Sec. 106. State applications

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To receive a grant under this subtitle, the Governor of a State, in consultation with the Indian tribes and tribal organizations in the State, if any, shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require. At a minimum, each such application shall include— an assurance that the State— will coordinate with and continue to participate in the programs authorized under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419 and 1431 et seq.), the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq. ), and the maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs funded under section 511 of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 711 ) for the duration of the grant; will designate a State-level entity (such as an agency or joint interagency office), selected by the Governor, for the administration of the grant, which shall coordinate and consult with the State educational agency if the entity is not the State educational agency; and will establish, or certify the existence of, program standards for all State prekindergarten programs consistent with the definition of a high-quality prekindergarten program under section 102; a description of the State’s plan to— use funds received under this subtitle and the State’s matching funds to provide high-quality prekindergarten programs, in accordance with section 117(d) , with open enrollment for all children in the State who— are described in section 102(9)(A) ; and are from families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty line; develop or enhance a system for monitoring eligible local entities that are receiving funds under this subtitle for compliance with quality standards developed by the State and to provide program improvement support, which may be accomplished through the use of a State-developed system for quality rating and improvement; if applicable, expand participation in the State’s high-quality prekindergarten programs to children from families with incomes above 200 percent of the poverty line; carry out the State’s comprehensive early learning assessment system, or how the State plans to develop such a system, ensuring that any assessments are culturally, developmentally, and age-appropriate and consistent with the recommendations from the study on Developmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young Children by the National Academy of Sciences, consistent with section 649(j) of the Head Start Act ( 42 U.S.C. 9844 ); develop, implement, and make publicly available the performance measures and targets described in section 109 ; increase the number of teachers with bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education, or with bachelor’s degrees in another closely related field and specialized training and demonstrated competency in early childhood education, including how institutions of higher education will support increasing the number of teachers with such degrees and training, including through the use of assessments of prior learning, knowledge, and skills to facilitate and expedite attainment of such degrees; coordinate and integrate the activities funded under this subtitle with Federal, State, and local services and programs that support early childhood education and care, including programs supported under this subtitle, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq. ), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq. ), the Head Start Act ( 42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq. ), the Community Services Block Grant Act ( 42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq. ), the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq. ), the temporary assistance for needy families program under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 601 et seq. ), the State incentive grant program under section 14006 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ( Public Law 111–5 ), federally funded early literacy programs, the maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs funded under section 511 of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 711 ), health improvements to child care funded under title XIX of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq. ), the program under subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq. ), the Investing In Innovation program under section 14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ( Public Law 111–5 ), programs authorized under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 670 et seq. ), the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 ( Public Law 110–351 ), grants for infant and toddler care through Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships funded under the heading Children and Families Services Programs—Administration for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 2014 (title II of division H of Public Law 113–76 ; 128 Stat. 363), the preschool development grants program funded under the heading Innovation and Improvement in the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2015 (title III of division G of Public Law 113–235 ; 128 Stat. 2492), and any other Federal, State, or local early childhood education programs used in the State; award subgrants to eligible local entities, and in awarding such subgrants, facilitate a delivery system of high-quality prekindergarten programs that includes diverse providers, such as providers in community-based, public school, and private settings, and consider the system’s impact on options for families; in the case of a State that does not have a funding mechanism for subgranting funds to implement high-quality prekindergarten, use objective criteria in awarding subgrants to eligible local entities that will implement high-quality prekindergarten programs, including actions the State will take to ensure that eligible local entities will coordinate with local educational agencies or other early learning providers, as appropriate, to carry out activities to provide children served under this subtitle with a successful transition from preschool into kindergarten, which activities shall include— aligning curricular objectives and instruction; providing staff professional development, including opportunities for joint-professional development on early learning and kindergarten through grade 3 standards, assessments, and curricula; coordinating family engagement and support services; and encouraging the shared use of facilities and transportation, as appropriate; use the State early learning and development standards described in section 105(1) to address the needs of dual language learners, including by incorporating benchmarks related to English language development; identify barriers, and propose solutions to overcome such barriers, which may include seeking assistance under section 116 , in the State to effectively use and integrate Federal, State, and local public funds and private funds for early childhood education that are available to the State on the date on which the application is submitted; support articulation agreements (as defined in section 486A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1093a )) between public 2-year and public 4-year institutions of higher education and other credit-bearing professional development in the State for early childhood teacher preparation programs and closely related fields; ensure that the higher education programs in the State have the capacity to prepare a workforce to provide high-quality prekindergarten programs; support workforce development, including State and local policies that support prekindergarten instructional staff’s ability to earn a degree, certification, or other specializations or qualifications, including policies on leave, substitutes, and child care services, including non-traditional hour child care; hold eligible local entities accountable for use of funds; ensure that the State’s early learning and development standards are integrated into the instructional and programmatic practices of high-quality prekindergarten programs and related programs and services, such as those provided to children under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419 and 1431 et seq.); increase the number of children in the State who are enrolled in high-quality kindergarten programs and carry out a strategy to implement such a plan; coordinate the State’s activities supported by grants under this subtitle with activities in State plans required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq. ), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq. ), the Head Start Act ( 42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq. ), the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq. ), and the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act ( 20 U.S.C. 9201 et seq. ); encourage eligible local entities to coordinate with community-based learning resources, such as libraries, arts and arts education programs, appropriate media programs, family literacy programs, public parks and recreation programs, museums, nutrition education programs, and programs supported by the Corporation for National and Community Service; work with eligible local entities, in consultation with elementary school principals, to ensure that high-quality prekindergarten programs have sufficient and appropriate facilities to meet the needs of children eligible for prekindergarten; support local early childhood coordinating entities, such as local early childhood councils, if applicable, and help such entities to coordinate early childhood education programs with high-quality prekindergarten programs to ensure effective and efficient delivery of early childhood education program services; support shared services administering entities, if applicable; ensure that the provision of high-quality prekindergarten programs will not lead to a diminution in the quality or supply of services for infants and toddlers or disrupt the care of infants and toddlers in the geographic area served by the eligible local entity, which may include demonstrating that the State will direct funds to provide high-quality early childhood education and care to infants and toddlers in accordance with section 117(d) ; encourage or promote socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic diversity in the classrooms of high-quality prekindergarten programs, as applicable; and ensure that all high-quality prekindergarten programs the State supports under this Act will conduct criminal history background checks that meet the requirements of subsection

(b)on employees and applicants for employment with unsupervised access to children; and an inventory of the State’s higher education programs that prepare individuals for work in a high-quality prekindergarten program, including— certification programs; associate degree programs; baccalaureate degree programs; masters degree programs; and other programs that lead to a specialization in early childhood education, or a related field. The criminal history background checks required under subsection (a)(2)(Y) shall include— a search of the State criminal registry or repository in the State in which the employee resides and previously resided; a search of the State-based child abuse and neglect registries and databases in the State in which the employee resides and previously resided; a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint check using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System; and a search of the National Sex Offender Registry established under section 119 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 ( 42 U.S.C. 16919 ). To be eligible to receive a grant under this subtitle, a State shall prohibit an individual with unsupervised access to children from employment with a program supported with grant funds under this subtitle if the individual has been convicted of a violent felony or any violent or sexual crime against a minor, as defined by the State. To be eligible to receive a grant under this subtitle, each criminal history background check conducted on an employee as required under subsection (a)(2)(Y) shall be periodically repeated or updated one time at least every five years. A high-quality prekindergarten program shall submit a request, to the appropriate State agency designated by a State, for a criminal background check described in subsection (b)(1), for each individual employee with unsupervised access to children. In the case of an individual who is a prospective employee with unsupervised access to children on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, the provider shall submit such a request— prior to the date the individual becomes an employee; and not less than once during each 5-year period following the first submission date under this paragraph for that staff member. The State shall carry out the request of a high-quality prekindergarten program for a criminal background check as expeditiously as possible, but not to exceed 45 days after the date on which such request was submitted, and shall provide the results of the criminal background check to such program and to the employee staff member. The State shall provide the results of the criminal background check to the high-quality prekindergarten program in a statement that indicates whether an employee is eligible or ineligible for employment without revealing any disqualifying crime or other related information regarding the individual. If the employee is ineligible for such employment due to the background check, the State will, when providing the results of the background check, include information related to each disqualifying crime, in a report to the employee. No State shall publicly release or share the results of individual background checks, except States may release aggregated data by crime from background check results, as long as such data does not contain personally identifiable information. The State shall provide for a process by which an employee may appeal the results of a criminal background check conducted under this section to challenge the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in such employee’s criminal background report. The State shall ensure that— each employee shall be given notice of the opportunity to appeal; an employee will receive instructions about how to complete the appeals process if the employee wishes to challenge the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in such employee’s criminal background report; and the appeals process is completed in a timely manner for each employee not to exceed 45 days. An employee who has successfully challenged the findings contained in such employee’s criminal background check report in the appeals process under this paragraph shall be allowed to seek compensation for any reasonable costs incurred from such appeal. The State shall establish a timely review process not to exceed 45 days through which the State may determine that an employee identified in paragraph

(2)is eligible for employment with the high-quality prekindergarten program. The review process shall be an individualized assessment consistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq. ) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions, and may include consideration of the following factors— nature and seriousness of the offense; circumstances under which the offense was committed; lapse of time since the offense was committed or the individual was released from prison; individual’s age at the time of the offense; social conditions which may have fostered the offense; relationship of the nature of the offense to the position sought; number of criminal convictions; honesty and transparency of the candidate in admitting the conviction record; individual’s work history, including evidence that the individual performed the same or similar work, post-conviction, with the same or different employer, with no known incidents of criminal conduct; evidence of rehabilitation as demonstrated by the individual’s good conduct while in correctional custody and/or the community; counseling or psychiatric treatment received; acquisition of additional academic or vocational schooling; successful participation in correctional work-release programs and the recommendations of persons who have or have had the applicant under their supervision; whether the individual is bonded under Federal, State, or local bonding program; and any other factor that may lead to the conclusion that the individual does not pose a risk to children. This paragraph shall not apply to an employee who has been convicted of a serious violent or sexual felony against a child, as determined by the State. Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a private right of action if a high-quality prekindergarten program has acted in accordance with this section. Fees that a State may charge for the costs of processing applications and administering a criminal background check as required by this section shall not exceed the actual costs to the State for the processing and administration. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a State from disqualifying individuals as an employee based on their conviction for crimes not specifically listed in this section that bear upon the fitness of an individual to provide care for and have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children. Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights and remedies provided for an employee residing in a State that disqualifies individuals as an employee for crimes not specifically provided for under this section. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall report to Congress on— any information available about numbers of individuals restricted or disqualified from being an employee on the basis of a criminal record identified in the background check, pursuant to this section in total, and for each type of conviction, disaggregated by race, gender, national origin, and ethnicity; the identity of each State’s agency with jurisdiction over the background check results and appeals process described in paragraph (6); the identity of each State’s agency with jurisdiction over the individualized assessment, as described in paragraph (7); the numbers of individuals approved for consideration as an employee by the individualized assessment, as described in paragraph

(7)in total, and for each type of conviction, disaggregated by race, gender, national origin, and ethnicity; and the numbers of successful and unsuccessful appeals to the accuracy and completeness of records or information, in total, by State, and by type of conviction, disaggregated by race, gender, national origin, and ethnicity.

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