H. R. 1429 
One Hundred Tenth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE FIRST SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 
the fourth day of January, two thousand and seven 
An Act 
To reauthorize the Head Start Act, to improve program quality, to expand access, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving 
Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this Act 
is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Statement of purpose. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Financial assistance for Head Start programs. 
Sec. 5. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 6. Allotment of funds; limitations on assistance. 
Sec. 7. Designation of Head Start agencies. 
Sec. 8. Standards; monitoring of Head Start agencies and programs. 
Sec. 9. Powers and functions of Head Start agencies. 
Sec. 10. Head start transition and alignment with K–12 education. 
Sec. 11. Early childhood education, coordination, and improvement. 
Sec. 12. Submission of plans. 
Sec. 13. Administrative requirements and standards. 
Sec. 14. Participation in Head Start programs. 
Sec. 15. Early Head Start programs. 
Sec. 16. Appeals, notice, and hearing. 
Sec. 17. Records and audits. 
Sec. 18. Technical assistance and training. 
Sec. 19. Staff qualifications and development. 
Sec. 20. Research, demonstrations, and evaluation. 
Sec. 21. Reports. 
Sec. 22. Comparability of wages. 
Sec. 23. Limitation with respect to certain unlawful activities. 
Sec. 24. Political activities. 
Sec. 25. Parental consent requirement for health services. 
Sec. 26. Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood. 
Sec. 27. General provisions. 
Sec. 28. Compliance with Improper Payments Information Act of 2002. 
Sec. 29. References in other Acts. 
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 
Section 636 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 636. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 
‘‘It is the purpose of this subchapter to promote the school 
readiness of low-income children by enhancing their cognitive, 
social, and emotional development— 
‘‘(1) in a learning environment that supports children’s 
growth in language, literacy, mathematics, science, social and
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emotional functioning, creative arts, physical skills, and 
approaches to learning; and 
‘‘(2) through the provision to low-income children and their 
families of health, educational, nutritional, social, and other 
services that are determined, based on family needs assess-
ments, to be necessary.’’. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 
9832) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(including a community- 
based organization, as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801))’’ after 
‘‘nonprofit’’; 
(2) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting ‘‘, and financial lit-
eracy.’’ after ‘‘self-sufficiency’’; 
(3) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘migrant and seasonal 
Head Start program’’ and inserting ‘‘migrant or seasonal Head 
Start program’’; 
(4) by striking paragraph (17) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(17) The term ‘State’ means a State, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, American 
Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The term 
includes the Republic of Palau for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, 
and (if the legislation described in section 640(a)(2)(B)(v) has 
not been enacted by September 30, 2009) for fiscal years 2010 
through 2012.’’; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(18) The term ‘deficiency’ means— 
‘‘(A) a systemic or substantial material failure of an 
agency in an area of performance that the Secretary deter-
mines involves— 
‘‘(i) a threat to the health, safety, or civil rights 
of children or staff; 
‘‘(ii) a denial to parents of the exercise of their 
full roles and responsibilities related to program oper-
ations; 
‘‘(iii) a failure to comply with standards related 
to early childhood development and health services, 
family and community partnerships, or program design 
and management; 
‘‘(iv) the misuse of funds received under this sub-
chapter; 
‘‘(v) loss of legal status (as determined by the Sec-
retary) or financial viability, loss of permits, debarment 
from receiving Federal grants or contracts, or the 
improper use of Federal funds; or 
‘‘(vi) failure to meet any other Federal or State 
requirement that the agency has shown an unwilling-
ness or inability to correct, after notice from the Sec-
retary, within the period specified; 
‘‘(B) systemic or material failure of the governing body 
of an agency to fully exercise its legal and fiduciary respon-
sibilities; or 
‘‘(C) an unresolved area of noncompliance.
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‘‘(19) The term ‘homeless children’ has the meaning given 
the term ‘homeless children and youths’ in section 725(2) of 
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
11434a(2)). 
‘‘(20) The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
‘‘(21) The term ‘interrater reliability’ means the extent 
to which 2 or more independent raters or observers consistently 
obtain the same result when using the same assessment tool. 
‘‘(22) The term ‘limited English proficient’, used with 
respect to a child, means a child— 
‘‘(A)(i) who was not born in the United States or whose 
native language is a language other than English; 
‘‘(ii)(I) who is a Native American (as defined in section 
9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), an Alaska Native, or a native 
resident of an outlying area (as defined in such section 
9101); and 
‘‘(II) who comes from an environment where a language 
other than English has had a significant impact on the 
child’s level of English language proficiency; or 
‘‘(iii) who is migratory, whose native language is a 
language other than English, and who comes from an 
environment where a language other than English is domi-
nant; and 
‘‘(B) whose difficulties in speaking or understanding 
the English language may be sufficient to deny such child— 
‘‘(i) the ability to successfully achieve in a class-
room in which the language of instruction is English; 
or 
‘‘(ii) the opportunity to participate fully in society. 
‘‘(23) The term ‘principles of scientific research’ means prin-
ciples of research that— 
‘‘(A) applies rigorous, systematic, and objective method-
ology to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to 
education activities and programs; 
‘‘(B) presents findings and makes claims that are 
appropriate to and supported by methods that have been 
employed; and 
‘‘(C) includes, as appropriate to the research being 
conducted— 
‘‘(i) use of systematic, empirical methods that draw 
on observation or experiment; 
‘‘(ii) use of data analyses that are adequate to 
support the general findings; 
‘‘(iii) reliance on measurements or observational 
methods that provide reliable and generalizable 
findings; 
‘‘(iv) strong claims of causal relationships, only 
with research designs that eliminate plausible com-
peting explanations for observed results, such as, but 
not limited to, random assignment experiments; 
‘‘(v) presentation of studies and methods in suffi-
cient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at 
a minimum, to offer the opportunity to build systemati-
cally on the findings of the research;
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‘‘(vi) acceptance by a peer-reviewed journal or cri-
tique by a panel of independent experts through a 
comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review; 
and 
‘‘(vii) consistency of findings across multiple 
studies or sites to support the generality of results 
and conclusions. 
‘‘(24) The term ‘professional development’ means high- 
quality activities that will improve the knowledge and skills 
of Head Start teachers and staff, as relevant to their roles 
and functions, in program administration and the provision 
of services and instruction, as appropriate, in a manner that 
improves service delivery to enrolled children and their families, 
including activities that— 
‘‘(A) are part of a sustained effort to improve overall 
program quality and outcomes for enrolled children and 
their families; 
‘‘(B) are developed or selected with extensive participa-
tion of administrators and teachers from Head Start pro-
grams; 
‘‘(C) are developmentally appropriate for the children 
being served; 
‘‘(D) include instruction in ways that Head Start 
teachers and staff may work more effectively with parents, 
as appropriate; 
‘‘(E) are designed to give Head Start teachers and 
staff the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and 
appropriate support services to children of diverse back-
grounds, as appropriate; 
‘‘(F) may include a 1-day or short-term workshop or 
conference, if the workshop or conference is consistent with 
the goals in the professional development plan described 
in section 648A(f) and will be delivered by an institution 
of higher education or other entity, with expertise in deliv-
ering training in early childhood development, training 
in family support, and other assistance designed to improve 
the delivery of Head Start services; and 
‘‘(G) in the case of teachers, assist teachers with— 
‘‘(i) the acquisition of the content knowledge and 
teaching strategies needed to provide effective instruc-
tion and other school readiness services regarding early 
language and literacy, early mathematics, early 
science, cognitive skills, approaches to learning, cre-
ative arts, physical health and development, and social 
and emotional development linked to school readiness; 
‘‘(ii) meeting the requirements in paragraphs (1) 
and (2) of section 648A(a), as appropriate; 
‘‘(iii) improving classroom management skills, as 
appropriate; 
‘‘(iv) advancing their understanding of effective 
instructional strategies that are— 
‘‘(I) based on scientifically valid research; and 
‘‘(II) aligned with— 
‘‘(aa) the Head Start Child Outcomes 
Framework developed by the Secretary and, 
as appropriate, State early learning standards; 
and
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‘‘(bb) curricula, ongoing assessments, and 
other instruction and services, designed to 
help meet the standards described in section 
641A(a)(1); 
‘‘(v) acquiring the knowledge and skills to provide 
instruction and appropriate language and support serv-
ices to increase the English language skills of limited 
English proficient children, as appropriate; or 
‘‘(vi) methods of teaching children with disabilities, 
as appropriate. 
‘‘(25) The term ‘scientifically valid research’ includes 
applied research, basic research, and field-initiated research 
in which the rationale, design, and interpretation are soundly 
developed in accordance with principles of scientific research. 
‘‘(26) The term ‘unresolved area of noncompliance’ means 
failure to correct a noncompliance item within 120 days, or 
within such additional time (if any) as is authorized by the 
Secretary, after receiving from the Secretary notice of such 
noncompliance item, pursuant to section 641A(c).’’. 
(b) REDESIGNATION AND REORDERING OF DEFINITIONS.—Section 
637 of such Act is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (23) as para-
graphs (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (12), (16), (17), 
(18), (19), (22), (24), (25), (2), (11), (13), (14), (15), (20), (21), 
(23), and (26), respectively; and 
(2) so that paragraphs (1) through (26), as so redesignated 
in paragraph (1), appear in numerical order. 
SEC. 4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR HEAD START PROGRAMS. 
Section 638 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9833) is amended 
by inserting ‘‘for a period of 5 years’’ after ‘‘provide financial assist-
ance to such agency’’. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 639 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9834) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
subchapter (other than section 657B) $7,350,000,000 for fiscal year 
2008, $7,650,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, $7,995,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2010, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 
years 2011 and 2012.’’. 
SEC. 6. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS; LIMITATIONS ON ASSISTANCE. 
(a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—Section 640(a) of the Head Start 
Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a)(1) Using the sums appropriated pursuant to section 639 
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate such sums in accord-
ance with paragraphs (2) through (5). 
‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall determine an amount for each fiscal 
year for each State that is equal to the amount received through 
base grants for the prior fiscal year by the Head Start agencies 
(including Early Head Start agencies) in the State that are not 
described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year such sums 
as are necessary—
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‘‘(i) to provide each amount determined for a State under 
subparagraph (A) to the Head Start agencies (including Early 
Head Start agencies) in the State that are not described in 
clause (ii) or (iii), by allotting to each agency described in 
this clause an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for 
the prior fiscal year; 
‘‘(ii) to provide an amount for the Indian Head Start pro-
grams that is equal to the amount provided for base grants 
for such programs under this subchapter for the prior fiscal 
year, by allotting to each Head Start agency (including each 
Early Head Start agency) administering an Indian Head Start 
program an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the 
prior fiscal year; 
‘‘(iii) to provide an amount for the migrant and seasonal 
Head Start programs, on a nationwide basis, that is equal 
to the amount provided nationwide for base grants for such 
programs under this subchapter for the prior fiscal year, by 
allotting to each Head Start agency administering a migrant 
or seasonal Head Start program an amount equal to that 
agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal year; 
‘‘(iv) to provide an amount for each of Guam, American 
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
and the Virgin Islands of the United States (for Head Start 
agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) in the jurisdic-
tion) that is equal to the amount provided for base grants 
for such jurisdiction under this subchapter for the prior fiscal 
year, by allotting to each agency described in this clause an 
amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal 
year; 
‘‘(v) to provide an amount for the Republic of Palau (for 
Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) in 
the jurisdiction) for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009, and 
(if legislation approving a new agreement regarding United 
States assistance for the Republic of Palau has not been enacted 
by September 30, 2009) for each of fiscal years 2010 through 
2012, that is equal to the amount provided for base grants 
for such jurisdiction under this subchapter for the prior fiscal 
year, by allotting to each agency described in this clause an 
amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal 
year; and 
‘‘(vi) to provide an amount for a collaboration grant under 
section 642B(a) for each State, for the Indian Head Start pro-
grams, and for the migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, 
in the same amount as the corresponding collaboration grant 
provided under this subchapter for fiscal year 2007. 
‘‘(C)(i) The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year an 
amount that is not less than 2.5 percent and not more than 3 
percent of the sums appropriated pursuant to section 639 for that 
fiscal year, to fund training and technical assistance activities, 
from which reserved amount— 
‘‘(I) the Secretary shall set aside a portion, but not less 
than 20 percent, to be used to fund training and technical 
assistance activities for Early Head Start programs, in accord-
ance with section 645A(g)(2); and 
‘‘(II) the Secretary shall set aside a portion, equal to the 
rest of the reserved amount, to fund training and technical
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assistance activities for other Head Start programs, in accord-
ance with section 648, of which portion— 
‘‘(aa) not less than 50 percent shall be made available 
to Head Start agencies to use directly, which may include 
at their discretion the establishment of local or regional 
agreements with community experts, institutions of higher 
education, or private consultants, to make program 
improvements identified by such agencies, by carrying out 
the training and technical assistance activities described 
in section 648(d); 
‘‘(bb) not less than 25 percent shall be available to 
the Secretary to support a State-based training and tech-
nical assistance system, or a national system, described 
in section 648(e) for supporting program quality; and 
‘‘(cc) the remainder of the portion set aside under this 
subclause shall be available to the Secretary to assist Head 
Start agencies in meeting and exceeding the standards 
described in section 641A(a)(1) by carrying out activities 
described in subsections (a), (b), (c), (f), and (g) of section 
648, including helping Head Start programs address weak-
nesses identified by monitoring activities conducted by the 
Secretary under section 641A(c), except that not less than 
$3,000,000 of the remainder shall be made available to 
carry out activities described in section 648(a)(3)(B)(ii). 
‘‘(ii) In determining the portion set aside under clause (i)(I) 
and the amount reserved under this subparagraph, the Secretary 
shall consider the number of Early Head Start programs newly 
funded for that fiscal year. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary shall reserve not more than $20,000,000 
to fund research, demonstration, and evaluation activities under 
section 649, of which not more than $7,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2008 through 2012 shall be available to carry out impact 
studies under section 649(g). 
‘‘(E) The Secretary shall reserve not more than $42,000,000 
for discretionary payments by the Secretary, including payments 
for all costs (other than compensation of Federal employees) for 
activities carried out under subsection (c) or (e) of section 641A. 
‘‘(F) If the sums appropriated under section 639 are not suffi-
cient to provide the amounts required to be reserved under subpara-
graphs (B) through (E), the amounts shall be reduced proportion-
ately. 
‘‘(G) Nothing in this section shall be construed to deny the 
Secretary the authority, consistent with sections 641, 641A, and 
646 to terminate, suspend, or reduce funding to a Head Start 
agency. 
‘‘(3)(A) From any amount remaining for a fiscal year after 
the Secretary carries out paragraph (2) (referred to in this para-
graph as the ‘remaining amount’), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) subject to clause (ii)— 
‘‘(I) provide a cost of living increase for each Head 
Start agency (including each Early Head Start agency) 
funded under this subchapter for that fiscal year, to main-
tain the level of services provided during the prior year; 
and 
‘‘(II) subject to subparagraph (B), provide $10,000,000 
for Indian Head Start programs (including Early Head 
Start programs), and $10,000,000 for migrant and seasonal
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Head Start programs, to increase enrollment in the pro-
grams involved; 
‘‘(ii) subject to clause (iii), if the remaining amount is 
not sufficient to carry out clause (i)— 
‘‘(I) for each of fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010— 
‘‘(aa) subject to subparagraph (B), provide 5 per-
cent of that amount for Indian Head Start programs 
(including Early Head Start programs), and 5 percent 
of that amount for migrant and seasonal Head Start 
programs, to increase enrollment in the programs 
involved; and 
‘‘(bb) use 90 percent of that amount to provide, 
for each Head Start agency (including each Early Head 
Start agency) funded as described in clause (i)(I), the 
same percentage (but not less than 50 percent) of the 
cost of living increase described in clause (i); and 
‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2011 and each subsequent fiscal 
year— 
‘‘(aa) provide, for each Head Start agency 
(including each Early Head Start agency) funded as 
described in clause (i)(I), the cost of living increase 
described in clause (i); and 
‘‘(bb) subject to subparagraph (B), with any portion 
of the remaining amount that is not used under item 
(aa), provide equal amounts for Indian Head Start 
programs (including Early Head Start programs), and 
for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, to 
increase enrollment in the programs involved; and 
‘‘(iii) if the remaining amount is not sufficient to carry 
out clause (ii) for the fiscal year involved, use that amount 
to provide, for each Head Start agency (including each Early 
Head Start agency) funded as described in clause (i)(I), the 
same percentage of the cost of living increase described in 
clause (i). 
‘‘(B)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, 
the Indian Head Start programs shall not receive more than a 
total cumulative amount of $50,000,000 for all fiscal years, and 
the migrant and seasonal Head Start programs shall not receive 
more than a total cumulative amount of $50,000,000 for all fiscal 
years, under clause (i)(II), and subclauses (I)(aa) and (II)(bb) of 
clause (ii), of subparagraph (A) (referred to in this subsection as 
the ‘special expansion provisions’), to increase enrollment in the 
programs involved. 
‘‘(ii)(I) Funds that are appropriated under section 639 for a 
fiscal year, and made available to Indian Head Start programs 
or migrant or seasonal Head Start programs under the special 
expansion provisions, shall remain available until the end of the 
following fiscal year. 
‘‘(II) For purposes of subclause (I)— 
‘‘(aa) if no portion is reallocated under clause (iii), those 
funds shall remain available to the programs involved; or 
‘‘(bb) if a portion is reallocated under clause (iii), the portion 
shall remain available to the recipients of the portion. 
‘‘(iii) Of the funds made available as described in clause (ii), 
the Secretary shall reallocate the portion that the Secretary deter-
mines is unobligated 18 months after the funds are made available. 
The Secretary shall add that portion to the balance described in
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paragraph (4), and reallocate the portion in accordance with para-
graph (4), for the following fiscal year referred to in clause (ii). 
‘‘(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), from any 
amount remaining for a fiscal year after the Secretary carries 
out paragraphs (2) and (3) (referred to in this paragraph as the 
‘balance’), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) reserve 40 percent to carry out subparagraph (C) and 
paragraph (5); 
‘‘(ii) reserve 45 percent to carry out subparagraph (D); 
and 
‘‘(iii) reserve 15 percent (which shall remain available 
through the end of fiscal year 2012) to provide funds for car-
rying out section 642B(b)(2). 
‘‘(B)(i) Under the circumstances described in clause (ii), from 
the balance, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(I) reserve 45 percent to carry out subparagraph (C) and 
paragraph (5); and 
‘‘(II) reserve 55 percent to carry out subparagraph (D). 
‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall make the reservations described in 
clause (i) for a fiscal year if— 
‘‘(I) the total cumulative amount reserved under subpara-
graph (A)(iii) for all preceding fiscal years equals $100,000,000; 
or 
‘‘(II) in the 2-year period preceding such fiscal year, funds 
were reserved under subparagraph (A)(iii) in an amount that 
totals not less than $15,000,000 and the Secretary received 
no approvable applications for such funds. 
‘‘(iii) The total cumulative amount reserved under subparagraph 
(A)(iii) for all fiscal years may not be greater than $100,000,000. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary shall fund the quality improvement activities 
described in paragraph (5) using the amount reserved under 
subparagraph (A)(i) or subparagraph (B)(i)(I), as appropriate, of 
which— 
‘‘(i) a portion that is less than 10 percent may be reserved 
by the Secretary to provide funding to Head Start agencies 
(including Early Head Start agencies) that demonstrate the 
greatest need for additional funding for such activities, as deter-
mined by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(ii) a portion that is not less than 90 percent shall be 
reserved by the Secretary to allot, to each Head Start agency 
(including each Early Head Start agency), an amount that 
bears the same ratio to such portion as the number of enrolled 
children served by the agency involved bears to the number 
of enrolled children served by all the Head Start agencies 
(including Early Head Start agencies), except that the Secretary 
shall account for the additional costs of serving children in 
Early Head Start programs and may consider whether an 
agency is providing a full-day program or whether an agency 
is providing a full-year program. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary shall fund expansion of Head Start programs 
(including Early Head Start programs) using the amount reserved 
under subparagraph (A)(ii) or subparagraph (B)(i)(II), as appro-
priate, of which the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) use 0.2 percent for Head Start programs funded under 
clause (iv) or (v) of paragraph (2)(B) (other than Early Head 
Start programs);
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‘‘(ii) for any fiscal year after the last fiscal year for which 
Indian Head Start programs receive funds under the special 
expansion provisions, use 3 percent for Head Start programs 
funded under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) (other than Early Head Start 
programs), except that the Secretary may increase that percent-
age if the Secretary determines that the results of the study 
conducted under section 649(k) indicate that the percentage 
should be increased; 
‘‘(iii) for any fiscal year after the last fiscal year for which 
migrant or seasonal Head Start programs receive funds under 
the special expansion provisions, use 4.5 percent for Head Start 
programs funded under paragraph (2)(B)(iii) (other than Early 
Head Start programs), except that the Secretary may increase 
that percentage if the Secretary determines that the results 
of the study conducted under section 649(l) indicate that the 
percentage should be increased; and 
‘‘(iv) from the remainder of the reserved amount— 
‘‘(I) use 50 percent for Head Start programs funded 
under paragraph (2)(B)(i) (other than Early Head Start 
programs), of which— 
‘‘(aa) the covered percentage shall be allocated 
among the States serving less than 60 percent (as 
determined by the Secretary) of children who are 3 
or 4 years of age from families whose income is below 
the poverty line, by allocating to each of those States 
an amount that bears the same relationship to that 
covered percentage as the number of children who 
are less than 5 years of age from families whose income 
is below the poverty line (referred to in this subclause 
as ‘young low-income children’) in that State bears 
to the number of young low-income children in all 
those States; and 
‘‘(bb) the remainder shall be allocated proportion-
ately among the States on the basis of the number 
of young low-income children; and 
‘‘(II) use 50 percent for Early Head Start programs. 
‘‘(E) In this paragraph, the term ‘covered percentage’ means— 
‘‘(i) for fiscal year 2008, 30 percent; 
‘‘(ii) for fiscal year 2009, 40 percent; 
‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 2010, 50 percent; 
‘‘(iv) for fiscal year 2011, 55 percent; and 
‘‘(v) for fiscal year 2012, 55 percent. 
‘‘(5)(A) Not less than 50 percent of the amount reserved under 
subparagraph (A)(i) or subparagraph (B)(i)(I), as appropriate, of 
paragraph (4) to carry out quality improvement activities under 
paragraph (4)(C) and this paragraph shall be used to improve 
the compensation (including benefits) of educational personnel, 
family service workers, and child counselors, as described in sections 
644(a) and 653, in the manner determined by the Head Start 
agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) involved, to— 
‘‘(i) ensure that compensation is adequate to attract and 
retain qualified staff for the programs involved in order to 
enhance program quality; 
‘‘(ii) improve staff qualifications and assist with the 
implementation of career development programs for staff that 
support ongoing improvement of their skills and expertise; and
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‘‘(iii) provide education and professional development to 
enable teachers to be fully competent to meet the professional 
standards established under section 648A(a)(1), including— 
‘‘(I) providing assistance to complete postsecondary 
course work; 
‘‘(II) improving the qualifications and skills of edu-
cational personnel to become certified and licensed as bilin-
gual education teachers, or as teachers of English as a 
second language; and 
‘‘(III) improving the qualifications and skills of edu-
cational personnel to teach and provide services to children 
with disabilities. 
‘‘(B) Any remaining funds from the reserved amount described 
in subparagraph (A) shall be used to carry out any of the following 
activities: 
‘‘(i) Supporting staff training, child counseling, and other 
services, necessary to address the challenges of children from 
immigrant, refugee, and asylee families, homeless children, chil-
dren in foster care, limited English proficient children, children 
of migrant or seasonal farmworker families, children from fami-
lies in crisis, children referred to Head Start programs 
(including Early Head Start programs) by child welfare agen-
cies, and children who are exposed to chronic violence or sub-
stance abuse. 
‘‘(ii) Ensuring that the physical environments of Head Start 
programs are conducive to providing effective program services 
to children and families, and are accessible to children with 
disabilities and other individuals with disabilities. 
‘‘(iii) Employing additional qualified classroom staff to 
reduce the child-to-teacher ratio in the classroom and additional 
qualified family service workers to reduce the family-to-staff 
ratio for those workers. 
‘‘(iv) Ensuring that Head Start programs have qualified 
staff that promote the language skills and literacy growth of 
children and that provide children with a variety of skills 
that have been identified, through scientifically based reading 
research, as predictive of later reading achievement. 
‘‘(v) Increasing hours of program operation, including— 
‘‘(I) conversion of part-day programs to full-working- 
day programs; and 
‘‘(II) increasing the number of weeks of operation in 
a calendar year. 
‘‘(vi) Improving communitywide strategic planning and 
needs assessments for Head Start programs and collaboration 
efforts for such programs, including outreach to children 
described in clause (i). 
‘‘(vii) Transporting children in Head Start programs safely, 
except that not more than 10 percent of funds made available 
to carry out this paragraph may be used for such purposes. 
‘‘(viii) Improving the compensation and benefits of staff 
of Head Start agencies, in order to improve the quality of 
Head Start programs. 
‘‘(6) No sums appropriated under this subchapter may be com-
bined with funds appropriated under any provision other than 
this subchapter if the purpose of combining funds is to make a 
single discretionary grant or a single discretionary payment, unless
H. R. 1429—12 
such sums appropriated under this subchapter are separately identi-
fied in such grant or payment and are used for the purposes 
of this subchapter. 
‘‘(7) In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘base grant’, used with respect to a fiscal 
year, means the amount of permanent ongoing funding (other 
than funding described in sections 645A(g)(2)(A)(i) and para-
graph (2)(C)(i)(II)(aa)) provided to a Head Start agency 
(including an Early Head Start agency) under this subchapter 
for that fiscal year. 
‘‘(B) The term ‘cost-of-living increase’, used with respect 
to an agency for a fiscal year, means an increase in the funding 
for that agency, based on the percentage change in the Con-
sumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (issued by the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics) for the prior fiscal year, calculated 
on the amount of the base grant for that agency for the prior 
fiscal year. 
‘‘(C) For the purposes of this subsection, the term ‘State’ 
does not include Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands 
of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar-
iana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic 
of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.’’. 
(b) MINIMUM ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH 
DISABILITIES.—Section 640(d) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 
9835(d)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall establish policies and procedures 
to assure that, for fiscal year 2009 and thereafter, not less than 
10 percent of the total number of children actually enrolled by 
each Head Start agency and each delegate agency will be children 
with disabilities who are determined to be eligible for special edu-
cation and related services, or early intervention services, as appro-
priate, as determined under the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), by the State or local agency 
providing services under section 619 or part C of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.). 
‘‘(2) Such policies and procedures shall ensure the provision 
of early intervening services, such as educational and behavioral 
services and supports, to meet the needs of children with disabil-
ities, prior to an eligibility determination under the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act. 
‘‘(3) Such policies and procedures shall require Head Start 
agencies to provide timely referral to and collaborate with the 
State or local agency providing services under section 619 or part 
C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to ensure 
the provision of special education and related services and early 
intervention services, and the coordination of programmatic efforts, 
to meet the special needs of such children. 
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall establish policies and procedures to 
provide Head Start agencies with waivers of the requirements of 
paragraph (1) for not more than 3 years. Such policies and proce-
dures shall require Head Start agencies, in order to receive such 
waivers, to provide evidence demonstrating that the Head Start 
agencies are making reasonable efforts on an annual basis to comply 
with the requirements of that paragraph. 
‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit 
or create a right to a free appropriate public education under 
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.’’.
H. R. 1429—13 
(c) SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS.—Section 640(f) of the Head 
Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(f)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(f) The’’ and inserting ‘‘(f)(1) Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Improving 
Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, the’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘needs.’’ and inserting ‘‘needs, including 
models that leverage the capacity and capabilities of the 
delivery system of early childhood education and development 
services or programs.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) In establishing the procedures the Secretary shall establish 
procedures to provide for— 
‘‘(A) the conversion of part-day programs to full-working- 
day programs or part-day slots to full-working-day slots; and 
‘‘(B) serving additional infants and toddlers pursuant to 
section 645(a)(5).’’. 
(d) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—Section 640(g) of the Head Start Act 
(42 U.S.C. 9835(g)) is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraphs (1), (3), and (4); 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
striking ‘‘, in allocating funds to an applicant within a 
State, from amounts allotted to a State pursuant to sub-
section (a)(4),’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘performance 
standards’’ and inserting ‘‘standards described in section 
641A(a)(1)’’; 
(C) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(C) the extent to which the applicant has undertaken 
a communitywide strategic planning and needs assessment 
involving other entities, including community organizations, 
and Federal, State, and local public agencies (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))), that provide services to children 
and families, such as— 
‘‘(i) family support services; 
‘‘(ii) child abuse prevention services; 
‘‘(iii) protective services; 
‘‘(iv) foster care; 
‘‘(v) services for families in whose homes English is 
not the language customarily spoken; 
‘‘(vi) services for children with disabilities; and 
‘‘(vii) services for homeless children;’’; 
(D) in subparagraph (D)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘family and community needs 
assessment’’ and inserting ‘‘family needs assessment 
and communitywide strategic planning and needs 
assessment’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘reflects’’ and inserting ‘‘reflect’’; 
and 
(iii) by striking ‘‘other local’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
State and local’’; 
(E) by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting the 
following:
H. R. 1429—14 
‘‘(E) the number of eligible children, as described in 
clause (i) or (ii) of section 645(a)(1)(B), in each community 
who are not participating in a Head Start program or 
any other publicly funded early childhood education and 
development program;’’; 
(F) by striking subparagraphs (G) and (H) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(G) the extent to which the applicant proposes to foster 
partnerships with other service providers in a manner that 
will leverage the existing delivery systems of such services 
and enhance the resource capacity of the applicant; and 
‘‘(H) the extent to which the applicant, in providing serv-
ices, successfully coordinated activities with the local edu-
cational agency serving the community 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 chil-
dren participating in such applicant’s program will enroll fol-
lowing such program, with respect to such services and the 
education services provided by such local educational agency.’’; 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (1); and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in using funds made avail-
able for expansion under subsection (a)(4)(D), the Secretary shall 
first allocate the funds to qualified applicants proposing to use 
such funds to serve children from families with incomes below 
the poverty line. Agencies that receive such funds are subject to 
the eligibility and enrollment requirements under section 645(a)(1). 
