To amend the Head Start Act to extend the duration of grants under such Act, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8004 To amend the Head Start Act to extend the duration of grants under such Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 11, 2020 Ms. FUDGE (for herself and Mr. STIVERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Head Start Act to extend the duration of grants under such Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. EXTENDED DURATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 4 9801 et seq.) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating section 657C (42 U.S.C. 6 9852c) as section 657D; and 7 (2) by inserting after section 657B (42 U.S.C. 8 9852b) the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8004 IH ‘‘SEC. 657C. EXTENDED DURATION. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants 2 to Head Start (including Early Head Start) agencies 3 funded under this subchapter to enable such agencies— 4 ‘‘(1) to provide access to a full school year and 5 a full school day of services; 6 ‘‘(2) in the case of a migrant and seasonal 7 Head Start agency, to provide access to additional 8 service hours to ensure continuous Head Start serv- 9 ices as determined by the Secretary; or 10 ‘‘(3) in the case of a Head Start agency (in- 11 cluding an Early Head Start agency) that already 12 meets the full-day, full-year services needs within its 13 community, to enhance the quality of Head Start 14 services (including Early Head Start services) pro- 15 vided to children served by such agency. 16 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 18 grant under this section, a Head Start agency shall 19 submit an application at such time and in such man- 20 ner as the Secretary may require. Such application 21 shall include— 22 ‘‘(A) evidence of— 23 ‘‘(i) the number and percentage of 24 slots— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8004 IH ‘‘(I) in the agency’s Head Start 1 center-based programs (that are not 2 Early Head Start programs)— 3 ‘‘(aa) that are currently 4 funded (as of the date of submis- 5 sion of the application); and 6 ‘‘(bb) in which services are 7 provided for at least the equiva- 8 lent of 1,020 hours per year; and 9 ‘‘(II) in the agency’s Early Head 10 Start center-based programs— 11 ‘‘(aa) that are currently 12 funded (as of that date); and 13 ‘‘(bb) in which services are 14 provided for at least the equiva- 15 lent of 1,380 hours per year; and 16 ‘‘(ii) the number and percentage of 17 slots, in the agency’s Head Start family 18 child care programs— 19 ‘‘(I) that are currently funded 20 (as of that date); and 21 ‘‘(II) in which services are pro- 22 vided for at least the equivalent of 23 1,380 hours per year; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8004 IH ‘‘(B) a description of an approach, using 1 the current community-wide strategic planning 2 and needs assessment described in section 3 640(g)(1)(C) and current program schedule 4 (current as of the date of submission of the ap- 5 plication), that transitions all of the agency’s 6 Head Start programs to a full school day, full 7 school year program schedule; and 8 ‘‘(C) a budget justification that estimates 9 the supplemental funding necessary to provide 10 for incremental ongoing operating costs for the 11 extended hours of service under such a program 12 schedule for the current enrollment in the agen- 13 cy’s Head Start programs. 14 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 15 ‘‘(A) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD 16 START.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A migrant and 18 seasonal Head Start agency may apply for 19 a grant described in subsection (a) without 20 meeting the requirements specified in para- 21 graph (1) to ensure continuous Head Start 22 services are provided to children enrolled in 23 a migrant and seasonal Head Start pro- 24 gram. To be eligible to receive the grant, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8004 IH the agency shall submit an application at 1 such time and in such manner as the Sec- 2 retary may require. 3 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY.—In making grants to 4 applicants described in clause (i), the Sec- 5 retary shall give priority to a migrant and 6 seasonal Head Start agency operating for 7 fewer than 8 months per year. 8 ‘‘(B) FULL-DAY, FULL-YEAR HEAD START 9 AGENCIES.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A Head Start 11 agency (including an Early Head Start 12 agency) that certifies to the Secretary that 13 it is meeting the full-day, full-year need 14 within its community may apply for a 15 grant to enhance the quality of services 16 provided to children enrolled in its Head 17 Start program (including its Early Head 18 Start program) in accordance with sub- 19 section (c)(2). 20 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATION.—A Head Start 21 (including Early Head Start) agency that 22 meets the requirements of clause (i) shall 23 submit an application, which shall in- 24 clude— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8004 IH ‘‘(I) the proposed uses of funds 1 in accordance with subsection (c)(2); 2 and 3 ‘‘(II) how such uses of funds re- 4 late to the community-wide strategic 5 planning and needs assessment de- 6 scribed under section 640(g)(1)(c). 