(2) Ascertaining what health and developmental 
services the family receives and working with these 
providers to eliminate gaps in service by offering an-
nual health, vision, hearing, and developmental 
screening for children from birth to entry into kin-
dergarten, when needed. 
(3) Providing referrals for participating eligible 
families with a family member in the Armed Forces, 
as needed, to additional resources available in the 
community, such as center-based early education 
programs, child care services, health or mental 
health services, family literacy programs, employ-
ment agencies, social services, and child care re-
source and referral agencies. 
(4) Offering group meetings (at program dis-
cretion), on not less frequently than a monthly basis, 
for eligible families with a family member in the 
Armed Forces that— 
(A) further enhance the information, ac-
tivities, and skill-building addressed during 
home visitation; 
(B) offer opportunities for parents to meet 
with and support each other; and 
(C) address challenges facing eligible fami-
lies with a family member in the Armed Forces.
(5) Providing training and technical assistance 
to early childhood home visitation and early child-
hood care and education staff relating to— 
(A) effective service to eligible families 
with a family member in the Armed Forces; 
(B) effective methods of implementing par-
ent education, conducting home visiting, and 
promoting quality early childhood development, 
with sensitivity to cultural variations in par-
enting norms and attitudes toward formal sup-
port services; 
(C) the relationship of health and well- 
being of pregnant women to prenatal and early 
child development; 
(D) early childhood development with re-
spect to children from birth until entry into kin-
dergarten; 
(E) methods to help parents promote 
emergent literacy in their children from birth 
until entry into kindergarten; 
(F) implementing strategies for helping eli-
gible families with a family member in the 
Armed Forces coping with crisis; 
(G) recruiting, supervising, and retaining 
qualified staff;
(H) increasing services for underserved eli-
gible families with a family member in the 
Armed Forces; 
(I) methods to help parents effectively re-
spond to their children’s needs and behaviors; 
and 
(J) implementation of ongoing program 
quality improvement and evaluation of activities 
and outcomes. 
(6) Coordinating existing programs of early 
childhood home visitation in order to effectively and 
efficiently meet the needs of more eligible families 
with a family member in the Armed Forces. 
(g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each applicant 
that receives a grant under this section to carry out a pro-
gram shall submit an annual report to the Secretary re-
garding the progress of such program in addressing the 
purposes of this Act. Such report shall include, at a min-
imum, a description of— 
(1) actual service delivery provided under the 
grant including— 
(A) program characteristics including de-
scriptive information on the service model used 
and actual program performance;
(B) provider characteristics including staff 
qualifications, work experience, and demo-
graphic characteristics; 
(C) 
recipient 
characteristics 
including 
number, demographic characteristics, and fam-
ily retention; and 
(D) an estimate of annual program imple-
mentation costs; 
(2) recipient outcomes that are consistent with 
program goals including, where appropriate given 
the program being evaluated— 
(A) parental practices; 
(B) child health and development indica-
tors; 
(C) child maltreatment indicators 
(D) school readiness indicators; and 
(E) links to community services; 
(3) the research-based instruction, materials, 
and activities being used in the activities funded 
under the grant; and 
(4) the effectiveness of the training and ongoing 
professional development provided— 
(A) to staff supported under the grant; 
and
(B) to the broader early childhood commu-
nity. 
(h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds pro-
vided under this section shall be used to supplement, and 
not supplant, Federal and non-Federal funds available for 
carrying out the activities described in this section. 
(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$50,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2006 through 
2008. 
SEC. 9. EVALUATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—From funds reserved under sec-
tion 5(b)(1)(A), the Secretary shall conduct an inde-
pendent evaluation of the effectiveness of this Act. 
(b) REPORTS.— 
(1) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall submit an interim report on the evalua-
tion conducted pursuant to subsection (a) to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen-
sions of the Senate and the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives. 
(2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall submit a final report on the evaluation
conducted pursuant to subsection (a) to the commit-
tees described in paragraph (1). 
(c) CONTENTS.—The reports submitted under sub-
section (b) shall include information on the following: 
(1) How the grant funds have expanded access 
to early childhood home visitation including— 
(A) demonstrating that programs funded 
reflect the quality indicators outlined in section 
5(f)(1); and 
(B) documenting the service delivery indi-
cators, as outlined in section 5(h)(1), across all 
recipients receiving grants with attention to the 
number of families served and the level of serv-
ice received. 
(2) How the States affect outcomes consistent 
with program goals including, where appropriate 
given the program being evaluated, parenting prac-
tices, child health and development, child maltreat-
ment, school readiness, and links to community serv-
ices. 
(3) The effectiveness of early childhood home 
visitation on different populations, including the ex-
tent to which variability exists in program ability to 
improve outcomes across programs and populations,