‘‘(3)(A) In the event that the amount appropriated to carry 
out the program under this subchapter for a fiscal year does not 
exceed the amount appropriated for the prior fiscal year, or is 
not sufficient to maintain services comparable to the services pro-
vided under this subchapter during the prior fiscal year, a Head 
Start agency may negotiate with the Secretary a reduced funded 
enrollment level without a reduction in the amount of the grant 
received by the agency under this subchapter, if such agency can 
reasonably demonstrate that such reduced funded enrollment level 
is necessary to maintain the quality of services. 
‘‘(B) In accordance with this paragraph, the Secretary shall 
set up a process for Head Start agencies to negotiate the reduced 
funded enrollment levels referred to in subparagraph (A) for the 
fiscal year involved. 
‘‘(C) In the event described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
shall be required to notify Head Start agencies of their ability 
to negotiate the reduced funded enrollment levels if such an agency 
can reasonably demonstrate that such reduced funded enrollment 
level is necessary to maintain the quality of services.’’. 
(e) VEHICLE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.—Section 640(i) of the Head 
Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(i)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: ‘‘The regulations shall also establish requirements 
to ensure the appropriate supervision of, and appropriate back-
ground checks for, individuals with whom the agencies contract 
to transport those children.’’. 
(f) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PROGRAMS.—Section 
640(l) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(l)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)—
H. R. 1429—15 
(A) by striking ‘‘With funds’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘programs,’’ and inserting ‘‘With funds made avail-
able under this subchapter to expand migrant and seasonal 
Head Start programs,’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘children of migrant and seasonal farm-
worker families’’ and inserting ‘‘children of migrant or sea-
sonal farmworker families’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘For’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in 
determining’’ and inserting ‘‘In determining’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘children of migrant farmworkers’’ and 
inserting ‘‘children of migrant farmworker families’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘under such subsection’’ and inserting 
‘‘under this subchapter’’; 
(D) by striking ‘‘children of seasonal farmworkers’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘children of seasonal farm-
worker families’’; and 
(E) by striking ‘‘children of such farmworkers’’ and 
inserting ‘‘children of such farmworker families’’; and 
(3) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(3) In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary shall con-
tinue the administrative arrangement at the national level for 
meeting the needs of Indian children and children of migrant and 
seasonal farmworker families and shall ensure— 
‘‘(A) the provision of training and technical assistance by 
staff with knowledge of and experience in working with such 
populations; and 
‘‘(B) the appointment of a national Indian Head Start 
collaboration director and a national migrant and seasonal 
Head Start collaboration director. 
‘‘(4)(A) For the purposes of paragraph (3), the Secretary shall 
conduct an annual consultation in each affected Head Start region, 
with tribal governments operating Head Start (including Early 
Head Start) programs. 
‘‘(B) The consultations shall be for the purpose of better meeting 
the needs of Indian, including Alaska Native, children and their 
families, in accordance with this subchapter, taking into consider-
ation funding allocations, distribution formulas, and other issues 
affecting the delivery of Head Start services in their geographic 
locations. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary shall publish a notification of the consulta-
tions in the Federal Register before conducting the consultations. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary shall ensure that a detailed report of each 
consultation shall be prepared and made available, within 90 days 
after the consultation, to all tribal governments receiving funds 
under this subchapter.’’. 
(g) ENROLLMENT OF HOMELESS CHILDREN; RULE OF CONSTRUC-
TION; MATERIALS.—Section 640 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 
9835) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(m) The Secretary shall issue rules to establish policies and 
procedures to remove barriers to the enrollment and participation 
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;