7 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 8 ‘‘(1) EXTENDED DURATION.—A Head Start 9 agency that meets the requirements of paragraph 10 (1) or (2) of subsection (a) receiving a grant under 11 this section shall use the grant funds to cover the 12 costs associated with extending those hours of serv- 13 ice for the current enrollment, such as additional 14 costs for— 15 ‘‘(A) ongoing purchases of classroom sup- 16 plies; 17 ‘‘(B) staff providing services during the ex- 18 tended hours; and 19 ‘‘(C) professional development to staff 20 transitioning to providing services during the 21 extended hours. 22 ‘‘(2) ENHANCING PROGRAM QUALITY.—A Head 23 Start (including Early Head Start) agency that 24 meets the requirements of subsection (a)(3) shall use 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8004 IH funds for the activities authorized under section 1 640(a)(5)(B). 2 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—The Head Start agency 3 shall not use the grant funds to expand the number 4 of children served in the Head Start programs (in- 5 cluding Early Head Start programs) of the agency. 6 ‘‘(d) RESERVATIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES.—From the total amount ap- 8 propriated to carry out this section, the Secretary 9 shall for making grants for the activities described 10 in subsection (c)(1), reserve— 11 ‘‘(A) $490,000,000 of the funds appro- 12 priated for fiscal year 2020; 13 ‘‘(B) $780,000,000 of the funds appro- 14 priated for fiscal year 2021; and 15 ‘‘(C) $1,070,000,000 of the funds appro- 16 priated for fiscal year 2022. 17 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize 18 Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start 19 agencies) that are applying to use funds to carry out 20 the activities described in subsection (a)(1). 21 ‘‘(3) MIGRANT OR SEASONAL HEAD START PRO- 22 GRAMS.—From the amount appropriated to carry 23 out this section for a fiscal year and reserved under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8004 IH paragraph (1), the Secretary shall reserve 4.5 per- 1 cent for migrant or seasonal Head Start programs. 2 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the end 3 of a fiscal year for which funding is appropriated under 4 this subsection (f), the Secretary shall provide to the Com- 5 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 7 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report that in- 8 cludes— 9 ‘‘(1) a description of the extent to which funds 10 appropriated under such subsection— 11 ‘‘(A) were used to expand access to full 12 school year and full school day services; 13 ‘‘(B) were used to expand access to addi- 14 tional service hours for migrant and seasonal 15 Head Start agencies; and 16 ‘‘(C) were used to enhance the quality of 17 Head Start services at Head Start agencies 18 that already met full-day, full-year service needs 19 within the community; and 20 ‘‘(2) the number of Head Start agencies that 21 provide full school day and full school year services 22 that, during such fiscal year, had a waitlist of child 23 applicants; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8004 IH ‘‘(3) the number of Head Start agencies that 1 are seeking to provide full school day and full school 2 year services that, during such fiscal year, had a 3 waitlist of child applicants. 4 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 5 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec- 6 tion— 7 ‘‘(1) $4,490,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 8 ‘‘(2) $780,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 9 ‘‘(3) $1,070,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 10 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 ‘‘(1) FULL SCHOOL DAY; FULL SCHOOL 12 YEAR.—The terms ‘full school day’ and ‘full school 13 year’ mean such a day and year, respectively, within 14 the meaning of the Head Start Program Perform- 15 ance standards issued under section 641A(a). 16 ‘‘(2) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START 17 AGENCY.—The term ‘migrant and seasonal Head 18 Start agency’ means an agency that is funded under 19 this subchapter to provide a migrant and seasonal 20 Head Start program.’’. 21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 640 of the 22 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835) is amended— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8004 IH (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ‘‘appro- 1 priated under this subchapter’’ each place it appears 2 and inserting ‘‘appropriated under section 639’’; and 3 (2) in subsection (g)(3)(A)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘amount appropriated’’ 5 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘amount 6 appropriated under section 639’’; 7 (B) by striking ‘‘services provided under 8 this subchapter’’ and inserting ‘‘services pro- 9 vided under this subchapter (other than section 10 657C)’’; and 11 (C) by striking ‘‘agency under this sub- 12 chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘agency under this sub- 13 chapter (other than section 657C)’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8004.IH H8004 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS