geographical areas specified in sub-
section (a)(2)(B) and Indian Head 
Start programs and migrant and sea-
sonal Head Start programs, and used 
to make grants to Head Start agen-
cies, at the discretion of the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(ii) Funds allotted under clause (i) 
shall be used by the Secretary to make 
grants to Head Start agencies that receive 
grants from funds allotted under para-
graph (4) for such fiscal year, in such 
amounts as the Secretary considers to be 
appropriate, for expenditure for activities 
specified in subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(iii) Funds received under this sub-
paragraph shall be used to supplement, not 
to supplant, funds received under para-
graph (2) or (4). 
‘‘(4) GRANT DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 
639(b), the Secretary shall allot the remaining 
amounts appropriated in each fiscal year among the 
States, in accordance with latest satisfactory data so 
that—
‘‘(A) each State receives an amount which 
is equal to the amount the State received for 
fiscal year 2007; and 
‘‘(B) any amount available after all allot-
ments are made under subparagraph (A) for 
such fiscal year shall be distributed proportion-
ately on the basis of the number of children less 
than 5 years of age from families whose income 
is below the poverty line. 
For purposes of this paragraph, for each fiscal year 
the Secretary shall use the most recent data avail-
able on the number of children less than 5 years of 
age from families whose income is below the poverty 
line, as published by the Department of Commerce, 
unless the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce 
determine that use of the most recent data available 
would be inappropriate or unreliable. If the Sec-
retary and the Secretary of Commerce determine 
that some or all of the data referred to in this para-
graph are inappropriate or unreliable, the Secre-
taries shall issue a report setting forth their reasons 
in detail. 
‘‘(5) COLLABORATION GRANTS.—
‘‘(A) From amounts reserved and allotted 
under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall award
the collaboration grants described in subpara-
graphs (B), (C), and (D). 
‘‘(B)(i) From the reserved sums, the Sec-
retary shall award upon submission of a written 
request, a collaboration grant to each State and 
to each national administrative office serving 
Indian Head Start programs and migrant and 
seasonal Head Start programs to facilitate col-
laboration between Head Start agencies and en-
tities (including the State or national adminis-
trative office) that carry out other activities de-
signed to benefit low-income families and chil-
dren from birth to school entry. The national 
administrative offices shall use the funds made 
available through the grants to carry out the 
authorities and responsibilities described in sub-
paragraphs (B) and (C). 
‘‘(ii) Grants described in clause (i) shall be 
used to—
‘‘(I) assist Head Start agencies to col-
laborate with entities involved in State and 
local planning processes to better meet the 
needs of low-income families and children 
from birth to school entry;
‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies to co-
ordinate activities with the State agency 
responsible for administering the State 
program carried out under the Child Care 
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 
(42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and entities pro-
viding resource and referral services in the 
State, to make full-working-day and full 
calendar year services available to children; 
‘‘(III) promote alignment of Head 
Start curricula and continuity of services 
with the Head Start Child Outcomes 
Framework and State early learning stand-
ards, as appropriate; 
‘‘(IV) promote better linkages between 
Head Start agencies and other child and 
family agencies, including agencies that 
provide health, mental health, or family 
services, or other child or family supportive 
services, such as services provided under 
section 619 or part C of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
1419, 1431 et seq.); and
‘‘(V) carry out the activities of the 
State Director of Head Start Collaboration 
authorized in subparagraph (D). 
‘‘(C) In order to improve coordination and 
delivery of early education services to children 
in the State, a State that receives a collabora-
tion grant under subparagraph (B) shall—
‘‘(i) appoint or designate an individual 
to serve as, or carry out the responsibilities 
of, the State Director of Head Start Col-
laboration; 
‘‘(ii) ensure that the State Director of 
Head Start Collaboration holds a position 
with sufficient authority and access to en-
sure that the collaboration described in 
subparagraph (B) is effective and involves 
a range of State agencies; and 
‘‘(iii) involve the State Head Start As-
sociation in the selection of the Director 
and involve the Association in determina-
tions relating to the ongoing direction of 
the collaboration office. 
