Sec. 202. Early learning quality partnerships
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/bill/113/s/1697/is/section-202A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Head Start Act is amended— section 645A(e) ( 42 U.S.C. 9840a(e) ) is amended to read as follows: The Secretary shall award grants under this section on a competitive basis to applicants meeting the criteria in subsection
(d)(giving priority to entities with a record of providing early, continuous, and comprehensive childhood development and family services and entities that agree to partner with a center-based or family child care provider to carry out the activities described in section 645B). ; and by inserting after section 645A (42 U.S.C. 9840a) the following: The Secretary shall make grants to Early Head Start agencies to partner with center-based or family child care providers, particularly those that receive support under the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq. ), that agree to meet program performance standards that are described in section 641A(a)(1) and applicable Early Head Start standards described in section 645A, with funding and technical assistance from the Early Head Start agency. Except as provided in paragraphs
(2)and (3), the Secretary shall award grants under this section in a manner consistent with section 645A(e). In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants— that propose to create strong alignment of programs with maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting programs assisted under section 511 of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 711 ), State-funded prekindergarten programs, programs carried out under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.), and other programs supported under this Act, to create a strong continuum of high-quality services for children from birth to school entry; and that seek to work with child care providers across settings, including center-based and home-based programs. From funds appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary shall reserve— not less than 3 percent of such funds for Indian Head Start programs that serve young children; not less than 4.5 percent for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs that serve young children; and not less than 0.2 percent for programs funded under clause
(iv)or
(v)of section 640(a)(2)(B). The Secretary shall allocate funds appropriated to carry out this section and not reserved under subparagraph
(A)among the States proportionally based on the number of young children from families whose income is below the poverty line residing in such States. Partnerships formed through assistance provided under this section may serve children through age 3. The standards applied to children served under this section shall be consistent with those applied to 3-year-old children otherwise served under this Act. An Early Head Start agency that receives a grant under this section shall— enter into a contractual relationship with a center-based or family child care provider to raise the quality of such provider’s programs so that the provider meets the program performance standards described in subsection
(a)through activities that may include— expanding the center-based or family child care provider’s programs through financial support; providing training, technical assistance, and support to the provider in order to help the provider meet the program performance standards, which may include supporting program and partner staff in earning a child development associate credential, associate's degree, or baccalaureate degree in early childhood education or a closely related field for working with infants and toddlers; and blending funds received under the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and the Early Head Start program carried out under section 645A in order to provide high-quality child care, for a full day, that meets the program performance standards; develop and implement a proposal to recruit and enter into the contract with a center-based or family child care provider, particularly a provider that serves children who receive assistance under the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); create a clear and realizable timeline to increase the quality and capacity of a center-based or family child care provider so that the provider meets the program performance standards described in subsection (a); and align activities and services provided through funding under this section with the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework. Prior to awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall establish standards to ensure that the responsibility and expectations of the Early Head Start Agency and the partner child care providers are clearly defined. A partner child care provider that receives assistance through a grant provided under this section shall be exempt, for a period of 18 months, from the designation renewal requirements under section 641(c). Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Strong Start for America’s Children Act , the Secretary shall— conduct a survey of Early Head Start agencies to determine the extent of barriers to entering into early learning quality partnership agreements under this section on Early Head Start agencies and on child care providers; and submit information obtained from the survey conducted under paragraph (1), with suggested steps to overcome such barriers, in a report to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, including a detailed description of the degree to which Early Head Start agencies are utilizing the funds provided. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— $4,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2015 through 2023. .
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