relating to improving pro17 gram quality and to program expansion are ad18 dressed to the maximum extent feasible; 

19 ‘‘(2) incorporate mechanisms to ensure respon20 siveness to local needs, including an ongoing proce21 dure for obtaining input from the individuals and 

22 agencies carrying out Head Start programs; and 

23 ‘‘(3) ensure the provision of technical assistance 

24 to assist Head Start agencies, entities carrying out 

25 other child care and early childhood programs, com26 munities, and States in collaborative efforts to pro-
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1 vide quality full-working-day, full calendar year serv2 ices, including technical assistance related to identi3 fying and assisting in resolving barriers to collabora4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(c) In allocating resources for technical assistance 

6 and training under this section, the Secretary shall—

7 ‘‘(1) give priority consideration to—

8 ‘‘(A) activities to correct program and 

9 management deficiencies identified through re10 views carried out pursuant to section 641A(c) 

11 (including the provision of assistance to local 

12 programs in the development of quality im13 provement plans under section 641A(d)(2)); 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) assisting Head Start agencies in—

16 ‘‘(i) ensuring the school readiness of 

17 children; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) meeting the educational perform19 ance measures described in section 

20 641A(b)(4); 

21 ‘‘(2) supplement amounts provided under sec22 tion 640(a)(3)(C)(ii) in order to address the training 

23 and career development needs of classroom staff (in24 cluding instruction for providing services to children 

25 with disabilities), and nonclassroom staff, including 
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1 home visitors and other staff working directly with 

2 families, including training relating to increasing 

3 parent involvement and services designed to increase 

4 family literacy and improve parenting skills; 

5 ‘‘(3) assist Head Start agencies in the develop6 ment of collaborative initiatives with States and 

7 other entities within the States, to foster effective 

8 early childhood professional development systems; 

9 ‘‘(4) provide technical assistance and training, 

10 either directly or through a grant, contract, or coop11 erative agreement with an entity that has experience 

12 in the development and operation of successful fam13 ily literacy services programs, for the purpose of—

14 ‘‘(A) assisting Head Start agencies pro15 viding family literacy services, in order to im16 prove the quality of such family literacy serv17 ices; and 

18 ‘‘(B) enabling those Head Start agencies 

19 that demonstrate effective provision of family 

20 literacy services, based on improved outcomes 

21 for children and their parents, to provide tech22 nical assistance and training to other Head 

23 Start agencies and to service providers that 

24 work in collaboration with such agencies to pro25 vide family literacy services; 
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1 ‘‘(5) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

2 in conducting and participating in community-wide 

3 strategic planning and needs assessment, including 

4 the needs of homeless children and their families; 

5 ‘‘(6) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

6 in developing and implementing full-working-day and 

7 full-calendar-year programs where community need 

8 is clearly identified and making the transition to 

9 such programs, with particular attention to involving 

10 parents and programming for children throughout 

11 the day, and assist the agencies and programs in ex12 pediting the sharing of information about innovative 

13 models for providing full-working-day, full calendar 

14 year services for children; 

15 ‘‘(7) assist Head Start agencies in better serv16 ing the needs of families with very young children; 

17 ‘‘(8) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

18 in the development of sound management practices, 

19 including financial management procedures; 

20 ‘‘(9) assist in efforts to secure and maintain 

21 adequate facilities for Head Start programs; 

22 ‘‘(10) assist Head Start agencies in developing 

23 innovative program models, including mobile and 

24 home-based programs; 
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1 ‘‘(11) provide support for Head Start agencies 

2 (including policy councils and policy committees) 

3 that meet the standards described in section 

4 641A(a) but that have, as documented by the Sec5 retary through reviews conducted pursuant to sec6 tion 641A(c), significant programmatic, quality, and 

7 fiscal issues to address; 

8 ‘‘(12) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

9 in increasing program participation of homeless chil10 dren; 

11 ‘‘(13) assist Head Start agencies and Head 

12 Start programs in improving outreach to, and the 

13 quality of services available to, limited English pro14 ficient children and their families, particularly in 

15 communities that have experienced a large percent16 age increase in the population of limited English 

17 proficient individuals, as measured by the Bureau of 

18 the Census; 

19 ‘‘(14) assist Head Start agencies in developing 

20 appropriate methods and approaches for identifying 

21 and working with children and families experiencing 

22 toxic stress; 

23 ‘‘(15) assist programs in improving outreach to 

24 serve additional children with disabilities, if such 

25 program’s enrollment opportunities or funded enroll-
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1 ment for children with disabilities is less than 10 

2 percent; 

3 ‘‘(16) provide assistance to address the unique 

4 needs of programs located in rural communities, in5 cluding—

6 ‘‘(A) removing barriers related to the re7 cruitment and retention of Head Start teachers 

8 in rural communities; 

9 ‘‘(B) developing innovative and effective 

10 models of professional development for improv11 ing staff qualifications and skills for staff living 

12 in rural communities; 

13 ‘‘(C) removing barriers related to outreach 

14 efforts to eligible families in rural communities; 

15 ‘‘(D) removing barriers to parent involve16 ment in Head Start programs in rural commu17 nities; 

18 ‘‘(E) removing barriers to providing home 

19 visiting services in rural communities; and 

20 ‘‘(F) removing barriers to obtaining health 

21 screenings for Head Start participants in rural 

22 communities; and 

23 ‘‘(17) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

24 to increase the capacity of classroom staff to meet 

25 the needs of eligible children in inclusive classrooms. 
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1 ‘‘(d) The Secretary may provide, either directly or 

2 through grants to public or private nonprofit entities, 

3 training for Head Start personnel in the use of the per4 forming and visual arts and interactive programs using 

5 electronic media to enhance the learning experience of 

6 Head Start children. Special consideration shall be given 

7 to entities that have demonstrated effectiveness in edu8 cational programming for preschool children that includes 

9 components for parental involvement, care provider train10 ing, and developmentally appropriate related activities. 

11 ‘‘(e) The Secretary shall provide, either directly or 

12 through grants or other arrangements, funds from pro13 grams authorized under this subchapter to support an or14 ganization to administer a centralized child development 

15 and national assessment program leading to recognized 

16 credentials for personnel working in early childhood devel17 opment and child care programs, training for personnel 

18 providing services to limited English proficient children 

19 (including services to promote the acquisition of the 

20 English language), training for personnel providing serv21 ices to children determined to be abused or neglected, 

22 training for personnel providing services to children re23 ferred by or receiving child welfare services, training for 

24 personnel in helping children cope with community vio25 lence, resource access projects for personnel working with 
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1 disabled children, and training for appropriate personnel 

2 to recognize common health, including mental health, 

3 problems in children for appropriate referral. 

4 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall provide, either directly or 

5 through grants, or other arrangements, funds for training 

6 of Head Start personnel in addressing the unique needs 

7 of migrant and seasonal working families, families with 

8 1 or more children with disabilities, families with a limited 

9 English proficiency, homeless families, and children and 

10 families experiencing toxic stress. 

11 ‘‘(g) More than 50 percent of funds expended under 

12 this section shall be used to provide high quality, sus13 tained, intensive, and classroom-focused training and tech14 nical assistance in order to have a positive and lasting im15 pact on classroom instruction. Funds shall be used to 

16 carry out activities related to any or all of the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Education and early childhood develop18 ment. 

19 ‘‘(2) Child health, nutrition, and safety. 

20 ‘‘(3) Family and community partnerships and 

21 services. 

22 ‘‘(4) Other areas that impact the quality or 

23 overall effectiveness of Head Start programs. 

24 ‘‘(h) The Secretary shall develop and implement a 

25 program of outreach to recruit and train minority men 
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1 to become Head Start teachers in order to reflect the com2 munities in which Head Start children live and to increase 

3 the provision of quality services and instruction to children 

4 with diverse backgrounds. 

5 ‘‘(i) Funds under this subchapter used for training 

6 shall be used for needs identified annually by a grant ap7 plicant or delegate agency in their program improvement 

8 plan, except that funds shall not be used for long-distance 

9 travel expenses for training activities available locally or 

10 regionally or for training activities substantially similar to 

11 locally or regionally available training activities. 

12 ‘‘(j) Funds made available under section 

13 640(a)(2)(C)(i) shall be used by a Head Start agency for 

14 any of the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) Activities that ensure that Head Start pro16 grams meet or exceed the program performance 

17 standards described in section 641A(a)(1). 

18 ‘‘(2) Activities that ensure that Head Start pro19 grams have adequate numbers of trained, qualified 

20 staff who have skills in working with children and 

21 families, including children and families who are lim22 ited English proficient and children with disabilities. 

23 ‘‘(3) Activities to pay expenses, including direct 

24 training for expert consultants working with any 
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1 staff, to improve the management and implementa2 tion of Head Start services and systems. 

3 ‘‘(4) Activities that help ensure that Head Start 

4 programs have qualified staff who can promote lan5 guage skills and literacy growth of children and who 

6 can provide children with a variety of skills that 

7 have been identified as predictive of later reading 

8 achievement, school success, and the skills, knowl9 edge, abilities, development, and progress described 

10 in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii). 

11 ‘‘(5) Activities to improve staff qualifications 

12 and to assist with the implementation of career de13 velopment programs and to encourage the staff to 

14 continually improve their skills and expertise, includ15 ing developing partnerships with programs that re16 cruit, train, place, and support college students in 

17 Head Start centers to deliver an innovative early 

18 learning program to preschool children. 

19 ‘‘(6) Activities that help local programs ensure 

20 that the arrangement, condition, and implementation 

21 of the learning environments in Head Start pro22 grams are conducive to providing effective program 

23 services to children and families. 

24 ‘‘(7) Activities to provide training necessary to 

25 improve the qualifications of Head Start staff and to 
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1 support staff training, child counseling, health serv2 ices, and other services necessary to address the 

3 needs of children enrolled in Head Start programs, 

4 including children from families in crises, children 

5 who experience chronic violence or homelessness, 

6 children who experience substance abuse in their 

7 families, and children under 3 years of age, where 

8 applicable. 

9 ‘‘(8) Activities to provide classes or in-service10 type programs to improve or enhance parenting 

11 skills, job skills, adult and family literacy, including 

12 financial literacy, or training to become a classroom 

13 aide or bus driver in a Head Start program. 

14 ‘‘(9) Additional activities deemed appropriate to 

15 the improvement of Head Start agencies’ programs, 

16 as determined by the agencies’ technical assistance 

17 and training plans. 

18 ‘‘(10) Any other activities regarding the use of 

19 funds as determined by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(k) The Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(1) work in collaboration with the Head Start 

22 agencies that carry out Indian Head Start pro23 grams, the Indian Head Start collaboration director, 

24 and other appropriate entities, including tribal gov-
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1 ernments and the National Indian Head Start Di2 rectors Association—

3 ‘‘(A) to undertake a study or set of studies 

4 designed to focus on the American Indian and 

5 Alaska Native Head Start-eligible population, 

6 with a focus on issues such as curriculum devel7 opment, availability and need for services, ap8 propriate research methodologies and measures 

9 for these populations, and best practices for 

10 teaching and educating American Indian and 

11 Alaska Native Head Start Children; 

12 ‘‘(B) to accurately determine the number 

13 of children nationwide who are eligible to par14 ticipate in Indian Head Start programs each 

15 year; 

16 ‘‘(C) to document how many of these chil17 dren are receiving Head Start services each 

18 year; 

19 ‘‘(D) to the extent practicable, to ensure 

20 that access to Indian Head Start programs for 

21 eligible children is comparable to access to other 

22 Head Start programs for other eligible children; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(E) to make the funding decisions re25 quired in section 640(a)(2)(A)(iii), after com-
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1 pletion of the studies required in that section, 

2 taking into account: 

3 ‘‘(i) the Federal government’s unique 

4 trust responsibility to American Indians 

5 and Alaska Natives; 

6 ‘‘(ii) limitations faced by tribal com7 munities in accessing non-Federal sources 

8 of funding to supplement Federal funding 

9 for early childhood programs; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) other factors that uniquely and 

11 adversely impact children in American In12 dian and Alaska Native communities such 

13 as highly elevated poverty, unemployment 

14 and violent crime rates, as well as de15 pressed levels of educational achievement 

16 and limited access to non-Federal health, 

17 social and educational resources; 

18 ‘‘(2) in carrying out paragraph (1), consult with 

19 the Secretary of Education about the Department of 

20 Education’s systems for collecting and reporting 

21 data about, and maintaining records on, American 

22 Indian and Alaska Native students; 

23 ‘‘(3) not later than 9 months after the effective 

24 date of this subsection, publish in the Federal Reg25 ister a notice of how the Secretary plans to carry out 
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1 paragraph (1) and shall provide a period for public 

2 comment. To the extent practicable, the Secretary 

3 shall consider comments received before submitting 

4 a report to the Congress; 

5 ‘‘(4) not later than 1 year after the effective 

6 date of this subsection, submit a report to the Com7 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 

8 Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu9 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, detailing 

10 how the Department of Health and Human Services 

11 plans to carry out paragraph (1); 

12 ‘‘(5) through regulation, ensure the confiden13 tiality of any personally identifiable data, informa14 tion, and records collected or maintained by the Sec15 retary, by Head Start agencies that carry out Indian 

16 Head Start programs, and by State Directors of 

17 Head Start Collaboration, by the Indian Head Start 

18 Collaboration Project Director and by other appro19 priate entities pursuant to this subsection (Such reg20 ulations shall provide the policies, protections, and 

21 rights equivalent to those provided a parent, stu22 dent, or educational agency or institution under sec23 tion 444 of the General Education Provisions Act.); 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(6) ensure that nothing in this subsection shall 

2 be construed to authorize the development of a na3 tionwide database of personally identifiable informa4 tion on individuals involved in studies or other col5 lections of data under this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(l) The Secretary shall—

7 ‘‘(1) in order to increase access to Head Start 

8 services for eligible migrant and seasonal children, 

9 work in collaboration with migrant and seasonal 

10 Head Start providers, the Department of Agri11 culture (land grant universities), the Department of 

12 Labor, the Bureau of Migrant Health, and the De13 partment of Education to—

14 ‘‘(A) establish a system for collecting and 

15 reporting data on farm workers and their fami16 lies in order to adequately account for the num17 ber of seasonal and migrant children that are 

18 eligible for Head Start and determine how 

19 many of these eligible children receive services; 

20 ‘‘(B) identify barriers that prevent eligible 

21 migrant and seasonal children from accessing 

22 Head Start services and develop a plan for 

23 eliminating barriers and increasing enrollment; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(C) develop a system through which mi2 grant and seasonal Head Start programs can 

3 effectively track health records and educational 

4 documents as a child moves from state to state; 

5 ‘‘(2) not later than 6 months after the effective 

6 date of this subsection, publish in the Federal Reg7 ister a notice on how the Secretary plans to carry 

8 out the activities identified in paragraph (1) and 

9 shall provide a period for public comment. To the 

10 extent practicable, the Secretary shall consider com11 ments received before implementing any of the ac12 tivities identified in paragraph (1); 

13 ‘‘(3) not later than 1 year after the effective 

14 date of this subsection, submit a report to the Com15 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 

16 Representatives and the Health, Education, Labor 

17 and Pensions Committee of the Senate detailing how 

18 the Secretary plans to carry out the activities identi19 fied in (1); 

20 ‘‘(4) submit a report to Congress annually on 

21 the migrant and seasonal Head Start program in22 cluding a report on the progress made in carrying 

23 out the activities identified in paragraph (1), the 

24 progress made in reaching out to and serving eligible 

25 migrant and seasonal children, and information on 
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1 states where migrant and seasonal children are still 

2 underserved; 

3 ‘‘(5) through regulation, ensure the protection 

4 of the confidentiality of any personally identifiable 

5 data, information, and records collected or main6 tained by the Secretary, by Head Start agencies that 

7 carry out migrant and seasonal Head Start pro8 grams, by the State director of Head Start Collabo9 ration, by the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker 

10 Collaboration project Director (Such regulations 

11 shall provide the policies, protections, and rights 

12 equivalent to those provided a parent, student, or 

13 educational agency or institution under section 444 

14 of the General Education Provisions Act.); and 

15 ‘‘(6) ensure that nothing in this subsection shall 

16 be construed to authorize the development of a na17 tionwide database of personally identifiable informa18 tion on individuals involved in studies or other col19 lections of data under this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(m) For purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible 

21 entities’ means an institution of higher education or other 

22 entity with expertise in delivering training in early child23 hood development, family support, and other assistance 

24 designed to improve the delivery of Head Start services. 
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1 ‘‘(n) For the purposes of delivering a State-based 

2 training and technical assistance system, as described in 

3 section 640(a)(C)(ii), that will meet the needs of local 

4 grantees and provide high quality, sustained, and intensive 

5 training and technical assistance to Head Start programs 

6 in order to help them meet or exceed the program per7 formance standards described in section 641A(a)(1), the 

8 Secretary shall—

9 ‘‘(1) enter into contracts in each State with 1 

10 or more entities who have a demonstrated expertise 

11 in supporting the delivery of high quality early edu12 cation programs, except that bi-State contracts may 

13 be entered in to if the demographics of proximal 

14 States make such a system more appropriate; 

15 ‘‘(2) ensure that the entities described in sub16 paragraph (1) determine the types of services to be 

17 provided through consultation with—

18 ‘‘(A) local Head Start agencies; 

19 ‘‘(B) the State Head Start collaboration 

20 office; and 

21 ‘‘(C) the State Head Start Association; 

22 ‘‘(3) provide a report, to the Committee on 

23 Education and Labor of the House of Representa24 tives and the Committee on Health, Education, 

25 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. no later than 90 
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1 days after the end of the fiscal year, summarizing 

2 the funding for such contracts and the activities car3 ried out thereunder. 

4 ‘‘(4) periodically evaluate the usefulness of the 

5 delivery of services in each State and their effective6 ness in promoting program quality; and 

7 ‘‘(5) ensure that in entering into such contracts 

8 as described in paragraph (1), such entities will ad9 dress the needs of grantees in both urban and rural 

10 communities. 

11 ‘‘(o) To support enhanced early language and 

12 preliteracy development of children in Head Start pro13 grams, and to provide the children with high-quality oral 

14 language skills, and environments that are rich in lit15 erature, in which to acquire language and preliteracy 

16 skills, each Head Start agency shall ensure that—

17 ‘‘(1) all of the agency’s Head Start teachers re18 ceive ongoing training in language and emergent lit19 eracy (referred to in this subsection as ‘literacy 

20 training’), and including appropriate curricula and 

21 assessment to improve instruction and learning; 

22 ‘‘(2) such literacy training shall include training 

23 in methods to promote vocabulary development and 

24 phonological awareness (including phonemic aware25 ness) in a developmentally, culturally, and linguis-
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1 tically appropriate manner and support children’s 

2 development in their home language; 

3 ‘‘(3) the literacy training shall include training 

4 in how to work with parents to enhance positive lan5 guage and early literacy development at home; 

6 ‘‘(4) the literacy training shall include specific 

7 methods to best address the needs of children who 

8 are limited English proficient; and 

9 ‘‘(5) the literacy training shall include training 

10 on how to best address the language and literacy 

11 needs of children with disabilities, including training 

12 on how to work with specialists in language develop13 ment. 

14 ‘‘(p) The Secretary is encouraged to contract, on a 

15 competitive basis, with an institution of higher education 

16 (as defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act 

17 of 1965) to develop an on-line graduate-level professional 

18 development program with the goal of improving the lead19 ership of those working in Head Start programs and im20 proving teacher quality and the capacity of effective Head 

21 Start teachers. 

22 ‘‘(q) INDOOR AIR QUALITY.—The Secretary shall 

23 consult with experts on issues of air quality related to chil24 dren’s health and inform Head Start agencies of existing 
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1 programs or combination of programs that provide meth2 ods for improving indoor air quality. 

3 ‘‘(r) DEMONSTRATION FOR CAREER LADDER PART4 NERSHIPS WITH TRIBAL COLLEGES AND HISPANIC-SERV5 ING INSTITUTIONS.—

6 ‘‘(1) TRIBAL COLLEGE CAREER LADDER DEM7 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.—The Secretary is author8 ized to award demonstration grants, for periods of 

9 not less than 5 years, to tribal colleges and univer10 sities to—

11 ‘‘(A) implement education programs that 

12 include education concerning tribal culture and 

13 language and increase the number of associate, 

14 baccalaureate, and graduate degrees in early 

15 childhood and related fields that are earned by 

16 Indian Head Start agency staff members, par17 ents of children served by such an agency, and 

18 members of the tribal community involved; 

19 ‘‘(B) develop and implement the programs 

20 under subparagraph (A) in technology-mediated 

21 formats, including providing the programs 

22 through such means as distance learning and 

23 use of advanced technology, as appropriate; and 

24 ‘‘(C) provide technology literacy programs 

25 for Indian Head Start agency staff members 
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1 and children and families of children served by 

2 such an agency. 

3 ‘‘(2) HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTIONS CAREER

4 LADDER DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—The Sec5 retary is authorized to award demonstration grants, 

6 for periods of not less than 5 years, to Hispanic7 serving institutions to—

8 ‘‘(A) provide assistance for stipends and 

9 costs related to tuition, fees, and books for en10 rolling Head Start agency staff members and 

11 parents of children served by such an agency in 

12 courses required to complete the degree and 

13 certification requirements to become bilingual 

14 teachers in early childhood education and re15 lated fields; 

16 ‘‘(B) develop career ladder program cur17 ricula to increase the number of associate’s, 

18 bachelor’s, and graduate degrees earned by 

19 Head Start agency staff who have the linguistic 

20 skills and expertise to teach in programs serv21 ing a large number of limited English proficient 

22 children and parents of children served by such 

23 an agency; and 

24 ‘‘(C) other activities to upgrade the skills 

25 and qualifications of noncertified educational 
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1 personnel to meet the professional standards in 

2 section 648A(a)(1), including certification and 

3 licensure as bilingual education teachers and 

4 other educational personnel who serve limited 

5 English proficient children. 

6 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT.—Individuals who receive 

7 assistance under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall subse8 quently teach in a Head Start center for a period of 

9 time equivalent to the period for which they received 

10 assistance or repay the amount of funds. 

11 ‘‘(s) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVER12 SITIES HEAD START PARTNERSHIPS.—In order to pro13 mote quality services and instruction to children with di14 verse backgrounds, the Secretary shall work in collabora15 tion with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to—

16 ‘‘(1) implement education programs that in17 clude education to increase the number of associate, 

18 baccalaureate, and advanced degrees in early child19 hood education and related fields that are earned by 

20 Head Start agency staff members, and parents of 

21 children served by such an agency; and 

22 ‘‘(2) carry out other activities to upgrade the 

23 skills and qualifications of noncertified educational 

24 personnel to meet the professional standards in sec25 tion 648A(a). 
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1 Individuals who receive assistance under this paragraph 

2 shall subsequently teach in a center-based Head Start pro3 gram for a period of time equivalent to the period for 

4 which they received assistance or shall repay such assist5 ance.’’. 

6 SEC. 18. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT. 

7 Section 648A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 9843a) is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (a)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and all that follows 

11 through paragraph (2), and inserting the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(a) CLASSROOM TEACHERS.—

14 ‘‘(1) PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The 

15 Secretary shall ensure that each Head Start class16 room in a center-based program is assigned 1 teach17 er who has demonstrated competency to perform 

18 functions that include—

19 ‘‘(A) planning and implementing learning 

20 experiences that advance the intellectual and 

21 physical development of children, including im22 proving the readiness of children for school by 

23 developing their literacy, phonemic, and print 

24 awareness, their understanding and use of lan25 guage, their understanding and use of increas-
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1 ingly complex and varied vocabulary, their ap2 preciation of books, their understanding of early 

3 math and early science, their problem solving 

4 abilities, and their approaches to learning; 

5 ‘‘(B) establishing and maintaining a safe, 

6 healthy learning environment; 

7 ‘‘(C) supporting the social and emotional 

8 development of children; and 

9 ‘‘(D) encouraging the involvement of the 

10 families of the children in a Head Start pro11 gram and supporting the development of rela12 tionships between children and their families. 

13 ‘‘(2) DEGREE REQUIREMENTS.—

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

15 ensure that not later than September 30, 2013, 

16 at least 50 percent of all Head Start teachers 

17 nationwide in center-based programs have—

18 ‘‘(i) a baccalaureate, or advanced de19 gree in early childhood education; 

20 ‘‘(ii) a baccalaureate or advanced de21 gree in a field related to early childhood 

22 education, with experience in teaching pre23 school children; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) except that teachers providing 

25 services in migrant and seasonal Head 
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1 Start classrooms that serve children under 

2 age 3 shall be required to meet the teacher 

3 requirements described in section 645A(h). 

4 ‘‘(B) PROGRESS REPORT.—

5 ‘‘(i) On an annual basis, each Head 

6 Start agency shall provide to the Secretary 

7 a report indicating the number and per8 centage of classroom instructors with child 

9 development/ early childhood education as10 sociate credentials and associate, bacca11 laureate, or advanced degrees, and number 

12 of classroom instructors who successfully 

13 transferred associate credit and completed 

14 a baccalaureate degree disaggregated by 

15 race, ethnicity, and proficiency in a lan16 guage other than English, with a descrip17 tion of those languages. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Not later than September 30, 

19 2008 the Secretary shall compile and 

20 transmit reports received under (i) to the 

21 Committee on Education and Labor of the 

22 House of Representatives and the Com23 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

24 Pensions of the Senate. 
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1 ‘‘(C) PROGRESS.—Each Head Start agen2 cy shall provide to the Secretary a report indi3 cating the number and percentage of teachers 

4 and teacher’s aides with child development as5 sociate credentials and associate, baccalaureate, 

6 or advanced degrees. The Secretary shall com7 pile all program reports and make them avail8 able to the Committee on Education and Labor 

9 of the House of Representatives and the Com10 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen11 sions of the Senate. 

12 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENT FOR NEW HEAD

13 START TEACHERS.—In accordance with rules 

14 issued by the Secretary and made effective 2 

15 years after the effective date of this subpara16 graph, all Head Start agencies shall require 

17 that all Head Start teachers hired after such 

18 rules take effect to provide Head Start services 

19 in center-based programs—

20 ‘‘(i) have an associate, baccalaureate, 

21 or advanced degree in early childhood edu22 cation or a related field; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) be currently enrolled in a pro24 gram of study leading to an associate de25 gree in early childhood education or a re-
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1 lated field, and agree to complete degree 

2 requirements not later than 3 years after 

3 the date of hire. 

4 ‘‘(E) SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec5 retary shall establish requirements to ensure 

6 that individuals who receive financial assistance 

7 under this subchapter in order to comply with 

8 the requirements under section 648A(a)(2) 

9 shall subsequently teach in a Head Start center 

10 for a period of time equivalent to the period for 

11 which they received assistance or repay the 

12 amount of the funds. 

13 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall re14 quire that any Federal funds provided directly 

15 or indirectly to comply with subparagraph (A) 

16 shall be used toward degrees awarded by an in17 stitution of higher education, as defined by sec18 tions 101 or 102 of the Higher Education Act 

19 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002).’’, and 

20 (B) in paragraph (3)—

21 (i) in subparagraph (B) by striking 

22 ‘‘or’’ at the end, 

23 (ii) in subparagraph (C) by striking 

24 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’, 

25 and 
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1 (iii) by adding at the end, the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(D) a baccalaureate and has been admit4 ted into the Teach For America program, 

5 passed a rigorous early childhood content exam, 

6 such as the Praxis II, participated in a Teach 

7 For America summer training institute that in8 cludes teaching preschool children, and is re9 ceiving ongoing professional development and 

10 support from Teach For America’s professional 

11 staff.’’, and 

12 (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(c) FAMILY SERVICE WORKERS.—To improve the 

15 quality and effectiveness of staff providing in-home and 

16 other services (including needs assessment, development of 

17 service plans, family advocacy, and coordination of service 

18 delivery) to families of children participating in Head 

19 Start programs, the Secretary, in coordination with con20 cerned public and private agencies and organizations ex21 amining the issues of standards and training for family 

22 service workers, shall—

23 ‘‘(1) review and, as necessary, revise or develop 

24 new qualification standards for Head Start staff 

25 providing such services; 
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1 ‘‘(2) review, and as necessary, revise or develop 

2 maximum caseload requirements, as suggested by 

3 best practices; 

4 ‘‘(3) promote the development of model cur5 ricula (on subjects including parenting training and 

6 family literacy) designed to ensure the attainment of 

7 appropriate competencies by individuals working or 

8 planning to work in the field of early childhood and 

9 family services; and 

10 ‘‘(4) promote the establishment of a credential 

11 that indicates attainment of the competencies and 

12 that is accepted nationwide.’’, and 

13 (3) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(f) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS.—Each 

16 Head Start agency and program shall create, in consulta17 tion with an employee, a professional development plan for 

18 all full-time Head Start employees who provide direct serv19 ices to children and shall ensure that such plans are regu20 larly evaluated for their impact on teacher and staff effec21 tiveness. 

22 ‘‘(g) STAFF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCE23 DURES.—Before a Head Start agency employs an indi24 vidual, such agency shall—

25 ‘‘(1) conduct an interview of such individual; 
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1 ‘‘(2) verify the personal and employment ref2 erences provided by such individual; and 

3 ‘‘(3) obtain—

4 ‘‘(A) a State, tribal, or Federal criminal 

5 record check covering all jurisdictions where the 

6 grantee provides Head Start services to chil7 dren; 

8 ‘‘(B) a State, tribal, or Federal criminal 

9 record check as required by the law of the juris10 diction where the grantee provides Head Start 

11 services; or 

12 ‘‘(C) a criminal record check as otherwise 

13 required by Federal law. 

14 ‘‘(h) INCENTIVES FOR HEAD START TEACHERS AND

15 EARLY HEAD START TEACHERS.—

16 ‘‘(1) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—It is the pur17 pose of this subsection to encourage individuals to 

18 begin and continue teaching in Head Start programs 

19 and Early Head Start programs. 

20 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From the sums appro22 priated pursuant to paragraph (9), the Sec23 retary of Education, in consultation with the 

24 Secretary of Health and Human Services, is au25 thorized carry out a program to forgive, in ac-
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1 cordance with this subsection, the student loan 

2 debt of any borrower who has one or more 

3 loans described under subparagraph (B) made 

4 on or after October 1, 1998, and who—

5 ‘‘(i) commits to working as a Head 

6 Start teacher or an Early Head Start 

7 teacher for at least 3 consecutive complete 

8 program years; 

9 ‘‘(ii) has a bachelor’s degree in a field 

10 related to early childhood education; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) is not in default on a loan for 

12 which the borrower seeks forgiveness. 

13 ‘‘(B) METHOD OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—

14 To provide the loan forgiveness authorized in 

15 subclause (A), the Secretary of Education, in 

16 consultation with the Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services, shall, subject to subsubclause 

18 (C), carry out a program—

19 ‘‘(i) through the holder of the loan, to 

20 assume the obligation to repay a qualified 

21 loan amount for a loan made under section 

22 428 or 428H of the Higher Education Act 

23 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078, 1078–8); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) to cancel a qualified loan amount 

25 for a Federal Direct Stafford Loan or a 
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1 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

2 Loan made under part D of title IV of 

3 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.). 

4 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION

5 LOANS.—A loan amount for a loan made under 

6 section 428C or section 455(g) of such Act (20 

7 U.S.C. 1078–3, 1087e(g)) may be a qualified 

8 loan amount for the purposes of subclause (B) 

9 only to the extent that such loan amount was 

10 used to repay a loan made under section 428 or 

11 428H, a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, or a 

12 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan for 

13 a borrower who meets the requirements of sub14 clause (A), as determined in accordance with 

15 regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Edu16 cation, in consultation with the Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services. 

18 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.—After the be19 ginning of the qualifying employment described in 

20 subparagraph (2)(A)(i) and upon approval of a bor21 rower’s application under subparagraph (5), the Sec22 retary of Education, in consultation with the Sec23 retary of Health and Human Services, shall forgive 

24 under this subsection not more than $10,000 of the 
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1 student loan obligation of a borrower that is out2 standing at the beginning of such employment. 

3 ‘‘(4) AWARD BASIS.—Loan forgiveness under 

4 this subsection shall be on a first-come, first-served 

5 basis and subject to the availability of appropria6 tions. 

7 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION FOR FORGIVENESS.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each borrower desir9 ing loan forgiveness under this subsection shall 

10 submit a complete and accurate application to 

11 the Secretary of Education at such time, in 

12 such manner, and containing such information 

13 as the Secretary of Education, in consultation 

14 with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv15 ices, may require. 

16 ‘‘(B) SERVICE AGREEMENT.—Each such 

17 application shall contain an agreement by the 

18 borrower—

19 ‘‘(i) to complete the commitment de20 scribed in subclause (2)(A)(i) within 6 

21 years after receiving loan forgiveness under 

22 this subsection; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) to repay the portion required by 

24 the regulations under subclause (6)(A) if 
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1 the borrower does not complete such com2 mitment. 

3 ‘‘(6) REPAYMENT FOR FAILURE TO COMPLETE

4 SERVICE.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the event that any 

6 recipient of loan forgiveness under this sub7 section fails or refuses to complete a portion of 

8 the recipient’s service obligation under the 

9 agreement required by clause (5)(B), the same 

10 portion of the amounts of loans forgiven under 

11 this subsection for such recipient shall be sub12 ject to repayment in accordance with terms and 

13 conditions, and in the amounts, specified by the 

14 Secretary of Education, in consultation with the 

15 Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 

16 regulations under this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) FORGIVENESS IF DECEASED OR DIS18 ABLED.—Such regulations shall provide that, 

19 subject to the availability of appropriations, an 

20 individual shall be excused from repayment of 

21 any amount required under subclause (A) if the 

22 individual dies or becomes permanently and to23 tally disabled (as determined in accordance with 

24 such regulations). 
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1 ‘‘(7) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Edu2 cation, in consultation with the Secretary of Health 

3 and Human Services, is authorized to issue such 

4 regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 

5 provisions of this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(8) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub7 section shall be construed to authorize any refunding 

8 of any repayment of a loan. 

9 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this subsection such sums as may be necessary for 

12 fiscal year 2008 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

13 years. 

14 ‘‘(10) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

15 ‘‘(A) HEAD START TEACHER.—The term 

16 ‘Head Start teacher’ means an individual 

17 who—

18 ‘‘(i) is employed by a Head Start 

19 agency or an entity that carries out an 

20 Early Head Start program, to provide for 

21 the education and care of children who 

22 have not reached the age of compulsory 

23 school attendance who are enrolled in a 

24 Head Start program or an Early Head 

25 Start program receiving funds under the 
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1 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et. seq.); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) who has, at a minimum, an asso4 ciate’s degree in early childhood education 

5 or a related field. 

6 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM YEAR.—The term ‘program 

7 year’, where applied to service as a Head Start 

8 teacher or an Early Head Start teacher, means 

9 a program year as defined by the Secretary of 

10 Health and Human Services.’’. 

11 SEC. 19. RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EVALUATION. 

12 Section 649 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9844) 

13 is amended—

14 (1) by amending subsection (a)(1)(B) to read 

15 as follows: 

16 ‘‘(B) use the Head Start programs to de17 velop, test, and disseminate new ideas and 

18 based on existing scientifically based research, 

19 for addressing the needs of low-income pre20 school children (including children with disabil21 ities, homeless children, children who have been 

22 abused or neglected, and children in foster care) 

23 and their families and communities (including 

24 demonstrations of innovative non-center-based 

25 program models such as home-based and mobile 
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1 programs), and otherwise to further the pur2 poses of this subchapter.’’, 

3 (A) in paragraph (8) by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

4 the end, 

5 (B) by striking paragraphs (9) and (10) 

6 and insert the following: 

7 ‘‘(9) contribute to understanding the impact of 

8 Head Start services delivered in inclusive classrooms 

9 on both children with disabilities and children with10 out disabilities, and develop practices for increasing 

11 the availability and quality of inclusive classrooms.’’. 

12 (2) in subsection (g)—

13 (A) in paragraph(1)(A)—

14 (i) by striking clause (i), and 

15 (ii) by redesignating clauses (ii) and 

16 (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, 

17 and 

18 (B) by amending paragraph (7)(C) to read 

19 as follows: 

20 ‘‘(C) TRANSMITTAL OF REPORT TO CON21 GRESS.—Not later than September 30, 2009, 

22 the Secretary shall transmit the final report to 

23 the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Committee 
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1 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

2 the Senate.’’, and 

3 (3) by amending subsection (h) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(h) LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT CHILDREN.—

6 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of enactment of the Improving Head Start Act 

8 of 2007, the Secretary shall conduct a study on the 

9 status of limited English proficient children and 

10 their families participating Head Start programs 

11 and Early Head Start programs. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare 

13 and submit to Congress, not later than September 

14 2008, a report containing the results of such study, 

15 including information on—

16 ‘‘(A)(i) the demographics of limited 

17 English proficient children less than 5 years of 

18 age and the geographical distribution of such 

19 children; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the number of such children receiving 

21 Head Start services and the number of such 

22 children receiving Early Head Start services, 

23 and the geographical distribution of such chil24 dren receiving such services; 
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1 ‘‘(B) the nature of the Head Start services 

2 and of the Early Head Start services provided 

3 to limited English proficient children and their 

4 families, including the types, content, duration, 

5 intensity, and costs of family services, language 

6 assistance, and educational services; 

7 ‘‘(C) procedures in Head Start programs 

8 for assessing language needs and for making 

9 the transition of limited English proficient chil10 dren to kindergarten, including the extent to 

11 which Head Start programs meet the require12 ments of section 642A for limited English pro13 ficient children; 

14 ‘‘(D) the qualifications and training pro15 vided to Head Start teachers and Early Head 

16 Start teachers who serve limited English pro17 ficient children and their families; 

18 ‘‘(E) the home languages of Head Start 

19 and Early Head Start teachers; 

20 ‘‘(F) the rate of progress made by limited 

21 English proficient children and their families in 

22 Head Start programs and in Early Head Start 

23 programs, including—

24 ‘‘(i) the rate of progress made by lim25 ited English proficient children toward 
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1 meeting the additional educational stand2 ards described in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) 

3 while enrolled in Head Start programs; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a description of the type of as5 sessment or assessments used to determine 

6 the rate of progress made by limited 

7 English proficient children; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the correlation between such 

9 progress and the type and quality of in10 struction and educational programs pro11 vided to limited English proficient children; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iv) the correlation between such 

14 progress and the health and family services 

15 provided by Head Start programs to lim16 ited English proficient children and their 

17 families; and 

18 ‘‘(G) the extent to which Head Start pro19 grams make use of funds under section 

20 640(a)(3) to improve the quality of Head Start 

21 services provided to limited English proficient 

22 children and their families. 

23 ‘‘(i) CHILDREN, FAMILIES, AND PROGRAMS AF24 FECTED BY HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA.—
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1 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

2 is to evaluate the status of Head Start and Early 

3 Head Start programs affected by Hurricanes 

4 Katrina and Rita as well as the challenges those 

5 programs have faced in reestablishing themselves 

6 and reenrolling eligible children and families, with 

7 the ultimate goal of providing all Head Start and 

8 Early Head Start programs with recommendations 

9 for developing and implementing disaster plans. 

10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—The term ‘areas affected by 

11 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita’ means any parish or 

12 county for which it was determined that assistance 

13 was warranted from the Federal Government under 

14 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer15 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) as a 

16 result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

17 ‘‘(3) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

18 study on the status of children and families partici19 pating in Head Start and Early Head Start pro20 grams in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and 

21 Rita. 

22 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

23 date of the enactment of the Improving Head Start 

24 Act of 2007, the Secretary shall prepare and submit 
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1 to Congress a report containing the results of such 

2 study, including 

3 ‘‘(A) information on the population served, 

4 including—

5 ‘‘(i) the number of children and fami6 lies participating in Head Start and Early 

7 Head Start programs in areas affected by 

8 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita before and 

9 after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the demographics of such chil11 dren and families; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) the geographical distribution of 

13 such children and families; 

14 ‘‘(B) information on staff and programs, 

15 including—

16 ‘‘(i) the number and geographic dis17 tribution of staff serving Head Start and 

18 Early Head Start children and families 

19 from areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina 

20 and Rita; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the current status, including em22 ployment status and geographic location, 

23 of Head Start and Early Head Start staff 

24 serving in areas affected by Hurricanes 
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1 Katrina and Rita prior to Hurricanes 

2 Katrina and Rita; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) the response and recovery ef4 forts of Head Start and Early Head Start 

5 staff serving in areas affected by Hurri6 canes Katrina and Rita 

7 ‘‘(C) information on facilities, including—

8 ‘‘(i) the number of Head Start and 

9 Early Head Start facilities operating prior 

10 to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in areas 

11 affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the current status of each such 

13 facility; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) information on any new Head 

15 Start or Early Head Start facility that has 

16 opened in areas affected by Hurricanes 

17 Katrina and Rita or that serves children 

18 and families who lived in areas affected by 

19 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita at the time 

20 of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; 

21 ‘‘(D) information on coordination with the 

22 Federal Emergency Management Agency 

23 (FEMA) in areas affected by Hurricanes 

24 Katrina and Rita, including—
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1 ‘‘(i) areas of success that Head Start 

2 agencies and programs had in working 

3 with FEMA; 

4 ‘‘(ii) challenges that Head Start agen5 cies and programs had in working with 

6 FEMA; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) the number of Head Start fami8 lies that received individualized assistance 

9 (as defined under the Robert T. Stafford 

10 Disaster Relief and Emergency Act) and 

11 the types of assistance received by such 

12 families. 

13 ‘‘(E) challenges that were faced by Head 

14 Start and Early Head Start programs and fam15 ilies in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina 

16 and Rita including—

17 ‘‘(i) the availability of Head Start 

18 services for families displaced during the 

19 period of transition; 

20 ‘‘(ii) identification of and outreach to 

21 families displaced by the Hurricanes 

22 Katrina and Rita; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) the extent to which non-Federal 

24 disaster assistance was available to Head 

25 Start agencies and programs, and coordi-
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1 nation of such services with non-Federal 

2 disaster assistance resources. 

3 ‘‘(5) DISASTER PLAN PREPAREDNESS.—Not 

4 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

5 Improving Head Start Act of 2007, the Secretary 

6 shall prepare and submit to Congress, Head Start 

7 disaster plan recommendations based upon the re8 port initiated in paragraph (4), including rec9 ommendations for prevention, preparedness, re10 sponse, and recovery, that can be used to advise 

11 Head Start and Early Head Start programs in the 

12 development and implementation of disaster plans.’’. 

13 SEC. 20. REPORTS. 

14 Section 650 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9846) 

15 is amended—

16 (1) in subsection (a)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘Committee on Education 

18 and the Workforce of the House of Representa19 tives and the Committee on Labor and Human 

20 Resources of the Senate’’ each place it appears 

21 and inserting ‘‘Committee on Education and 

22 Labor of the House of Representatives and the 

23 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

24 Pensions of the Senate’’, 
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘and non-English language 

2 background children’’ and inserting ‘‘children, 

3 homeless children, children in foster care, and 

4 limited English proficient children’’, and 

5 (C) in paragraph (8) by inserting ‘‘home6 lessness, whether the child is in foster care or 

7 was referred by a child welfare agency,’’ after 

8 ‘‘ background,’’, and 

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

10 ‘‘(c) SET-ASIDE ACTIVITIES.—Not later than 60 days 

11 after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub12 mit to the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

13 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

14 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a report 

15 detailing the different amounts of expenditures under sec16 tion 640(a)(2) and the activities carried out thereunder. 

17 ‘‘(d) FISCAL PROTOCOL.—The Secretary shall con18 duct an annual review to assess whether the design and 

19 implementation of the triennial reviews described in sec20 tion 641A(c) include compliance procedures that provide 

21 reasonable assurance that Head Start agencies are com22 plying with applicable fiscal laws and regulations. The 

23 Secretary shall report the findings and conclusions of the 

24 annual review to the House Committee on Education and 

25 Labor, and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, 
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1 Labor and Pensions within 30 days of completing the re2 view. 

3 ‘‘(e) USE OF INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLANS.—

4 The Secretary shall track the use of Head Start Individ5 ualized Education Plans by Head Start agencies in order 

6 to evaluate the reasons why Head Start agencies are opt7 ing not to use Individualized Education Plans for children 

8 with disabilities (as specified in the Individuals With Dis9 abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)), whether 

10 Head Start Individualized Education Plans are used to 

11 provide services prior to the development of an Individual12 ized Education Plan, as required under the Individuals 

13 With Disabilities Education Act, and the length of time 

14 programs use Head Start Individualized Education Plans 

15 before an Individualized Education Plan as required under 

16 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act is developed. 

17 The Secretary shall provide a report to the Committee on 

18 Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and 

19 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen20 sions of the Senate, not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of the enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 

22 2007. 

23 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS REGARD24 ING OBESITY PREVENTION.—The Secretary shall evaluate 

25 and publish regulations on the issue of and concerns re-
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1 lated to preventing and reducing obesity in children who 

2 participate in Head Start programs and shall consult, at 

3 a minimum, with experts in child and maternal health, 

4 child development, child and family nutrition and physical 

5 education, to determine the effective methods by which 

6 Head Start agencies can help address childhood obesity. 

7 The regulations should include guidance on how Head 

8 Start agencies can incorporate, at a minimum, more phys9 ical activity and nutrition education into such programs 

10 related to preventing and reducing obesity. Not later than 

11 1 year after the effective date of this subsection, the Sec12 retary shall submit to the House Committee on Education 

13 and Labor and the Senate Committee on Health, Edu14 cation, Labor and Pensions, a report containing such rec15 ommendations and the results of such evaluation.’’. 

16 SEC. 21. WAGES AND COMPENSATION. 

17 Section 653 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9848) 

18 is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 653. WAGES AND COMPENSATION. 

20 ‘‘(a) COMPARABILITY OF WAGES.—The Secretary 

21 shall take such action as may be necessary to assure that 

22 persons employed in carrying out programs financed 

23 under this subchapter shall not receive compensation at 

24 a rate which is (1) in excess of the average rate of com25 pensation paid in the area where the program is carried 
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1 out to a substantial number of the persons providing sub2 stantially comparable services, or in excess of the average 

3 rate of compensation paid to a substantial number of the 

4 persons providing substantially comparable services in the 

5 area of the person’s immediately preceding employment, 

6 whichever is higher; or (2) less than the minimum wage 

7 rate prescribed in section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Stand8 ards Act of 1938. The Secretary shall encourage Head 

9 Start agencies to provide compensation according to salary 

10 scales that are based on training and experience. 

11 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL RATE LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding 

12 any other provision of law, no Federal funds shall be used 

13 to pay all or any part of the compensation of an individual 

14 employed by a Head Start agency in carrying out pro15 grams under this subchapter, either as direct or indirect 

16 costs of any proration thereof, at a rate in excess of the 

17 rate then payable for level II of the Executive Schedule 

18 under section 5313 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 

19 SEC. 22. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN USES OF FUNDS. 

20 The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 656A. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN USES OF FUNDS. 

23 ‘‘No funds made available to carry out this sub24 chapter may be used—
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1 ‘‘(1) for publicity or propaganda purposes not 

2 heretofore authorized by the Congress; or 

3 ‘‘(2) unless authorized by law in effect on the 

4 effective date of this section, to produce any pre5 packaged news story intended for broadcast or dis6 tribution unless such story includes a clear notifica7 tion contained within the text or audio of such story 

8 stating that the prepackaged news story was pre9 pared or funded by the Department of Health and 

10 Human Services.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 2, 2007. 

Attest:

Clerk. 
110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1429

AN ACT

To reauthorize the Head Start Act, to improve propurposes. gram quality, to expand access, and for other