‘‘(D) The State Director of Head Start 
Collaboration shall—
‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after the 
State receives a collaboration grant under 
subparagraph (B), conduct an assessment 
that—
‘‘(I) addresses the needs of Head 
Start agencies in the State with re-
spect to collaboration, coordination, 
and alignment of services, and align-
ment of curricula and assessments 
with the Head Start Child Outcomes 
Framework, and with State early 
learning standards, as appropriate; 
‘‘(II) shall be updated on an an-
nual basis; and 
‘‘(III) shall be made available to 
the general public within the State; 
‘‘(ii) develop a strategic plan that is 
based on the assessment described in 
clause (i) that will—
‘‘(I) enhance collaboration and 
coordination of Head Start services 
with other entities providing early 
childhood programs and services (such 
as child care or services offered by 
museums), health care, mental health
care, welfare, child protective services, 
education and community service ac-
tivities, family literacy services, read-
ing readiness programs (including 
such programs offered by public and 
school libraries), services relating to 
children with disabilities, other early 
childhood programs and services for 
limited English proficient children and 
homeless children, and services pro-
vided for children in foster care and 
children referred to Head Start pro-
grams by child welfare agencies, in-
cluding agencies and State officials re-
sponsible for such services; 
‘‘(II) assist Head Start agencies 
to develop a plan for the provision of 
full-working-day, full calendar year 
services for children enrolled in Head 
Start programs who need such care; 
‘‘(III) assist Head Start agencies 
to align curricula and assessments 
with the Head Start Child Outcomes 
Framework and to the State early
learning standards, as appropriate; 
and 
‘‘(IV) enable Head Start agencies 
in the State to better access profes-
sional development opportunities for 
Head Start staff, such as by—
‘‘(aa) working with local 
Head Start agencies to meet the 
degree requirements described in 
section 648A(a)(2)(A), including 
providing distance learning op-
portunities for Head Start staff, 
where needed to make higher 
education 
more 
accessible 
to 
Head Start staff; and 
‘‘(bb) enabling the State 
Head Start agencies to better 
conduct outreach to eligible fami-
lies; 
‘‘(iii) promote partnerships between 
Head Start agencies, State and local gov-
ernments, and the private sector to help 
ensure that children, who are in Head 
Start programs, are receiving comprehen-
sive services to prepare the children to 
enter school ready to succeed; 
‘‘(iv) consult with the chief State 
school officer, local educational agencies, 
and providers of early childhood education 
and care, regarding early care and edu-
cation services at both the State and local 
levels; 
‘‘(v) promote partnerships between 
Head Start agencies, schools, law enforce-
ment, relevant community-based organiza-
tions, and substance abuse and mental 
health treatment agencies to strengthen 
family and community environments and 
to reduce the impact on child development 
of substance abuse, child abuse, domestic 
violence, and other high risk behaviors that 
compromise healthy development; 
‘‘(vi) promote partnerships between 
Head Start agencies and other organiza-
tions in order to enhance Head Start pro-
gram quality, including partnerships to 
promote inclusion of more books in Head 
Start classrooms;
‘‘(vii) identify other resources and or-
ganizations (both public and private) for 
the provision of in-kind services to Head 
Start agencies in the State; and 
‘‘(viii) work with the State Early 
Learning Council in order to assist the ef-
forts of Head Start agencies to engage in 
effective coordination and collaboration. 
‘‘(6) EARLY HEAD START.—
‘‘(A) 
AMOUNTS
RESERVED.—From 
amounts reserved and allotted pursuant to 
paragraphs (2) and (4), the Secretary shall use, 
for grants for programs described in section 
645A(a), a portion of the combined total of 
such amounts that is not less than 12 percent 
for fiscal year 2008, not less than 14 percent 
for fiscal year 2009, not less than 16 percent 
for fiscal year 2010, not less than 18 percent 
for fiscal year 2011, and not less than 20 per-
cent for fiscal year 2012 of the amount appro-
priated pursuant to section 639(a). 
‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(i) For any fiscal year for which 
the Secretary determines that the 
amount appropriated under section
639(a) is not sufficient to permit the 
Secretary to reserve the portion de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) without 
reducing the number of children 
served by Head Start programs or ad-
versely affecting the quality of Head 
Start services, relative to the number 
of children served and the quality of 
the services during the preceding fis-
cal year, the Secretary may reduce the 
percentage of funds required to be re-
served for the portion described in 
subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year 
for which the determination is made, 
but not below the percentage required 
to be so reserved for the preceding fis-
cal year. 
‘‘(ii) For any fiscal year for 
which the amount appropriated under 
section 639(a) is reduced to a level 
that requires a lower amount to be 
made available under this subchapter 
to Head Start agencies and entities 
described in section 645A, relative to 
the amount made available to such
agencies and entities for the preceding 
fiscal year, adjusted as described in 
paragraph (3)(A)(ii), the Secretary 
shall proportionately reduce—
‘‘(I) 
the 
amounts 
made 
available to such entities for pro-
grams carried out under section 
645A; and 
‘‘(II) the amounts made 
available to such Head Start 
agencies for Head Start pro-
grams. 
‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term 
‘State’ does not include Guam, American Samoa, the 
Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micro-
nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 
Republic of Palau.’’. 
(b) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.—Section 640(f) of 
the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(f)) is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(f) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.—
‘‘(1) Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 
2007, the Secretary shall establish procedures to en-
able Head Start agencies to develop locally designed 
or specialized service delivery models to address local 
community needs, including models that leverage the 
existing capacity and capabilities of the delivery sys-
tem of early childhood education and child care. 
‘‘(2) In establishing the procedures, the Sec-
retary shall establish procedures to provide for—
‘‘(A) the conversion of part-day programs 
to full-day programs or part-day slots to full-
day slots; and 
‘‘(B) serving additional infants and tod-
dlers pursuant to section 645(a)(4).’’. 
(c) EXPANSION OF HEAD START PROGRAMS.—Sec-
tion 640(g) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(g)) 
is amended in paragraph (2)—
(1) by striking ‘‘For the purpose of expanding 
Head Start programs, in’’ and inserting ‘‘In’’, and 
(2) by amending subparagraphs (C) through 
(H) to read as follows: 
‘‘(C) the extent to which the applicant has un-
dertaken community-wide strategic planning and 
needs assessments involving other community orga-
nizations and local public agencies serving children 
and families with Federal, State, or local funds (in-
cluding organizations and agencies providing family
support services, child abuse prevention services, 
protective services, and foster care, and organiza-
tions serving families in whose homes English is not 
the language customarily spoken), and individuals, 
organizations, and public entities serving children 
with disabilities or homeless children, including the 
local educational agency liaison designated under 
section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless 
Assistance 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)); 
‘‘(D) the extent to which the family and com-
munity needs assessment of the applicant reflects a 
need to provide full working-day or full calendar 
year services and the extent to which, and manner 
in which, the applicant demonstrates the ability to 
collaborate and participate with the State and local 
community providers of child care or preschool serv-
ices to provide full working-day full calendar year 
services; 
‘‘(E) the number of eligible children in each 
community who are not participating in a Head 
Start program or any other early childhood program; 
‘‘(F) the concentration of low-income families in 
each community;
‘‘(G) the extent to which the applicant proposes 
to foster partnerships with other service providers in 
a manner that will leverage the existing delivery sys-
tems of such services and enhance the resource ca-
pacity of the applicant; 
‘‘(H) the extent to which the applicant, in pro-
viding services, successfully coordinated its activities 
with the local educational agency serving the com-
munity involved, (including the local educational 
agency 
liaison 
designated 
under 
section 
722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)) and 
with schools in which children participating in a 
Head Start program operated by such agency will 
enroll following such program, regarding such serv-
ices and the education services provided by such 
local educational agency; and 
‘‘(I) the amount of funds used by such agency 
to pay administrative expenses and the amount of 
available funds received by such agency under this 
section to service each enrolled child.’’. 
(d) ENROLLMENT.—Section 640(g) of the Head 
Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(g)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
(e) TRANSPORTATION SAFETY.—
(1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue 
regulations establishing requirements for the safety 
features, and the safe operation, of vehicles used by 
Head Start agencies to transport children partici-
pating in Head Start programs. 
(2) GOOD
CAUSE
WAIVER
AUTHORITY.—The 
Secretary shall allow Head Start agencies to annu-
ally request a good cause exception to the require-
ments of regulations promulgated under paragraph 
(1) for one or more vehicles used by the agency or 
its designee in transporting children enrolled in a 
Head Start program or an Early Head Start pro-
gram if—
(A) such requirements would create a safe-
ty hazard in the circumstances faced by such 
agency; or 
(B) such requirements pertain to child re-
straint 
systems 
(45 
C.F.R. 
1310.11, 
1310.15(a)) or bus monitors (45 C.F.R. 
1310.15(c)); 
(C) the agency demonstrates that compli-
ance with such requirements will result in a sig-
nificant disruption to the Head Start program 
or the Early Head Start program; and
(D) the waiver is in the best interest of the 
children involved. 
(f) MIGRANT
AND SEASONAL HEAD START PRO-
GRAMS.—Section 640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 
9835(l)) is amended—
(1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(3) In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary 
shall continue the administrative arrangement at the na-
tional level for meeting the needs of Indian children and 
children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and shall 
ensure that appropriate funding is provided to meet such 
needs, including training and technical assistance and the 
appointment of a national migrant and seasonal Head 
Start collaboration director and a national Indian Head 
Start collaboration director.’’, and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Sec-
retary shall conduct an annual consultation in each af-
fected Head Start region, with tribal governments oper-
ating Head Start programs and Early Head Start pro-
grams. 
‘‘(B) The consultations shall be for the purpose of 
better meeting the needs of Indian children and children 
of Alaskan Natives, and their families, in accordance with
subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 641, taking into 
consideration funding allocations, distribution formulas, 
and other issues affecting the delivery of Head Start serv-
ices in their geographic locations. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary shall publish a notification of the 
consultations in the Federal Register before conducting 
the consultations. 
‘‘(D) A detailed report of each consultation shall be 
prepared and made available within 90 days of the annual 
consultation to all Indian tribes that receive assistance 
under this subchapter.’’. 
(g) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN; RULE 
OF CONSTRUCTION; MATERIALS.—Section 640 of the 
Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(m) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN.—The 
Secretary shall issue rules to establish policies and proce-
dures to remove barriers to the enrollment and participa-
tion of homeless children in Head Start programs. Such 
rules shall require Head Start agencies—
‘‘(1) to implement policies and procedures to 
ensure that homeless children are identified and 
prioritized for enrollment; 
‘‘(2) to allow homeless families to apply to, en-
roll in and attend Head Start programs while re-
quired documents, such as proof of residency, immu-
nization and other medical records, birth certificates 
and other documents, are obtained within a reason-
able time frame; and 
‘‘(3) coordinate individual Head Start programs 
with efforts to implement subtitle B of title VII of 
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11431–11435). 
‘‘(n) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub-
chapter shall be construed to require a State to establish 
a program of early education for children in the State, 
to require any child to participate in a program of early 
education, to attend school, or to participate in any initial 
screening before participating in such program, except as 
provided under sections 612(a)(3) and 635(a)(5) of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 
‘‘(o) MATERIALS.—All curricula and instructional 
materials funded under this subchapter shall be based on 
scientifically based research, age and developmentally ap-
propriate, and focused on all areas of development (cog-
nitive, social, emotional, and physical), learning (language 
and literacy, mathematics, science, and creative arts) and 
approaches to learning. Parents shall be permitted to in-
spect, upon request, any curricula or instructional mate-
rials used to carry out this subchapter.’’.
SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 
Section 641 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9836) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 641. DESIGNATION OF HEAD START AGENCIES. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE.—The Secretary is 
authorized to designate as a Head Start agency any local 
public or private nonprofit agency, including community-
based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agency, 
within a community, pursuant to the requirements of this 
section, except that until such time that the Secretary de-
velops and implements the system of application review 
under this section, the Secretary is authorized to designate 
as a Head Start agency, any local public or private non-
profit agency, including community-based and faith-based 
organizations, or for-profit agency, within a community, 
in the manner and process utilized by the Secretary prior 
to the enactment of the Improving Head Start Act of 
2007. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR GRANTS.—Each entity shall 
submit a plan to the Secretary, at such time and in such 
manner as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(c) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION REVIEW SYS-
TEM.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 
a system that integrates the recommendations of the 
expert panel convened under paragraph (3) to deter-
mine if a Head Start agency is providing a quality 
comprehensive early learning program that meets 
the educational, health, and nutritional needs of the 
children and families it serves, and meets program 
and financial management requirements and per-
formance standards described in section 641A(a)(1), 
based on—
‘‘(A) annual budget data; 
‘‘(B) program reviews conducted under 
section 641A(c); 
‘‘(C) annual audits required under section 
647; 
‘‘(D) classroom quality as measured under 
section 641A(c)(2)(H); and 
‘‘(E) Program Information Report. 
‘‘(2) EXPERT
PANEL.—No later than six 
months after the enactment of the Improving Head 
Start Act of 2007, the Secretary shall convene an 
expert panel of 7 members to make recommenda-
tions to the Secretary on the development of a trans-
parent, reliable, and valid system for evaluating 
grant renewal applications. 
‘‘(3) COMPOSITION
OF
EXPERT
PANEL.—The 
Secretary, in convening such panel, shall appoint the 
following:
‘‘(A) 5 members, who are competent, by 
virtue of their training, expertise, and experi-
ence, in each of at least one of the following 
areas: 
‘‘(i) Early childhood program accredi-
tation or quality assessment. 
‘‘(ii) Research on early childhood de-
velopment. 
‘‘(iii) Governance and finance of non-
profit organizations. 
‘‘(iv) Delivery of services to children 
and families with limited English pro-
ficiency. 
‘‘(v) Delivery of services to children 
with disabilities. 
‘‘(B) An employee from the Office of Head 
Start. 
‘‘(C) An executive director of a Head Start 
agency. 
‘‘(4) EXPERT
PANEL
REPORT.—Within 12 
months of being convened by the Secretary, the ex-
pert panel shall issue a report to the Secretary that 
provides recommendations on a proposed system of 
application review that takes into account the cri-
teria in paragraph (1) to evaluate whether a Head
Start grantee is meeting its mission to provide a 
high quality comprehensive early education program, 
including adequately meeting its governance and fi-
nancial management requirements. 
‘‘(5) PUBLIC
COMMENT; 
REPORT
TO
CON-
GRESS.—No later than 6 months after receiving the 
report described in paragraph (4), the Secretary 
shall publish a proposed system of application review 
in the Federal Register, providing at least 90 days 
for public comment and shall provide a report to the 
Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu-
cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate that pro-
vides a detailed description of such proposed system, 
including clear rationale for any differences between 
the proposed system and the recommendations of 
the expert panel, if any such differences exist. 
‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION
OF
APPLICATION
RE-
VIEW SYSTEM.—After the Secretary has reviewed all 
public comments and finalized the system of applica-
tion review, the Secretary will use this system to de-
termine which grantees are successfully delivering a 
high quality comprehensive early education program. 
