I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1429 

To reauthorize the Head Start Act, to improve program quality, to expand 

access, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2007 

Mr. KILDEE (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. CASTLE, 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mrs. MCCARTHY

of New York, Mr. WU, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ

of California, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. HIRONO, 

Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. CLARKE, and Ms. SHEA-PORTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

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 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Head Start 

5 Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

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

8 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 636. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

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

3 school readiness of low-income children— 

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

5 emotional development in a learning environment 

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

7 mathematics, science, social and emotional func8 tioning, physical skills, and approaches to learning; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(2) through the provision to low-income chil11 dren and their families of health, educational, nutri12 tional, social, and other services that are determined, 

13 based on family needs assessments, to be nec14 essary.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

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

17 is amended— 

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

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

20 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (14) and (15) 

21 as paragraphs (20) and (21), respectively, 

22 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (11) through 

23 (13) as paragraphs (16) through (18), respectively, 

24 (4) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para25 graph (14), 


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1 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

2 (9) as paragraphs (5) through (11), respectively, 

3 (6) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para4 graph (3), 

5 (7) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘deficiency’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) systemic or significant material fail9 ure of a Head Start agency in an area of per10 formance that the Secretary determines in11 volves— 

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

13 civil rights of children or staff; 

14 ‘‘(ii) a denial to parents of the exer15 cise of their full roles and responsibilities 

16 related to program governance; 

17 ‘‘(iii) a failure to perform the require18 ments of section 641A(a), as determined 

19 by the Secretary; 

20 ‘‘(iv) the misuse of funds received 

21 under this subchapter; 

22 ‘‘(v) loss of legal status (as deter23 mined by the Secretary) or financial viabil24 ity, loss of permits, debarment from receivVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:50 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.IH H1429

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1 ing Federal grants or contracts, or the im2 proper use of Federal funds; or 

3 ‘‘(vi) failure to meet any other of Fed4 eral or State requirement; or 

5 ‘‘(B) material failure of the board of direc6 tors of a Head Start agency to meet its legal 

7 and fiduciary responsibilities.’’, 

8 (8) by inserting after paragraph (3), as so re9 designated the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘family’ means all persons living 

11 in the same household who are— 

12 ‘‘(A) supported by the income of at least 1 

13 parent or guardian (including any relative act14 ing in place of a parent, such as a grandparent) 

15 of a child enrolling or participating in a Head 

16 Start program; and 

17 ‘‘(B)(i) related to the parent or guardian 

18 by blood, marriage, or adoption; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) residing in the legal custody of a rel20 ative or nonrelative guardian in a foster care 

21 placement.’’, 

22 (9) by inserting after paragraph (11), as so re23 designated the following: 

24 ‘‘(12) The term ‘homeless children’ has the 

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


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1 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 11437(a)(2)). 

3 ‘‘(13) The term ‘homeless family’ means the 

4 family of a homeless child.’’, 

5 (10) by inserting after paragraph (14), as so 

6 redesignated the following: 

7 ‘‘(15) The terms ‘limited English proficient’ 

8 and ‘limited English proficiency’ mean with respect 

9 to an individual, that such individual— 

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

11 or has a native language that is not English; 

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

13 Native, or a native resident of a territory or 

14 possession of the United States; and 

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

16 a language that is not English has had a sig17 nificant impact on such individual’s level of 

18 English language proficiency; or 

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

20 that is not English, and comes from an environ21 ment in which a language that is not English 

22 is dominant; and 

23 ‘‘(B) has difficulty in speaking or under24 standing the English language to an extent that 


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1 may be sufficient to prevent such individual 

2 from— 

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

5 is English; or 

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

7 (11) by inserting after paragraph (18), as so 

8 redesignated the following: 

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

10 means high quality activities that will improve the 

11 knowledge and skills of Head Start teachers and 

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

14 and instruction, as appropriate, in a manner that 

15 improves service delivery to eligible children and 

16 families, including activities that— 

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

19 eligible children and families; 

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

23 ‘‘(C) are developmentally appropriate for 

24 the children being served; 


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

2 Start personnel may work more effectively with 

3 parents, as appropriate; 

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

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

7 children of diverse backgrounds, as appropriate; 

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

9 conference, must be as part of the professional 

10 development plan defined in section 648A(f) 

11 and be delivered by an institution of higher 

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

14 family support, and other assistance designed to 

15 improve the delivery of Head Start services; 

16 ‘‘(G) assist teachers with— 

17 ‘‘(i) the acquisition of the content 

18 knowledge and teaching strategies needed 

19 to provide effective instruction and other 

20 school readiness services in early language 

21 and literacy, early mathematics, early 

22 science, cognitive skills, approaches to 

23 learning, creative arts, science, physical 

24 health and development, and social and 


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1 emotional development linked to school 

2 readiness; 

3 ‘‘(ii) meeting the requirements in 

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

5 as appropriate; 

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

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

10 ‘‘(I) based on scientifically based 

11 research; and 

12 ‘‘(II) aligned with— 

13 ‘‘(aa) the Head Start Child 

14 Outcomes Framework developed 

15 by the Secretary and State early 

16 learning standards, as appro17 priate; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) the curricula, ongoing 

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

21 meet the standards described in 

22 section 641A(a)(1); 

23 ‘‘(v) acquiring the knowledge and 

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1 crease the English language skills of lim2 ited English proficient children, as appro3 priate; or 

4 ‘‘(vi) methods of teaching children 

5 with disabilities, as appropriate.’’, 

6 (12) by inserting after paragraph (21), as so 

7 redesignated, the following: 

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

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

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

14 ‘‘(B) includes research that— 

15 ‘‘(i) employs systematic, empirical 

16 methods that draw on observation or ex17 periment; 

18 ‘‘(ii) involves rigorous data analyses 

19 that are adequate to test the stated 

20 hypotheses and justify the general conclu21 sions drawn; 

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

24 valid data across evaluators and observers, 

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1 tions, and across studies by the same or 

2 different investigators; 

3 ‘‘(iv) is evaluated using experimental 

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

6 are assigned to different conditions and 

7 with appropriate controls to evaluate the 

8 effects of the condition of interest, with a 

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

11 those designs contain within-condition or 

12 across-condition controls; 

13 ‘‘(v) ensures that experimental studies 

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

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

20 independent experts through a comparably 

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

22 and 

23 (13) by amending paragraph (24), as so redes24 ignated, to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(24) The term ‘State’ means a State, the 

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

4 of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the 

5 Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of 

6 Palau.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

9 is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

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

14 for fiscal years 2009 through 2012. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

23 available to carry out impact studies under section 

24 649(g).’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS; LIMITATION ON ASSIST2 ANCE. 

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

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

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.— 

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

8 under section 639, the Secretary shall allot such 

9 amounts in accordance with paragraphs (2) through 

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

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

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

14 with the following order of priorities: 

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

16 Head Start programs, services for children with 

17 disabilities, and migrant and seasonal Head 

18 Start programs, except that— 

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

20 each fiscal year for use by Indian Head 

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

24 was obligated for use by Indian Head 

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1 sonal Head Start programs for fiscal year 

2 2007; 

3 ‘‘(ii) migrant and seasonal Head Start 

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

6 fiscal year until such time as the Secretary 

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

12 and reported pursuant to section 648(l), 

13 except that no future reduction in funding 

14 shall result in the termination of Head 

15 Start services provided to any eligible child 

16 3 years of age or older who is participating 

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

20 children less than 3 years of age receiving 

21 services before such reduction in funding; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(iii) Indian Head Start programs 

24 shall receive not less than 3.5 percent of 

25 the amount appropriated for each fiscal 


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1 year until such time as the Secretary can 

2 make funding decisions to ensure access to 

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

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

10 any eligible child 3 years of age or older 

11 who is participating in any such program 

12 on the date a reduction in funding occurs, 

13 and shall, to the extent possible, continue 

14 participation for children less than 3 years 

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

17 ‘‘(B) PAYMENTS TO TERRITORIES AND

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

20 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

21 Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the 

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

24 shall not be made after fiscal year 2009. 


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1 ‘‘(C) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSIST2 ANCE.—Not less than 2 percent of the amount 

3 appropriated for such fiscal year for training 

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

6 described in section 648, of which— 

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

8 available to local Head Start agencies to 

9 make program improvements identified by 

10 such agencies to use for the training and 

11 technical assistance activities described in 

12 section 648(j); 

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

14 available to the Secretary to support a 

15 State-based system or a national system, 

16 in the case of migrant and seasonal Head 

17 Start and Indian Head Start programs, of 

18 early childhood education training and 

19 technical assistance to local Head Start 

20 agencies as described in section 648(n); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the remainder of such amount 

23 shall be available to the Secretary to assist 

24 local Head Start agencies in meeting and 

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1 tion 641A(a)(1), including financial assist2 ance to help Head Start programs address 

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

6 ‘‘(I) not less than $3,000,000 

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

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) no more than $5,000,000 

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

13 ‘‘(D) MONITORING AND TERMINATIONS.— 

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

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

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

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

20 641A(d) related to correcting deficiencies and 

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

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

25 under section 649. 


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

3 under any other Act if the purpose of combining 

4 funds is to make a single discretionary grant or a 

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

7 identified in such grant or payment and are used for 

8 the purposes of this subchapter. 

9 ‘‘(3) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FUNDS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF FUNDS.— 

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

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

14 Secretary shall reserve, from the amount 

15 (if any) by which the funds appropriated 

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

18 a share equal to the sum of— 

19 ‘‘(I) 60 percent of such excess 

20 amount; and 

21 ‘‘(II) any additional part of such 

22 excess amount the Secretary may find 

23 necessary to address a demonstrated 

24 need for such activities. 


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

2 ‘adjusted prior year appropriation’ means, 

3 with respect to a fiscal year, the amount 

4 appropriated under section 639(a) for the 

5 preceding fiscal year, adjusted to reflect 

6 the percentage change in the Consumer 

7 Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

8 (issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) 

9 during such preceding fiscal year. 

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

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

14 ‘‘(i) Developing and financing the sal15 ary scales and benefit standards of edu16 cational staff, family service workers, and 

17 child counselors, as described in sections 

18 644(a) and 653, to ensure that salary lev19 els and benefits are adequate to attract 

20 and retain qualified staff for such pro21 grams. 

22 ‘‘(ii) Providing on-going professional 

23 development to teachers that improves 

24 their understanding of child development, 

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1 ing strategies needed to provide effective 

2 instruction and other school readiness serv3 ices in the areas of early language and lit4 eracy, early mathematics, cognitive skills, 

5 approaches to learning, creative arts, 

6 science, physical health and development, 

7 and social and emotional development. 

8 ‘‘(iii) Improving the qualifications and 

9 skills of educational personnel to meet the 

10 professional standards established under 

11 section 648A(a)(1), including providing as12 sistance to complete postsecondary course 

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

14 ‘‘(iv) Ensuring that the physical envi15 ronments of Head Start programs are con16 ducive to providing effective program serv17 ices to children and families, and are ac18 cessible to children with disabilities and 

19 other individuals with disabilities. 

20 ‘‘(v) Employing additional qualified 

21 classroom staff necessary to reduce the 

22 child to teacher ratio in the classroom and 

23 family to staff ratio for family services 

24 workers. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) Ensuring that such programs 

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

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

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

8 achievement. 

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

11 ‘‘(I) conversion of part-day to 

12 full-day; and 

13 ‘‘(II) number of weeks operated 

14 in a calendar year. 

15 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) Funds reserved under subpara17 graph (A) shall be allotted by the Sec18 retary as follows: 

19 ‘‘(I) 80 percent of such funds 

20 shall be allotted among the States in 

21 the same proportion as the Secretary 

22 allots funds among the States under 

23 paragraph (4) for the respective fiscal 

24 year. 


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1 ‘‘(II) 20 percent of such funds 

2 shall be allotted among the States, 

3 geographical areas specified in sub4 section (a)(2)(B) and Indian Head 

5 Start programs and migrant and sea6 sonal Head Start programs, and used 

7 to make grants to Head Start agen8 cies, at the discretion of the Sec9 retary. 

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

11 shall be used by the Secretary to make 

12 grants to Head Start agencies that receive 

13 grants from funds allotted under para14 graph (4) for such fiscal year, in such 

15 amounts as the Secretary considers to be 

16 appropriate, for expenditure for activities 

17 specified in subparagraph (B). 

18 ‘‘(iii) Funds received under this sub19 paragraph shall be used to supplement, not 

20 to supplant, funds received under para21 graph (2) or (4). 

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

23 639(b), the Secretary shall allot the remaining 

24 amounts appropriated in each fiscal year among the 


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1 States, in accordance with latest satisfactory data so 

2 that— 

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

4 is equal to the amount the State received for 

5 fiscal year 2007; and 

6 ‘‘(B) any amount available after all allot7 ments are made under subparagraph (A) for 

8 such fiscal year shall be distributed proportion9 ately on the basis of the number of children less 

10 than 5 years of age from families whose income 

11 is below the poverty line. 

12 For purposes of this paragraph, for each fiscal year 

13 the Secretary shall use the most recent data avail14 able on the number of children less than 5 years of 

15 age from families whose income is below the poverty 

16 line, as published by the Department of Commerce, 

17 unless the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce 

18 determine that use of the most recent data available 

19 would be inappropriate or unreliable. If the Sec20 retary and the Secretary of Commerce determine 

21 that some or all of the data referred to in this para22 graph are inappropriate or unreliable, the Secre23 taries shall issue a report setting forth their reasons 

24 in detail. 

25 ‘‘(5) COLLABORATION GRANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) From amounts reserved and allotted 

2 under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall award 

3 the collaboration grants described in subpara4 graphs (B), (C), and (D). 

5 ‘‘(B)(i) From the reserved sums, the Sec6 retary shall award upon submission of a written 

7 request, a collaboration grant to each State and 

8 to each national administrative office serving 

9 Indian Head Start programs and migrant and 

10 seasonal Head Start programs to facilitate col11 laboration between Head Start agencies and en12 tities (including the State or national adminis13 trative office) that carry out other activities de14 signed to benefit low-income families and chil15 dren from birth to school entry. The national 

16 administrative offices shall use the funds made 

17 available through the grants to carry out the 

18 authorities and responsibilities described in sub19 paragraphs (B) and (C). 

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

21 used to— 

22 ‘‘(I) assist Head Start agencies to col23 laborate with entities involved in State and 

24 local planning processes to better meet the 


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1 needs of low-income families and children 

2 from birth to school entry; 

3 ‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies to co4 ordinate activities with the State agency 

5 responsible for administering the State 

6 program carried out under the Child Care 

7 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 

8 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and entities pro9 viding resource and referral services in the 

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

11 calendar year services available to children; 

12 ‘‘(III) promote alignment of Head 

13 Start curricula and continuity of services 

14 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

15 Framework and State early learning stand16 ards, as appropriate; 

17 ‘‘(IV) promote better linkages between 

18 Head Start agencies and other child and 

19 family agencies, including agencies that 

20 provide health, mental health, or family 

21 services, or other child or family supportive 

22 services, such as services provided under 

23 section 619 or part C of the Individuals 

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

25 1419, 1431 et seq.); and 


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

2 State Director of Head Start Collaboration 

3 authorized in subparagraph (D). 

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

5 delivery of early education services to children 

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

8 ‘‘(i) appoint or designate an individual 

9 to serve as, or carry out the responsibilities 

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

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

13 Head Start Collaboration holds a position 

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

16 subparagraph (B) is effective and involves 

17 a range of State agencies; and 

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

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

22 the collaboration office. 

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

24 Collaboration shall— 


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

2 State receives a collaboration grant under 

3 subparagraph (B), conduct an assessment 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(I) addresses the needs of Head 

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

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

10 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

11 Framework, and with State early 

12 learning standards, as appropriate; 

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

15 ‘‘(III) shall be made available to 

16 the general public within the State; 

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

18 based on the assessment described in 

19 clause (i) that will— 

20 ‘‘(I) enhance collaboration and 

21 coordination of Head Start services 

22 with other entities providing early 

23 childhood programs and services (such 

24 as child care or services offered by 

25 museums), health care, mental health 


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1 care, welfare, child protective services, 

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

5 such programs offered by public and 

6 school libraries), services relating to 

7 children with disabilities, other early 

8 childhood programs and services for 

9 limited English proficient children and 

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

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

16 ‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies 

17 to develop a plan for the provision of 

18 full-working-day, full calendar year 

19 services for children enrolled in Head 

20 Start programs who need such care; 

21 ‘‘(III) assist Head Start agencies 

22 to align curricula and assessments 

23 with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

24 Framework and to the State early 


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1 learning standards, as appropriate; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(IV) enable Head Start agencies 

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

6 Head Start staff, such as by— 

7 ‘‘(aa) working with local 

8 Head Start agencies to meet the 

9 degree requirements described in 

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

11 providing distance learning op12 portunities for Head Start staff, 

13 where needed to make higher 

14 education more accessible to 

15 Head Start staff; and 

16 ‘‘(bb) enabling the State 

17 Head Start agencies to better 

18 conduct outreach to eligible fami19 lies; 

20 ‘‘(iii) promote partnerships between 

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

23 ensure that children, who are in Head 

24 Start programs, are receiving comprehenVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:50 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.IH H1429

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1 sive services to prepare the children to 

2 enter school ready to succeed; 

3 ‘‘(iv) consult with the chief State 

4 school officer, local educational agencies, 

5 and providers of early childhood education 

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

8 levels; 

9 ‘‘(v) promote partnerships between 

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

13 health treatment agencies to strengthen 

14 family and community environments and 

15 to reduce the impact on child development 

16 of substance abuse, child abuse, domestic 

17 violence, and other high risk behaviors that 

18 compromise healthy development; 

19 ‘‘(vi) promote partnerships between 

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

23 promote inclusion of more books in Head 

24 Start classrooms; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) identify other resources and or2 ganizations (both public and private) for 

3 the provision of in-kind services to Head 

4 Start agencies in the State; and 

5 ‘‘(viii) work with the State Early 

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

8 effective coordination and collaboration. 

9 ‘‘(6) EARLY HEAD START.— 

10 ‘‘(A) AMOUNTS RESERVED.—From 

11 amounts reserved and allotted pursuant to 

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

13 for grants for programs described in section 

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

15 such amounts that is not less than 12 percent 

16 for fiscal year 2008, not less than 14 percent 

17 for fiscal year 2009, not less than 16 percent 

18 for fiscal year 2010, not less than 18 percent 

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

22 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 

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

24 the Secretary determines that the 

25 amount appropriated under section 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 639(a) is not sufficient to permit the 

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

4 reducing the number of children 

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

7 Start services, relative to the number 

8 of children served and the quality of 

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

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

13 subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year 

14 for which the determination is made, 

15 but not below the percentage required 

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

18 ‘‘(ii) For any fiscal year for 

19 which the amount appropriated under 

20 section 639(a) is reduced to a level 

21 that requires a lower amount to be 

22 made available under this subchapter 

23 to Head Start agencies and entities 

24 described in section 645A, relative to 

25 the amount made available to such 


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1 agencies and entities for the preceding 

2 fiscal year, adjusted as described in 

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

4 shall proportionately reduce— 

5 ‘‘(I) the amounts made 

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

8 645A; and 

9 ‘‘(II) the amounts made 

10 available to such Head Start 

11 agencies for Head Start pro12 grams. 

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

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

15 Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

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

18 Republic of Palau.’’. 

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

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

21 as follows: 

22 ‘‘(f) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.— 

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

24 enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 

25 2007, the Secretary shall establish procedures to enVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:50 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.IH H1429

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1 able Head Start agencies to develop locally designed 

2 or specialized service delivery models to address local 

3 community needs, including models that leverage the 

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

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

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

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

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

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

15 is amended in paragraph (2)— 

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

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

18 (2) by amending subparagraphs (C) through 

19 (H) to read as follows: 

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

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

24 and families with Federal, State, or local funds (in25 cluding organizations and agencies providing family 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 support services, child abuse prevention services, 

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

4 the language customarily spoken), and individuals, 

5 organizations, and public entities serving children 

6 with disabilities or homeless children, including the 

7 local educational agency liaison designated under 

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

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

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

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

13 need to provide full working-day or full calendar 

14 year services and the extent to which, and manner 

15 in which, the applicant demonstrates the ability to 

16 collaborate and participate with the State and local 

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

19 services; 

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

21 community who are not participating in a Head 

22 Start program or any other early childhood program; 

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

24 each community; 


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•HR 1429 IH

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

2 to foster partnerships with other service providers in 

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

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

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

10 agency liaison designated under section 

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

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

13 with schools in which children participating in a 

14 Head Start program operated by such agency will 

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

17 local educational agency; and 

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

19 to pay administrative expenses and the amount of 

20 available funds received by such agency under this 

21 section to service each enrolled child.’’. 

22 (d) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PRO23 GRAMS.—Section 640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 9835(l)) is amended— 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 (1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol2 lows: 

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

4 shall continue the administrative arrangement at the na5 tional level for meeting the needs of Indian children and 

6 children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and shall 

7 ensure that appropriate funding is provided to meet such 

8 needs, including training and technical assistance and the 

9 appointment of a national migrant and seasonal Head 

10 Start collaboration director and a national Indian Head 

11 Start collaboration director.’’, and 

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

13 ‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Sec14 retary shall conduct an annual consultation in each af15 fected Head Start region, with tribal governments oper16 ating Head Start programs and Early Head Start pro17 grams. 

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

19 better meeting the needs of Indian children and children 

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

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

22 consideration funding allocations, distribution formulas, 

23 and other issues affecting the delivery of Head Start serv24 ices in their geographic locations. 


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•HR 1429 IH

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

2 consultations in the Federal Register before conducting 

3 the consultations. 

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

5 prepared and made available within 90 days of the annual 

6 consultation to all Indian tribes that receive assistance 

7 under this subchapter.’’. 

8 (e) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN; RULE

9 OF CONSTRUCTION; MATERIALS.—Section 640 of the 

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

11 at the end the following: 

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

13 Secretary shall issue rules to establish policies and proce14 dures to remove barriers to the enrollment and participa15 tion of homeless children in Head Start programs. Such 

16 rules shall require Head Start agencies— 

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

18 ensure that homeless children are identified and 

19 prioritized for enrollment; 

20 ‘‘(2) to allow homeless families to apply to, en21 roll in and attend Head Start programs while re22 quired documents, such as proof of residency, immu23 nization and other medical records, birth certificates 

24 and other documents, are obtained within a reason25 able time frame; and 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 ‘‘(3) coordinate individual Head Start programs 

2 with efforts to implement subtitle B of title VII of 

3 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 11431–11435). 

5 ‘‘(n) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub6 chapter shall be construed to require a State to establish 

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

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

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

10 screening before participating in such program, except as 

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

12 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

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

14 materials funded under this subchapter shall be based on 

15 scientifically based research, age and developmentally ap16 propriate, and focused on all areas of development (cog17 nitive, social, emotional, and physical), learning (language 

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

19 approaches to learning. Parents shall be permitted to in20 spect, upon request, any curricula or instructional mate21 rials used to carry out this subchapter.’’. 

22 SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 

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

24 is amended to read as follows: 


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•HR 1429 IH

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

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

3 authorized to designate as a Head Start agency any local 

4 public or private nonprofit agency, including community5 based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agency, 

6 within a community, pursuant to the requirements of this 

7 section, except that until such time that the Secretary de8 velops and implements the system of application review 

9 under this section, the Secretary is authorized to designate 

10 as a Head Start agency, any local public or private non11 profit agency, including community-based and faith-based 

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

13 in the manner and process utilized by the Secretary prior 

14 to the enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 

15 2007. 

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

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

18 manner as the Secretary may require. 

19 ‘‘(c) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION REVIEW SYS20 TEM.— 

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

22 a system that integrates the recommendations of the 

23 expert panel convened under paragraph (3) to deter24 mine if a Head Start agency is providing a quality 

25 comprehensive early learning program that meets 

26 the educational, health, and nutritional needs of the 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 children and families it serves, and meets program 

2 and financial management requirements and per3 formance standards described in section 641A(a)(1), 

4 based on— 

5 ‘‘(A) annual budget data; 

6 ‘‘(B) program reviews conducted under 

7 section 641A(c); 

8 ‘‘(C) annual audits required under section 

9 647; 

10 ‘‘(D) classroom quality as measured under 

11 section 640A(c)(2)(H); and 

12 ‘‘(E) Program Information Report. 

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

14 months after the enactment of the Improving Head 

15 Start Act of 2007, the Secretary shall convene an 

16 expert panel of 7 members to make recommenda17 tions to the Secretary on the development of a trans18 parent, reliable, and valid system for evaluating 

19 grant renewal applications. 

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

21 Secretary, in convening such panel, shall appoint the 

22 following: 

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

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1 ence, in each of at least one of the following 

2 areas: 

3 ‘‘(i) Early childhood program accredi4 tation or quality assessment. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Research on early childhood de6 velopment. 

7 ‘‘(iii) Governance and finance of non8 profit organizations. 

9 ‘‘(iv) Delivery of services to children 

10 and families with limited English pro11 ficiency. 

12 ‘‘(v) Delivery of services to children 

13 with disabilities. 

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

15 Start. 

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

17 agency. 

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

19 months of being convened by the Secretary, the ex20 pert panel shall issue a report to the Secretary that 

21 provides recommendations on a proposed system of 

22 grant review that takes into account the criteria in 

23 paragraph (1) to evaluate whether a Head Start 

24 grantee is meeting mission to provide a high quality 

25 comprehensive early education program, including 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 adequately meeting its governance and financial 

2 management requirements. 

3 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC COMMENT; REPORT TO CON4 GRESS.—No later than 6 months after receiving the 

5 report described in paragraph (4), the Secretary 

6 shall publish a proposed system for application eval7 uation in the Federal Register, providing at least 90 

8 days for public comment and shall provide a report 

9 to the Education and Labor Committee of the U.S. 

10 House of Representatives and the Health, Edu11 cation, Labor, and Pensions Committee of the U.S. 

12 Senate that provides a detailed description of such 

13 proposed system, including clear rationale for any 

14 differences between the proposed system and the 

15 recommendations of the expert panel, if any such 

16 differences exist. 

17 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION OF APPLICATION RE18 VIEW SYSTEM.—After the Secretary has reviewed all 

19 public comments and finalized the system of applica20 tion renewal, the Secretary will use this system to 

21 determine which grantees are successfully delivering 

22 a high quality comprehensive early education pro23 gram. Grantees who are determined under such sys24 tem to be— 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 ‘‘(A) successfully delivering a high quality 

2 comprehensive early education program shall 

3 have their application renewed for a period of 

4 5 years; 

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

6 an open competition as described in subpara7 graph (e); and 

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

9 Indian Head Start agency is determined to be 

10 underperforming, the Secretary shall engage in 

11 government-to-government consultation with the 

12 appropriate tribal government or governments 

13 for the purpose of establishing a performance 

14 enhancement plan for that agency. Such plan is 

15 to be developed and implemented within 6 

16 months of the Secretary’s determination. Not 

17 more than 6 months after implementation of 

18 that plan, the Secretary shall re-evaluate the 

19 performance of the Indian Head Start agency. 

20 If the Indian Head Start agency remains 

21 underperforming, the Secretary shall conduct 

22 an open competition as described in subpara23 graph (e), subject to the following limitations: 

24 ‘‘(i) Except as provided in paragraph 

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


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•HR 1429 IH

1 not receive a grant to carry out an Indian 

2 Head Start program. 

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

4 no Indian Head Start agency available for 

5 designation to carry out an Indian Head 

6 Start program, a non-Indian Head Start 

7 agency, on an interim basis, may receive a 

8 grant to carry out an Indian Head Start 

9 program, but only until such time as an 

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

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

14 evaluation is fair, consistent, and transparent and applied 

15 in a manner that awards 5 year grants in a timely manner 

16 to Head Start agencies providing a high quality com17 prehensive early education program. The Secretary shall 

18 periodically evaluate whether the criteria are being applied 

19 in a manner that is transparent, reliable, and valid. 

20 ‘‘(e) DESIGNATION WHEN NO ENTITY HAS PRI21 ORITY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If no entity in a commu23 nity is determined to be successfully delivering a 

24 high quality comprehensive early education program, 

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


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•HR 1429 IH

1 after conducting an open competition, designate for 

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

3 qualified applicants in such community. 

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

5 selecting from among qualified applicants for des6 ignation as a Head Start agency, the Secretary shall 

7 consider the effectiveness of each such applicant to 

8 provide Head Start services, based on— 

9 ‘‘(A) any past performance of such appli10 cant in providing services comparable to Head 

11 Start services, including how effectively such 

12 applicant provided such comparable services; 

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

14 comprehensive health (including mental and be15 havioral health), educational, nutritional, social, 

16 and other services needed to prepare children to 

17 succeed in school and in life; 

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

19 and retain qualified staff capable of delivering 

20 a high quality comprehensive early education 

21 program, including demonstrating the ability to 

22 provide adequate salary and benefits to main23 tain a high quality staff; 

24 ‘‘(D) the ability of such applicant to main25 tain child-teacher ratios and family service 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 worker caseloads that reflect best practices and 

2 are tied to high quality service delivery; 

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

4 serve eligible children with curriculum and 

5 teaching practices that are based on scientif6 ically based research, are developmentally ap7 propriate, and that promote the school readi8 ness of children participating in the program; 

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

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

11 particular attention to the standards set forth 

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

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

14 applicant to maintain strong fiscal controls and 

15 cost effective fiscal management; 

16 ‘‘(H) the plan of such applicant to coordi17 nate the Head Start program the applicant pro18 poses to carry out, with other local early learn19 ing programs for young children, including— 

20 ‘‘(i) programs implementing grants 

21 under the Early Reading First and Even 

22 Start programs under subparts 2 and 3 of 

23 part B of title I of the Elementary and 

24 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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


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•HR 1429 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) and programs under section 619 

2 and part C of the Individuals with Disabil3 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 

4 et seq.); 

5 ‘‘(iii) State prekindergarten programs; 

6 ‘‘(iv) child care programs; and 

7 ‘‘(v) the educational programs that 

8 the children participating in the Head 

9 Start program will enter at the age of com10 pulsory school attendance; 

11 ‘‘(I) the plan of such applicant to coordi12 nate the Head Start program that the applicant 

13 proposes to carry out, with public and private 

14 entities that are willing to commit resources to 

15 assist the Head Start program in meeting its 

16 program needs; 

17 ‘‘(J) the plan of such applicant— 

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

19 (including grandparents and kinship care20 givers, as appropriate) of children partici21 pating in the proposed Head Start pro22 gram, in activities (at home and, if prac23 ticable, at the location of the Head Start 

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1 come full partners in the education of their 

2 children; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to afford such parents the oppor4 tunity to participate in the development 

5 and overall conduct of the program at the 

6 local level; 

7 ‘‘(iii) to offer (directly or through re8 ferral to local entities, such as entities car9 rying out Even Start programs under sub10 chapter 3 of part B of title I of the Ele11 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), public and 

13 school libraries, and entities carrying out 

14 family support programs) to such par15 ents— 

16 ‘‘(I) family literacy services; and 

17 ‘‘(II) parenting skills training; 

18 ‘‘(iv) to offer to parents of partici19 pating children, mental health services (ei20 ther directly or through referral to local 

21 entities), including substance abuse coun22 seling and information on maternal depres23 sion and on the effect of drug-exposure on 

24 infants and fetal alcohol syndrome; 


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•HR 1429 IH

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

2 to offer (directly or through referral to 

3 local entities) to such parents— 

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

6 and emotional development); 

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

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

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

13 ‘‘(V) mental and behavioral 

14 health services; or 

15 ‘‘(VI) any other activity designed 

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

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

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

21 parents about the benefits of parent in22 volvement and about the activities de23 scribed in subparagraph (H) in which such 

24 parents may choose to become involved 

25 (taking into consideration their specific 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 family needs, work schedules, and other re2 sponsibilities); and 

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

4 appropriate cases, in order to strengthen 

5 the role of fathers in families, in the edu6 cation of their young children, and in the 

7 Head Start program, by working directly 

8 with fathers and father figures through ac9 tivities such as— 

10 ‘‘(I) in appropriate cases, includ11 ing fathers in home visits and pro12 viding culturally appropriate opportu13 nities for direct father-child inter14 actions; and 

15 ‘‘(II) targeting increased male 

16 participation in the conduct of the 

17 program; 

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

19 the needs of limited English proficient children 

20 and their families, including procedures to iden21 tify such children, plans to provide trained per22 sonnel, and plans to provide services to assist 

23 the children in making progress toward the ac24 quisition of the English language, while making 

25 meaningful progress in attaining the knowledge, 


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•HR 1429 IH

1 skills, abilities, and development described in 

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

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

4 the diverse cultural needs of the population 

5 served; 

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

7 the needs of children with disabilities; 

8 ‘‘(N) the plan of such applicant who choos9 es to assist younger siblings of children who will 

10 participate in the Head Start program to obtain 

11 health services from other sources; 

12 ‘‘(O) the plan of such applicant to collabo13 rate with other entities carrying out public or 

14 private early childhood education and child care 

15 programs in the community; 

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

17 needs of homeless children, including transpor18 tation needs, and children in foster care and 

19 children and families experiencing toxic stress; 

20 ‘‘(Q) the plan of such applicant to main21 tain a qualified staff, including a teaching staff 

22 qualified to implement research-based curricula 

23 aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes 

24 Framework developed by the Secretary and to 


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1 the early learning standards in State in which 

2 such program would operate; 

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

4 into memoranda of understanding with local 

5 educational agencies within the service area, as 

6 described in section 642B(a); and 

7 ‘‘(S) other factors related to the require8 ments of this subchapter. 

9 ‘‘(f) INTERIM PROVIDER.—If no agency in the com10 munity receives priority designation under subsection (c), 

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

12 Secretary shall designate a qualified agency to carry out 

13 the Head Start program in the community on an interim 

14 basis until a qualified applicant from the community is 

15 so designated. 

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

17 The Secretary shall require that the practice of signifi18 cantly involving parents and area residents affected by the 

19 program in the selection of Head Start agencies be contin20 ued. 

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

22 a community may be a city, county, or multicity or multi23 county unit within a State, an Indian reservation (includ24 ing Indians in any off-reservation area designated by an 

25 appropriate tribal government in consultation with the 


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1 Secretary) or a neighborhood or other area (irrespective 

2 of boundaries or political subdivisions) which provides a 

3 suitable organizational base and possesses the com4 monality of interest needed to operate a Head Start pro5 gram.’’. 

6 SEC. 7. QUALITY STANDARDS; MONITORING OF HEAD 

7 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

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

9 9836a) is amended to read as follows: 

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

11 START AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS. 

12 ‘‘(a) QUALITY STANDARDS.— 

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

14 Secretary shall modify, as necessary, program per15 formance standards by regulation applicable to Head 

16 Start agencies, programs, and projects under this 

17 subchapter, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) performance standards with respect 

19 to services required to be provided, including 

20 health, parental involvement, nutritional, social, 

21 transition activities described in section 642(d), 

22 and other services; 

23 ‘‘(B) scientifically based and develop24 mentally appropriate early learning standards 

25 related to school readiness that are based on 


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1 the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework to 

2 ensure that the children participating in the 

3 program, at a minimum develop and dem4 onstrate— 

5 ‘‘(i) language knowledge and skills, in6 cluding oral language and listening com7 prehension; 

8 ‘‘(ii) prereading knowledge and skills 

9 that prepare children for early literacy in 

10 schools including phonological awareness, 

11 print awareness and print skills, and al12 phabetic knowledge; 

13 ‘‘(iii) mathematics knowledge and 

14 skills, including aspects of classification, 

15 seriation, number, spatial relations, and 

16 time; 

17 ‘‘(iv) science knowledge and skills, in18 cluding measurement; 

19 ‘‘(v) cognitive abilities related to aca20 demic achievement and general knowledge; 

21 ‘‘(vi) social and emotional develop22 ment related to early learning, school suc23 cess, social problem-solving, and overall 

24 well-being; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) approaches to learning related 

2 to child development and early learning; 

3 ‘‘(viii) creative arts; and 

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

5 proficient children, progress toward acqui6 sition of the English language while mak7 ing meaningful progress in attaining the 

8 knowledge, skills, abilities, and develop9 ment described in clauses (i) through (viii); 

10 ‘‘(C) administrative and financial manage11 ment standards; 

12 ‘‘(D) standards relating to the condition 

13 and location of facilities for such agencies, pro14 grams, and projects; and 

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

16 finds to be appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS IN DEVELOPING STAND18 ARDS.—In developing the standards required under 

19 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

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

21 child development, early childhood education, 

22 child health care, family services (including lin23 guistically and culturally appropriate services to 

24 limited English proficient children and their 

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1 ment, and with persons with experience in the 

2 operation of Head Start programs; 

3 ‘‘(B) take into consideration— 

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

5 standards in effect under this subchapter 

6 on October 27, 1998; 

7 ‘‘(ii) changes over the period since Oc8 tober 27, 1998, in the circumstances and 

9 problems typically facing children and fam10 ilies served by Head Start agencies; 

11 ‘‘(iii) recommendations from the re12 port on Developmental Outcomes and As13 sessments for Young Children by the Na14 tional Academy of Sciences, when it be15 comes available; 

16 ‘‘(iv) developments concerning re17 search-based practices with respect to early 

18 childhood education and development, chil19 dren with disabilities, family services, pro20 gram administration, and financial man21 agement; 

22 ‘‘(v) projected needs of an expanding 

23 Head Start program; 

24 ‘‘(vi) guidelines and standards cur25 rently in effect or under consideration that 


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1 promote child health services and physical 

2 development, including outdoor activity 

3 that supports children’s motor development 

4 and overall health and nutrition; 

5 ‘‘(vii) changes in the population of 

6 children who are eligible to participate in 

7 Head Start programs, including the lan8 guage and cultural background and family 

9 structure of such children; 

10 ‘‘(viii) mechanisms to ensure that chil11 dren participating in Head Start programs 

12 make a successful transition to the schools 

13 that the children will be attending; and 

14 ‘‘(ix) the unique challenges faced by 

15 individual programs, including those that 

16 are seasonal or short term, and those that 

17 serve rural populations; and 

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

19 performance standards in effect under this sub20 section; and 

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

22 performance standards will not result in the 

23 elimination of or any reduction in quality, scope 

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1 quired to be provided under such standards as 

2 in effect on October 27, 1998. 

3 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS

4 TO DELEGATE AGENCIES.—In developing standards 

5 under this subsection, the Secretary shall describe 

6 the obligations of a Head Start agency to a delegate 

7 agency to which the Head Start agency has dele8 gated responsibility for providing services under this 

9 subchapter and determine whether the Head Start 

10 agency complies with the standards. The Secretary 

11 shall consider such compliance during the review de12 scribed in subsection (c)(1)(A) and in determining 

13 whether to renew financial assistance to the Head 

14 Start agency under this subchapter. 

15 ‘‘(b) MEASURES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta17 tion with representatives of Head Start agencies and 

18 with experts in the fields of early childhood edu19 cation and development, shall use the study on De20 velopmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young 

21 Children by the National Academy of Sciences to 

22 provide guidance to Head Start agencies for utilizing 

23 scientifically-based measures that support, as appro24 priate— 

25 ‘‘(A) classroom instructional practices; 


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

2 ‘‘(C) program evaluation. 

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

4 measures under this subsection shall 

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

6 culturally appropriate for the population served; 

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

8 years, based on advances in the science of early 

9 childhood development; 

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

11 recognized professional and technical standards 

12 related to the assessment of young children; 

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

14 Spanish, and any other language, as appro15 priate); 

16 ‘‘(E) be administered by staff with appro17 priate training for such administration; 

18 ‘‘(F) provide appropriate accommodations 

19 for children with disabilities and children who 

20 are limited English proficient; and 

21 ‘‘(G) be high-quality research-based meas22 ures that have been demonstrated to assist with 

23 the purposes for which they were devised. 

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

25 USE.— 


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

2 purpose of— 

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

4 and competencies of children participating 

5 in Head Start programs specified in sub6 section (a)(1)(B)(ii), with an emphasis on 

7 measuring skills that scientifically-based 

8 research has demonstrated are related to 

9 children’s school readiness and later suc10 cess in school; 

11 ‘‘(ii) improving classroom practices, 

12 including reviewing children’s strengths 

13 and weaknesses; 

14 ‘‘(iii) identifying special needs; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) improving overall program per16 formance in order to help programs iden17 tify problem areas that may require addi18 tional training and technical assistance re19 sources. 

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

21 exclude children from Head Start programs. 

22 ‘‘(4) SUSPENDED IMPLEMENTATION OF NA23 TIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) suspend implementation and termi2 nate further development and use of the Na3 tional Reporting System; and 

4 ‘‘(B) incorporate, as appropriate, rec5 ommendations from the study on Develop6 mental Outcomes and Assessments for Young 

7 Children by the National Academy of Sciences 

8 into any assessment used in the Head Start 

9 programs, in accordance with paragraphs (2) 

10 and (3). 

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

12 items and data on any assessment authorized under 

13 this subchapter by an agent or agents of the Federal 

14 Government to provide rewards or sanctions for indi15 vidual children or teachers is prohibited. The Sec16 retary shall not use the results of a single assess17 ment as the sole or primary method for assessing 

18 program effectiveness or making grantee funding de19 terminations at the national, regional, or local level. 

20 ‘‘(c) MONITORING OF LOCAL AGENCIES AND PRO21 GRAMS.— 

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

23 Head Start agencies meet standards established 

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1 quirements and in order to help programs identify 

2 areas for improvement and areas of strengths as 

3 part of an on-going self-assessment process, the Sec4 retary shall develop and use a risk-based assessment 

5 system to conduct the following reviews of Head 

6 Start agencies, and of the Head Start programs op7 erated by such agencies: 

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

9 least once during each 3-year period. 

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

11 Head Start agency immediately after the com12 pletion of the first year such agency carries out 

13 a Head Start program. 

14 ‘‘(C) Followup reviews, including unan15 nounced reviews as appropriate, of programs 

16 with 1 or more findings of deficiencies not later 

17 than 12 months after the date of such finding. 

18 ‘‘(D) other reviews, including unannounced 

19 site inspections of Head Start centers, as ap20 propriate. 

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

22 shall ensure that reviews described in subparagraphs 

23 (A) through (C) of paragraph (1)— 

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


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1 ‘‘(i) include individuals who are 

2 knowledgeable about Head Start programs 

3 and, to the maximum extent practicable, 

4 the diverse (including linguistic and cul5 tural) needs of eligible children (including 

6 children with disabilities) and limited7 English proficient children and their fami8 lies; and 

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

10 practicable, current or former employees of 

11 the Department of Health and Human 

12 Services who are knowledgeable about 

13 Head Start programs; 

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

15 programs, a review and assessment of program 

16 strengths and areas in need of improvement; 

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

18 programs, a review and assessment of whether 

19 programs have adequately addressed the popu20 lation and community needs (including popu21 lations of children with limited English pro22 ficiency and children of migrant and seasonal 

23 farm-working families); 

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1 munity needs and strategic plan identified in 

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

3 ‘‘(E) include as part of the review the im4 plementation by qualified individuals with dem5 onstrated reliability, of a valid and reliable re6 search-based observational instrument that as7 sesses classroom quality, including multiple di8 mensions of teacher-child interactions that are 

9 linked to positive child development and later 

10 achievement; 

11 ‘‘(F) are conducted in a manner that eval12 uates program performance, quality, and overall 

13 operations with consistency and objectivity, and 

14 based on a transparent and reliable system of 

15 review; 

16 ‘‘(G) in the case of Early Head Start pro17 grams, are conducted by a review team that in18 cludes individuals who are knowledgeable about 

19 the development of infants and toddlers; and 

20 ‘‘(H) include as part of the review a pro21 tocol for fiscal management that shall be used 

22 to assess the compliance with program require23 ments for— 

24 ‘‘(i) using federal funds appropriately; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) using federal funds specifically to 

2 purchase property and to compensate per3 sonnel; 

4 ‘‘(iii) securing and using qualified fis5 cal officer support; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) reporting financial information 

7 and implementing appropriate internal 

8 controls to safeguard federal funds. 

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

10 of the review shall, at a minimum— 

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

12 transparent, and uniform manner that conveys 

13 information of program strengths and weak14 nesses and assists with program improvement; 

15 and 

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

17 to inform the development and implementation 

18 of their plan for training and technical assist19 ance. 

20 ‘‘(d) EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS FOR

21 DELEGATE AGENCIES.— 

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

23 shall establish procedures relating to its delegate 

24 agencies, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) procedures for evaluating delegate 

2 agencies; 

3 ‘‘(B) procedures for defunding delegate 

4 agencies; and 

5 ‘‘(C) procedures for appealing a defunding 

6 decision relating to a delegate agency. 

7 ‘‘(2) EVALUATIONS.—Each Head Start agen8 cy— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall evaluate its delegate agencies 

10 using the procedures established under this sec11 tion; and 

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

13 the deficiencies identified through the evalua14 tion that are required to be corrected. 

15 ‘‘(3) REMEDIES TO ENSURE CORRECTIVE AC16 TIONS.—If the Head Start agency identifies a defi17 ciency of a delegate agency through the evaluation, 

18 the Head Start agency may— 

19 ‘‘(A) initiate procedures to terminate the 

20 designation of the delegate agency unless such 

21 agency corrects the deficiency; and 

22 ‘‘(B) conduct monthly monitoring visits to 

23 such delegate agency until all deficiencies are 

24 corrected or the Head Start agency decides to 

25 defund such delegate agency. 


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

2 this subsection shall be construed to modify, super3 sede, or affect the powers, duties, or functions of the 

4 Secretary with respect to Head Start agencies or 

5 delegate agencies that receive financial assistance 

6 under this subchapter. 

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

8 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—If the Secretary deter9 mines, on the basis of a review pursuant to sub10 section (c), that a Head Start agency designated 

11 pursuant to section 641 fails to meet the standards 

12 described in subsection (a) or fails to adequately ad13 dress the community needs and strategic plan identi14 fied in section 640(g)(2)(C), the Secretary shall— 

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

16 that shall be corrected; 

17 ‘‘(B) with respect to each identified defi18 ciency, require the agency— 

19 ‘‘(i) to correct the deficiency imme20 diately, if the Secretary finds that the defi21 ciency threatens the health or safety of 

22 staff or program participants or poses a 

23 threat to the integrity of Federal funds; 

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

25 than 90 days after the identification of the 


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1 deficiency if the Secretary finds, in the dis2 cretion of the Secretary, that such a 90- 

3 day period is reasonable, in light of the na4 ture and magnitude of the deficiency; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) in the discretion of the Sec6 retary (taking into consideration the seri7 ousness of the deficiency and the time rea8 sonably required to correct the deficiency), 

9 to comply with the requirements of para10 graph (2) concerning a quality improve11 ment plan; and 

12 ‘‘(C) initiate proceedings to terminate the 

13 designation of the agency unless the agency cor14 rects the deficiency. 

15 ‘‘(2) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN.— 

16 ‘‘(A) AGENCY AND PROGRAM RESPONSIBIL17 ITIES.—To retain a designation as a Head 

18 Start agency under this subchapter, or in the 

19 case of a Head Start program to continue to re20 ceive funds from such agency, a Head Start 

21 agency, or Head Start program that is the sub22 ject of a determination described in paragraph 

23 (1) (excluding an agency or program required 

24 to correct a deficiency immediately or during a 


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1 90-day period under clause (i) or (ii) of para2 graph (1)(B)) shall— 

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

4 quality improvement plan that shall be 

5 subject to the approval of the secretary, or 

6 in the case of a program, the sponsoring 

7 agency, and which shall specify— 

8 ‘‘(I) the deficiencies to be cor9 rected; 

10 ‘‘(II) the actions to be taken to 

11 correct such deficiencies; and 

12 ‘‘(III) the timetable for accom13 plishment of the corrective actions 

14 specified; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) eliminate each deficiency identi16 fied, not later than the date for elimination 

17 of such deficiency specified in such plan 

18 (which shall not be later than 10 months 

19 after the date the agency or program ob20 tains approval of its quality improvement 

21 plan). 

22 ‘‘(B) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Not 

23 later than 30 days after receiving from a Head 

24 Start agency a proposed quality improvement 

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1 retary shall either approve such proposed plan 

2 or specify the reasons why the proposed plan 

3 cannot be approved. 

4 ‘‘(C) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRO5 GRAM IMPROVEMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

6 after receiving from a Head Start program, a 

7 proposed quality improvement plan pursuant to 

8 subparagraph (A), the Head Start agency shall 

9 either approve such proposed plan or specify 

10 the reasons why the proposed plan cannot be 

11 approved. 

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

13 The Secretary shall provide training and technical 

14 assistance to Head Start agencies and programs 

15 with respect to the development or implementation 

16 of such quality improvement plans to the extent the 

17 Secretary finds such provision to be feasible and ap18 propriate given available funding and other statutory 

19 responsibilities. 

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

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

22 Secretary shall publish a summary report on the findings 

23 of reviews conducted under subsection (c) and on the out24 comes of quality improvement plans implemented under 

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


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1 be made available to all parents with children receiving 

2 assistance under this subchapter in an understandable and 

3 uniform format, and to the extent practicable, provided 

4 in a language that the parents can understand, and in ad5 dition, make the information widely available through pub6 lic means such as distribution through public agencies, 

7 and at a minimum posting such information on the Inter8 net immediately upon publication. Such reports shall con9 tain detailed data on compliance with specific performance 

10 standards and measures sufficient to allow individual 

11 Head Start agencies to use such data to improve the qual12 ity of their program. 

13 ‘‘(g) SELF-ASSESSMENTS.— 

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

15 once each program year, with the consultation and 

16 participation of policy councils, and as applicable, 

17 policy committees, and as appropriate, other commu18 nity members, each Head Start agency and each del19 egate agency that receives financial assistance under 

20 this subchapter shall conduct a comprehensive self21 assessment of its effectiveness and progress in meet22 ing program goals and objectives (including profes23 sional development plans) and in implementing and 

24 complying with Head Start program performance 

25 standards. 


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

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

3 self-assessment shall report the findings of the 

4 self-assessment to the relevant policy council, 

5 policy committee, governing body, and Sec6 retary. Each self-assessment shall identify areas 

7 of strength and weakness. 

8 ‘‘(B) IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—The agency 

9 shall develop and report to the Secretary an im10 provement plan approved by the governing body 

11 of the agency to strengthen any areas identified 

12 in the self-assessment as weaknesses or in need 

13 of improvement. 

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

15 agency, delegate Head Start agency, and entity that 

16 carries out an Early Head Start program a shall es17 tablish and implement procedures for the ongoing 

18 monitoring of their respective programs, to ensure 

19 that the operations of the programs work toward 

20 meeting program goals and objectives and Head 

21 Start performance standards. 

22 ‘‘(h) ENROLLMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) Head Start agencies shall report on a reg24 ular basis to the Secretary— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the actual enrollment in such pro2 gram; and 

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

4 the funded enrollment, any apparent reason for 

5 such enrollment shortfall. 

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

7 basis which Head Start agencies are operating with 

8 an actual enrollment that is less than the funded en9 rollment and shall provide appropriate and timely 

10 training and technical assistance to increase actual 

11 enrollment, as appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(3) In this subsection: 

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

14 with respect to a Head Start program, the ac15 tual number of children enrolled in such pro16 gram in a given month. 

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

18 respect to Head Start agency for a fiscal year, 

19 that portion of the grant derived from— 

20 ‘‘(i) amounts reserved for use in ac21 cordance with section 640(a)(2)(A), for a 

22 Head Start agency administering an In23 dian Head Start program or migrant and 

24 seasonal Head Start program; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) amounts reserved for payments 

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

3 ‘‘(iii) amounts available under section 

4 640(a)(2)(D) or allotted among States 

5 under section 640(a)(4). 

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

7 with respect to the program of a Head Start 

8 agency in a fiscal year, the number of children 

9 that the agency is funded to serve through a 

10 grant for the program during such fiscal year, 

11 as indicated in the grant award. 

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

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

14 reducing a base grant, except when such action is the re15 sult of an open competition 641(d)) or termination 646(d) 

16 shall be redistributed in such fiscal year as follows: 

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

18 Head Start program, then such funds shall be redis19 tributed to increase enrollment in such fiscal year in 

20 1 or more Indian Head Start programs. 

21 ‘‘(2) If such funds are derived from the oper22 ation of a migrant and seasonal Head Start pro23 gram, then such funds shall be redistributed to in24 crease enrollment in such fiscal year in 1 or more 

25 migrant and seasonal Head Start programs. 


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1 ‘‘(3) If such funds are derived from the oper2 ation of a Head Start program in a State (excluding 

3 Indian Head Start program and migrant and sea4 sonal Head Start programs), then such funds shall 

5 be redistributed to increase enrollment in such fiscal 

6 year in 1 or more Head Start programs (excluding 

7 Indian Head Start programs and migrant and sea8 sonal Head Start programs) that are carried out in 

9 such State, except that— 

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

11 shall be prioritized to increase the program par12 ticipation of children and families served under 

13 Early Head Start; and 

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

15 shall be prioritized to increase program partici16 pation of underserved populations of eligible 

17 children.’’. 

18 SEC. 8. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN19 CIES. 

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

21 9837) is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 642. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HEAD START AGEN23 CIES. 

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

25 Head Start agency under this subchapter, an agency must 


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1 have authority under its charter or applicable law to re2 ceive and administer funds under this subchapter, funds 

3 and contributions from private or local public sources 

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

5 and funds under any Federal or State assistance program 

6 pursuant to which a public or private nonprofit or for7 profit agency (as the case may be) organized in accordance 

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

9 sponsor of projects appropriate for inclusion in a Head 

10 Start program. Such an agency must also be empowered 

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

12 other agencies, subject to the powers of its governing 

13 board and its overall program responsibilities. The power 

14 to transfer funds and delegate powers must include the 

15 power to make transfers and delegations covering compo16 nent projects in all cases where this will contribute to effi17 ciency and effectiveness or otherwise further program ob18 jectives. 

19 ‘‘(b) FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT; FAM20 ILY SERVICES.—To be so designated, a Head Start agency 

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

22 serve families and communities: 

23 ‘‘(1) Establish effective procedures by which 

24 parents and area residents concerned will be enabled 


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1 to directly participate in decisions that influence the 

2 character of programs affecting their interests. 

3 ‘‘(2) Seek the involvement of parents, area resi4 dents, and local business in the design and imple5 mentation of the program. 

6 ‘‘(3) Establish effective procedures to facilitate 

7 and seek the involvement of parents of participating 

8 children in activities designed to help such parents 

9 become full partners in the education of their chil10 dren, and to afford such parents the opportunity to 

11 participate in the development and overall conduct of 

12 the program at the local level, including a process 

13 through which parents of children currently partici14 pating in a Head Start program or an Early Head 

15 Start program select the parent representatives to 

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

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

18 entities, such as entities carrying out Even Start 

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

20 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 2741 et seq.)), to parents of partici22 pating children, family literacy services and par23 enting skills training. 

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

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1 ferral to local entities), including substance abuse 

2 counseling, and including information on maternal 

3 depression and on drug-exposed infants and fetal al4 cohol syndrome. 

5 ‘‘(6) At the option of such agency, offer (di6 rectly or through referral to local entities) to such 

7 parents— 

8 ‘‘(A) training in basic child development 

9 (including cognitive, social, and emotional devel10 opment); 

11 ‘‘(B) assistance in developing literacy and 

12 communication skills; 

13 ‘‘(C) opportunities to share experiences 

14 with other parents (including parent-mentor re15 lationships); 

16 ‘‘(D) mental and behavioral health serv17 ices; 

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

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

20 such parents become full partners in the edu21 cation of their children. 

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

23 family, a family needs assessment that includes con24 sultation with such parents about the benefits of 

25 parent involvement and about the activities described 


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1 in paragraphs (5) through (8) in which such parents 

2 may choose to be involved (taking into consideration 

3 their specific family needs, work schedules, and 

4 other responsibilities). 

5 ‘‘(8) Consider providing services to assist 

6 younger siblings of children participating in its Head 

7 Start program to obtain health services from other 

8 sources. 

9 ‘‘(9) Perform community outreach to encourage 

10 individuals previously unaffiliated with Head Start 

11 programs to participate in its Head Start program 

12 as volunteers. 

13 ‘‘(10)(A) Inform custodial parents in single-par14 ent families that participate in programs, activities, 

15 or services carried out or provided under this sub16 chapter about the availability of child support serv17 ices for purposes of establishing paternity and ac18 quiring child support; and 

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

20 offices of State and local governments. 

21 ‘‘(11) Provide parents of limited English pro22 ficient children outreach and services under this sub23 chapter, in an understandable and uniform format 

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

25 such parents can understand. 


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1 ‘‘(12) Provide technical and other support need2 ed to enable parents and area residents to secure on 

3 their own behalf available assistance from public and 

4 private sources. 

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

6 parents (including grandparents and kinship care7 givers, as appropriate) of children that participate in 

8 Head Start programs in the education of their chil9 dren upon transition to school, the Head Start agen10 cy shall work with the local educational agency— 

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

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

13 rights and responsibilities concerning the 

14 education of their children; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) to enable the parents— 

16 ‘‘(I) to understand and work with 

17 schools in order to communicate with 

18 teachers and other school personnel; 

19 ‘‘(II) to support the schoolwork 

20 of their children; and 

21 ‘‘(III) to participate as appro22 priate in decisions relating to the edu23 cation of their children; and 

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

25 and feasible, to support the active involvement 


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1 of the parents with schools, school personnel, 

2 and school-related organizations. 

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

4 having a disability information about services avail5 able under part C or section 619 of the Individuals 

6 With Disabilities Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.) 

7 and refer such child to the appropriate agency for an 

8 evaluation of eligibility under such Act. 

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

10 must establish and maintain a formal structure of shared 

11 governance through which an independent governing body 

12 with legal and fiscal responsibility for administering and 

13 overseeing programs under this subchapter and a parent 

14 policy council and parent policy committee, as appropriate, 

15 shall ensure that such agency operates a high quality 

16 Head Start program in compliance with all applicable 

17 Federal, State, and local laws. 

18 ‘‘(1) GOVERNING BODY.— 

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

20 shall be composed as follows: 

21 ‘‘(i) Not less than 1 member with sig22 nificant financial management or account23 ing experience. 


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

2 have a background and expertise in early 

3 childhood development. 

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

5 a licensed attorney familiar with issues 

6 that come before the governing body. 

7 ‘‘(iv) Additional members shall be se8 lected for their expertise in education, 

9 business administration, and community 

10 affairs and shall reflect the community 

11 served. 

12 ‘‘(v) Exceptions shall be made when 

13 members of the governing body oversee a 

14 public entity and are selected by public 

15 election or are political appointments. 

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

17 of the governing body shall— 

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

19 with the Head Start agency or delegate 

20 agencies, exceptions shall be made when a 

21 board member of a public entity is selected 

22 by election or politically appointed; 

23 ‘‘(ii) not receive compensation for the 

24 purposes of serving on the governing body 

25 or for providing services to the Head Start 


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1 agency, exceptions shall be made when a 

2 board member of a public entity is selected 

3 by election or politically appointed; 

4 ‘‘(iii) not be employed nor shall mem5 bers of their immediate family be employed 

6 by the Head Start agency or one of its del7 egate agencies, exceptions shall be made 

8 when a board member of a public entity is 

9 selected by election or politically appointed; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(iv) operate as an entity independent 

12 of staff employed by the Head Start agen13 cy entity or applicant, exceptions shall be 

14 made when a board member of a public en15 tity is selected by election or politically ap16 pointed. 

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

18 persons described in subparagraph (A) are not 

19 available to serve as members, the governing 

20 body shall make use of consultants in the areas 

21 described in subparagraph (A) to work directly 

22 with the governing body. 

23 ‘‘(D) TRAINING.—All members of the gov24 erning body shall receive training in manageVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:50 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.IH H1429

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1 ment responsibilities and obligations, ethics, 

2 and financial literacy management. 

3 ‘‘(E) RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNING

4 BODY.—The governing body shall be responsible 

5 for— 

6 ‘‘(i) adoption of practices that assure 

7 active, independent and informed govern8 ance of the Head Start agency; 

9 ‘‘(ii) oversight to ensure that the 

10 Head Start agency under the direction of 

11 the executive director is delivering high 

12 quality services to children and families in 

13 compliance with all applicable standards in 

14 effect under this subchapter and with the 

15 applicable performance measures estab16 lished by the Secretary under section 644; 

17 ‘‘(iii) establish an audit and finance 

18 committee whose primary responsibility 

19 shall be— 

20 ‘‘(I) to approve annually the op21 erating budget of the Head Start 

22 agency; 

23 ‘‘(II) to review and recommend 

24 to the governing body the selection of 

25 independent auditors who shall report 


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1 all critical accounting policies and 

2 practices to the finance and audit 

3 committee, except when the auditor is 

4 assigned by the State under State 

5 law; 

6 ‘‘(III) to review and recommend 

7 to the governing body the termination 

8 or extension of the existing audit firm 

9 at least once every 5 years; 

10 ‘‘(IV) to review and advise the 

11 governing body of the audit manage12 ment letter provided pursuant to the 

13 chapter 75 of title 31, United States 

14 Code, and of any audit findings; and 

15 ‘‘(V) to monitor agency actions to 

16 correct any such audit findings or 

17 other actions necessary to comply with 

18 applicable laws (including regulations) 

19 governing financial statements and ac20 counting practices; 

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

22 agency, including the mission of the agency 

23 and policies addressing accounting, finan24 cial management, procurement, record con25 fidentiality, and personnel (including speVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:50 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00085 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.IH H1429

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1 cific standards governing salaries, salary 

2 adjustments, travel and per diem allow3 ances, and other employee benefits); 

4 ‘‘(v) approve all major financial ex5 penditures of the agency; 

6 ‘‘(vi) approve the selection or dis7 missal of the Head Start Director or the 

8 equivalent position within the Head Start 

9 agency; 

10 ‘‘(vii) approve or disapprove all poli11 cies, applications, and decisions of the Pol12 icy Council made under the authority of 

13 paragraph (2); 

14 ‘‘(viii) to oversee the program plan15 ning of the Head Start agency, including 

16 adoption of policies for setting long- and 

17 short-range goals and objectives; 

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

19 applications to receive funds made avail20 able under this subchapter; and 

21 ‘‘(x) to establish, adopt and periodi22 cally update written standards of conduct 

23 that establish standards and formal proce24 dures for disclosing, addressing, and re25 solving— 


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

2 any appearance of a conflict of inter3 est, by members of the governing 

4 body, officers, employees, consultants 

5 and agents who provide services or 

6 furnish goods to the Head Start agen7 cy; and 

8 ‘‘(II) complaints, including inves9 tigations, when appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(2) POLICY COUNCIL.— 

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

12 or Policy Committee, as appropriate, shall be 

13 composed as follows: 

14 ‘‘(i) Members of the Policy Council 

15 shall be either parents of children currently 

16 enrolled in the Head Start agency’s (or 

17 delegate’s) Head Start or Early Head 

18 Start program or that are parents of chil19 dren who were enrolled in the program in 

20 the previous year (Parent Members) or 

21 shall be members of the community served 

22 by the Head Start agency or delegate 

23 (Community Members). 

24 ‘‘(ii) Parent members of the Policy 

25 Council shall constitute a majority of the 


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1 members of the Policy Council and shall be 

2 elected by parents of currently enrolled 

3 children. 

4 ‘‘(iii) Parent members shall represent, 

5 proportionately, all program options and 

6 settings operated by the Head Start agen7 cy or delegate. 

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

9 member shall be no more than 2 years and 

10 no Policy Council member shall serve 

11 longer than 6 years. 

12 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES OF POLICY COUN13 CIL.—In order to be designated as a Head 

14 Start agency, an entity or delegate of such an 

15 entity shall have a Policy Council which shall 

16 approve and submit to the governing body deci17 sions about the following activities: 

18 ‘‘(i) The strategic direction of the pro19 gram, including long and short-term plan20 ning goals and objectives (such planning 

21 and goals shall take into account the an22 nual community assessment and self-as23 sessment). 

24 ‘‘(ii) Selection of delegate agencies 

25 and their service areas. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Recruitment, selection and en2 rollment priorities. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Funding applications and 

4 amendments to funding applications for 

5 Head Start or Early Head Start prior to 

6 submission of such applications. 

7 ‘‘(v) Budget planning for program ex8 penditures. 

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

10 Policy Council including procedures by 

11 which Policy Council members are chosen. 

12 ‘‘(vii) Program personnel policies, in13 cluding standards of conduct for program 

14 staff, contractors and volunteers. 

15 ‘‘(viii) Decisions regarding employ16 ment of Head Start staff other than the 

17 director and executive director. 

18 ‘‘(ix) Activities to support the active 

19 involvement of parents in supporting pro20 gram operations. 

21 ‘‘(x) Program responsiveness to com22 munity and parent needs. 

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

24 technical assistance shall be provided to the 

25 members of the Policy Council to ensure that 


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1 the members understand the information the 

2 members receive and effectively oversee and 

3 participate in the programs of the Head Start 

4 agency or delegate. 

5 ‘‘(3) IMPASSE POLICY.—The Secretary shall de6 velop policies and procedures describing how Head 

7 Start agencies will implement shared decision-mak8 ing, including a process for resolving any impasse 

9 between the Governing Body and the Policy Council. 

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

11 so designated, a Head Start agency must collaborate and 

12 coordinate with public and private entities to improve the 

13 available services to Head Start children and families, in14 cluding the following activities: 

15 ‘‘(1) Conduct outreach to schools in which chil16 dren participating in Head Start programs enroll, 

17 local educational agencies, the local business commu18 nity, community-based organizations, faith-based or19 ganizations, museums, and libraries to generate sup20 port and leverage the resources of the entire local 

21 community in order to improve school readiness. 

22 ‘‘(2) In communities where both public pre23 kindergarten programs and Head Start programs 

24 operate, a Head Start agency shall collaborate and 

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1 cy or other public agency responsible for the oper2 ation of the prekindergarten program and providers 

3 of prekindergarten, including outreach activities to 

4 identify eligible children, as possible. 

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

6 permission of the parents of children enrolled in 

7 Head Start programs, regularly communicate with 

8 the elementary schools such children will be attend9 ing— 

10 ‘‘(A) to share information about such chil11 dren; and 

12 ‘‘(B) to ensure a smooth transition to ele13 mentary school for such children. 

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

15 as appropriate, with providers of social and commu16 nity services available to children and families par17 ticipating in Head Start programs, and may support 

18 such partnerships with financial agreements, when 

19 applicable, for the provision of such services. 

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

21 coordinate activities with the local educational agen22 cy serving the community involved and with schools 

23 in which children participating in a Head Start pro24 gram operated by such agency will enroll following 

25 such program, including— 


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

2 transportation and facilities; 

3 ‘‘(B) collaborating to enhance the effi4 ciency of services while increasing the program 

5 participation of underserved populations of eli6 gible children; and 

7 ‘‘(C) exchanging information on the provi8 sion of noneducational services to such children. 

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

10 Secretary of Education, shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) evaluate the effectiveness of the 

12 projects and activities funded under section 

13 642A; 

14 ‘‘(B) disseminate to Head Start agencies 

15 information (including information from the 

16 evaluation required by subparagraph (A)) on ef17 fective policies and activities relating to the 

18 transition of children from Head Start pro19 grams to public schools; and 

20 ‘‘(C) provide technical assistance to such 

21 agencies to promote and assist such agencies to 

22 adopt and implement such effective policies and 

23 activities. 


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1 ‘‘(e) QUALITY STANDARDS, CURRICULA AND ASSESS2 MENT.—To be so designated, each Head Start agency 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) take steps to ensure, to the maximum ex5 tent possible, that children maintain the develop6 mental and educational gains achieved in Head Start 

7 programs and build upon such gains in further 

8 schooling; 

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

10 forth in section 641A(a)(1), with particular atten11 tion to the standards set forth in subparagraphs (A) 

12 and (B) of such section; 

13 ‘‘(3) implement a research-based early child14 hood curriculum that promotes young children’s 

15 school readiness in the areas of language and cog16 nitive development, early reading and 

17 premathematics skills, socio-emotional development, 

18 physical development, and approaches to learning. 

19 Such curricula shall be— 

20 ‘‘(A) based on scientifically based research 

21 and have standardized training procedures and 

22 curriculum materials to support implementa23 tion; 

24 ‘‘(B) comprehensive, linked to ongoing as25 sessment, with developmental and learning 


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1 goals and measurable objectives; and focused on 

2 improving the learning environment, teaching 

3 practices, family involvement, and child out4 comes across all areas of development; and 

5 ‘‘(C) aligned to the Head Start Child Out6 comes Framework developed by the Secretary 

7 and to State early learning standards, as appro8 priate; 

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

10 methods that are developmentally appropriate, cul11 turally and linguistically responsive, and tied to chil12 dren’s daily activities in order to support the edu13 cational instruction of children in the program, in14 cluding language skills, prereading knowledge and 

15 premathematics knowledge. Assessment instruments 

16 shall be those designed and validated for making de17 cisions about teaching and learning and aligned with 

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

19 ‘‘(5) use high-quality research-based develop20 mental screening tools that have been demonstrated 

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

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

23 and cultural backgrounds, for the purpose of meet24 ing the relevant performance standards; 


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

2 development and with classroom teachers, an assess3 ment to be used when hiring or evaluating any class4 room teacher in a center-based Head Start program. 

5 Such assessment shall measure whether such teacher 

6 has mastered the functions described in section 

7 648A(a)(1) and attained a level of literacy appro8 priate to implement Head Start curricula; 

9 ‘‘(7) use the information provided from the as10 sessment conducted under section 640A(C)(2)(H) to 

11 adopt a professional development plan that leads to 

12 improved teacher effectiveness; and 

13 ‘‘(8) establish measurable objectives for the pro14 vision of health, educational, nutritional, and social 

15 services related to the program mission and to 

16 school readiness and provided under this subchapter. 

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 K11 12 EDUCATION. 

12 Section 642A of the 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) developing and implementing a family out25 reach and support program in cooperation with entiVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:50 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.IH H1429

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1 ties carrying out parental involvement efforts under 

2 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

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

4 outreach and support efforts under subtitle B of title 

5 VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 11431–11435); 

7 ‘‘(7) assisting families, administrators, and 

8 teachers in enhancing educational and developmental 

9 continuity and continuity in parental involvement ac10 tivities between Head Start services and elementary 

11 school classes; 

12 ‘‘(8) linking the services provided in such Head 

13 Start program with the education services, including 

14 services relating to language, literacy, and 

15 numeracy, provided by such local educational agen16 cy; 

17 ‘‘(9) helping parents (including grandparents 

18 and kinship caregivers, as appropriate) to under19 stand the importance of parental involvement in a 

20 child’s academic success while teaching them strate21 gies for maintaining parental involvement as their 

22 child moves from Head Start to elementary school; 

23 ‘‘(10) developing and implementing a system to 

24 increase program participation of underserved popu25 lations of eligible children; and 


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1 ‘‘(11) coordinating activities and collaborating 

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

4 ‘‘(A) the Head Start Child Outcomes 

5 Framework as developed by the Secretary; and 

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

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

11 SEC. 10. LOCAL AND STATE INTEGRATION OF EARLY 

12 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 

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

14 by inserting after section 642A the following: 

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

16 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 

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

18 agencies shall enter into ongoing partnerships with local 

19 educational agencies and with State-funded preschool and 

20 other early childhood programs. 

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

22 Head Start agency shall enter into a memorandum 

23 of understanding with any local educational agencies 

24 or local councils, responsible for managing publicly 

25 funded prekindergarten programs in the service area 


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

2 such councils are not applicable in the service area, 

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

5 plans to coordinate the following activities: 

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

7 instruction. 

8 ‘‘(B) Public information dissemination and 

9 access to programs for families contacting any 

10 of the early childhood programs. 

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

13 ‘‘(D) Service delivery areas. 

14 ‘‘(E) Staff training, including opportunities 

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

17 and social and emotional development. 

18 ‘‘(F) Program technical assistance. 

19 ‘‘(G) Provision of additional services to 

20 meet the needs of working parents. 

21 ‘‘(H) Planning and parent education for 

22 smooth transitions to kindergarten as required 

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

24 ‘‘(I) Provision and use of facilities, trans25 portation, and other program elements. 


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

2 the parties to such memorandum. 

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

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

6 year after the effective date of this section. 

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

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

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

13 comply with the requirement in paragraph (1) 

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

16 State not later than 30 days after determining 

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

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

23 With the assistance of the State Early Learning 

24 Council and the State Director of Head Start 

25 Collaboration, all parties shall again attempt to 


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1 enter into a memorandum of understanding 

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

4 Secretary shall make 1 of the following deter5 minations: 

6 ‘‘(i) The local educational agency, 

7 local council, or other appropriate entity is 

8 unable or unwilling to enter into such a 

9 memorandum despite reasonable efforts on 

10 the part of the Head Start agency. 

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

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

15 paragraph (1). 

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

17 funded prekindergarten in the service area 

18 of the Head Start agency. 

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

20 Start agency is not making reasonable efforts 

21 to enter into a memorandum of understanding 

22 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Head Start 

23 agency shall be found to be noncompliant with 

24 program performance standards. 


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

2 local educational agency, local council, or other 

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

6 found out of compliance with paragraph (1). 

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

10 in alignment with the beginning of the school year. 

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

12 absence of publicly funded prekindergarten in the 

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

14 agency shall submit notice to the Secretary and the 

15 chief executive officer of the State and shall work 

16 with the State Early Learning Council and the State 

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

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

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

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

23 an early learning collaboration grant to each State for the 

24 purposes of supporting a State Early Learning Council re25 sponsible for advancing the development of a coordinated 


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1 early childhood services delivery system in the State. A 

2 State that receives a grant under this subparagraph 

3 shall— 

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

5 which shall include— 

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

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

10 ‘‘(C) representatives of local educational 

11 agencies; 

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

13 care programs; 

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

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

17 seq.); 

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

19 State educational agency; 

20 ‘‘(G) representatives from Head Start 

21 agencies located in the State, including migrant 

22 and seasonal Head Start programs and Indian 

23 Head Start programs; 

24 ‘‘(H) representatives of local child care 

25 programs or organizations; and 


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

2 responsible for health and mental health care; 

3 except that the chief executive officer of the State 

4 may designate an existing entity to serve as the 

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

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

8 State for a fiscal year to carry out this subsection 

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

10 percent of the cost of carrying out this subsection; 

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

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

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

17 special education, and other early childhood 

18 programs, including in the areas of outcomes 

19 and standards, technical assistance, coordina20 tion of services, cross-sector professional devel21 opment and training, community outreach, com22 munication, and better serving the needs of 

23 working families through provision of full-day 

24 and full-year early education services; 


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1 ‘‘(B) to work with State agencies respon2 sible for education, child care, and early inter3 vention to provide leadership and assistance to 

4 local Head Start programs, local education 

5 agencies, and State and locally funded pre6 school and child care programs to increase inte7 gration among early childhood programs 

8 through adoption of local memoranda of under9 standing described in subparagraph (A) and 

10 other means; 

11 ‘‘(C) to work with State agencies respon12 sible for education, child care, and early inter13 vention to provide leadership and assistance to 

14 develop developmentally appropriate standards 

15 for children birth through the early elementary 

16 grades to effect a smooth transition to and suc17 cess in the early elementary grades; 

18 ‘‘(D) to develop or conduct periodic State19 wide needs assessments concerning early care 

20 and education programs for children from birth 

21 to school entry; 

22 ‘‘(E) to work to identify and address bar23 riers to and opportunities for integration be24 tween entities carrying out Federal and State 


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1 child development, child care, and early child2 hood education programs; 

3 ‘‘(F) to develop recommendations regard4 ing means of establishing a unified data collec5 tion system for early care and education pro6 grams operating throughout the State; 

7 ‘‘(G) to address coordination of early 

8 learning programs with health care (including 

9 mental and behavioral health care), welfare, 

10 family literacy and services for homeless chil11 dren; 

12 ‘‘(H) to support a State system of early 

13 childhood education, and training and technical 

14 assistance that improves the quality of early 

15 learning programs and the capacity of such pro16 grams to deliver services pursuant to section 

17 648(b); 

18 ‘‘(I) to develop a plan for increasing the 

19 participation of children underrepresented in 

20 State early childhood education and child care 

21 programs, including Head Start, State pre22 school programs, and programs carried out 

23 under the Child Care and Development Block 

24 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 


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1 ‘‘(J) developing a Statewide professional 

2 development and career ladder plan for early 

3 care and education in the State; and 

4 ‘‘(K) assisting 2- and 4-year public and 

5 private institutions of higher education to de6 velop articulation agreements concerning de7 grees in early childhood and related fields. 

8 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be con9 strued to provide the Early Learning Council with 

10 authority to modify, supersede, or affect the oper11 ation of this subchapter. 

12 ‘‘(5) Funds made available under this section 

13 shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other 

14 Federal, State, and local funds that would otherwise 

15 be expended to carry out the purposes of this sec16 tion.’’. 

17 SEC. 11. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND STAND18 ARDS. 

19 Section 644 of the of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 9839) is amended— 

21 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

24 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS.—Each Head Start agency 

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1 ment, and administration which will ensure, so far 

2 as reasonably possible, that all program activities 

3 are conducted in a manner consistent with the pur4 poses of this subchapter and the objective of pro5 viding assistance effectively, efficiently, and free of 

6 any taint of partisan political bias or personal or 

7 family favoritism. Each such agency shall establish 

8 or adopt rules to carry out this section, which shall 

9 include rules to assure full staff accountability in 

10 matters governed by law, regulations, or agency pol11 icy. Each agency shall also provide for reasonable 

12 public access to information, including public hear13 ings at the request of appropriate community groups 

14 and reasonable public access to books and records of 

15 the agency or other agencies engaged in program ac16 tivities or operations involving the use of authority 

17 or funds for which it is responsible. 

18 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each Head Start 

19 agency shall make available to the public a report 

20 published at least once in each fiscal year that dis21 closes the following information from the then most 

22 recently concluded fiscal year, except that reporting 

23 such information shall not reveal personally identifi24 able information about an individual child or parent: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The total amount of public and pri2 vate funds received and the amount from each 

3 source. 

4 ‘‘(B) An explanation of budgetary expendi5 tures and proposed budget for the following fis6 cal year. 

7 ‘‘(C) The total number of children and 

8 families served and percent of average monthly 

9 enrollment, including the percent of eligible 

10 children served. 

11 ‘‘(D) The results of the most recent review 

12 by the Secretary and the financial audit. 

13 ‘‘(E) The percentage of enrolled children 

14 that received medical and dental exams. 

15 ‘‘(F) Information about parent involvement 

16 activities. 

17 ‘‘(G) The agency’s efforts to prepare chil18 dren for kindergarten. 

19 ‘‘(H) Any other information required by 

20 the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(3) PROCEDURAL CONDUCT.—Each such 

22 agency shall adopt for itself and other agencies 

23 using funds or exercising authority for which it is 

24 responsible, rules designed to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) establish specific standards governing 

2 salaries, salary increases, travel and per diem 

3 allowances, and other employee benefits; 

4 ‘‘(B) assure that only persons capable of 

5 discharging their duties with competence and 

6 integrity are employed and that employees are 

7 promoted or advanced under impartial proce8 dures calculated to improve agency performance 

9 and effectiveness; 

10 ‘‘(C) guard against personal or financial 

11 conflicts of interest; and 

12 ‘‘(D) define employee duties in an appro13 priate manner which will in any case preclude 

14 employees from participating, in connection 

15 with the performance of their duties, in any 

16 form of picketing, protest, or other direct action 

17 which is in violation of law.’’, and 

18 (2) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(f) FACILITIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall establish uniform pro22 cedures for Head Start agencies to request approval 

23 to purchase facilities, or to request approval of the 

24 purchase (after December 31, 1986) of facilities, to 

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1 retary shall suspend any proceedings pending 

2 against any Head Start agency to claim costs in3 curred in purchasing such facilities until the agency 

4 has been afforded an opportunity to apply for ap5 proval of the purchase and the Secretary has deter6 mined whether the purchase will be approved. The 

7 Secretary shall not be required to repay claims pre8 viously satisfied by Head Start agencies for costs in9 curred in the purchase of such facilities. 

10 ‘‘(2) Financial assistance provided under this 

11 subchapter may not be used by a Head Start agency 

12 to purchase a facility (including paying the cost of 

13 amortizing the principal and paying interest on 

14 loans) to be used to carry out a Head Start program 

15 unless the Secretary approves a request that is sub16 mitted by such agency and contains— 

17 ‘‘(A) a description of the consultation con18 ducted by the Head Start agency with the pro19 viders in the community demonstrating capacity 

20 and capability to provide services under this 

21 subchapter, and of the potential for collabora22 tion with such providers and the cost effective23 ness of such collaboration as opposed to the 

24 cost effectiveness of the purchase of a facility; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a description of the site of the facility 

2 proposed to be purchased or that was previously 

3 purchased; 

4 ‘‘(C) the plans and specifications of such 

5 facility; 

6 ‘‘(D) information demonstrating that— 

7 ‘‘(i) the proposed purchase will result, 

8 or the previous purchase has resulted, in 

9 savings when compared to the costs that 

10 would be incurred to acquire the use of an 

11 alternative facility to carry out such pro12 gram; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the lack of alternative facilities 

14 will prevent, or would have prevented, the 

15 operation of such program; 

16 ‘‘(E) in the case of a request regarding a 

17 previously purchased facility, information dem18 onstrating that the facility will be used prin19 cipally as a Head Start center, or a direct sup20 port facility for a Head Start program; and 

21 ‘‘(F) such other information and assur22 ances as the Secretary may require. 

23 ‘‘(3) Upon a determination by the Secretary 

24 that suitable facilities are not otherwise available to 

25 Indian tribes to carry out Head Start programs, and 


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1 that the lack of suitable facilities will inhibit the op2 eration of such programs, the Secretary may author3 ize the use of financial assistance, from the amount 

4 reserved under section 640(a)(2)(A), to make pay5 ments for the purchase of facilities owned by such 

6 tribes. The amount of such a payment for such a fa7 cility shall not exceed the fair market value of the 

8 facility.’’. 

9 SEC. 12. PARTICIPATION IN HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

10 Section 645 of the of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 9840) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) by amending paragraph (1)(B)(i) to 

14 read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(i) programs assisted under this sub16 chapter may include, to a reasonable ex17 tent, participation of children in the area 

18 served who would benefit from such pro19 grams, including children referred by child 

20 welfare services, but whose families do not 

21 meet the low-income criteria prescribed 

22 pursuant to subparagraph (A) (A homeless 

23 child shall be deemed to meet the low-in24 come criteria.); and’’, and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) The amount of a basic allowance provided under 

2 section 403 of title 37, United States Code, on behalf of 

3 an individual who is a member of the uniformed services 

4 for housing that is acquired or constructed under the au5 thority of subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United 

6 States Code, or any other related provision of law, shall 

7 not be considered to be income for purposes of deter8 mining the eligibility of a child of the individual for pro9 grams assisted under this subchapter. 

10 ‘‘(4)(A) Upon written request and pursuant to the 

11 requirements of this paragraph, a Head Start agency may 

12 use funds under section 640(a) to serve infants and tod13 dlers if the agency submits an application to the Secretary 

14 containing the following information, as specified in rules 

15 issued by the Secretary— 

16 ‘‘(i) the amount of funds under section 

17 640(a) that are proposed to be used in accord18 ance with section 645A(b); 

19 ‘‘(ii) a community-wide needs assessment 

20 demonstrating how the use of such funds would 

21 best meet the needs of the community; 

22 ‘‘(iii) a description of how the needs of 

23 pregnant women, and of infants and toddlers, 

24 will be addressed in accordance with section 

25 645A(b), and with regulations prescribed by the 


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1 Secretary pursuant to section 641A in areas in2 cluding the agency’s approach to child develop3 ment and provision of health services, approach 

4 to family and community partnerships, and ap5 proach to program design and management; 

6 ‘‘(iv) a description of how the needs of eli7 gible Head Start children will be met in the 

8 community; 

9 ‘‘(v) assurances that the agency will par10 ticipate in technical assistance activities (includ11 ing a planning period, start-up site visits, and 

12 national training activities) in the same manner 

13 as recipients of grants under section 645A; and 

14 ‘‘(vi) evidence that the agency meets the 

15 same eligibility criteria as recipients of grants 

16 under section 645A. 

17 ‘‘(B) An application that satisfies the require18 ments specified in subparagraph (A) shall be ap19 proved by the Secretary unless the Secretary finds 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(i) the agency lacks adequate capacity 

22 and capability to carry out an effective Early 

23 Head Start program; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) the information provided under sub25 paragraph (A) is inadequate. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Any Head Start agency approved under 

2 subparagraph (B) shall be considered to be an Early 

3 Head Start agency and such funds under (i) shall be 

4 subject to the same rules, regulations, and condi5 tions as apply to recipients of grants under section 

6 645A.’’, 

7 (2) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘(age 3 to 

8 compulsory school attendance)’’, and 

9 (3) in subsection (d) by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 

12 an Indian tribe that operates both a Head Start program 

13 and an Early Head Start program under section 645A 

14 may, at its discretion, at any time during the grant period 

15 involved, reallocate funds between the Head Start pro16 gram and the Early Head Start program in order to ad17 dress fluctuations in client population, including pregnant 

18 women and children birth to compulsory school age. The 

19 reallocation of such funds between programs by an Indian 

20 tribe shall not serve as the basis for the Secretary to re21 duce a base grant (as defined in section 641A(g)(1)) for 

22 either program in succeeding years.’’. 

23 SEC. 13. EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

24 Section 645A 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. 

10 ‘‘(b) SCOPE AND DESIGN OF PROGRAMS.—In car11 rying out a program described in subsection (a), an entity 

12 receiving assistance under this section shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) provide, either directly or through referral, 

14 early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child 

15 development and family support services that will 

16 enhance the physical, social, emotional, and intellec17 tual development of participating children; 

18 ‘‘(2) ensure that the level of services provided 

19 to families responds to their needs and cir20 cumstances; 

21 ‘‘(3) promote positive parent-child interactions; 

22 ‘‘(4) provide services to parents to support their 

23 role as parents (including parenting skills training 

24 and training in basic child development) and to help 

25 the families move toward self-sufficiency (including 


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1 educational and employment services as appro2 priate); 

3 ‘‘(5) coordinate services with services provided 

4 by programs in the State (including home-based 

5 services) and programs in the community (including 

6 programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities 

7 and programs for homeless infants and toddlers) to 

8 ensure a comprehensive array of services (such as 

9 health and mental health services and family support 

10 services); 

11 ‘‘(6) ensure formal linkages with local Head 

12 Start programs in order to provide for continuity of 

13 services for children and families; 

14 ‘‘(7) in the case of a Head Start agency that 

15 operates a program and that also provides Head 

16 Start services through the age of mandatory school 

17 attendance, ensure that children and families partici18 pating in the program receive such services through 

19 such age; 

20 ‘‘(8) ensure formal linkages with the agencies 

21 and entities described in section 644(b) of the Indi22 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

23 1444(b)) and providers of early intervention services 

24 for infants and toddlers with disabilities under the 

25 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 


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1 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) and the agency responsible for 

2 administering section 106 of the Child Abuse Pre3 vention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a); 

4 ‘‘(9) develop and implement a systematic proce5 dure for transitioning children and parents from an 

6 Early Head Start program under this section into a 

7 Head Start program or other local early childhood 

8 education program; 

9 ‘‘(10) establish channels of communication be10 tween staff of Early Head Start programs under 

11 this section and staff of Head Start programs or 

12 other local early childhood education programs, to 

13 facilitate the coordination of programs; and 

14 ‘‘(11) meet such other requirements concerning 

15 design and operation of the program described in 

16 subsection (a) as the Secretary may establish. 

17 ‘‘(c) PERSONS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE.—Persons 

18 who may participate in programs described in subsection 

19 (a) include— 

20 ‘‘(1) pregnant women; and 

21 ‘‘(2) families with children under age 3; 

22 who meet the income criteria specified for families in sec23 tion 645(a)(1). 

24 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE SERVICE PROVIDERS.—To be eligible 

25 to receive assistance under this section, an entity shall 


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1 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

2 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec3 retary may require. Entities that may apply to carry out 

4 activities under this section include— 

5 ‘‘(1) entities operating Head Start programs 

6 under this subpart; 

7 ‘‘(2) Indian Head Start programs; and 

8 ‘‘(3) other public entities, and nonprofit or for9 profit private entities, including community-based 

10 and faith-based organizations, capable of providing 

11 child and family services that meet the standards for 

12 participation in programs under this subchapter and 

13 meet such other appropriate requirements relating to 

14 the activities under this section as the Secretary may 

15 establish. 

16 ‘‘(e) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—From the 

17 portion specified in section 640(a)(6), the Secretary shall 

18 award grants under this subsection on a competitive basis 

19 to applicants meeting the criteria specified in subsection 

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

21 early, continuous, and comprehensive childhood develop22 ment and family services). 

23 ‘‘(f) DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding grants to eligible 

24 applicants under this section, the Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ensure an equitable national geographic 

2 distribution of the grants; and 

3 ‘‘(2) award grants to applicants proposing to 

4 serve communities in rural areas and to applicants 

5 proposing to serve communities in urban areas. 

6 ‘‘(g) MONITORING, TRAINING, TECHNICAL ASSIST7 ANCE, AND EVALUATION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—To ensure the successful 

9 operation of programs assisted under this section, 

10 the Secretary shall use funds from the portion speci11 fied in section 640(a)(6) to monitor the operation of 

12 such programs, evaluate their effectiveness, and pro13 vide training and technical assistance tailored to the 

14 particular needs of such programs. 

15 ‘‘(2) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

16 ACCOUNT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made 

18 available to carry out this section for any fiscal 

19 year, not less than 5 percent and not more than 

20 10 percent shall be reserved to fund a training 

21 and technical assistance account. 

22 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES.—Funds in the account 

23 may be used by the Secretary for purposes in24 cluding— 


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1 ‘‘(i) making grants to, and entering 

2 into contracts with, organizations with spe3 cialized expertise relating to infants, tod4 dlers, and families and the capacity needed 

5 to provide direction and support to a na6 tional training and technical assistance 

7 system, in order to provide such direction 

8 and support; 

9 ‘‘(ii) providing ongoing training and 

10 technical assistance for regional and pro11 gram staff charged with monitoring and 

12 overseeing the administration of the pro13 gram carried out under this section; 

14 ‘‘(iii) providing ongoing training and 

15 technical assistance for existing recipients 

16 (as of the date of such training or assist17 ance) of grants under subsection (a) and 

18 support and program planning and imple19 mentation assistance for new recipients of 

20 such grants; 

21 ‘‘(iv) providing professional develop22 ment and personnel enhancement activi23 ties, including the provision of funds to re24 cipients of grants under subsection (a) for 

25 the recruitment and retention of qualified 


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1 staff with an appropriate level of education 

2 and experience; and 

3 ‘‘(v) providing professional develop4 ment designed to increase program partici5 pation for underserved populations of eligi6 ble children. 

7 ‘‘(h) CENTER-BASED STAFF.—The Secretary shall 

8 ensure that, not later than September 30, 2009, all teach9 ers providing direct services to children and families par10 ticipating in early Head Start programs located in early 

11 Head Start centers have a minimum of a child develop12 ment associate credential, and have been trained (or have 

13 equivalent course work) in early childhood development’’. 

14 SEC. 14. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR HEALTH 

15 CARE SERVICES. 

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

17 by inserting after section 645A the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 645B. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR 

19 HEALTH CARE SERVICES. 

20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) The term ‘health care service’ includes— 

22 ‘‘(A) any nonemergency intrusive physical 

23 examination; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any screening, including but not lim2 ited to, a medical, dental, developmental, men3 tal health, social, or behavioral screening. 

4 ‘‘(2) The term ‘nonemergency intrusive physical 

5 examination’ means, with respect to a child, a phys6 ical examination that— 

7 ‘‘(A) is not immediately necessary to pro8 tect the health or safety of such child, or the 

9 health or safety of another individual; and 

10 ‘‘(B) includes incision or is otherwise 

11 invasive, or includes exposure of private body 

12 parts. 

13 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.—Before administering any 

14 health care service to a child (or referring a child to obtain 

15 such service) in connection with participation in a program 

16 under this subchapter, a Head Start agency and an entity 

17 that receives assistance under section 645A shall obtain 

18 the written consent of a parent of such child indicating 

19 consent for each specific health care service to be per20 formed. 

21 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed 

23 to prohibit a Head Start agency or an entity that re24 ceives assistance under section 645A from using es25 tablished methods for handling cases of suspected or 


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1 known child abuse and neglect, that are in compli2 ance with applicable Federal, State, or tribal law. 

3 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this subchapter shall be con4 strued to permit a Head Start agency, an entity that 

5 receives assistance under section 645A, or the per6 sonnel of such agency or entity to administer any 

7 health care service to a child (or to refer a child to 

8 obtain such service) without the informed written 

9 consent of a parent of such child indicating consent 

10 for each specific health care service to be performed. 

11 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed 

12 to require a Head Start agency or an entity that re13 ceives assistance under section 645A to provide sep14 arate consent forms for each specific health care 

15 service.’’. 

16 SEC. 15. APPEALS, NOTICE, AND HEARING. 

17 Section 646(a)(3) of the of the Head Start Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 9841(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(3) if financial assistance under this sub20 chapter is terminated or reduced, an application for 

21 a noncompeting continuation award is denied based 

22 on a previous failure to comply with terms applicable 

23 to financial assistance previously provided under this 

24 subchapter, or suspension of financial assistance is 

25 continued for more than 30 days, the recipient with 


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1 respect to whom such action is taken shall have the 

2 opportunity to appeal such action in accordance with 

3 such procedures, except that no funds made avail4 able under this subchapter may be used to reimburse 

5 any such recipient for legal fees and other costs in6 curred in pursuing such an appeal.’’. 

7 SEC. 16. RECORDS AND AUDITS. 

8 Section 647 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9842) 

9 by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(d) Each recipient of financial assistance under this 

11 subchapter shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) maintain, and annually submit to the Sec13 retary, a complete accounting of its administrative 

14 expenses (including a detailed statement identifying 

15 the amount of financial assistance provided under 

16 this subchapter used to pay expenses for salaries 

17 and compensation and the amount (if any) of other 

18 funds used to pay such expenses); 

19 ‘‘(2) within 30 days after the completion of an 

20 audit conducted in the manner and to the extent 

21 provided in chapter 75 of title 31, United States 

22 Code (commonly known as the ‘Single Audit Act 

23 Amendments of 1996’), submit to the Secretary a 

24 copy of the audit management letter and of any 


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1 audit findings as it relates to the Head Start pro2 gram; and 

3 ‘‘(3) provide such additional documentation as 

4 the Secretary may require.’’. 

5 SEC. 17. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

6 Section 648 of the of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 9843) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 648. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

9 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall provide, directly or through 

10 grants or other arrangements— 

11 ‘‘(1) technical assistance to communities in de12 veloping, conducting, and administering programs 

13 under this subchapter; and 

14 ‘‘(2) training for specialized or other personnel 

15 needed in connection with Head Start programs, in 

16 accordance with the process, and the provisions for 

17 allocating resources, set forth in subsections (b) and 

18 (c). 

19 ‘‘(b) The process for determining the technical assist20 ance and training activities to be carried out under this 

21 section shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) ensure that the needs of local Head Start 

23 agencies and programs relating to improving pro24 gram quality and to program expansion are ad25 dressed to the maximum extent feasible; 


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1 ‘‘(2) incorporate mechanisms to ensure respon2 siveness to local needs, including an ongoing proce3 dure for obtaining input from the individuals and 

4 agencies carrying out Head Start programs; and 

5 ‘‘(3) ensure the provision of technical assistance 

6 to assist Head Start agencies, entities carrying out 

7 other child care and early childhood programs, com8 munities, and States in collaborative efforts to pro9 vide quality full-working-day, full calendar year serv10 ices, including technical assistance related to identi11 fying and assisting in resolving barriers to collabora12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(c) In allocating resources for technical assistance 

14 and training under this section, the Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) give priority consideration to— 

16 ‘‘(A) activities to correct program and 

17 management deficiencies identified through re18 views carried out pursuant to section 641A(c) 

19 (including the provision of assistance to local 

20 programs in the development of quality im21 provement plans under section 641A(d)(2)); 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) assisting Head Start agencies in— 

24 ‘‘(i) ensuring the school readiness of 

25 children; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) meeting the educational perform2 ance measures described in section 

3 641A(b)(4); 

4 ‘‘(2) supplement amounts provided under sec5 tion 640(a)(3)(C)(ii) in order to address the training 

6 and career development needs of classroom staff (in7 cluding instruction for providing services to children 

8 with disabilities), and nonclassroom staff, including 

9 home visitors and other staff working directly with 

10 families, including training relating to increasing 

11 parent involvement and services designed to increase 

12 family literacy and improve parenting skills; 

13 ‘‘(3) assist Head Start agencies in the develop14 ment of collaborative initiatives with States and 

15 other entities within the States, to foster effective 

16 early childhood professional development systems; 

17 ‘‘(4) provide technical assistance and training, 

18 either directly or through a grant, contract, or coop19 erative agreement with an entity that has experience 

20 in the development and operation of successful fam21 ily literacy services programs, for the purpose of— 

22 ‘‘(A) assisting Head Start agencies pro23 viding family literacy services, in order to im24 prove the quality of such family literacy serv25 ices; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) enabling those Head Start agencies 

2 that demonstrate effective provision of family 

3 literacy services, based on improved outcomes 

4 for children and their parents, to provide tech5 nical assistance and training to other Head 

6 Start agencies and to service providers that 

7 work in collaboration with such agencies to pro8 vide family literacy services; 

9 ‘‘(5) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

10 in conducting and participating in community-wide 

11 strategic planning and needs assessment, including 

12 the needs of homeless children and their families; 

13 ‘‘(6) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

14 in developing and implementing full-working-day and 

15 full-calendar-year programs where community need 

16 is clearly identified and making the transition to 

17 such programs, with particular attention to involving 

18 parents and programming for children throughout 

19 the day, and assist the agencies and programs in ex20 pediting the sharing of information about innovative 

21 models for providing full-working-day, full calendar 

22 year services for children; 

23 ‘‘(7) assist Head Start agencies in better serv24 ing the needs of families with very young children; 


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1 ‘‘(8) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

2 in the development of sound management practices, 

3 including financial management procedures; 

4 ‘‘(9) assist in efforts to secure and maintain 

5 adequate facilities for Head Start programs; 

6 ‘‘(10) assist Head Start agencies in developing 

7 innovative program models, including mobile and 

8 home-based programs; 

9 ‘‘(11) provide support for Head Start agencies 

10 (including policy councils and policy committees) 

11 that meet the standards described in section 

12 641A(a) but that have, as documented by the Sec13 retary through reviews conducted pursuant to sec14 tion 641A(c), significant programmatic, quality, and 

15 fiscal issues to address; 

16 ‘‘(12) assist Head Start agencies and programs 

17 in increasing program participation of homeless chil18 dren; 

19 ‘‘(13) assist Head Start agencies and Head 

20 Start programs in improving outreach to, and the 

21 quality of services available to, limited English pro22 ficient children and their families, particularly in 

23 communities that have experienced a large percent24 age increase in the population of limited English 


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1 proficient individuals, as measured by the Bureau of 

2 the Census; and 

3 ‘‘(14) assist Head Start agencies in developing 

4 appropriate methods and approaches for identifying 

5 and working with children and families experiencing 

6 toxic stress. 

7 ‘‘(d) The Secretary may provide, either directly or 

8 through grants to public or private nonprofit entities, 

9 training for Head Start personnel in the use of the per10 forming and visual arts and interactive programs using 

11 electronic media to enhance the learning experience of 

12 Head Start children. Special consideration shall be given 

13 to entities that have demonstrated effectiveness in edu14 cational programming for preschool children that includes 

15 components for parental involvement, care provider train16 ing, and developmentally appropriate related activities. 

17 ‘‘(e) The Secretary shall provide, either directly or 

18 through grants or other arrangements, funds from pro19 grams authorized under this subchapter to support an or20 ganization to administer a centralized child development 

21 and national assessment program leading to recognized 

22 credentials for personnel working in early childhood devel23 opment and child care programs, training for personnel 

24 providing services to limited English proficient children 

25 (including services to promote the acquisition of the 


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1 English language), training for personnel providing serv2 ices to children determined to be abused or neglected, 

3 training for personnel providing services to children re4 ferred by or receiving child welfare services, training for 

5 personnel in helping children cope with community vio6 lence, and resource access projects for personnel working 

7 with disabled children. 

8 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall provide, either directly or 

9 through grants, or other arrangements, funds for training 

10 of Head Start personnel in addressing the unique needs 

11 of migrant and seasonal working families, families with 

12 1 or more children with disabilities, families with a limited 

13 English proficiency, homeless families, and children and 

14 families experiencing toxic stress. 

15 ‘‘(g) More than 50 percent of funds expended under 

16 this section shall be used to provide high quality, sus17 tained, intensive, and classroom-focused training and tech18 nical assistance in order to have a positive and lasting im19 pact on classroom instruction. Funds shall be used to 

20 carry out activities related to any or all of the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) Education and early childhood develop22 ment. 

23 ‘‘(2) Child health, nutrition, and safety. 

24 ‘‘(3) Family and community partnerships and 

25 services. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Other areas that impact the quality or 

2 overall effectiveness of Head Start programs. 

3 ‘‘(h) The Secretary shall develop and implement a 

4 program of outreach to recruit and train minority men 

5 to become Head Start teachers in order to reflect the com6 munities in which Head Start children live and to increase 

7 the provision of quality services and instruction to children 

8 with diverse backgrounds. 

9 ‘‘(i) Funds under this subchapter used for training 

10 shall be used for needs identified annually by a grant ap11 plicant or delegate agency in their program improvement 

12 plan, except that funds shall not be used for long-distance 

13 travel expenses for training activities available locally or 

14 regionally or for training activities substantially similar to 

15 locally or regionally available training activities. 

16 ‘‘(j) Funds made available under section 

17 640(a)(2)(C)(i) shall be used by a Head Start agency for 

18 any of the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) Activities that ensure that Head Start pro20 grams meet or exceed the program performance 

21 standards described in section 641A(a)(1). 

22 ‘‘(2) Activities that ensure that Head Start pro23 grams have adequate numbers of trained, qualified 

24 staff who have skills in working with children and 


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1 families, including children and families who are lim2 ited English proficient and children with disabilities. 

3 ‘‘(3) Activities to pay expenses, including direct 

4 training for expert consultants working with any 

5 staff, to improve the management and implementa6 tion of Head Start services and systems. 

7 ‘‘(4) Activities that help ensure that Head Start 

8 programs have qualified staff who can promote lan9 guage skills and literacy growth of children and who 

10 can provide children with a variety of skills that 

11 have been identified as predictive of later reading 

12 achievement, school success, and the skills, knowl13 edge, abilities, development, and progress described 

14 in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii). 

15 ‘‘(5) Activities to improve staff qualifications 

16 and to assist with the implementation of career de17 velopment programs and to encourage the staff to 

18 continually improve their skills and expertise, includ19 ing developing partnerships with programs that re20 cruit, train, place, and support college students in 

21 Head Start centers to deliver an innovative early 

22 learning program to preschool children. 

23 ‘‘(6) Activities that help local programs ensure 

24 that the arrangement, condition, and implementation 

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1 grams are conducive to providing effective program 

2 services to children and families. 

3 ‘‘(7) Activities to provide training necessary to 

4 improve the qualifications of Head Start staff and to 

5 support staff training, child counseling, health serv6 ices, and other services necessary to address the 

7 needs of children enrolled in Head Start programs, 

8 including children from families in crises, children 

9 who experience chronic violence or homelessness, 

10 children who experience substance abuse in their 

11 families, and children under 3 years of age, where 

12 applicable. 

13 ‘‘(8) Activities to provide classes or in-service14 type programs to improve or enhance parenting 

15 skills, job skills, adult and family literacy, including 

16 financial literacy, or training to become a classroom 

17 aide or bus driver in a Head Start program. 

18 ‘‘(9) Additional activities deemed appropriate to 

19 the improvement of Head Start agencies’ programs, 

20 as determined by the agencies’ technical assistance 

21 and training plans. 

22 ‘‘(10) Any other activities regarding the use of 

23 funds as determined by the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(k) The Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) work in collaboration with the Head Start 

2 agencies that carry out Indian Head Start pro3 grams, the Indian Head Start collaboration director, 

4 and other appropriate entities, including tribal gov5 ernments and the National Indian Head Start Di6 rectors Association— 

7 ‘‘(A) to undertake a study or set of studies 

8 designed to focus on the American Indian and 

9 Alaska Native Head Start-eligible population, 

10 with a focus on issues such as curriculum devel11 opment, availability and need for services, ap12 propriate research methodologies and measures 

13 for these populations, and best practices for 

14 teaching and educating American Indian and 

15 Alaska Native Head Start Children; 

16 ‘‘(B) to accurately determine the number 

17 of children nationwide who are eligible to par18 ticipate in Indian Head Start programs each 

19 year; 

20 ‘‘(C) to document how many of these chil21 dren are receiving Head Start services each 

22 year; 

23 ‘‘(D) to the extent practicable, to ensure 

24 that access to Indian Head Start programs for 

25 eligible children is comparable to access to other 


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1 Head Start programs for other eligible children; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(E) to make the funding decisions re4 quired in section 640(a)(2)(A)(iii), after com5 pletion of the studies required in that section, 

6 taking into account: 

7 ‘‘(i) the Federal government’s unique 

8 trust responsibility to American Indians 

9 and Alaska Natives; 

10 ‘‘(ii) limitations faced by tribal com11 munities in accessing non-Federal sources 

12 of funding to supplement Federal funding 

13 for early childhood programs; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) other factors that uniquely and 

15 adversely impact children in American In16 dian and Alaska Native communities such 

17 as highly elevated poverty, unemployment 

18 and violent crime rates, as well as de19 pressed levels of educational achievement 

20 and limited access to non-Federal health, 

21 social and educational resources; 

22 ‘‘(2) in carrying out paragraph (1), consult with 

23 the Secretary of Education about the Department of 

24 Education’s systems for collecting and reporting 


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1 data about, and maintaining records on, American 

2 Indian and Alaska Native students; 

3 ‘‘(3) not later than 9 months after the effective 

4 date of this subsection, publish in the Federal Reg5 ister a notice of how the Secretary plans to carry out 

6 paragraph (1) and shall provide a period for public 

7 comment. To the extent practicable, the Secretary 

8 shall consider comments received before submitting 

9 a report to the Congress; 

10 ‘‘(4) not later than 1 year after the effective 

11 date of this subsection, submit a report to the Com12 mittee on Education and the Workforce of the 

13 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

14 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen15 ate, detailing how the Department of Health and 

16 Human Services plans to carry out paragraph (1); 

17 ‘‘(5) take appropriate action, consistent with 

18 section 444 of the General Education Provisions 

19 Act, to ensure the protection of the confidentiality of 

20 any personally identifiable data, information, and 

21 records collected or maintained by the Secretary, by 

22 Head Start agencies that carry out Indian Head 

23 Start programs, by State Directors of Head Start 

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1 tion Project Director and by other appropriate enti2 ties pursuant to this subsection; and 

3 ‘‘(6) ensure that nothing in this subsection shall 

4 be construed to authorize the development of a na5 tionwide database of personally identifiable informa6 tion on individuals involved in studies or other col7 lections of data under this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(l) The Secretary shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) in order to increase access to Head Start 

10 services for eligible migrant and seasonal children, 

11 work in collaboration with migrant and seasonal 

12 Head Start providers, the Department of Agri13 culture (land grant universities), the Department of 

14 Labor, the Bureau of Migrant Health, and the De15 partment of Education to— 

16 ‘‘(A) establish a system for collecting and 

17 reporting data on farm workers and their fami18 lies in order to adequately account for the num19 ber of seasonal and migrant children that are 

20 eligible for Head Start and determine how 

21 many of these eligible children receive services; 

22 ‘‘(B) identify barriers that prevent eligible 

23 migrant and seasonal children from accessing 

24 Head Start services and develop a plan for 


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1 eliminating barriers and increasing enrollment; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) develop a system through which mi4 grant and seasonal Head Start programs can 

5 effectively track health records and educational 

6 documents as a child moves from state to state; 

7 ‘‘(2) not later than 6 months after the effective 

8 date of this subsection, publish in the Federal Reg9 ister a notice on how the Secretary plans to carry 

10 out the activities identified in paragraph (1) and 

11 shall provide a period for public comment. To the 

12 extent practicable, the Secretary shall consider com13 ments received before implementing any of the ac14 tivities identified in paragraph (1); 

15 ‘‘(3) not later than 1 year after the effective 

16 date of this subsection, submit a report to the Com17 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 

18 Representatives and the Health, Education, Labor 

19 and Pensions Committee of the Senate detailing how 

20 the Secretary plans to carry out the activities identi21 fied in (1); 

22 ‘‘(4) submit a report to Congress annually on 

23 the migrant and seasonal Head Start program in24 cluding a report on the progress made in carrying 

25 out the activities identified in paragraph (1), the 


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1 progress made in reaching out to and serving eligible 

2 migrant and seasonal children, and information on 

3 states where migrant and seasonal children are still 

4 underserved; 

5 ‘‘(5) take appropriate caution, consistent with 

6 section 444 of the General Education Provisions 

7 Act, to ensure the protection of the confidentiality of 

8 any personally identifiable data, information, and 

9 records collected or maintained by the Secretary, by 

10 Head Start agencies that carry out migrant and sea11 sonal Head Start programs, by the State director of 

12 Head Start Collaboration, by the Migrant and Sea13 sonal Farmworker Collaboration project Director; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(6) ensure that nothing in this subsection shall 

16 be construed to authorize the development of a na17 tionwide database of personally identifiable informa18 tion on individuals involved in studies or other col19 lections of data under this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(m) For purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible 

21 entities’ means an institution of higher education or other 

22 entity with expertise in delivering training in early child23 hood develop?ent, family support, and other assistance de24 signed 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 appropriate com23 mittees in Congress no later than 90 days after the 

24 end of the fiscal year, summarizing the funding for 


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1 such contracts and the activities carried out there2 under; and 

3 ‘‘(4) periodically evaluate the usefulness of the 

4 delivery of services in each State and their effective5 ness in promoting program quality. 

6 ‘‘(o) To support enhance early language and 

7 preliteracy development of children in Head Start pro8 grams, and to provide the children with high-quality oral 

9 language skills, and environments that are rich in lit10 erature, in which to acquire language and preliteracy 

11 skills, each Head Start agency shall ensure that— 

12 ‘‘(1) all of the agency’s Head Start teachers re13 ceive ongoing training in language and emergent lit14 eracy (referred to in this subsection as ‘literacy 

15 training’), and including appropriate curricula and 

16 assessment to improve instruction and learning; 

17 ‘‘(2) such literacy training shall include training 

18 in methods to promote vocabulary development and 

19 phonological awareness (including phonemic aware20 ness) in a developmentally, culturally, and linguis21 tically appropriate manner and support children’s 

22 development in their home language; 

23 ‘‘(3) the literacy training shall include training 

24 in how to work with parents to enhance positive lan25 guage and early literacy development at home; 


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1 ‘‘(4) the literacy training shall include specific 

2 methods to best address the needs of children who 

3 are limited English proficient; and 

4 ‘‘(5) the literacy training shall include training 

5 on how to best address the language and literacy 

6 needs of children with disabilities, including training 

7 on how to work with specialists in language develop8 ment. 

9 ‘‘(p) The Secretary is encouraged to contract, on a 

10 competitive basis, with an institution of higher education 

11 (as defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act 

12 of 1965) to develop an on-line graduate-level professional 

13 development program with the goal of improving the lead14 ership of those working in Head Start programs and im15 proving teacher quality and the capacity of effective Head 

16 Start teachers.’’. 

17 SEC. 18. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT. 

18 Section 648A of the of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 9843a) is amended— 

20 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(a) CLASSROOM TEACHERS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The 

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1 er who has demonstrated competency to perform 

2 functions that include— 

3 ‘‘(A) planning and implementing learning 

4 experiences that advance the intellectual and 

5 physical development of children, including im6 proving the readiness of children for school by 

7 developing their literacy, phonemic, and print 

8 awareness, their understanding and use of lan9 guage, their understanding and use of increas10 ingly complex and varied vocabulary, their ap11 preciation of books, their understanding of early 

12 math and early science, their problem solving 

13 abilities, and their approaches to learning; 

14 ‘‘(B) establishing and maintaining a safe, 

15 healthy learning environment; 

16 ‘‘(C) supporting the social and emotional 

17 development of children; and 

18 ‘‘(D) encouraging the involvement of the 

19 families of the children in a Head Start pro20 gram and supporting the development of rela21 tionships between children and their families. 

22 ‘‘(2) DEGREE REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

24 ensure that not later than September 30, 2013, 


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1 at least 50 percent of all Head Start teachers 

2 nationwide in center-based programs have— 

3 ‘‘(i) a baccalaureate, or advanced de4 gree in early childhood education; 

5 ‘‘(ii) a baccalaureate or advanced de6 gree in a field related to early childhood 

7 education, with experience in teaching pre8 school children; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) except that teachers providing 

10 services in migrant and seasonal Head 

11 Start classrooms that serve children under 

12 age 3 shall be required to meet the teacher 

13 requirements described in section 645A(h). 

14 ‘‘(B) PROGRESS.—Each Head Start agen15 cy shall provide to the Secretary a report indi16 cating the number and percentage of teachers 

17 and teacher’s aides with child development as18 sociate credentials and associate, baccalaureate, 

19 or advanced degrees. The Secretary shall com20 pile all program reports and make them avail21 able to the Committee on Education and Labor 

22 of the House of Representatives and the Com23 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen24 sions of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENT FOR NEW HEAD

2 START TEACHERS.—In accordance with rules 

3 issued by the Secretary and made effective 2 

4 years after the effective date of this subpara5 graph, all Head Start agencies shall require 

6 that all Head Start teachers hired after such 

7 rules take effect to provide Head Start services 

8 in center-based programs— 

9 ‘‘(i) have an associate, baccalaureate, 

10 or advanced degree in early childhood edu11 cation or a related field; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) be currently enrolled in a pro13 gram of study leading to an associate de14 gree in early childhood education or a re15 lated field, and agree to complete degree 

16 requirements not later than 3 years after 

17 the date of hire. 

18 ‘‘(D) SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec19 retary shall establish requirements to ensure 

20 that individuals who receive financial assistance 

21 under this subchapter in order to comply with 

22 the requirements under section 648A(a)(2) 

23 shall subsequently teach in a Head Start center 

24 for a period of time equivalent to the period for 


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1 which they received assistance or repay the 

2 amount of the funds. 

3 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall 

4 require that any Federal funds provided directly 

5 or indirectly to comply with subparagraph (A) 

6 shall be used toward degrees awarded by an in7 stitution of higher education, as defined by sec8 tions 101 or 102 of the Higher Education Act 

9 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002).’’, 

10 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol11 lows: 

12 ‘‘(c) FAMILY SERVICE WORKERS.—To improve the 

13 quality and effectiveness of staff providing in-home and 

14 other services (including needs assessment, development of 

15 service plans, family advocacy, and coordination of service 

16 delivery) to families of children participating in Head 

17 Start programs, the Secretary, in coordination with con18 cerned public and private agencies and organizations ex19 amining the issues of standards and training for family 

20 service workers, shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) review and, as necessary, revise or develop 

22 new qualification standards for Head Start staff 

23 providing such services; 


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1 ‘‘(2) review, and as necessary, review 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 SEC. 19. RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EVALUATION. 

23 Section 649 of the of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 9844) is amended— 


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1 (1) by amending subsection (a)(1)(B) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(B) use the Head Start programs to de4 velop, test, and disseminate new ideas and 

5 based on existing scientifically based research, 

6 for addressing the needs of low-income pre7 school children (including children with disabil8 ities, homeless children, children who have been 

9 abused or neglected, and children in foster care) 

10 and their families and communities (including 

11 demonstrations of innovative non-center-based 

12 program models such as home-based and mobile 

13 programs), and otherwise to further the pur14 poses of this subchapter;’’, 

15 (2) in subsection (d)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (7) by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

17 the end, 

18 (B) in paragraph (8) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

19 at the end and inserting a period, 

20 (C) by striking paragraphs (9) and (10), 

21 and 

22 (D) by striking the last sentence, 

23 (3) in subsection (g)— 

24 (A) in paragraph(1)(A)— 

25 (i) by striking clause (i), and 


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1 (ii) by redesignating clauses (ii) and 

2 (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, 

3 and 

4 (B) by amending paragraph (7)(C) to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(C) TRANSMITTAL OF REPORT TO CON7 GRESS.—Not later than September 30, 2009, 

8 the Secretary shall transmit the final report to 

9 the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Committee 

11 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

12 the Senate.’’, and 

13 (4) by amending subsection (h) to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(h) LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT CHILDREN.— 

16 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 

17 date of enactment of the Improving Head Start Act 

18 of 2007, the Secretary shall conduct a study on the 

19 status of limited English proficient children and 

20 their families in participating Head Start programs 

21 and Early Head Start programs. 

22 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare 

23 and submit to Congress, not later than September 

24 2008, a report containing the results of such study, 

25 including information on— 


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1 ‘‘(A)(i) the demographics of limited 

2 English proficient children less than 5 years of 

3 age and the geographical distribution of such 

4 children; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the number of such children receiving 

6 Head Start services and the number of such 

7 children receiving Early Head Start services, 

8 and the geographical distribution of such chil9 dren receiving such services; 

10 ‘‘(B) the nature of the Head Start services 

11 and of the Early Head Start services provided 

12 to limited English proficient children and their 

13 families, including the types, content, duration, 

14 intensity, and costs of family services, language 

15 assistance, and educational services; 

16 ‘‘(C) procedures in Head Start programs 

17 for assessing language needs and for making 

18 the transition of limited English proficient chil19 dren to kindergarten, including the extent to 

20 which Head Start programs meet the require21 ments of section 642A for limited English pro22 ficient children; 

23 ‘‘(D) the qualifications and training pro24 vided to Head Start teachers and Early Head 


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1 Start teachers who serve limited English pro2 ficient children and their families; 

3 ‘‘(E) the rate of progress made by limited 

4 English proficient children and their families in 

5 Head Start programs and in Early Head Start 

6 programs, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) the rate of progress made by lim8 ited English proficient children toward 

9 meeting the additional educational stand10 ards described in section 641A(a)(1)(B)(ii) 

11 while enrolled in Head Start programs; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the correlation between such 

13 progress and the type and quality of in14 struction and educational programs pro15 vided to limited English proficient children; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iii) the correlation between such 

18 progress and the health and family services 

19 provided by Head Start programs to lim20 ited English proficient children and their 

21 families; and 

22 ‘‘(F) the extent to which Head Start pro23 grams make use of funds under section 

24 640(a)(3) to improve the quality of Head Start 


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1 services provided to limited English proficient 

2 children and their families.’’. 

3 SEC. 20. REPORTS. 

4 Section 650 of the of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 9846) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘Committee on Education 

8 and the Workforce of the House of Representa9 tives and the Committee on Labor and Human 

10 Resources of the Senate’’ each place it appears 

11 and inserting ‘‘Committee on Education and 

12 Labor of the House of Representatives and the 

13 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

14 Pensions of the Senate’’, 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘and non-English language 

16 background children’’ and inserting ‘‘children, 

17 homeless children, children in foster care, and 

18 limited English proficient children’’, and 

19 (C) in paragraph (8) by inserting ‘‘home20 lessness, whether the child is in foster care or 

21 was referred by a child welfare agency,’’ after 

22 ‘‘, background’’, and 

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

24 ‘‘(c) SET-ASIDE ACTIVITIES.—Not later than 60 days 

25 after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall subVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:58 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00156 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1429.IH H1429

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1 mit to the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

2 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

3 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a report 

4 detailing the different amounts of expenditures under sec5 tion 640(a)(2) and the activities carried out thereunder. 

6 ‘‘(d) FISCAL PROTOCOL.—The Secretary shall con7 duct an annual review to assess whether the design and 

8 implementation of the triennial reviews described in sec9 tion 641A(c) include compliance procedures that provide 

10 reasonable assurance that Head Start agencies are com11 plying with applicable fiscal laws and regulations. The 

12 Secretary shall report the findings and conclusions of the 

13 annual review to the House Committee on Education and 

14 Labor, and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, 

15 Labor and Pensions within 30 days of completing the re16 view.’’. 

17 SEC. 21. WAGES AND COMPENSATION. 

18 Section 653 of the of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 9848) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 653. WAGES AND COMPENSATION. 

21 ‘‘(a) COMPARABILITY OF WAGES.—The Secretary 

22 shall take such action as may be necessary to assure that 

23 persons employed in carrying out programs financed 

24 under this subchapter shall not receive compensation at 

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1 pensation paid in the area where the program is carried 

2 out to a substantial number of the persons providing sub3 stantially comparable services, or in excess of the average 

4 rate of compensation paid to a substantial number of the 

5 persons providing substantially comparable services in the 

6 area of the person’s immediately preceding employment, 

7 whichever is higher; or (2) less than the minimum wage 

8 rate prescribed in section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Stand9 ards Act of 1938. The Secretary shall encourage Head 

10 Start agencies to provide compensation according to salary 

11 scales that are based on training and experience. 

12 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL RATE LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding 

13 any other provision of law, no Federal funds shall be used 

14 to pay all or any part of the compensation of an individual 

15 employed by a Head Start agency in carrying out pro16 grams under this subchapter, either as direct or indirect 

17 costs of any proration thereof, at a rate in excess of the 

18 rate then payable for level II of the Executive Schedule 

19 under section 5316 of title 5, United State Code.’’. 

Æ 


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