II 

Calendar No. 137 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1429 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2007 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 ‘‘Improving Head Start Act of 2007’’. 

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

7 (1) finds that— 

8 (A) while the steady economic growth and 

9 low inflation in the United States has yielded 

10 unprecedented prosperity, many children and 

11 families in this country have not benefited from 


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1 this prosperity and continue to be 

2 socioeconomically disadvantaged, 

3 (B) many community- and faith-based or4 ganizations have expertise in moving individuals 

5 and families from dependency to self-sufficiency 

6 by providing families with the tools and skills 

7 they need to participate in the community and 

8 contribute to our economy, 

9 (C) the Head Start Act was established to 

10 help prepare low-income young children to suc11 ceed in school and in life by addressing the 

12 needs of the whole child and providing com13 prehensive services such as health and nutri14 tion, 

15 (D) research confirms that children who 

16 attend Head Start programs enter school better 

17 prepared than low-income children who do not 

18 attend the program, are less likely to need spe19 cial education services, to repeat a grade, or 

20 commit crimes in adolescence, and are more 

21 likely to graduate from high school, 

22 (E) community- and faith-based organiza23 tions have participated in Head Start programs 

24 since the enactment of the Head Start Act in 


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1 1965 and continue to serve more than 90,000 

2 children and their families, 

3 (F) parents have an integral role in the de4 velopment and implementation of Head Start 

5 programs, community- and faith-based pro6 viders of Head Start services employ parents 

7 and encourage parents to volunteer in the pro8 grams because parents are children’s most im9 portant and influential teachers, 

10 (G) community- and faith-based providers 

11 of Head Start services not only serve the needs 

12 of low-income children and their families but 

13 enrich, strengthen and reflect the diversity of 

14 the communities wherein they reside, and 

15 (H) the Head Start Act is a critical com16 ponent of America’s civil rights platform, and 

17 community and faith-based organizations have 

18 been leaders in the civil rights movement in the 

19 United States, 

20 (2) supports the continued role of community 

21 and faith-based organizations in Head Start pro22 grams as providers of comprehensive services to chil23 dren, families, and communities, and 

24 (3) extends its gratitude to community- and 

25 faith-based organizations that provide Head Start 


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1 services, and to the employees and volunteers for 

2 their commitment to the education, health, and eco3 nomic well-being of low-income children and families. 

4 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

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

6 is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 636. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

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

9 school readiness of low-income children— 

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

11 emotional development in a learning environment 

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

13 mathematics, science, social and emotional func14 tioning, physical skills, and approaches to learning; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(2) through the provision to low-income chil17 dren and their families of health, educational, nutri18 tional, social, and other services that are determined, 

19 based on family needs assessments, to be nec20 essary.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

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

23 is amended— 

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

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


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (15) as para2 graph (21), respectively, 

3 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (11) through 

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

5 (4) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para6 graph (14), 

7 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

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

9 (6) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘deficiency’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) systemic or significant material fail13 ure of a Head Start agency in an area of per14 formance that the Secretary determines in15 volves— 

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

17 civil rights of children or staff; 

18 ‘‘(ii) a denial to parents of the exer19 cise of their full roles and responsibilities 

20 related to program governance; 

21 ‘‘(iii) a failure to perform the require22 ments of section 641A(a), as determined 

23 by the Secretary; 

24 ‘‘(iv) the misuse of funds received 

25 under this subchapter; 


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1 ‘‘(v) loss of legal status (as deter2 mined by the Secretary) or financial viabil3 ity, loss of permits, debarment from receiv4 ing Federal grants or contracts, or the im5 proper use of Federal funds; or 

6 ‘‘(vi) failure to meet any other of Fed7 eral or State requirement; or 

8 ‘‘(B) material failure of the board of direc9 tors of a Head Start agency to meet its legal 

10 and fiduciary responsibilities.’’, 

11 (7) by inserting after paragraph (10), as so re12 designated the following: 

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

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

15 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 11434a(2)). 

17 ‘‘(12) The term ‘homeless family’ means the 

18 family of a homeless child. 

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

20 Head Start classroom that contains both children 

21 with disabilities and children without disabilities.’’, 

22 (8) by inserting after paragraph (13), as so re23 designated the following: 


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

2 and ‘limited English proficiency’ mean with respect 

3 to an individual, that such individual— 

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

5 or has a native language that is not English; 

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

7 Native, or a native resident of a territory or 

8 possession of the United States; and 

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

10 a language that is not English has had a sig11 nificant impact on such individual’s level of 

12 English language proficiency; or 

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

14 that is not English, and comes from an environ15 ment in which a language that is not English 

16 is dominant; and 

17 ‘‘(B) has difficulty in speaking or under18 standing the English language to an extent that 

19 may be sufficient to prevent such individual 

20 from— 

21 ‘‘(i) successful achievement in class22 rooms in which the language of instruction 

23 is English; or 

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


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1 (9) by inserting after paragraph (18), as so re2 designated the following: 

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

4 means high quality activities that will improve the 

5 knowledge and skills of Head Start teachers and 

6 staff, as relevant to their roles and functions, in pro7 gram administration and the provision of services 

8 and instruction, as appropriate, in a manner that 

9 improves service delivery to eligible children and 

10 families, including activities that— 

11 ‘‘(A) are part of a sustained effort to im12 prove overall program quality and outcomes for 

13 eligible children and families; 

14 ‘‘(B) are developed or selected with exten15 sive participation of administrators and teach16 ers from Head Start programs; 

17 ‘‘(C) are developmentally appropriate for 

18 the children being served; 

19 ‘‘(D) include instruction in ways that Head 

20 Start personnel may work more effectively with 

21 parents, as appropriate; 

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

23 staff the knowledge and skills to provide in24 struction and appropriate support services to 

25 children of diverse backgrounds, as appropriate; 


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

2 conference, must be as part of the professional 

3 development plan defined in section 648A(f) 

4 and be delivered by an institution of higher 

5 education or other entity with expertise in deliv6 ering training in early childhood development, 

7 family support, and other assistance designed to 

8 improve the delivery of Head Start services; 

9 ‘‘(G) assist teachers with— 

10 ‘‘(i) the acquisition of the content 

11 knowledge and teaching strategies needed 

12 to provide effective instruction and other 

13 school readiness services in early language 

14 and literacy, early mathematics, early 

15 science, cognitive skills, approaches to 

16 learning, creative arts, science, physical 

17 health and development, and social and 

18 emotional development linked to school 

19 readiness; 

20 ‘‘(ii) meeting the requirements in 

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

22 as appropriate; 

23 ‘‘(iii) improving classroom manage24 ment skills, as appropriate; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) advancing understanding of ef2 fective instructional strategies that are— 

3 ‘‘(I) based on scientifically based 

4 research; and 

5 ‘‘(II) aligned with— 

6 ‘‘(aa) the Head Start Child 

7 Outcomes Framework developed 

8 by the Secretary and State early 

9 learning standards, as appro10 priate; and 

11 ‘‘(bb) the curricula, ongoing 

12 assessments, and other instruc13 tion and services designed to help 

14 meet the standards described in 

15 section 641A(a)(1); 

16 ‘‘(v) acquiring the knowledge and 

17 skills to provide instruction and appro18 priate language and support services to in19 crease the English language skills of lim20 ited English proficient children, as appro21 priate; or 

22 ‘‘(vi) methods of teaching children 

23 with disabilities, as appropriate.’’, 

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

25 redesignated, the following: 


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

2 ‘‘(A) means research that involves the ap3 plication of rigorous, systematic and objective 

4 procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowl5 edge relevant to education activities and pro6 grams; and 

7 ‘‘(B) includes research that— 

8 ‘‘(i) employs systematic, empirical 

9 methods that draw on observation or ex10 periment; 

11 ‘‘(ii) involves rigorous data analyses 

12 that are adequate to test the stated 

13 hypotheses and justify the general conclu14 sions drawn; 

15 ‘‘(iii) relies on measurements or obser16 vational methods that provide reliable and 

17 valid data across evaluators and observers, 

18 across multiple measurements and observa19 tions, and across studies by the same or 

20 different investigators; 

21 ‘‘(iv) is evaluated using experimental 

22 or quasi-experimental designs in which in23 dividuals, entities, programs or activities 

24 are assigned to different conditions and 

25 with appropriate controls to evaluate the 


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1 effects of the condition of interest, with a 

2 preference for random assignment experi3 ments, or other designs to the extent that 

4 those designs contain within-condition or 

5 across-condition controls; 

6 ‘‘(v) ensures that experimental studies 

7 are presented in sufficient detail and clar8 ity to allow for replication or, at a min9 imum, offer the opportunity to build sys10 tematically on their findings; and 

11 ‘‘(vi) has been accepted by a peer-re12 viewed journal or approved by a panel of 

13 independent experts through a comparably 

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

15 and 

16 (11) by amending paragraph (23), as so redes17 ignated, to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(23) The term ‘State’ means a State, the 

19 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Co20 lumbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands 

21 of the United States, the Commonwealth of the 

22 Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of 

23 Palau.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

3 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap6 propriated to carry out this subchapter $7,350,000,000 

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

8 for fiscal years 2009 through 2012. 

9 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC PROGRAMS.—From the amount ap10 propriated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 

11 available to carry out research, demonstration, and evalua12 tion activities (including longitudinal studies under section 

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

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

15 2009 through 2012, of which not more than $7,000,000 

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

17 available to carry out impact studies under section 

18 649(g).’’. 

19 SEC. 5. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS; LIMITATION ON ASSIST20 ANCE. 

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

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

23 as follows: 

24 ‘‘(a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.— 

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

26 under section 639, the Secretary shall allot such 


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1 amounts in accordance with paragraphs (2) through 

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

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

4 Secretary shall reserve 13 percent of the amount ap5 propriated for each fiscal year for use in accordance 

6 with the following order of priorities: 

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

8 Head Start programs, services for children with 

9 disabilities, and migrant and seasonal Head 

10 Start programs, except that— 

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

12 each fiscal year for use by Indian Head 

13 Start programs and by migrant and sea14 sonal Head Start programs, on a nation15 wide basis, not less than the amount that 

16 was obligated for use by Indian Head 

17 Start programs and by migrant and sea18 sonal Head Start programs for fiscal year 

19 2007; 

20 ‘‘(ii) migrant and seasonal Head Start 

21 programs shall receive not less than 5 per22 cent of the amount appropriated for each 

23 fiscal year until such time as the Secretary 

24 can make funding decisions to ensure ac25 cess to funding for eligible children of miVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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1 grant and seasonal farmworkers is com2 parable to access to funding for other eligi3 ble children based on the data collected 

4 and reported pursuant to section 648(l), 

5 except that no future reduction in funding 

6 shall result in the termination of Head 

7 Start services provided to any eligible child 

8 3 years of age or older who is participating 

9 in any such program on the date a reduc10 tion in funding occurs, and shall, to the ex11 tent possible, continue participation for 

12 children less than 3 years of age receiving 

13 services before such reduction in funding; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(iii) Indian Head Start programs 

16 shall receive not less than 3.5 percent of 

17 the amount appropriated for each fiscal 

18 year until such time as the Secretary can 

19 make funding decisions to ensure access to 

20 funding for eligible Indian children is com21 parable to access to funding for other eligi22 ble children based on the data collected in 

23 accordance with the requirements of sec24 tion 648(k), except that no future reduc25 tion in funding shall result in the termiVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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1 nation of Head Start services provided to 

2 any eligible child 3 years of age or older 

3 who is participating in any such program 

4 on the date a reduction in funding occurs, 

5 and shall, to the extent possible, continue 

6 participation for children less than 3 years 

7 of age receiving services before such reduc8 tion in funding. 

9 ‘‘(B) PAYMENTS TO TERRITORIES AND

10 FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—Subject to para11 graph (7), for payments to Guam, American 

12 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

13 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the 

14 United States, and the Republic of Palau, ex15 cept that payments to the Republic of Palau 

16 shall not be made after fiscal year 2009. 

17 ‘‘(C) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSIST18 ANCE.—Not less than 2 percent of the amount 

19 appropriated for such fiscal year for training 

20 and technical assistance activities to foster pro21 gram quality and management improvement as 

22 described in section 648, of which— 

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

24 available to local Head Start agencies to 

25 make program improvements identified by 


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1 such agencies to use for the training and 

2 technical assistance activities described in 

3 section 648(j); 

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

5 available to the Secretary to support a 

6 State-based system or a national system, 

7 in the case of migrant and seasonal Head 

8 Start and Indian Head Start programs, of 

9 early childhood education training and 

10 technical assistance to local Head Start 

11 agencies as described in section 648(n); 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the remainder of such amount 

14 shall be available to the Secretary to assist 

15 local Head Start agencies in meeting and 

16 exceeding the standards described in sec17 tion 641A(a)(1), including financial assist18 ance to help Head Start programs address 

19 weaknesses identified by monitoring activi20 ties conducted by the Secretary under sec21 tion 641A(c), except that— 

22 ‘‘(I) not less than $3,000,000 

23 shall be available to carry out the ac24 tivities described in section 648(c)(4); 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) no more than $5,000,000 

2 shall be reserved to carry out the ac3 tivities described in section 642B(b). 

4 ‘‘(D) MONITORING AND TERMINATIONS.— 

5 For discretionary payments made by the Sec6 retary, including payments for all costs (other 

7 than compensation of Federal employees) of re8 views of Head Start agencies, programs under 

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

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

11 641A(d) related to correcting deficiencies and 

12 conducting proceedings to terminate the des13 ignation of Head Start agencies. 

14 ‘‘(E) RESEARCH.—For payments for re15 search, demonstration, and evaluation activities 

16 under section 649. 

17 No funds reserved under this paragraph or para18 graph (3) may be combined with funds appropriated 

19 under any other Act if the purpose of combining 

20 funds is to make a single discretionary grant or a 

21 single discretionary payment, unless such funds ap22 propriated under this subchapter are separately 

23 identified in such grant or payment and are used for 

24 the purposes of this subchapter. 

25 ‘‘(3) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF FUNDS.— 

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

3 through 2012, to provide assistance for ac4 tivities specified in subparagraph (B), the 

5 Secretary shall reserve, from the amount 

6 (if any) by which the funds appropriated 

7 under section 639(a) for a fiscal year ex8 ceed the adjusted prior year appropriation, 

9 a share equal to the sum of— 

10 ‘‘(I) 60 percent of such excess 

11 amount; and 

12 ‘‘(II) any additional part of such 

13 excess amount the Secretary may find 

14 necessary to address a demonstrated 

15 need for such activities. 

16 ‘‘(ii) As used in clause (i), the term 

17 ‘adjusted prior year appropriation’ means, 

18 with respect to a fiscal year, the amount 

19 appropriated under section 639(a) for the 

20 preceding fiscal year, adjusted to reflect 

21 the percentage change in the Consumer 

22 Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

23 (issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) 

24 during such preceding fiscal year. 


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1 ‘‘(B) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACTIVI2 TIES.—Funds reserved under this paragraph 

3 shall be used to carry out the following activi4 ties: 

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

6 amount reserved under this paragraph, to 

7 improve the compensation, salary scales, 

8 and benefit standards of educational staff, 

9 family service workers, and child coun10 selors, as described in sections 644(a) and 

11 653, to ensure that salary levels and bene12 fits are adequate to attract and retain 

13 qualified staff for such programs. 

14 ‘‘(ii) Providing on-going professional 

15 development to teachers that improves 

16 their understanding of child development, 

17 content knowledge, and appropriate teach18 ing strategies needed to provide effective 

19 instruction and other school readiness serv20 ices in the areas of early language and lit21 eracy, early mathematics, cognitive skills, 

22 approaches to learning, creative arts, 

23 science, physical health and development, 

24 and social and emotional development. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Improving the qualifications and 

2 skills of educational personnel to meet the 

3 professional standards established under 

4 section 648A(a)(1), including providing as5 sistance to complete postsecondary course 

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

7 ‘‘(iv) Ensuring that the physical envi8 ronments of Head Start programs are con9 ducive to providing effective program serv10 ices to children and families, and are ac11 cessible to children with disabilities and 

12 other individuals with disabilities. 

13 ‘‘(v) Employing additional qualified 

14 classroom staff necessary to reduce the 

15 child to teacher ratio in the classroom and 

16 family to staff ratio for family services 

17 workers. 

18 ‘‘(vi) Ensuring that such programs 

19 have qualified staff that can promote lan20 guage skills and literacy growth of children 

21 and that can provide children with a vari22 ety of skills that have been identified, 

23 through scientifically based reading re24 search, as predictive of later reading 

25 achievement. 


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1 ‘‘(vii) Increasing hours of program op2 eration, including— 

3 ‘‘(I) conversion of part-day to 

4 full-day; and 

5 ‘‘(II) number of weeks operated 

6 in a calendar year. 

7 ‘‘(viii) Improving the compensation 

8 and benefits of staff of Head Start agen9 cies in order to improve the quality of 

10 Head Start programs. 

11 ‘‘(ix) Transportation costs associated 

12 with transporting Head Start children 

13 safely, except that— 

14 ‘‘(I) no more than ten percent of 

15 funds under this paragraph may be 

16 used for such purposes; 

17 ‘‘(II) a Head Start agency shall 

18 demonstrate efforts to leverage the 

19 costs of transportation through col20 laboration with other entities; and 

21 ‘‘(III) a Head Start agency shall 

22 submit information to the Secretary 

23 describing how such use of funds is 

24 necessary to prevent reduction or ter25 mination of transportation services or, 


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1 in the case of a Head Start agency 

2 serving a rural community, how such 

3 use of funds is necessary to improve 

4 services to such community. 

5 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION.— 

6 ‘‘(i) Funds reserved under subpara7 graph (A) shall be allotted by the Sec8 retary as follows: 

9 ‘‘(I) 80 percent of such funds 

10 shall be allotted among the States in 

11 the same proportion as the Secretary 

12 allots funds among the States under 

13 paragraph (4) for the respective fiscal 

14 year. 

15 ‘‘(II) 20 percent of such funds 

16 shall be allotted among the States, 

17 geographical areas specified in sub18 section (a)(2)(B) and Indian Head 

19 Start programs and migrant and sea20 sonal Head Start programs, and used 

21 to make grants to Head Start agen22 cies, at the discretion of the Sec23 retary. 

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

25 shall be used by the Secretary to make 


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1 grants to Head Start agencies that receive 

2 grants from funds allotted under para3 graph (4) for such fiscal year, in such 

4 amounts as the Secretary considers to be 

5 appropriate, for expenditure for activities 

6 specified in subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(iii) Funds received under this sub8 paragraph shall be used to supplement, not 

9 to supplant, funds received under para10 graph (2) or (4). 

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

12 639(b), the Secretary shall allot the remaining 

13 amounts appropriated in each fiscal year among the 

14 States, in accordance with latest satisfactory data so 

15 that— 

16 ‘‘(A) each State receives an amount which 

17 is equal to the amount the State received for 

18 fiscal year 2007; and 

19 ‘‘(B) any amount available after all allot20 ments are made under subparagraph (A) for 

21 such fiscal year shall be distributed proportion22 ately on the basis of the number of children less 

23 than 5 years of age from families whose income 

24 is below the poverty line. 


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1 For purposes of this paragraph, for each fiscal year 

2 the Secretary shall use the most recent data avail3 able on the number of children less than 5 years of 

4 age from families whose income is below the poverty 

5 line, as published by the Department of Commerce, 

6 unless the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce 

7 determine that use of the most recent data available 

8 would be inappropriate or unreliable. If the Sec9 retary and the Secretary of Commerce determine 

10 that some or all of the data referred to in this para11 graph are inappropriate or unreliable, the Secre12 taries shall issue a report setting forth their reasons 

13 in detail. 

14 ‘‘(5) COLLABORATION GRANTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) From amounts reserved and allotted 

16 under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall award 

17 the collaboration grants described in subpara18 graphs (B), (C), and (D). 

19 ‘‘(B)(i) From the reserved sums, the Sec20 retary shall award upon submission of a written 

21 request, a collaboration grant to each State and 

22 to each national administrative office serving 

23 Indian Head Start programs and migrant and 

24 seasonal Head Start programs to facilitate col25 laboration between Head Start agencies and enVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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1 tities (including the State or national adminis2 trative office) that carry out other activities de3 signed to benefit low-income families and chil4 dren from birth to school entry. The national 

5 administrative offices shall use the funds made 

6 available through the grants to carry out the 

7 authorities and responsibilities described in sub8 paragraphs (B) and (C). 

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

10 used to— 

11 ‘‘(I) assist Head Start agencies to col12 laborate with entities involved in State and 

13 local planning processes to better meet the 

14 needs of low-income families and children 

15 from birth to school entry; 

16 ‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies to co17 ordinate activities with the State agency 

18 responsible for administering the State 

19 program carried out under the Child Care 

20 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 

21 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and entities pro22 viding resource and referral services in the 

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

24 calendar year services available to children; 


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1 ‘‘(III) promote alignment of Head 

2 Start curricula and continuity of services 

3 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

4 Framework and State early learning stand5 ards, as appropriate; 

6 ‘‘(IV) promote better linkages between 

7 Head Start agencies and other child and 

8 family agencies, including agencies that 

9 provide health, mental health, or family 

10 services, or other child or family supportive 

11 services, such as services provided under 

12 section 619 or part C of the Individuals 

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

14 1419, 1431 et seq.); and 

15 ‘‘(V) carry out the activities of the 

16 State Director of Head Start Collaboration 

17 authorized in subparagraph (D). 

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

19 delivery of early education services to children 

20 in the State, a State that receives a collabora21 tion grant under subparagraph (B) shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) appoint or designate an individual 

23 to serve as, or carry out the responsibilities 

24 of, the State Director of Head Start Col25 laboration; 


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

2 Head Start Collaboration holds a position 

3 with sufficient authority and access to en4 sure that the collaboration described in 

5 subparagraph (B) is effective and involves 

6 a range of State agencies; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) involve the State Head Start As8 sociation in the selection of the Director 

9 and involve the Association in determina10 tions relating to the ongoing direction of 

11 the collaboration office. 

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

13 Collaboration shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after the 

15 State receives a collaboration grant under 

16 subparagraph (B), conduct an assessment 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(I) addresses the needs of Head 

19 Start agencies in the State with re20 spect to collaboration, coordination, 

21 and alignment of services, and align22 ment of curricula and assessments 

23 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

24 Framework, and with State early 

25 learning standards, as appropriate; 


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1 ‘‘(II) shall be updated on an an2 nual basis; and 

3 ‘‘(III) shall be made available to 

4 the general public within the State; 

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

6 based on the assessment described in 

7 clause (i) that will— 

8 ‘‘(I) enhance collaboration and 

9 coordination of Head Start services 

10 with other entities providing early 

11 childhood programs and services (such 

12 as child care or services offered by 

13 museums), health care, mental health 

14 care, welfare, child protective services, 

15 education and community service ac16 tivities, family literacy services, read17 ing readiness programs (including 

18 such programs offered by public and 

19 school libraries), services relating to 

20 children with disabilities, other early 

21 childhood programs and services for 

22 limited English proficient children and 

23 homeless children, and services pro24 vided for children in foster care and 

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1 grams by child welfare agencies, in2 cluding agencies and State officials re3 sponsible for such services; 

4 ‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies 

5 to develop a plan for the provision of 

6 full-working-day, full calendar year 

7 services for children enrolled in Head 

8 Start programs who need such care; 

9 ‘‘(III) assist Head Start agencies 

10 to align curricula and assessments 

11 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

12 Framework and to the State early 

13 learning standards, as appropriate; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(IV) enable Head Start agencies 

16 in the State to better access profes17 sional development opportunities for 

18 Head Start staff, such as by— 

19 ‘‘(aa) working with local 

20 Head Start agencies to meet the 

21 degree requirements described in 

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

23 providing distance learning op24 portunities for Head Start staff, 

25 where needed to make higher 


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1 education more accessible to 

2 Head Start staff; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) enabling the State 

4 Head Start agencies to better 

5 conduct outreach to eligible fami6 lies; 

7 ‘‘(iii) promote partnerships between 

8 Head Start agencies, State and local gov9 ernments, and the private sector to help 

10 ensure that children, who are in Head 

11 Start programs, are receiving comprehen12 sive services to prepare the children to 

13 enter school ready to succeed; 

14 ‘‘(iv) consult with the chief State 

15 school officer, local educational agencies, 

16 and providers of early childhood education 

17 and care, regarding early care and edu18 cation services at both the State and local 

19 levels; 

20 ‘‘(v) promote partnerships between 

21 Head Start agencies, schools, law enforce22 ment, relevant community-based organiza23 tions, and substance abuse and mental 

24 health treatment agencies to strengthen 

25 family and community environments and 


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1 to reduce the impact on child development 

2 of substance abuse, child abuse, domestic 

3 violence, and other high risk behaviors that 

4 compromise healthy development; 

5 ‘‘(vi) promote partnerships between 

6 Head Start agencies and other organiza7 tions in order to enhance Head Start pro8 gram quality, including partnerships to 

9 promote inclusion of more books in Head 

10 Start classrooms; 

11 ‘‘(vii) identify other resources and or12 ganizations (both public and private) for 

13 the provision of in-kind services to Head 

14 Start agencies in the State; and 

15 ‘‘(viii) work with the State Early 

16 Learning Council in order to assist the ef17 forts of Head Start agencies to engage in 

18 effective coordination and collaboration. 

19 ‘‘(6) EARLY HEAD START.— 

20 ‘‘(A) AMOUNTS RESERVED.—From 

21 amounts reserved and allotted pursuant to 

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

23 for grants for programs described in section 

24 645A(a), a portion of the combined total of 

25 such amounts that is not less than 12 percent 


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1 for fiscal year 2008, not less than 14 percent 

2 for fiscal year 2009, not less than 16 percent 

3 for fiscal year 2010, not less than 18 percent 

4 for fiscal year 2011, and not less than 20 per5 cent for fiscal year 2012 of the amount appro6 priated pursuant to section 639(a). 

7 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 

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

9 the Secretary determines that the 

10 amount appropriated under section 

11 639(a) is not sufficient to permit the 

12 Secretary to reserve the portion de13 scribed in subparagraph (A) without 

14 reducing the number of children 

15 served by Head Start programs or ad16 versely affecting the quality of Head 

17 Start services, relative to the number 

18 of children served and the quality of 

19 the services during the preceding fis20 cal year, the Secretary may reduce the 

21 percentage of funds required to be re22 served for the portion described in 

23 subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year 

24 for which the determination is made, 

25 but not below the percentage required 


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1 to be so reserved for the preceding fis2 cal year. 

3 ‘‘(ii) For any fiscal year for 

4 which the amount appropriated under 

5 section 639(a) is reduced to a level 

6 that requires a lower amount to be 

7 made available under this subchapter 

8 to Head Start agencies and entities 

9 described in section 645A, relative to 

10 the amount made available to such 

11 agencies and entities for the preceding 

12 fiscal year, adjusted as described in 

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

14 shall proportionately reduce— 

15 ‘‘(I) the amounts made 

16 available to such entities for pro17 grams carried out under section 

18 645A; and 

19 ‘‘(II) the amounts made 

20 available to such Head Start 

21 agencies for Head Start pro22 grams. 

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

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

25 Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 


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1 Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micro2 nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 

3 Republic of Palau.’’. 

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

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

6 read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(f) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.— 

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

9 enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 

10 2007, the Secretary shall establish procedures to en11 able Head Start agencies to develop locally designed 

12 or specialized service delivery models to address local 

13 community needs, including models that leverage the 

14 existing capacity and capabilities of the delivery sys15 tem of early childhood education and child care. 

16 ‘‘(2) In establishing the procedures, the Sec17 retary shall establish procedures to provide for— 

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

19 to full-day programs or part-day slots to full20 day slots; and 

21 ‘‘(B) serving additional infants and tod22 dlers pursuant to section 645(a)(4).’’. 

23 (c) EXPANSION OF HEAD START PROGRAMS.—Sec24 tion 640(g) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(g)) 

25 is amended in paragraph (2)— 


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HR 1429 PCS

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

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

3 (2) by amending subparagraphs (C) through 

4 (H) to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(C) the extent to which the applicant has un6 dertaken community-wide strategic planning and 

7 needs assessments involving other community orga8 nizations and local public agencies serving children 

9 and families with Federal, State, or local funds (in10 cluding organizations and agencies providing family 

11 support services, child abuse prevention services, 

12 protective services, and foster care, and organiza13 tions serving families in whose homes English is not 

14 the language customarily spoken), and individuals, 

15 organizations, and public entities serving children 

16 with disabilities or homeless children, including the 

17 local educational agency liaison designated under 

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

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

20 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)); 

21 ‘‘(D) the extent to which the family and com22 munity needs assessment of the applicant reflects a 

23 need to provide full working-day or full calendar 

24 year services and the extent to which, and manner 

25 in which, the applicant demonstrates the ability to 


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HR 1429 PCS

1 collaborate and participate with the State and local 

2 community providers of child care or preschool serv3 ices to provide full working-day full calendar year 

4 services; 

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

6 community who are not participating in a Head 

7 Start program or any other early childhood program; 

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

9 each community; 

10 ‘‘(G) the extent to which the applicant proposes 

11 to foster partnerships with other service providers in 

12 a manner that will leverage the existing delivery sys13 tems of such services and enhance the resource ca14 pacity of the applicant; 

15 ‘‘(H) the extent to which the applicant, in pro16 viding services, successfully coordinated its activities 

17 with the local educational agency serving the com18 munity involved, (including the local educational 

19 agency liaison designated under section 

20 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

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

22 with schools in which children participating in a 

23 Head Start program operated by such agency will 

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1 ices and the education services provided by such 

2 local educational agency; and 

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

4 to pay administrative expenses and the amount of 

5 available funds received by such agency under this 

6 section to service each enrolled child.’’. 

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

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

9 the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(5) In the event that the amounts appropriated to 

11 carry out the program under this subchapter do not exceed 

12 the amount appropriated in the prior fiscal year, or exceed 

13 the amount appropriated in the prior fiscal year by an 

14 amount equal to less than the percentage change in the 

15 Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers, as pub16 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Head Start 

17 grantees may negotiate with the Secretary a reduced fund18 ed enrollment level without a reduction in the grant 

19 amount if such grantee can demonstrate that such reduc20 tion is necessary to maintain the quality of services. 

21 ‘‘(A) In accordance with this paragraph, the 

22 Secretary shall set up a process for grantees to ne23 gotiate the above-mentioned reduced funded enroll24 ment level. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Under the conditions detailed in this para2 graph, the Secretary shall be required to notify 

3 grantees of their right to negotiate a reduced funded 

4 enrollment level if such grantee can demonstrate 

5 that such reduction is necessary to maintain the 

6 quality of services.’’. 

7 (e) TRANSPORTATION SAFETY.— 

8 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue 

9 regulations establishing requirements for the safety 

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

11 Head Start agencies to transport children partici12 pating in Head Start programs. 

13 (2) GOOD CAUSE WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

14 Secretary shall allow Head Start agencies to annu15 ally request a good cause exception to the require16 ments of regulations promulgated under paragraph 

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

18 its designee in transporting children enrolled in a 

19 Head Start program or an Early Head Start pro20 gram if— 

21 (A) such requirements would create a safe22 ty hazard in the circumstances faced by such 

23 agency; or 


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HR 1429 PCS

1 (B) such requirements pertain to child re2 straint systems (45 CFR 1310.11, 1310.15(a)) 

3 or bus monitors (45 CFR 1310.15(c)); 

4 (C) the agency demonstrates that compli5 ance with such requirements will result in a sig6 nificant disruption to the Head Start program 

7 or the Early Head Start program; and 

8 (D) the waiver is in the best interest of the 

9 children involved. 

10 (f) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PRO11 GRAMS.—Section 640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 9835(l)) is amended— 

13 (1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol14 lows: 

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

16 shall continue the administrative arrangement at the na17 tional level for meeting the needs of Indian children and 

18 children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and shall 

19 ensure that appropriate funding is provided to meet such 

20 needs, including training and technical assistance and the 

21 appointment of a national migrant and seasonal Head 

22 Start collaboration director and a national Indian Head 

23 Start collaboration director.’’, and 

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


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HR 1429 PCS

1 ‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Sec2 retary shall conduct an annual consultation in each af3 fected Head Start region, with tribal governments oper4 ating Head Start programs and Early Head Start pro5 grams. 

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

7 better meeting the needs of Indian children and children 

8 of Alaskan Natives, and their families, in accordance with 

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

10 consideration funding allocations, distribution formulas, 

11 and other issues affecting the delivery of Head Start serv12 ices in their geographic locations. 

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

14 consultations in the Federal Register before conducting 

15 the consultations. 

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

17 prepared and made available within 90 days of the annual 

18 consultation to all Indian tribes that receive assistance 

19 under this subchapter.’’. 

20 (g) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN; RULE

21 OF CONSTRUCTION; MATERIALS.—Section 640 of the 

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

23 at the end the following: 

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

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1 dures to remove barriers to the enrollment and participa2 tion of homeless children in Head Start programs. Such 

3 rules shall require Head Start agencies— 

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

5 ensure that homeless children are identified and 

6 prioritized for enrollment; 

7 ‘‘(2) to allow homeless families to apply to, en8 roll in and attend Head Start programs while re9 quired documents, such as proof of residency, immu10 nization and other medical records, birth certificates 

11 and other documents, are obtained within a reason12 able time frame; and 

13 ‘‘(3) coordinate individual Head Start programs 

14 with efforts to implement subtitle B of title VII of 

15 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 11431–11435). 

17 ‘‘(n) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub18 chapter shall be construed to require a State to establish 

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

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

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

22 screening before participating in such program, except as 

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

24 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 


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

2 materials funded under this subchapter shall be based on 

3 scientifically based research, age and developmentally ap4 propriate, and focused on all areas of development (cog5 nitive, social, emotional, and physical), learning (language 

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

7 approaches to learning. Parents shall be permitted to in8 spect, upon request, any curricula or instructional mate9 rials used to carry out this subchapter.’’. 

10 SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

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

12 is amended to read as follows: 

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

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

15 authorized to designate as a Head Start agency any local 

16 public or private nonprofit agency, including community17 based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agency, 

18 within a community, pursuant to the requirements of this 

19 section, except that until such time that the Secretary de20 velops and implements the system of application review 

21 under this section, the Secretary is authorized to designate 

22 as a Head Start agency, any local public or private non23 profit agency, including community-based and faith-based 

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

25 in the manner and process utilized by the Secretary prior 


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HR 1429 PCS

1 to the enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 

2 2007. 

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

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

5 manner as the Secretary may require. 

6 ‘‘(c) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION REVIEW SYS7 TEM.— 

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

9 a system that integrates the recommendations of the 

10 expert panel convened under paragraph (3) to deter11 mine if a Head Start agency is providing a quality 

12 comprehensive early learning program that meets 

13 the educational, health, and nutritional needs of the 

14 children and families it serves, and meets program 

15 and financial management requirements and per16 formance standards described in section 641A(a)(1), 

17 based on— 

18 ‘‘(A) annual budget data; 

19 ‘‘(B) program reviews conducted under 

20 section 641A(c); 

21 ‘‘(C) annual audits required under section 

22 647; 

23 ‘‘(D) classroom quality as measured under 

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

25 ‘‘(E) Program Information Report. 


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

2 months after the enactment of the Improving Head 

3 Start Act of 2007, the Secretary shall convene an 

4 expert panel of 7 members to make recommenda5 tions to the Secretary on the development of a trans6 parent, reliable, and valid system for evaluating 

7 grant renewal applications. 

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

9 Secretary, in convening such panel, shall appoint the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Five members, who are competent, by 

12 virtue of their training, expertise, and experi13 ence, in each of at least one of the following 

14 areas: 

15 ‘‘(i) Early childhood program accredi16 tation or quality assessment. 

17 ‘‘(ii) Research on early childhood de18 velopment. 

19 ‘‘(iii) Governance and finance of non20 profit organizations. 

21 ‘‘(iv) Delivery of services to children 

22 and families with limited English pro23 ficiency. 

24 ‘‘(v) Delivery of services to children 

25 with disabilities. 


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

2 Start. 

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

4 agency. 

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

6 months of being convened by the Secretary, the ex7 pert panel shall issue a report to the Secretary that 

8 provides recommendations on a proposed system of 

9 application review that takes into account the cri10 teria in paragraph (1) to evaluate whether a Head 

11 Start grantee is meeting its mission to provide a 

12 high quality comprehensive early education program, 

13 including adequately meeting its governance and fi14 nancial management requirements. 

15 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC COMMENT; REPORT TO CON16 GRESS.—No later than 6 months after receiving the 

17 report described in paragraph (4), the Secretary 

18 shall publish a proposed system of application review 

19 in the Federal Register, providing at least 90 days 

20 for public comment and shall provide a report to the 

21 Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 

22 Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu23 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate that pro24 vides a detailed description of such proposed system, 

25 including clear rationale for any differences between 


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HR 1429 PCS

1 the proposed system and the recommendations of 

2 the expert panel, if any such differences exist. 

3 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION OF APPLICATION RE4 VIEW SYSTEM.—After the Secretary has reviewed all 

5 public comments and finalized the system of applica6 tion review, the Secretary will use this system to de7 termine which grantees are successfully delivering a 

8 high quality comprehensive early education program. 

9 Grantees who are determined under such system to 

10 be— 

11 ‘‘(A) successfully delivering a high quality 

12 comprehensive early education program shall be 

13 designated a Head Start agency for a period of 

14 5 years; 

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

16 an open competition as described in subsection 

17 (e); and 

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

19 Indian Head Start agency is determined to be 

20 underperforming, the Secretary shall engage in 

21 government-to-government consultation with the 

22 appropriate tribal government or governments 

23 for the purpose of establishing a performance 

24 enhancement plan for that agency. Such plan is 

25 to be developed and implemented within 6 


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HR 1429 PCS

1 months of the Secretary’s determination. Not 

2 more than 6 months after implementation of 

3 that plan, the Secretary shall reevaluate the 

4 performance of the Indian Head Start agency. 

5 If the Indian Head Start agency remains 

6 underperforming, the Secretary shall conduct 

7 an open competition as described in subsection 

8 (e), subject to the following limitations: 

9 ‘‘(i) Except as provided in paragraph 

10 (ii), a non-Indian Head Start agency may 

11 not receive a grant to carry out an Indian 

12 Head Start program. 

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

14 no Indian Head Start agency available for 

15 designation to carry out an Indian Head 

16 Start program, a non-Indian Head Start 

17 agency, on an interim basis, may receive a 

18 grant to carry out an Indian Head Start 

19 program, but only until such time as an 

20 Indian Head Start agency in such commu21 nity becomes available. 

22 ‘‘(d) TRANSPARENCY, RELIABILITY, AND VALID23 ITY.—The Secretary shall ensure the system of application 

24 evaluation is fair, consistent, and transparent and is ap25 plied in a manner that designates, in a timely manner 


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

2 if such grantees are providing a high quality comprehen3 sive early education program. The Secretary shall periodi4 cally evaluate whether the criteria are being applied in a 

5 manner that is transparent, reliable, and valid. 

6 ‘‘(e) DESIGNATION WHEN NO ENTITY HAS PRI7 ORITY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If no entity in a commu9 nity is determined to be successfully delivering a 

10 high quality comprehensive early education program, 

11 as specified in subsection (c), the Secretary shall, 

12 after conducting an open competition, designate for 

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

14 qualified applicants in such community. 

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

16 selecting from among qualified applicants for des17 ignation as a Head Start agency, the Secretary shall 

18 consider the effectiveness of each such applicant to 

19 provide Head Start services, based on— 

20 ‘‘(A) any past performance of such appli21 cant in providing services comparable to Head 

22 Start services, including how effectively such 

23 applicant provided such comparable services; 

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

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1 havioral health), educational, nutritional, social, 

2 and other services needed to prepare children to 

3 succeed in school and in life; 

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

5 and retain qualified staff capable of delivering 

6 a high quality comprehensive early education 

7 program, including demonstrating the ability to 

8 provide adequate salary and benefits to main9 tain a high quality staff; 

10 ‘‘(D) the ability of such applicant to main11 tain child-teacher ratios and family service 

12 worker caseloads that reflect best practices and 

13 are tied to high quality service delivery; 

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

15 serve eligible children with curriculum and 

16 teaching practices that are based on scientif17 ically based research, are developmentally ap18 propriate, and that promote the school readi19 ness of children participating in the program; 

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

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

22 particular attention to the standards set forth 

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


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

2 applicant to maintain strong fiscal controls and 

3 cost effective fiscal management; 

4 ‘‘(H) the plan of such applicant to coordi5 nate the Head Start program the applicant pro6 poses to carry out, with other local early learn7 ing programs for young children, including— 

8 ‘‘(i) programs implementing grants 

9 under the Early Reading First and Even 

10 Start programs under subparts 2 and 3 of 

11 part B of title I of the Elementary and 

12 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

14 ‘‘(ii) and programs under section 619 

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

17 et seq.); 

18 ‘‘(iii) State prekindergarten programs; 

19 ‘‘(iv) child care programs; and 

20 ‘‘(v) the educational programs that 

21 the children participating in the Head 

22 Start program will enter at the age of com23 pulsory school attendance; 

24 ‘‘(I) the plan of such applicant to coordi25 nate the Head Start program that the applicant 


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1 proposes to carry out, with public and private 

2 entities that are willing to commit resources to 

3 assist the Head Start program in meeting its 

4 program needs; 

5 ‘‘(J) the plan of such applicant— 

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

7 (including grandparents and kinship care8 givers, as appropriate) of children partici9 pating in the proposed Head Start pro10 gram, in activities (at home and, if prac11 ticable, at the location of the Head Start 

12 program) designed to help such parents be13 come full partners in the education of their 

14 children; 

15 ‘‘(ii) to afford such parents the oppor16 tunity to participate in the development 

17 and overall conduct of the program at the 

18 local level; 

19 ‘‘(iii) to offer (directly or through re20 ferral to local entities, such as entities car21 rying out Even Start programs under sub22 chapter 3 of part B of title I of the Ele23 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 

24 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), public and 

25 school libraries, and entities carrying out 


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1 family support programs) to such par2 ents— 

3 ‘‘(I) family literacy services; and 

4 ‘‘(II) parenting skills training; 

5 ‘‘(iv) to offer to parents of partici6 pating children, mental health services (ei7 ther directly or through referral to local 

8 entities), including substance abuse coun9 seling and information on maternal depres10 sion and on the effect of drug-exposure on 

11 infants and fetal alcohol syndrome; 

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

13 to offer (directly or through referral to 

14 local entities) to such parents— 

15 ‘‘(I) training in basic child devel16 opment (including cognitive, social, 

17 and emotional development); 

18 ‘‘(II) assistance in developing lit19 eracy and communication skills; 

20 ‘‘(III) opportunities to share ex21 periences with other parents (includ22 ing parent mentor relationships); 

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

24 ‘‘(V) mental and behavioral 

25 health services; or 


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1 ‘‘(VI) any other activity designed 

2 to help such parents become full part3 ners in the education of their children; 

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

5 participating family, a family needs assess6 ment that includes consultation with such 

7 parents, in a manner and language that 

8 such parents can understand, about the 

9 benefits of parent involvement and about 

10 the activities described in subparagraph 

11 (H) in which such parents may choose to 

12 become involved (taking into consideration 

13 their specific family needs, work schedules, 

14 and other responsibilities); and 

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

16 appropriate cases, in order to strengthen 

17 the role of fathers in families, in the edu18 cation of their young children, and in the 

19 Head Start program, by working directly 

20 with fathers and father figures through ac21 tivities such as— 

22 ‘‘(I) in appropriate cases, includ23 ing fathers in home visits and pro24 viding culturally appropriate opportuVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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1 nities for direct father-child inter2 actions; and 

3 ‘‘(II) targeting increased male 

4 participation in the conduct of the 

5 program; 

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

7 the needs of limited English proficient children 

8 and their families, including procedures to iden9 tify such children, plans to provide trained per10 sonnel, and plans to provide services to assist 

11 the children in making progress toward the ac12 quisition of the English language, while making 

13 meaningful progress in attaining the knowledge, 

14 skills, abilities, and development described in 

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

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

17 the diverse cultural needs of the population 

18 served; 

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

20 the needs of children with disabilities; 

21 ‘‘(N) the plan of such applicant who choos22 es to assist younger siblings of children who will 

23 participate in the Head Start program to obtain 

24 health, including mental health, services from 

25 other sources; 


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1 ‘‘(O) the plan of such applicant to collabo2 rate with other entities carrying out public or 

3 private early childhood education and child care 

4 programs in the community; 

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

6 needs of homeless children, including transpor7 tation needs, and children in foster care and 

8 children and families experiencing toxic stress; 

9 ‘‘(Q) the plan of such applicant to main10 tain a qualified staff, including a teaching staff 

11 qualified to implement research-based curricula 

12 aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

13 Framework developed by the Secretary and to 

14 the early learning standards in State in which 

15 such program would operate; 

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

17 into memoranda of understanding with local 

18 educational agencies within the service area, as 

19 described in section 642B(a); and 

20 ‘‘(S) other factors related to the require21 ments of this subchapter. 

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

23 and community-based organizations continue to be 

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


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1 participate in any program under this subchapter for 

2 which they are otherwise eligible. 

3 ‘‘(f) INTERIM PROVIDER.—If no agency in the com4 munity receives priority designation under subsection (c), 

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

6 Secretary shall designate a qualified agency to carry out 

7 the Head Start program in the community on an interim 

8 basis until a qualified applicant from the community is 

9 so designated. 

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

11 The Secretary shall require that the practice of signifi12 cantly involving parents and area residents affected by the 

13 program in the selection of Head Start agencies be contin14 ued. 

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

16 a community may be a city, county, or multicity or multi17 county unit within a State, an Indian reservation (includ18 ing Indians in any off-reservation area designated by an 

19 appropriate tribal government in consultation with the 

20 Secretary) or a neighborhood or other area (irrespective 

21 of boundaries or political subdivisions) which provides a 

22 suitable organizational base and possesses the com23 monality of interest needed to operate a Head Start pro24 gram.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. QUALITY STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD 

2 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

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

4 9836a) is amended to read as follows: 

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

6 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

7 ‘‘(a) QUALITY STANDARDS.— 

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

9 Secretary shall modify, as necessary, program per10 formance standards by regulation applicable to Head 

11 Start agencies, programs, and projects under this 

12 subchapter, including— 

13 ‘‘(A) performance standards with respect 

14 to services required to be provided, including 

15 health, parental involvement, nutritional, social, 

16 transition activities described in section 642(d), 

17 and other services; 

18 ‘‘(B) scientifically based and develop19 mentally appropriate early learning standards 

20 related to school readiness that are based on 

21 the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework to 

22 ensure that the children participating in the 

23 program, at a minimum develop and dem24 onstrate— 


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1 ‘‘(i) language knowledge and skills, in2 cluding oral language and listening com3 prehension; 

4 ‘‘(ii) prereading knowledge and skills 

5 that prepare children for early literacy in 

6 schools including phonological awareness, 

7 print awareness and print skills, and al8 phabetic knowledge; 

9 ‘‘(iii) mathematics knowledge and 

10 skills, including aspects of classification, 

11 seriation, number, spatial relations, and 

12 time; 

13 ‘‘(iv) science knowledge and skills, in14 cluding measurement; 

15 ‘‘(v) cognitive abilities related to aca16 demic achievement and general knowledge; 

17 ‘‘(vi) social and emotional develop18 ment related to early learning, school suc19 cess, social problem-solving, and overall 

20 well-being; 

21 ‘‘(vii) approaches to learning related 

22 to child development and early learning; 

23 ‘‘(viii) creative arts; and 

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

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1 sition of the English language while mak2 ing meaningful progress in attaining the 

3 knowledge, skills, abilities, and develop4 ment described in clauses (i) through (viii), 

5 including progress made through the use of 

6 culturally and linguistically appropriate in7 structional services; 

8 ‘‘(C) administrative and financial manage9 ment standards; 

10 ‘‘(D) standards relating to the condition 

11 and location of facilities for such agencies, pro12 grams, and projects; and 

13 ‘‘(E) such other standards as the Secretary 

14 finds to be appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS IN DEVELOPING STAND16 ARDS.—In developing the standards required under 

17 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

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

19 child development, early childhood education, 

20 child health care, family services (including lin21 guistically and culturally appropriate services to 

22 limited English proficient children and their 

23 families), administration, and financial manage24 ment, and with persons with experience in the 

25 operation of Head Start programs; 


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1 ‘‘(B) take into consideration— 

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

3 standards in effect under this subchapter 

4 on October 27, 1998; 

5 ‘‘(ii) changes over the period since Oc6 tober 27, 1998, in the circumstances and 

7 problems typically facing children and fam8 ilies served by Head Start agencies; 

9 ‘‘(iii) recommendations from the re10 port on Developmental Outcomes and As11 sessments for Young Children by the Na12 tional Academy of Sciences, when it be13 comes available; 

14 ‘‘(iv) developments concerning re15 search-based practices with respect to early 

16 childhood education and development, chil17 dren with disabilities, family services, pro18 gram administration, and financial man19 agement; 

20 ‘‘(v) projected needs of an expanding 

21 Head Start program; 

22 ‘‘(vi) guidelines and standards cur23 rently in effect or under consideration that 

24 promote child health services and physical 

25 development, including outdoor activity 


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1 that supports children’s motor development 

2 and overall health and nutrition; 

3 ‘‘(vii) changes in the population of 

4 children who are eligible to participate in 

5 Head Start programs, including the lan6 guage and cultural background and family 

7 structure of such children; 

8 ‘‘(viii) mechanisms to ensure that chil9 dren participating in Head Start programs 

10 make a successful transition to the schools 

11 that the children will be attending; and 

12 ‘‘(ix) the unique challenges faced by 

13 individual programs, including those that 

14 are seasonal or short term, and those that 

15 serve rural populations; and 

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

17 performance standards in effect under this sub18 section; and 

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

20 performance standards will not result in the 

21 elimination of or any reduction in quality, scope 

22 or types of health, education, parental involve23 ment, nutritional, social, or other services re24 quired to be provided under such standards as 

25 in effect on October 27, 1998. 


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1 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS

2 TO DELEGATE AGENCIES.—In developing standards 

3 under this subsection, the Secretary shall describe 

4 the obligations of a Head Start agency to a delegate 

5 agency to which the Head Start agency has dele6 gated responsibility for providing services under this 

7 subchapter and determine whether the Head Start 

8 agency complies with the standards. The Secretary 

9 shall consider such compliance during the review de10 scribed in subsection (c)(1)(A) and in determining 

11 whether to renew financial assistance to the Head 

12 Start agency under this subchapter. 

13 ‘‘(b) MEASURES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta15 tion with representatives of Head Start agencies and 

16 with experts in the fields of early childhood edu17 cation and development, shall use the study on De18 velopmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young 

19 Children by the National Academy of Sciences to 

20 provide guidance to Head Start agencies for utilizing 

21 scientifically-based measures that support, as appro22 priate— 

23 ‘‘(A) classroom instructional practices; 

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

25 ‘‘(C) program evaluation. 


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

2 measures under this subsection shall— 

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

4 culturally appropriate for the population served; 

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

6 years, based on advances in the science of early 

7 childhood development; 

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

9 recognized professional and technical standards 

10 related to the assessment of young children; 

11 ‘‘(D) be valid and reliable (in English, 

12 Spanish, and any other language, as appro13 priate); 

14 ‘‘(E) be administered by staff with appro15 priate training for such administration; 

16 ‘‘(F) provide appropriate accommodations 

17 for children with disabilities and children who 

18 are limited English proficient; and 

19 ‘‘(G) be high-quality research-based meas20 ures that have been demonstrated to assist with 

21 the purposes for which they were devised. 

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

23 USE.— 

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

25 purpose of— 


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

2 and competencies of children participating 

3 in Head Start programs specified in sub4 section (a)(1)(B)(ii), with an emphasis on 

5 measuring skills that scientifically-based 

6 research has demonstrated are related to 

7 children’s school readiness and later suc8 cess in school; 

9 ‘‘(ii) improving classroom practices, 

10 including reviewing children’s strengths 

11 and weaknesses; 

12 ‘‘(iii) identifying special needs; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) improving overall program per14 formance in order to help programs iden15 tify problem areas that may require addi16 tional training and technical assistance re17 sources. 

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

19 exclude children from Head Start programs. 

20 ‘‘(4) SUSPENDED IMPLEMENTATION OF NA21 TIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) suspend implementation and termi23 nate further development and use of the Na24 tional Reporting System; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) incorporate, as appropriate, rec2 ommendations from the study on Develop3 mental Outcomes and Assessments for Young 

4 Children by the National Academy of Sciences 

5 into any assessment used in the Head Start 

6 programs, in accordance with paragraphs (2) 

7 and (3). 

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

9 items and data on any assessment authorized under 

10 this subchapter by an agent or agents of the Federal 

11 Government to provide rewards or sanctions for indi12 vidual children or teachers is prohibited. The Sec13 retary shall not use the results of a single assess14 ment as the sole or primary method for assessing 

15 program effectiveness or making grantee funding de16 terminations at the national, regional, or local level. 

17 ‘‘(6) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

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

19 shall ensure the confidentiality of any person20 ally identifiable data, information and records 

21 collected or maintained by the Secretary and 

22 any Head Start agency. Such regulations shall 

23 provide the policies, protections, and rights 

24 equivalent to those provided a parent, student, 

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1 tion 444 of the General Education Provisions 

2 Act. 

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

4 construed to authorize the development of a na5 tionwide database of personally identifiable in6 formation on children participating in measures 

7 under this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(c) MONITORING OF LOCAL AGENCIES AND PRO9 GRAMS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To determine whether 

11 Head Start agencies meet standards established 

12 under this subchapter with respect to program, ad13 ministrative, financial management, and other re14 quirements and in order to help programs identify 

15 areas for improvement and areas of strengths as 

16 part of an on-going self-assessment process, the Sec17 retary shall develop and use a risk-based assessment 

18 system to conduct the following reviews of Head 

19 Start agencies, and of the Head Start programs op20 erated by such agencies: 

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

22 least once during each 3-year period. 

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

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1 pletion of the first year such agency carries out 

2 a Head Start program. 

3 ‘‘(C) Followup reviews, including unan4 nounced reviews as appropriate, of programs 

5 with 1 or more findings of deficiencies not later 

6 than 12 months after the date of such finding. 

7 ‘‘(D) other reviews, including unannounced 

8 site inspections of Head Start centers, as ap9 propriate. 

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

11 shall ensure that reviews described in subparagraphs 

12 (A) through (C) of paragraph (1)— 

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

14 ‘‘(i) include individuals who are 

15 knowledgeable about Head Start programs 

16 and, to the maximum extent practicable, 

17 the diverse (including linguistic and cul18 tural) needs of eligible children (including 

19 children with disabilities) and limited20 English proficient children and their fami21 lies; and 

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

23 practicable, current or former employees of 

24 the Department of Health and Human 


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1 Services who are knowledgeable about 

2 Head Start programs; 

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

4 programs, a review and assessment of program 

5 strengths and areas in need of improvement; 

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

7 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

8 programs have adequately addressed the popu9 lation and community needs (including popu10 lations of children with limited English pro11 ficiency and children of migrant and seasonal 

12 farm-working families); 

13 ‘‘(D) include as part of the review the ex14 tent to which the program addresses the com15 munity needs and strategic plan identified in 

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

17 ‘‘(E) include as part of the review the im18 plementation by qualified individuals with dem19 onstrated reliability, of a valid and reliable re20 search-based observational instrument that as21 sesses classroom quality, including multiple di22 mensions of teacher-child interactions that are 

23 linked to positive child development and later 

24 achievement; 


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1 ‘‘(F) are conducted in a manner that eval2 uates program performance, quality, and overall 

3 operations with consistency and objectivity, and 

4 based on a transparent and reliable system of 

5 review; 

6 ‘‘(G) in the case of Early Head Start pro7 grams, are conducted by a review team that in8 cludes individuals who are knowledgeable about 

9 the development of infants and toddlers; and 

10 ‘‘(H) include as part of the review a pro11 tocol for fiscal management that shall be used 

12 to assess the compliance with program require13 ments for— 

14 ‘‘(i) using Federal funds appro15 priately; 

16 ‘‘(ii) using Federal funds specifically 

17 to purchase property and to compensate 

18 personnel; 

19 ‘‘(iii) securing and using qualified fis20 cal officer support; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) reporting financial information 

22 and implementing appropriate internal 

23 controls to safeguard Federal funds. 

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

25 of the review shall, at a minimum— 


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

2 transparent, and uniform manner that conveys 

3 information of program strengths and weak4 nesses and assists with program improvement; 

5 and 

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

7 to inform the development and implementation 

8 of their plan for training and technical assist9 ance. 

10 ‘‘(d) EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS FOR

11 DELEGATE AGENCIES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURES.—The Head Start agency 

13 shall establish procedures relating to its delegate 

14 agencies, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) procedures for evaluating delegate 

16 agencies; 

17 ‘‘(B) procedures for defunding delegate 

18 agencies; and 

19 ‘‘(C) procedures for appealing a defunding 

20 decision relating to a delegate agency. 

21 ‘‘(2) EVALUATIONS.—Each Head Start agen22 cy— 

23 ‘‘(A) shall evaluate its delegate agencies 

24 using the procedures established under this sec25 tion; and 


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

2 the deficiencies identified through the evalua3 tion that are required to be corrected. 

4 ‘‘(3) REMEDIES TO ENSURE CORRECTIVE AC5 TIONS.—If the Head Start agency identifies a defi6 ciency of a delegate agency through the evaluation, 

7 the Head Start agency may— 

8 ‘‘(A) initiate procedures to terminate the 

9 designation of the delegate agency unless such 

10 agency corrects the deficiency; and 

11 ‘‘(B) conduct monthly monitoring visits to 

12 such delegate agency until all deficiencies are 

13 corrected or the Head Start agency decides to 

14 defund such delegate agency. 

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

16 this subsection shall be construed to modify, super17 sede, or affect the powers, duties, or functions of the 

18 Secretary with respect to Head Start agencies or 

19 delegate agencies that receive financial assistance 

20 under this subchapter. 

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

22 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—If the Secretary deter23 mines, on the basis of a review pursuant to sub24 section (c), that a Head Start agency designated 

25 pursuant to section 641 fails to meet the standards 


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1 described in subsection (a) or fails to adequately ad2 dress the community needs and strategic plan identi3 fied in section 640(g)(2)(C), the Secretary shall— 

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

5 that shall be corrected; 

6 ‘‘(B) with respect to each identified defi7 ciency, require the agency— 

8 ‘‘(i) to correct the deficiency imme9 diately, if the Secretary finds that the defi10 ciency threatens the health or safety of 

11 staff or program participants or poses a 

12 threat to the integrity of Federal funds; 

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

14 than 90 days after the identification of the 

15 deficiency if the Secretary finds, in the dis16 cretion of the Secretary, that such a 90- 

17 day period is reasonable, in light of the na18 ture and magnitude of the deficiency; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) in the discretion of the Sec20 retary (taking into consideration the seri21 ousness of the deficiency and the time rea22 sonably required to correct the deficiency), 

23 to comply with the requirements of para24 graph (2) concerning a quality improve25 ment plan; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) initiate proceedings to terminate the 

2 designation of the agency unless the agency cor3 rects the deficiency. 

4 ‘‘(2) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN.— 

5 ‘‘(A) AGENCY AND PROGRAM RESPONSIBIL6 ITIES.—To retain a designation as a Head 

7 Start agency under this subchapter, or in the 

8 case of a Head Start program to continue to re9 ceive funds from such agency, a Head Start 

10 agency, or Head Start program that is the sub11 ject of a determination described in paragraph 

12 (1) (excluding an agency or program required 

13 to correct a deficiency immediately or during a 

14 90-day period under clause (i) or (ii) of para15 graph (1)(B)) shall— 

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

17 quality improvement plan that shall be 

18 subject to the approval of the secretary, or 

19 in the case of a program, the sponsoring 

20 agency, and which shall specify— 

21 ‘‘(I) the deficiencies to be cor22 rected; 

23 ‘‘(II) the actions to be taken to 

24 correct such deficiencies; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) the timetable for accom2 plishment of the corrective actions 

3 specified; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) eliminate each deficiency identi5 fied, not later than the date for elimination 

6 of such deficiency specified in such plan 

7 (which shall not be later than 10 months 

8 after the date the agency or program ob9 tains approval of its quality improvement 

10 plan). 

11 ‘‘(B) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Not 

12 later than 30 days after receiving from a Head 

13 Start agency a proposed quality improvement 

14 plan pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Sec15 retary shall either approve such proposed plan 

16 or specify the reasons why the proposed plan 

17 cannot be approved. 

18 ‘‘(C) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRO19 GRAM IMPROVEMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

20 after receiving from a Head Start program, a 

21 proposed quality improvement plan pursuant to 

22 subparagraph (A), the Head Start agency shall 

23 either approve such proposed plan or specify 

24 the reasons why the proposed plan cannot be 

25 approved. 


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

2 The Secretary shall provide training and technical 

3 assistance to Head Start agencies and programs 

4 with respect to the development or implementation 

5 of such quality improvement plans to the extent the 

6 Secretary finds such provision to be feasible and ap7 propriate given available funding and other statutory 

8 responsibilities. 

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

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

11 Secretary shall publish a summary report on the findings 

12 of reviews conducted under subsection (c) and on the out13 comes of quality improvement plans implemented under 

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

15 be made available to all parents with children receiving 

16 assistance under this subchapter in an understandable and 

17 uniform format, and to the extent practicable, provided 

18 in a language that the parents can understand, and in ad19 dition, make the information widely available through pub20 lic means such as distribution through public agencies, 

21 and at a minimum posting such information on the Inter22 net immediately upon publication. Such reports shall con23 tain detailed data on compliance with specific performance 

24 standards and measures sufficient to allow individual 


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1 Head Start agencies to use such data to improve the qual2 ity of their program. 

3 ‘‘(g) SELF-ASSESSMENTS.— 

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

5 once each program year, with the consultation and 

6 participation of policy councils, and as applicable, 

7 policy committees, and as appropriate, other commu8 nity members, each Head Start agency and each del9 egate agency that receives financial assistance under 

10 this subchapter shall conduct a comprehensive self11 assessment of its effectiveness and progress in meet12 ing program goals and objectives (including profes13 sional development plans) and in implementing and 

14 complying with Head Start program performance 

15 standards. 

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

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

18 self-assessment shall report the findings of the 

19 self-assessment to the relevant policy council, 

20 policy committee, governing body, and Sec21 retary. Each self-assessment shall identify areas 

22 of strength and weakness. 

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

24 shall develop and report to the Secretary an im25 provement plan approved by the governing body 


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1 of the agency to strengthen any areas identified 

2 in the self-assessment as weaknesses or in need 

3 of improvement. 

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

5 agency, delegate Head Start agency, and entity that 

6 carries out an Early Head Start program shall es7 tablish and implement procedures for the ongoing 

8 monitoring of their respective programs, to ensure 

9 that the operations of the programs work toward 

10 meeting program goals and objectives and Head 

11 Start performance standards. 

12 ‘‘(h) ENROLLMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) Head Start agencies shall report on a reg14 ular basis to the Secretary— 

15 ‘‘(A) the actual enrollment in such pro16 gram; and 

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

18 the funded enrollment, any apparent reason for 

19 such enrollment shortfall. 

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

21 basis which Head Start agencies are operating with 

22 an actual enrollment that is less than the funded en23 rollment and shall provide appropriate and timely 

24 training and technical assistance to increase actual 

25 enrollment, as appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(3) In this subsection: 

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

3 with respect to a Head Start program, the ac4 tual number of children enrolled in such pro5 gram in a given month. 

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

7 respect to Head Start agency for a fiscal year, 

8 that portion of the grant derived from— 

9 ‘‘(i) amounts reserved for use in ac10 cordance with section 640(a)(2)(A), for a 

11 Head Start agency administering an In12 dian Head Start program or migrant and 

13 seasonal Head Start program; 

14 ‘‘(ii) amounts reserved for payments 

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

16 ‘‘(iii) amounts available under section 

17 640(a)(2)(D) or allotted among States 

18 under section 640(a)(4). 

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

20 with respect to the program of a Head Start 

21 agency in a fiscal year, the number of children 

22 that the agency is funded to serve through a 

23 grant for the program during such fiscal year, 

24 as indicated in the grant award. 


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

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

3 reducing a base grant, except when such action is the re4 sult of an open competition 641(d)) or termination 646(d) 

5 shall be redistributed in such fiscal year as follows: 

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

7 Head Start program, then such funds shall be redis8 tributed to increase enrollment in such fiscal year in 

9 1 or more Indian Head Start programs. 

10 ‘‘(2) If such funds are derived from the oper11 ation of a migrant and seasonal Head Start pro12 gram, then such funds shall be redistributed to in13 crease enrollment in such fiscal year in 1 or more 

14 migrant and seasonal Head Start programs. 

15 ‘‘(3) If such funds are derived from the oper16 ation of a Head Start program in a State (excluding 

17 Indian Head Start program and migrant and sea18 sonal Head Start programs), then such funds shall 

19 be redistributed to increase enrollment in such fiscal 

20 year in 1 or more Head Start programs (excluding 

21 Indian Head Start programs and migrant and sea22 sonal Head Start programs) that are carried out in 

23 such State, except that— 

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

25 shall be prioritized to increase the program parVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00080 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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1 ticipation of children and families served under 

2 Early Head Start; and 

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

4 shall be prioritized to increase program partici5 pation of underserved populations of eligible 

6 children.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN8 CIES. 

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

10 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 642. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN12 CIES. 

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

14 Head Start agency under this subchapter, an agency must 

15 have authority under its charter or applicable law to re16 ceive and administer funds under this subchapter, funds 

17 and contributions from private or local public sources 

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

19 and funds under any Federal or State assistance program 

20 pursuant to which a public or private nonprofit or for21 profit agency (as the case may be) organized in accordance 

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

23 sponsor of projects appropriate for inclusion in a Head 

24 Start program. Such an agency must also be empowered 

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


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1 other agencies, subject to the powers of its governing 

2 board and its overall program responsibilities. The power 

3 to transfer funds and delegate powers must include the 

4 power to make transfers and delegations covering compo5 nent projects in all cases where this will contribute to effi6 ciency and effectiveness or otherwise further program ob7 jectives. 

8 ‘‘(b) FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT; FAM9 ILY SERVICES.—To be so designated, a Head Start agency 

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

11 serve families and communities: 

12 ‘‘(1) Establish effective procedures by which 

13 parents and area residents concerned will be enabled 

14 to directly participate in decisions that influence the 

15 character of programs affecting their interests. 

16 ‘‘(2) Seek the involvement of parents, area resi17 dents, and local business in the design and imple18 mentation of the program. 

19 ‘‘(3) Establish effective procedures to facilitate 

20 and seek the involvement of parents of participating 

21 children in activities designed to help such parents 

22 become full partners in the education of their chil23 dren, and to afford such parents the opportunity to 

24 participate in the development and overall conduct of 

25 the program at the local level, including a process 


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1 through which parents of children currently partici2 pating in a Head Start program or an Early Head 

3 Start program select the parent representatives to 

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

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

6 entities, such as entities carrying out Even Start 

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

8 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 2741 et seq.)), to parents of partici10 pating children, family literacy services and par11 enting skills training. 

12 ‘‘(5) Offer to parents of participating children 

13 mental health services (either directly or through re14 ferral to local entities), including substance abuse 

15 counseling, and including information on maternal 

16 depression and on drug-exposed infants and fetal al17 cohol syndrome. 

18 ‘‘(6) At the option of such agency, offer (di19 rectly or through referral to local entities) to such 

20 parents— 

21 ‘‘(A) training in basic child development 

22 (including cognitive, social, and emotional devel23 opment); 

24 ‘‘(B) assistance in developing literacy and 

25 communication skills; 


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1 ‘‘(C) opportunities to share experiences 

2 with other parents (including parent-mentor re3 lationships); 

4 ‘‘(D) mental and behavioral health serv5 ices; 

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

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

8 such parents become full partners in the edu9 cation of their children. 

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

11 family, a family needs assessment that includes con12 sultation with such parents, in a manner and lan13 guage that such parents can understand, about the 

14 benefits of parent involvement and about the activi15 ties described in paragraphs (5) through (8) in 

16 which such parents may choose to be involved (tak17 ing into consideration their specific family needs, 

18 work schedules, and other responsibilities). 

19 ‘‘(8) Consider providing services to assist 

20 younger siblings of children participating in its Head 

21 Start program to obtain health, including mental 

22 health, services from other sources. 

23 ‘‘(9) Perform community outreach to encourage 

24 individuals previously unaffiliated with Head Start 


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1 programs to participate in its Head Start program 

2 as volunteers. 

3 ‘‘(10)(A) Inform custodial parents in single-par4 ent families that participate in programs, activities, 

5 or services carried out or provided under this sub6 chapter about the availability of child support serv7 ices for purposes of establishing paternity and ac8 quiring child support; and 

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

10 offices of State and local governments. 

11 ‘‘(11) Provide parents of limited English pro12 ficient children outreach and services under this sub13 chapter, in an understandable and uniform format 

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

15 such parents can understand. 

16 ‘‘(12) Provide technical and other support need17 ed to enable parents and area residents to secure on 

18 their own behalf available assistance from public and 

19 private sources. 

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

21 parents (including grandparents and kinship care22 givers, as appropriate) of children that participate in 

23 Head Start programs in the education of their chil24 dren upon transition to school, the Head Start agen25 cy shall work with the local educational agency— 


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

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

3 rights and responsibilities concerning the 

4 education of their children; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) to enable the parents— 

6 ‘‘(I) to understand and work with 

7 schools in order to communicate with 

8 teachers and other school personnel; 

9 ‘‘(II) to support the schoolwork 

10 of their children; and 

11 ‘‘(III) to participate as appro12 priate in decisions relating to the edu13 cation of their children; and 

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

15 and feasible, to support the active involvement 

16 of the parents with schools, school personnel, 

17 and school-related organizations. 

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

19 having a disability information about services avail20 able under section 619 or part C of the Individuals 

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

22 1431 et seq.) and refer such child to the appropriate 

23 agency for an evaluation of eligibility under such 

24 Act. 


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

2 must establish and maintain a formal structure of shared 

3 governance through which an independent governing body 

4 with legal and fiscal responsibility for administering and 

5 overseeing programs under this subchapter and a parent 

6 policy council and parent policy committee, as appropriate, 

7 shall ensure that such agency operates a high quality 

8 Head Start program in compliance with all applicable 

9 Federal, State, and local laws. 

10 ‘‘(1) GOVERNING BODY.— 

11 ‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.—The governing body 

12 shall be composed as follows: 

13 ‘‘(i) Not less than 1 member with sig14 nificant financial management or account15 ing experience. 

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

17 have a background and expertise in early 

18 childhood development. 

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

20 a licensed attorney familiar with issues 

21 that come before the governing body. 

22 ‘‘(iv) Additional members shall be se23 lected for their expertise in education, 

24 business administration, and community 


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1 affairs and shall reflect the community 

2 served. 

3 ‘‘(v) Exceptions shall be made when 

4 members of the governing body oversee a 

5 public entity and are selected by public 

6 election or are political appointments. 

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

8 of the governing body shall— 

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

10 with the Head Start agency or delegate 

11 agencies, exceptions shall be made when a 

12 board member of a public entity is selected 

13 by election or politically appointed; 

14 ‘‘(ii) not receive compensation for the 

15 purposes of serving on the governing body 

16 or for providing services to the Head Start 

17 agency, exceptions shall be made when a 

18 board member of a public entity is selected 

19 by election or politically appointed; 

20 ‘‘(iii) not be employed nor shall mem21 bers of their immediate family be employed 

22 by the Head Start agency or one of its del23 egate agencies, exceptions shall be made 

24 when a board member of a public entity is 


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1 selected by election or politically appointed; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(iv) operate as an entity independent 

4 of staff employed by the Head Start agen5 cy entity or applicant, exceptions shall be 

6 made when a board member of a public en7 tity is selected by election or politically ap8 pointed. 

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

10 persons described in subparagraph (A) are not 

11 available to serve as members, the governing 

12 body shall make use of consultants in the areas 

13 described in subparagraph (A) to work directly 

14 with the governing body. 

15 ‘‘(D) TRAINING.—All members of the gov16 erning body shall receive training in manage17 ment responsibilities and obligations, ethics, 

18 and financial literacy management. 

19 ‘‘(E) RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNING

20 BODY.—The governing body shall be responsible 

21 for— 

22 ‘‘(i) adoption of practices that assure 

23 active, independent and informed govern24 ance of the Head Start agency; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) oversight to ensure that the 

2 Head Start agency under the direction of 

3 the executive director is delivering high 

4 quality services to children and families in 

5 compliance with all applicable standards in 

6 effect under this subchapter and with the 

7 applicable performance measures estab8 lished by the Secretary under section 644; 

9 ‘‘(iii) establish an audit and finance 

10 committee whose primary responsibility 

11 shall be— 

12 ‘‘(I) to approve annually the op13 erating budget of the Head Start 

14 agency; 

15 ‘‘(II) to review and recommend 

16 to the governing body the selection of 

17 independent auditors who shall report 

18 all critical accounting policies and 

19 practices to the finance and audit 

20 committee, except when the auditor is 

21 assigned by the State under State 

22 law; 

23 ‘‘(III) to review and recommend 

24 to the governing body the termination 


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1 or extension of the existing audit firm 

2 at least once every 5 years; 

3 ‘‘(IV) to review and advise the 

4 governing body of the audit manage5 ment letter provided pursuant to the 

6 chapter 75 of title 31, United States 

7 Code, and of any audit findings; and 

8 ‘‘(V) to monitor agency actions to 

9 correct any such audit findings or 

10 other actions necessary to comply with 

11 applicable laws (including regulations) 

12 governing financial statements and ac13 counting practices; 

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

15 agency, including the mission of the agency 

16 and policies addressing accounting, finan17 cial management, procurement, record con18 fidentiality, and personnel (including spe19 cific standards governing salaries, salary 

20 adjustments, travel and per diem allow21 ances, and other employee benefits); 

22 ‘‘(v) approve all major financial ex23 penditures of the agency; 

24 ‘‘(vi) approve the selection or dis25 missal of the Head Start Director or the 


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1 equivalent position within the Head Start 

2 agency; 

3 ‘‘(vii) approve or disapprove all poli4 cies, applications, and decisions of the Pol5 icy Council made under the authority of 

6 paragraph (2); 

7 ‘‘(viii) to oversee the program plan8 ning of the Head Start agency, including 

9 adoption of policies for setting long- and 

10 short-range goals and objectives; 

11 ‘‘(ix) oversee and approve the agency’s 

12 applications to receive funds made avail13 able under this subchapter; and 

14 ‘‘(x) to establish, adopt and periodi15 cally update written standards of conduct 

16 that establish standards and formal proce17 dures for disclosing, addressing, and re18 solving— 

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

20 any appearance of a conflict of inter21 est, by members of the governing 

22 body, officers, employees, consultants 

23 and agents who provide services or 

24 furnish goods to the Head Start agen25 cy; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) complaints, including inves2 tigations, when appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(2) POLICY COUNCIL.— 

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

5 or Policy Committee, as appropriate, shall be 

6 composed as follows: 

7 ‘‘(i) Members of the Policy Council 

8 shall be either parents of children currently 

9 enrolled in the Head Start agency’s (or 

10 delegate’s) Head Start or Early Head 

11 Start program or that are parents of chil12 dren who were enrolled in the program in 

13 the previous year (Parent Members) or 

14 shall be members of the community served 

15 by the Head Start agency or delegate 

16 (Community Members). 

17 ‘‘(ii) Parent members of the Policy 

18 Council shall constitute a majority of the 

19 members of the Policy Council and shall be 

20 elected by parents of currently enrolled 

21 children. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Parent members shall represent, 

23 proportionately, all program options and 

24 settings operated by the Head Start agen25 cy or delegate. 


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

2 member shall be no more than 2 years and 

3 no Policy Council member shall serve 

4 longer than 6 years. 

5 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES OF POLICY COUN6 CIL.—In order to be designated as a Head 

7 Start agency, an entity or delegate of such an 

8 entity shall have a Policy Council which shall 

9 approve and submit to the governing body deci10 sions about the following activities: 

11 ‘‘(i) The strategic direction of the pro12 gram, including long and short-term plan13 ning goals and objectives (such planning 

14 and goals shall take into account the an15 nual community assessment and self-as16 sessment). 

17 ‘‘(ii) Selection of delegate agencies 

18 and their service areas. 

19 ‘‘(iii) Recruitment, selection and en20 rollment priorities. 

21 ‘‘(iv) Funding applications and 

22 amendments to funding applications for 

23 Head Start or Early Head Start prior to 

24 submission of such applications. 


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1 ‘‘(v) Budget planning for program ex2 penditures. 

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

4 Policy Council including procedures by 

5 which Policy Council members are chosen. 

6 ‘‘(vii) Program personnel policies, in7 cluding standards of conduct for program 

8 staff, contractors and volunteers. 

9 ‘‘(viii) Decisions regarding employ10 ment of Head Start staff other than the 

11 director and executive director. 

12 ‘‘(ix) Activities to support the active 

13 involvement of parents in supporting pro14 gram operations. 

15 ‘‘(x) Program responsiveness to com16 munity and parent needs. 

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

18 technical assistance shall be provided to the 

19 members of the Policy Council to ensure that 

20 the members understand the information the 

21 members receive and effectively oversee and 

22 participate in the programs of the Head Start 

23 agency or delegate. 

24 ‘‘(3) IMPASSE POLICY.—The Secretary shall de25 velop policies and procedures describing how Head 


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1 Start agencies will implement shared decision-mak2 ing, including a process for resolving any impasse 

3 between the Governing Body and the Policy Council. 

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

5 so designated, a Head Start agency must collaborate and 

6 coordinate with public and private entities to improve the 

7 available services to Head Start children and families, in8 cluding the following activities: 

9 ‘‘(1) Conduct outreach to schools in which chil10 dren participating in Head Start programs enroll, 

11 local educational agencies, the local business commu12 nity, community-based organizations, faith-based or13 ganizations, museums, and libraries to generate sup14 port and leverage the resources of the entire local 

15 community in order to improve school readiness. 

16 ‘‘(2) In communities where both public pre17 kindergarten programs and Head Start programs 

18 operate, a Head Start agency shall collaborate and 

19 coordinate activities with the local educational agen20 cy or other public agency responsible for the oper21 ation of the prekindergarten program and providers 

22 of prekindergarten, including outreach activities to 

23 identify eligible children, as possible. 

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

25 permission of the parents of children enrolled in 


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1 Head Start programs, regularly communicate with 

2 the elementary schools such children will be attend3 ing— 

4 ‘‘(A) to share information about such chil5 dren; and 

6 ‘‘(B) to ensure a smooth transition to ele7 mentary school for such children. 

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

9 as appropriate, with providers of social and commu10 nity services available to children and families par11 ticipating in Head Start programs, and may support 

12 such partnerships with financial agreements, when 

13 applicable, for the provision of such services. 

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

15 coordinate activities with the local educational agen16 cy serving the community involved and with schools 

17 in which children participating in a Head Start pro18 gram operated by such agency will enroll following 

19 such program, including— 

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

21 transportation and facilities; 

22 ‘‘(B) collaborating to enhance the effi23 ciency of services while increasing the program 

24 participation of underserved populations of eli25 gible children; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi2 sion of noneducational services to such children. 

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

4 Secretary of Education, shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) evaluate the effectiveness of the 

6 projects and activities funded under section 

7 642A; 

8 ‘‘(B) disseminate to Head Start agencies 

9 information (including information from the 

10 evaluation required by subparagraph (A)) on ef11 fective policies and activities relating to the 

12 transition of children from Head Start pro13 grams to public schools; and 

14 ‘‘(C) provide technical assistance to such 

15 agencies to promote and assist such agencies to 

16 adopt and implement such effective policies and 

17 activities. 

18 ‘‘(e) QUALITY STANDARDS, CURRICULA AND ASSESS19 MENT.—To be so designated, each Head Start agency 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) take steps to ensure, to the maximum ex22 tent possible, that children maintain the develop23 mental and educational gains achieved in Head Start 

24 programs and build upon such gains in further 

25 schooling; 


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

2 forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular atten3 tion to the standards set forth in subparagraphs (A) 

4 and (B) of such section; 

5 ‘‘(3) implement a research-based early child6 hood curriculum that promotes young children’s 

7 school readiness in the areas of language and cog8 nitive development, early reading and 

9 premathematics skills, socio-emotional development, 

10 physical development, and approaches to learning. 

11 Such curricula shall be— 

12 ‘‘(A) based on scientifically based research 

13 and have standardized training procedures and 

14 curriculum materials to support implementa15 tion; 

16 ‘‘(B) comprehensive, linked to ongoing as17 sessment, with developmental and learning 

18 goals and measurable objectives; and focused on 

19 improving the learning environment, teaching 

20 practices, family involvement, and child out21 comes across all areas of development; and 

22 ‘‘(C) aligned to the Head Start Child Out23 comes Framework developed by the Secretary 

24 and to State early learning standards, as appro25 priate; 


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

2 methods that are developmentally appropriate, cul3 turally and linguistically responsive, and tied to chil4 dren’s daily activities in order to support the edu5 cational instruction of children in the program, in6 cluding language skills, prereading knowledge and 

7 premathematics knowledge. Assessment instruments 

8 shall be those designed and validated for making de9 cisions about teaching and learning and aligned with 

10 the programs curricula and section 641A(a)(1); 

11 ‘‘(5) use high-quality research-based develop12 mental screening tools that have been demonstrated 

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

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

15 and cultural backgrounds, for the purpose of meet16 ing the relevant performance standards; 

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

18 development and with classroom teachers, an assess19 ment to be used when hiring or evaluating any class20 room teacher in a center-based Head Start program. 

21 Such assessment shall measure whether such teacher 

22 has mastered the functions described in section 

23 648A(a)(1) and attained a level of literacy appro24 priate to implement Head Start curricula; 


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1 ‘‘(7) use the information provided from the as2 sessment conducted under section 640A(c)(2)(H) to 

3 adopt a professional development plan that leads to 

4 improved teacher effectiveness; 

5 ‘‘(8) establish measurable objectives for the pro6 vision of health, educational, nutritional, and social 

7 services related to the program mission and to 

8 school readiness and provided under this subchapter; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(9) develop procedures for identifying children 

11 as limited English proficient, and inform the parents 

12 of such children as to the instructional services used 

13 to help children make progress towards acquiring 

14 the knowledge and skills described in section 

15 641A(a)(1)(B) and acquisition of the English lan16 guage. 

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

18 Head Start agency shall enroll 100 percent of its funded 

19 enrollment and maintain an active waiting list at all times 

20 with ongoing outreach to the community and activities to 

21 identify underserved populations. 

22 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING

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

24 a Head Start agency shall develop an annual technical as25 sistance and training plan. Such plan shall be based on 


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

2 assessment, the needs of parents and children to be serv3 iced by such agency, and the results of the reviews con4 ducted under section 641A(c). 

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

6 funds under this subchapter, a Head Start agency shall 

7 document strong fiscal controls, including the employment 

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

9 management of a public or private organization.’’. 

10 SEC. 9. HEAD START TRANSITION AND ALIGNMENT WITH K–

11 12 EDUCATION. 

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

13 9837a) is amended to read as follows: 

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

15 WITH K–12 EDUCATION. 

16 ‘‘Each Head Start agency shall take steps to coordi17 nate with the local educational agency serving the commu18 nity involved and with schools in which children partici19 pating in a Head Start program operated by such agency 

20 will enroll following such program to promote continuity 

21 of services and effective transitions, including— 

22 ‘‘(1) developing and implementing a systematic 

23 procedure for transferring, with parental consent, 

24 Head Start program records for each participating 

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


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1 ‘‘(2) establishing ongoing channels of commu2 nication between Head Start staff and their counter3 parts in the schools (including teachers, social work4 ers, McKinney-Vento liaisons as established under 

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

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

7 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)), and health staff) to facilitate co8 ordination of programs; 

9 ‘‘(3) establish on-going communication for de10 veloping continuity of developmentally appropriate 

11 curricula between Head Start and local educational 

12 agencies to ensure an effective transition and appro13 priate shared expectations for children’s learning 

14 and development as they make such transition to 

15 school; 

16 ‘‘(4) organizing and participating in joint train17 ing, including transition-related training for school 

18 staff and Head Start staff; 

19 ‘‘(5) conducting meetings involving parents, 

20 kindergarten or elementary school teachers, and 

21 Head Start program teachers to discuss the edu22 cational, developmental, and other needs of indi23 vidual children; 

24 ‘‘(6) helping parents of limited English Pro25 ficient children understand the method of instruction 


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1 and other services provided by the school in which 

2 such child will enroll after participation in Head 

3 Start and as appropriate, information provided to 

4 parents of limited English proficient children under 

5 section 3302 of title III of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7012); 

7 ‘‘(7) developing and implementing a family out8 reach and support program in cooperation with enti9 ties carrying out parental involvement efforts under 

10 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

11 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and family 

12 outreach and support efforts under subtitle B of title 

13 VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 

14 (42 U.S.C. 11431–11435); 

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

16 teachers in enhancing educational and developmental 

17 continuity and continuity in parental involvement ac18 tivities between Head Start services and elementary 

19 school classes; 

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

21 Start program with the education services, including 

22 services relating to language, literacy, and 

23 numeracy, provided by such local educational agen24 cy; 


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1 ‘‘(10) helping parents (including grandparents 

2 and kinship caregivers, as appropriate) to under3 stand the importance of parental involvement in a 

4 child’s academic success while teaching them strate5 gies for maintaining parental involvement as their 

6 child moves from Head Start to elementary school; 

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

8 increase program participation of underserved popu9 lations of eligible children; and 

10 ‘‘(12) coordinating activities and collaborating 

11 to ensure that curricula used in the Head Start pro12 gram are aligned with— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Head Start Child Outcomes 

14 Framework as developed by the Secretary; and 

15 ‘‘(B) State early learning standards, as ap16 propriate, with regard to cognitive, social, emo17 tional, and physical competencies that children 

18 entering kindergarten are expected to dem19 onstrate.’’. 

20 SEC. 10. LOCAL AND STATE INTEGRATION OF EARLY 

21 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 

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

23 by inserting after section 642A the following: 


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

2 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 

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

4 agencies shall enter into ongoing partnerships with local 

5 educational agencies and with State-funded preschool and 

6 other early childhood programs. 

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

8 Head Start agency shall enter into a memorandum 

9 of understanding with any local educational agencies 

10 or local councils, responsible for managing publicly 

11 funded prekindergarten programs in the service area 

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

13 such councils are not applicable in the service area, 

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

16 plans to coordinate the following activities: 

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

18 instruction. 

19 ‘‘(B) Public information dissemination and 

20 access to programs for families contacting any 

21 of the early childhood programs. 

22 ‘‘(C) Selection priorities for eligible chil23 dren to be served by programs. 

24 ‘‘(D) Service delivery areas. 

25 ‘‘(E) Staff training, including opportunities 

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1 demic content standards, instructional methods, 

2 and social and emotional development. 

3 ‘‘(F) Program technical assistance. 

4 ‘‘(G) Provision of additional services to 

5 meet the needs of working parents. 

6 ‘‘(H) Planning and parent education for 

7 smooth transitions to kindergarten as required 

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

9 ‘‘(I) Provision and use of facilities, trans10 portation, and other program elements. 

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

12 the parties to such memorandum. 

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

14 Start agency shall enter into a memorandum of un15 derstanding under paragraph (1) not later than 1 

16 year after the effective date of this section. 

17 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.—Each memo18 randum of understanding entered into under para19 graph (1) shall be submitted to the Secretary not 

20 later than 30 days after entering into such memo21 randum. 

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

23 comply with the requirement in paragraph (1) 

24 the Head Start agency shall notify the Sec25 retary and the chief executive officer of the 


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1 State not later than 30 days after determining 

2 that they are unable to enter into such memo3 randum. The Secretary, in cooperation with the 

4 State Early Learning Council and the State Di5 rector of Head Start Collaboration, shall evalu6 ate the causes of failure to enter into a memo7 randum of understanding under paragraph (1). 

8 With the assistance of the State Early Learning 

9 Council and the State Director of Head Start 

10 Collaboration, all parties shall again attempt to 

11 enter into a memorandum of understanding 

12 under paragraph (1). Then if no such memo13 randum of understanding is entered into, the 

14 Secretary shall make 1 of the following deter15 minations: 

16 ‘‘(i) The local educational agency, 

17 local council, or other appropriate entity is 

18 unable or unwilling to enter into such a 

19 memorandum despite reasonable efforts on 

20 the part of the Head Start agency. 

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

22 engaged in reasonable efforts to success23 fully negotiate and enter into a memo24 randum of understanding pursuant to 

25 paragraph (1). 


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

2 funded prekindergarten in the service area 

3 of the Head Start agency. 

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

5 Start agency is not making reasonable efforts 

6 to enter into a memorandum of understanding 

7 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Head Start 

8 agency shall be found to be noncompliant with 

9 program performance standards. 

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

11 local educational agency, local council, or other 

12 appropriate entity is not making reasonable ef13 forts to reach such a memorandum of under14 standing, the Head Start agency shall not be 

15 found out of compliance with paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(4) REVISION OF MEMORANDA.—Each memo17 randum of understanding shall be revised and re18 newed annually by the parties to such memorandum, 

19 in alignment with the beginning of the school year. 

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

21 absence of publicly funded prekindergarten in the 

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

23 agency shall submit notice to the Secretary and the 

24 chief executive officer of the State and shall work 

25 with the State Early Learning Council and the State 


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1 Director of Head Start Collaboration to improve co2 ordination in their service area. 

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

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

5 Secretary shall award, upon submission of a written re6 quest and pursuant to the requirements of paragraph (2), 

7 an early learning collaboration grant to each State for the 

8 purposes of supporting a State Early Learning Council re9 sponsible for advancing the development of a coordinated 

10 early childhood services delivery system in the State. A 

11 State that receives a grant under this subparagraph 

12 shall— 

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

14 which shall include— 

15 ‘‘(A) the State Director of Head Start Col16 laboration; 

17 ‘‘(B) representatives from the State pre18 school programs; 

19 ‘‘(C) representatives of local educational 

20 agencies; 

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

22 care programs; 

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

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

2 seq.); 

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

4 State educational agency; 

5 ‘‘(G) representatives from Head Start 

6 agencies located in the State, including migrant 

7 and seasonal Head Start programs and Indian 

8 Head Start programs; 

9 ‘‘(H) representatives of local child care 

10 programs or organizations; and 

11 ‘‘(I) a representative of the State agency 

12 responsible for health and mental health care; 

13 except that the chief executive officer of the State 

14 may designate an existing entity to serve as the 

15 Early Learning Council if such entity includes rep16 resentatives described in this paragraph; 

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

18 State for a fiscal year to carry out this subsection 

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

20 percent of the cost of carrying out this subsection; 

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

22 the coordination and quality of early childhood serv23 ices within the State, including— 

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1 grams, child care programs, early childhood 

2 special education, and other early childhood 

3 programs, including in the areas of outcomes 

4 and standards, technical assistance, coordina5 tion of services, cross-sector professional devel6 opment and training, community outreach, com7 munication, and better serving the needs of 

8 working families through provision of full-day 

9 and full-year early education services; 

10 ‘‘(B) to work with State agencies respon11 sible for education, child care, and early inter12 vention to provide leadership and assistance to 

13 local Head Start programs, local education 

14 agencies, and State and locally funded pre15 school and child care programs to increase inte16 gration among early childhood programs 

17 through adoption of local memoranda of under18 standing described in subparagraph (A) and 

19 other means; 

20 ‘‘(C) to work with State agencies respon21 sible for education, child care, and early inter22 vention to provide leadership and assistance to 

23 develop developmentally appropriate standards 

24 for children birth through the early elementary 


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1 grades to effect a smooth transition to and suc2 cess in the early elementary grades; 

3 ‘‘(D) to develop or conduct periodic State4 wide needs assessments concerning early care 

5 and education programs for children from birth 

6 to school entry; 

7 ‘‘(E) to work to identify and address bar8 riers to and opportunities for integration be9 tween entities carrying out Federal and State 

10 child development, child care, and early child11 hood education programs; 

12 ‘‘(F) to develop recommendations regard13 ing means of establishing a unified data collec14 tion system for early care and education pro15 grams operating throughout the State; 

16 ‘‘(G) to address coordination of early 

17 learning programs with health care (including 

18 mental and behavioral health care), welfare, 

19 family literacy and services for homeless chil20 dren; 

21 ‘‘(H) to support a State system of early 

22 childhood education, and training and technical 

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1 grams to deliver services pursuant to section 

2 648(b); 

3 ‘‘(I) to develop a plan for increasing the 

4 participation of children underrepresented in 

5 State early childhood education and child care 

6 programs, including Head Start, State pre7 school programs, and programs carried out 

8 under the Child Care and Development Block 

9 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 

10 ‘‘(J) developing a Statewide professional 

11 development and career ladder plan for early 

12 care and education in the State; and 

13 ‘‘(K) assisting 2- and 4-year public and 

14 private institutions of higher education to de15 velop articulation agreements concerning de16 grees in early childhood and related fields. 

17 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be con18 strued to provide the Early Learning Council with 

19 authority to modify, supersede, or affect the oper20 ation of this subchapter. 

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

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

23 Federal, State, and local funds that would otherwise 

24 be expended to carry out the purposes of this sec25 tion.’’. 


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1 SEC. 11. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND STAND2 ARDS. 

3 Section 644 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9839) 

4 is amended— 

5 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS.—Each Head Start agency 

9 shall observe standards of organization, manage10 ment, and administration which will ensure, so far 

11 as reasonably possible, that all program activities 

12 are conducted in a manner consistent with the pur13 poses of this subchapter and the objective of pro14 viding assistance effectively, efficiently, and free of 

15 any taint of partisan political bias or personal or 

16 family favoritism. Each such agency shall establish 

17 or adopt rules to carry out this section, which shall 

18 include rules to assure full staff accountability in 

19 matters governed by law, regulations, or agency pol20 icy. Each agency shall also provide for reasonable 

21 public access to information, including public hear22 ings at the request of appropriate community groups 

23 and reasonable public access to books and records of 

24 the agency or other agencies engaged in program ac25 tivities or operations involving the use of authority 

26 or funds for which it is responsible. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each Head Start 

2 agency shall make available to the public a report 

3 published at least once in each fiscal year that dis4 closes the following information from the then most 

5 recently concluded fiscal year, except that reporting 

6 such information shall not reveal personally identifi7 able information about an individual child or parent: 

8 ‘‘(A) The total amount of public and pri9 vate funds received and the amount from each 

10 source. 

11 ‘‘(B) An explanation of budgetary expendi12 tures and proposed budget for the following fis13 cal year. 

14 ‘‘(C) The total number of children and 

15 families served and percent of average monthly 

16 enrollment, including the percent of eligible 

17 children served. 

18 ‘‘(D) The results of the most recent review 

19 by the Secretary and the financial audit. 

20 ‘‘(E) The percentage of enrolled children 

21 that received medical and dental exams. 

22 ‘‘(F) Information about parent involvement 

23 activities. 

24 ‘‘(G) The agency’s efforts to prepare chil25 dren for kindergarten. 


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1 ‘‘(H) Any other information required by 

2 the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(3) PROCEDURAL CONDUCT.—Each such 

4 agency shall adopt for itself and other agencies 

5 using funds or exercising authority for which it is 

6 responsible, rules designed to— 

7 ‘‘(A) establish specific standards governing 

8 salaries, salary increases, travel and per diem 

9 allowances, and other employee benefits; 

10 ‘‘(B) assure that only persons capable of 

11 discharging their duties with competence and 

12 integrity are employed and that employees are 

13 promoted or advanced under impartial proce14 dures calculated to improve agency performance 

15 and effectiveness; 

16 ‘‘(C) guard against personal or financial 

17 conflicts of interest; and 

18 ‘‘(D) define employee duties in an appro19 priate manner which will in any case preclude 

20 employees from participating, in connection 

21 with the performance of their duties, in any 

22 form of picketing, protest, or other direct action 

23 which is in violation of law.’’, and 

24 (2) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol25 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(f) FACILITIES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall establish uniform pro3 cedures for Head Start agencies to request approval 

4 to purchase facilities, or to request approval of the 

5 purchase (after December 31, 1986) of facilities, to 

6 be used to carry out Head Start programs. The Sec7 retary shall suspend any proceedings pending 

8 against any Head Start agency to claim costs in9 curred in purchasing such facilities until the agency 

10 has been afforded an opportunity to apply for ap11 proval of the purchase and the Secretary has deter12 mined whether the purchase will be approved. The 

13 Secretary shall not be required to repay claims pre14 viously satisfied by Head Start agencies for costs in15 curred in the purchase of such facilities. 

16 ‘‘(2) Financial assistance provided under this 

17 subchapter may not be used by a Head Start agency 

18 to purchase a facility (including paying the cost of 

19 amortizing the principal and paying interest on 

20 loans) to be used to carry out a Head Start program 

21 unless the Secretary approves a request that is sub22 mitted by such agency and contains— 

23 ‘‘(A) a description of the consultation con24 ducted by the Head Start agency with the pro25 viders in the community demonstrating capacity 


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1 and capability to provide services under this 

2 subchapter, and of the potential for collabora3 tion with such providers and the cost effective4 ness of such collaboration as opposed to the 

5 cost effectiveness of the purchase of a facility; 

6 ‘‘(B) a description of the site of the facility 

7 proposed to be purchased or that was previously 

8 purchased; 

9 ‘‘(C) the plans and specifications of such 

10 facility; 

11 ‘‘(D) information demonstrating that— 

12 ‘‘(i) the proposed purchase will result, 

13 or the previous purchase has resulted, in 

14 savings when compared to the costs that 

15 would be incurred to acquire the use of an 

16 alternative facility to carry out such pro17 gram; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) the lack of alternative facilities 

19 will prevent, or would have prevented, the 

20 operation of such program; 

21 ‘‘(E) in the case of a request regarding a 

22 previously purchased facility, information dem23 onstrating that the facility will be used prin24 cipally as a Head Start center, or a direct sup25 port facility for a Head Start program; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) such other information and assur2 ances as the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(3) Upon a determination by the Secretary 

4 that suitable facilities are not otherwise available to 

5 Indian tribes to carry out Head Start programs, and 

6 that the lack of suitable facilities will inhibit the op7 eration of such programs, the Secretary may author8 ize the use of financial assistance, from the amount 

9 reserved under section 640(a)(2)(A), to make pay10 ments for the purchase of facilities owned by such 

11 tribes. The amount of such a payment for such a fa12 cility shall not exceed the fair market value of the 

13 facility.’’. 

14 SEC. 12. PARTICIPATION IN HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

15 Section 645 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840) 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) by amending paragraph (1)(B)(i) to 

19 read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(i) programs assisted under this sub21 chapter may include, to a reasonable ex22 tent, participation of children in the area 

23 served who would benefit from such pro24 grams, including children referred by child 

25 welfare services, but whose families do not 


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1 meet the low-income criteria prescribed 

2 pursuant to subparagraph (A) (A homeless 

3 child shall be deemed to meet the low-in4 come criteria.); and’’, and 

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

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

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

8 an individual who is a member of the uniformed services 

9 for housing that is acquired or constructed under the au10 thority of subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United 

11 States Code, or any other related provision of law, shall 

12 not be considered to be income for purposes of deter13 mining the eligibility of a child of the individual for pro14 grams assisted under this subchapter. 

15 ‘‘(4)(A) Upon written request and pursuant to the 

16 requirements of this paragraph, a Head Start agency may 

17 use funds under section 640(a) to serve infants and tod18 dlers if the agency submits an application to the Secretary 

19 containing the following information, as specified in rules 

20 issued by the Secretary— 

21 ‘‘(i) the amount of funds under section 640(a) 

22 that are proposed to be used in accordance with sec23 tion 645A(b); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a community-wide needs assessment dem2 onstrating how the use of such funds would best 

3 meet the needs of the community; 

4 ‘‘(iii) a description of how the needs of preg5 nant women, and of infants and toddlers, will be ad6 dressed in accordance with section 645A(b), and 

7 with regulations prescribed by the Secretary pursu8 ant to section 641A in areas including the agency’s 

9 approach to child development and provision of 

10 health services, approach to family and community 

11 partnerships, and approach to program design and 

12 management; 

13 ‘‘(iv) a description of how the needs of eligible 

14 Head Start children will be met in the community; 

15 ‘‘(v) assurances that the agency will participate 

16 in technical assistance activities (including a plan17 ning period, start-up site visits, and national train18 ing activities) in the same manner as recipients of 

19 grants under section 645A; and 

20 ‘‘(vi) evidence that the agency meets the same 

21 eligibility criteria as recipients of grants under sec22 tion 645A. 

23 ‘‘(B) An application that satisfies the requirements 

24 specified in subparagraph (A) shall be approved by the 

25 Secretary unless the Secretary finds that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the agency lacks adequate capacity and ca2 pability to carry out an effective Early Head Start 

3 program; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) the information provided under subpara5 graph (A) is inadequate. 

6 ‘‘(C) Any Head Start agency approved under sub7 paragraph (B) shall be considered to be an entity that re8 ceives assistance under section 645A, and such funds 

9 under (i) shall be subject to the same rules, regulations, 

10 and conditions as apply to recipients of grants under sec11 tion 645A. 

12 ‘‘(5)(A) Upon written request and pursuant to the 

13 requirements of this paragraph, a Head Start agency may 

14 consider children from low-income families to be eligible 

15 for participation in programs assisted under this sub16 chapter if their family income is at or above the poverty 

17 line but below 130 percent of the poverty line, if the agen18 cy submits an application to the Secretary containing the 

19 following information, as specified in rules issued by the 

20 Secretary— 

21 ‘‘(i) a description of how the needs of eligible 

22 Head Start children, as described in paragraph 

23 (1)(A) are being adequately met in the agency’s 

24 service area; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a description of outreach efforts to the 

2 community to reach full enrollment under the eligi3 bility guidelines under paragraph (1), including 

4 using outreach efforts that are linguistically and cul5 turally appropriate; 

6 ‘‘(iii) assurance that the agency will prioritize 

7 serving children currently eligible under the guide8 lines under paragraph (1); and 

9 ‘‘(iv) a description of why increasing the num10 ber of infants and toddlers being served, as de11 scribed in paragraph (4), is not appropriate based 

12 upon the communitywide needs assessment or the 

13 agency’s capability. 

14 ‘‘(B) In approving such applications, the Secretary 

15 shall take into account the— 

16 ‘‘(i) cost of living for families living in the area 

17 served by the Head Start agency; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the efforts the Head Start agency has un19 dertaken to be fully enrolled under the eligibility cri20 teria in paragraph (1); and 

21 ‘‘(iii) the policies and procedures the Head 

22 Start agency will implement to ensure that children 

23 currently eligible under the criteria described under 

24 paragraph (1) will be prioritized. 


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1 ‘‘(C) No more than 20 percent of children served by 

2 such Head Start agency may be from families above the 

3 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 

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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 

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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 

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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 

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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 

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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 govVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00151 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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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 comVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00152 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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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 

5 State; 

6 ‘‘(2) not later than 6 months after the effective 

7 date of this subsection, publish in the Federal Reg8 ister a notice on how the Secretary plans to carry 

9 out the activities identified in paragraph (1) and 

10 shall provide a period for public comment. To the 

11 extent practicable, the Secretary shall consider com12 ments received before implementing any of the ac13 tivities identified in paragraph (1); 

14 ‘‘(3) not later than 1 year after the effective 

15 date of this subsection, submit a report to the Com16 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 

17 Representatives and the Health, Education, Labor 

18 and Pensions Committee of the Senate detailing how 

19 the Secretary plans to carry out the activities identi20 fied in (1); 

21 ‘‘(4) submit a report to Congress annually on 

22 the migrant and seasonal Head Start program in23 cluding a report on the progress made in carrying 

24 out the activities identified in paragraph (1), the 

25 progress made in reaching out to and serving eligible 


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1 migrant and seasonal children, and information on 

2 states where migrant and seasonal children are still 

3 underserved; 

4 ‘‘(5) through regulation, ensure the protection 

5 of the confidentiality of any personally identifiable 

6 data, information, and records collected or main7 tained by the Secretary, by Head Start agencies that 

8 carry out migrant and seasonal Head Start pro9 grams, by the State director of Head Start Collabo10 ration, by the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker 

11 Collaboration project Director (Such regulations 

12 shall provide the policies, protections, and rights 

13 equivalent to those provided a parent, student, or 

14 educational agency or institution under section 444 

15 of the General Education Provisions Act.); and 

16 ‘‘(6) ensure that nothing in this subsection shall 

17 be construed to authorize the development of a na18 tionwide database of personally identifiable informa19 tion on individuals involved in studies or other col20 lections of data under this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(m) For purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible 

22 entities’ means an institution of higher education or other 

23 entity with expertise in delivering training in early child24 hood development, family support, and other assistance 

25 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 

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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 

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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 reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00167 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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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 tion 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 acVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00171 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.PCS H1429

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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 (2) in subsection (d)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (8) by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

5 the end, 

6 (B) by striking paragraphs (9) and (10) 

7 and insert the following: 

8 ‘‘(9) contribute to understanding the impact of 

9 Head Start services delivered in inclusive classrooms 

10 on both children with disabilities and children with11 out disabilities, and develop practices for increasing 

12 the availability and quality of inclusive classrooms.’’. 

13 (3) in subsection (g)— 

14 (A) in paragraph(1)(A)— 

15 (i) by striking clause (i), and 

16 (ii) by redesignating clauses (ii) and 

17 (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, 

18 and 

19 (B) by amending paragraph (7)(C) to read 

20 as follows: 

21 ‘‘(C) TRANSMITTAL OF REPORT TO CON22 GRESS.—Not later than September 30, 2009, 

23 the Secretary shall transmit the final report to 

24 the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

25 House of Representatives and the Committee 


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1 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

2 the Senate.’’, and 

3 (4) 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 

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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 

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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: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 137 

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 

MAY 7, 2007 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 


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