Grantees who are determined under such system to 
be—
‘‘(A) successfully delivering a high quality 
comprehensive early education program shall be 
designated a Head Start agency for a period of 
5 years; 
‘‘(B) under-performing and may enter into 
an open competition as described in subsection 
(e); and 
‘‘(C) notwithstanding paragraph (B), if an 
Indian Head Start agency is determined to be 
underperforming, the Secretary shall engage in 
government-to-government consultation with the 
appropriate tribal government or governments 
for the purpose of establishing a performance 
enhancement plan for that agency. Such plan is 
to be developed and implemented within 6 
months of the Secretary’s determination. Not 
more than 6 months after implementation of 
that plan, the Secretary shall reevaluate the 
performance of the Indian Head Start agency. 
If the Indian Head Start agency remains 
underperforming, the Secretary shall conduct 
an open competition as described in subsection 
(e), subject to the following limitations: 
‘‘(i) Except as provided in paragraph 
(ii), a non-Indian Head Start agency may
not receive a grant to carry out an Indian 
Head Start program. 
‘‘(ii) In a community in which there is 
no Indian Head Start agency available for 
designation to carry out an Indian Head 
Start program, a non-Indian Head Start 
agency, on an interim basis, may receive a 
grant to carry out an Indian Head Start 
program, but only until such time as an 
Indian Head Start agency in such commu-
nity becomes available. 
‘‘(d) TRANSPARENCY, RELIABILITY, AND VALID-
ITY.—The Secretary shall ensure the system of application 
evaluation is fair, consistent, and transparent and is ap-
plied in a manner that designates, in a timely manner 
grantees as Head Start agencies for a period of 5 years 
if such grantees are providing a high quality comprehen-
sive early education program. The Secretary shall periodi-
cally evaluate whether the criteria are being applied in a 
manner that is transparent, reliable, and valid. 
‘‘(e) DESIGNATION WHEN NO ENTITY HAS PRI-
ORITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If no entity in a commu-
nity is determined to be successfully delivering a 
high quality comprehensive early education program,
as specified in subsection (c), the Secretary shall, 
after conducting an open competition, designate for 
a 5-year period a Head Start agency from among 
qualified applicants in such community. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS
IN
DESIGNATION.—In 
selecting from among qualified applicants for des-
ignation as a Head Start agency, the Secretary shall 
consider the effectiveness of each such applicant to 
provide Head Start services, based on—
‘‘(A) any past performance of such appli-
cant in providing services comparable to Head 
Start services, including how effectively such 
applicant provided such comparable services; 
‘‘(B) the plan of such applicant to provide 
comprehensive health (including mental and be-
havioral health), educational, nutritional, social, 
and other services needed to prepare children to 
succeed in school and in life; 
‘‘(C) the plan of such applicant to attract 
and retain qualified staff capable of delivering 
a high quality comprehensive early education 
program, including demonstrating the ability to 
provide adequate salary and benefits to main-
tain a high quality staff;
‘‘(D) the ability of such applicant to main-
tain child-teacher ratios and family service 
worker caseloads that reflect best practices and 
are tied to high quality service delivery; 
‘‘(E) the capacity of such applicant to 
serve eligible children with curriculum and 
teaching practices that are based on scientif-
ically based research, are developmentally ap-
propriate, and that promote the school readi-
ness of children participating in the program; 
‘‘(F) the plan of such applicant to meet 
standards set forth in section 641A(a)(1), with 
particular attention to the standards set forth 
in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of such section; 
‘‘(G) the proposed budget and plan of such 
applicant to maintain strong fiscal controls and 
cost effective fiscal management; 
‘‘(H) the plan of such applicant to coordi-
nate the Head Start program the applicant pro-
poses to carry out, with other local early learn-
ing programs for young children, including—
‘‘(i) programs implementing grants 
under the Early Reading First and Even 
Start programs under subparts 2 and 3 of 
part B of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6371 et seq., 6381 et seq.); 
‘‘(ii) and programs under section 619 
and part C of the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 
et seq.); 
‘‘(iii) State prekindergarten programs; 
‘‘(iv) child care programs; and 
‘‘(v) the educational programs that 
the children participating in the Head 
Start program will enter at the age of com-
pulsory school attendance; 
‘‘(I) the plan of such applicant to coordi-
nate the Head Start program that the applicant 
proposes to carry out, with public and private 
entities that are willing to commit resources to 
assist the Head Start program in meeting its 
program needs; 
‘‘(J) the plan of such applicant—
‘‘(i) to seek the involvement of parents 
(including grandparents and kinship care-
givers, as appropriate) of children partici-
pating in the proposed Head Start pro-
gram, in activities (at home and, if prac-
ticable, at the location of the Head Start
program) designed to help such parents be-
come full partners in the education of their 
children; 
‘‘(ii) to afford such parents the oppor-
tunity to participate in the development 
and overall conduct of the program at the 
local level; 
‘‘(iii) to offer (directly or through re-
ferral to local entities, such as entities car-
rying out Even Start programs under sub-
chapter 3 of part B of title I of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.), public and 
school libraries, and entities carrying out 
family support programs) to such par-
ents—
‘‘(I) family literacy services; and 
‘‘(II) parenting skills training; 
‘‘(iv) to offer to parents of partici-
pating children, mental health services (ei-
ther directly or through referral to local 
entities), including substance abuse coun-
seling and information on maternal depres-
sion and on the effect of drug-exposure on 
infants and fetal alcohol syndrome;
‘‘(v) at the option of such applicant, 
to offer (directly or through referral to 
local entities) to such parents—
‘‘(I) training in basic child devel-
opment (including cognitive, social, 
and emotional development); 
‘‘(II) assistance in developing lit-
eracy and communication skills; 
‘‘(III) opportunities to share ex-
periences with other parents (includ-
ing parent mentor relationships); 
‘‘(IV) regular in-home visitation; 
‘‘(V) 
mental 
and 
behavioral 
health services; or 
‘‘(VI) any other activity designed 
to help such parents become full part-
ners in the education of their children; 
‘‘(vi) to provide, with respect to each 
participating family, a family needs assess-
ment that includes consultation with such 
parents, in a manner and language that 
such parents can understand, about the 
benefits of parent involvement and about 
the activities described in subparagraph 
(H) in which such parents may choose to
become involved (taking into consideration 
their specific family needs, work schedules, 
and other responsibilities); and 
‘‘(vii) to extend outreach to fathers, in 
appropriate cases, in order to strengthen 
the role of fathers in families, in the edu-
cation of their young children, and in the 
Head Start program, by working directly 
with fathers and father figures through ac-
tivities such as—
‘‘(I) in appropriate cases, includ-
ing fathers in home visits and pro-
viding culturally appropriate opportu-
nities for direct father-child inter-
actions; and 
‘‘(II) targeting increased male 
participation in the conduct of the 
program; 
‘‘(K) the plan of such applicant to meet 
the needs of limited English proficient children 
and their families, including procedures to iden-
tify such children, plans to provide trained per-
sonnel, and plans to provide services to assist 
the children in making progress toward the ac-
quisition of the English language, while making
meaningful progress in attaining the knowledge, 
skills, abilities, and development described in 
section 641A(a)(1)(B); 
‘‘(L) the plan of such applicant to meet 
the diverse cultural needs of the population 
served; 
‘‘(M) the plan of such applicant to meet 
the needs of children with disabilities; 
‘‘(N) the plan of such applicant who choos-
es to assist younger siblings of children who will 
participate in the Head Start program to obtain 
health, including mental health, services from 
other sources; 
‘‘(O) the plan of such applicant to collabo-
rate with other entities carrying out public or 
private early childhood education and child care 
programs in the community; 
‘‘(P) the plan of such applicant to meet the 
needs of homeless children, including transpor-
tation needs, and children in foster care and 
children and families experiencing toxic stress; 
‘‘(Q) the plan of such applicant to main-
tain a qualified staff, including a teaching staff 
qualified to implement research-based curricula 
aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes