Head Start Reauthorization: New Opportunities for Homeless Children and Children in Out of Home Care

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Head Start ReauthorizationNew Opportunities for
Homeless Children and Children in Out of Home
Care

• NAEHCY 19th Annual Conference
• November 12, 2007
• Portland, OR

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Young Children Who Are Homeless or in Out of
Home Care

• Mobility - loss of structure, routine, stability
• Trauma and loss
• Deep poverty
• Higher rates of developmental delays
• Higher rates of chronic and acute health
  problems
• Mental health issues stress, anxiety, and
  depression
• Disrupted or stressed attachments to caregivers
• Homeless children and children in out of home
  care can benefit greatly from Head Start!

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Head Start Overview

• Federal funds directly to local communities -
  over 2,500 grantees/delegate agencies
• Comprehensive child development program
• Head Start serves ages 3 to 5 Head Start is in
  nearly every community nationwide
• Early Head Start serves pregnant women and
  children birth to age 3 Several grantees per
  state

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Head Start Overview, Continued

• Comprehensive and two-generational services
• Health and learning, disabilities, family
  development and support, community partnerships
• Current Law at least 90 at or below federal
  poverty
• Current Law at least 10 with identified
  disability
• Federal Bureau with Regional Office oversight and
  State Collaboration Offices
• Federal Program Performance Standards and
  monitoring system

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Head Start Reauthorization Status

• Legislation to be completed next week!
• President will sign into law in 2007
• Macro issues governance, 130, state advisory
  councils

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Governance-Policy Council

• Final Bill
• Policy Council restored except for approval and
  disapproval of the hiring and firing of the
  director, human resources director, and chief
  fiscal officer
• Secretary will develop impasse policy procedures
• Training for Board and Policy Council
• Training for board and policy council

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Eligibility

• 130
• Raises income eligibility guidelines to 130
• Strong community needs assessment
• Must prioritize poorest children first
• 55 below the poverty line
• 35 poverty line up to 130
• 10 over income

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Eligibility - Homeless and Foster

• Current regulations children in foster care are
  eligible even if family income exceeds guidelines
• Final bill
• Specifies that homeless children are deemed
  eligible for Head Start services

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Enrollment

• 97 Enrollment
• Keep waiting list
• Waiver if reasons for shortfall include serving
  large numbers of homeless, foster, migrant
  children

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Enrollment - Homeless Children

• Requires Secretary to issue regulations to
  require Head Start Agencies to
• Ensure that homeless children are identified and
  prioritized for enrollment
• Allow homeless families to apply to, enroll in
  and attend Head Start programs while required
  documents are obtained in a reasonable time
  frame
• Coordinate individual Head Start centers and
  programs with efforts to implement Subtitle VII-B
  of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
• Definition of homeless matches M-V definition
  (i.e. includes awaiting foster care placement)

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Competition of Head Start Grantees

• Bill
• 7 member panel selected by HHS within 3 months
• Unresolved deficiency
• Strengths and weaknesses/more objective
• No federal funds for legal fees on appeals

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Criteria for Applicants for New Programs

• Requires as a criteria for applicants for new
  Head Start programs a plan to meet the needs of
  homeless children and children in foster care,
  including transportation needs

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Considerations in Allocating Funds to Expand
Existing Head Start Programs

• The extent to which applicants have undertaken
  community-wide strategic planning and needs
  assessments involving the LEA homeless liaison,
  and organizations providing services to children
  in foster care, homeless children, child abuse
  prevention services, protective services
• The extent to which applicants coordinate with
  LEA homeless liaisons

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Quality Improvement Funds

• 25 set aside for quality improvement
• Allows quality improvement funds to be used for
  staff training, child counseling, and other
  services to address the challenges of homeless
  children, children in foster care, children
  referred by child welfare agencies

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Transportation

• Waivers still available
• Can use a portion of quality dollars to provide
  transportation services

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Collaboration and Coordination

• Requires Head Start agencies to coordinate and
  collaborate with the agencies responsible for
  administering section 106 of the Child Abuse
  Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a),
  parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security
  Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq. and 670 et seq.), and
  programs under Subtitle VII-B of the
  McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
• Requires each Head Start program to establish
  channels of communication between Head Start
  staff and McKinney-Vento liaisons to facilitate
  coordination of programs

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Collaboration and Coordination (Contd)

• Requires Head Start programs to develop and
  implement a family outreach and support program
  in coordination with outreach efforts under the
  McKinney-Vento Act
• Requires Head Start State Collaboration Directors
  to develop a strategic plan that will enhance
  collaboration and coordination with and services
  provided for homeless children, children in
  foster care, and children referred to Head Start
  programs by child welfare agencies, including
  agencies and State officials responsible for such
  services

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Collaboration and Coordination - State Level

• Early Education and Education Councils
• Strengths role of collaboration director
• Centers of Excellence-200 centers selected

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Infants and Toddlers (Early Head Start)

• Early Head Start Set-Aside
• Both House and Senate bills raise set-aside to
• 20 percent by the end of the 5 year
• reauthorization

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Infants and Toddlers

• Seamless Services (Zero to 5)
• 4)(A) Upon written request and pursuant to the
  requirements of this paragraph, a Head Start
  agency may use funds under section 640(a) to
  serve infants and toddlers if the agency submits
  an application to the Secretary containing the
  following information, as specified in rules
  issued by the Secretary
• (i) the amount of funds under section 640(a) that
  are proposed to be used in accordance with
  section 645A(b)

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Infants and Toddlers, Contd.

• Requires Early Head Start programs to coordinate
  services with programs in the community for
  homeless infants and toddlers
• Provides funds for technical assistance to Early
  Head Start programs to create special training
  and technical assistance initiatives targeted to
  serving high risk populations, such as children
  in the child welfare system and homeless
  children, and provide professional development
  designed to increase program participation for
  underserved populations of eligible children

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Quality Standards

• Requires the Secretary to establish standards for
  Head Start agencies, through regulation, taking
  into consideration best practices with respect to
  homeless children and children in foster care,
  and changes in the population of children who are
  eligible to participate in Head Start programs,
  including the family structure of such children
  (including children in foster care and the number
  of homeless children)

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Professional DevelopmentTeacher Degrees

• 50 teachers nationally must have BA Within the
  Next 6 Years/Goal Language
• Each program must report on progress being made
• By 2011 all teachers must have an Associate
  Degree
• BAs for all education coordinators
• CDA for teaching assistants

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Outcomes

• Terminate NRS (National Reporting System)
• Rewriting of education and performance standards
• NAS panel to develop new assessment

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Training and Technical Assistance Funds

• 2.5 to 3 of Head Start funding
• Funds to set up state based training system
• Professional development and fiscal management
  and PRISM

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Training and Technical Assistance Funds, Contd.

• Requires the Secretary to provide technical
  assistance to improve outreach to, increase
  program participation of, and improve quality of
  services available to meet the unique needs of
  homeless children
• Requires the Secretary to provide, either
  directly or through grants or other arrangements,
  to support training for personnel providing
  services to children determined to be abused or
  neglected or children referred by or receiving
  child welfare services, and to address the needs
  of homeless families

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Research and Evaluation

• Requires the Secretary to carry out research,
  evaluation, and demonstration activities in order
  to use the Head Start programs to develop, test,
  and disseminate new ideas and based on existing
  scientifically based researc, for addressing the
  needs of low-income preschool children (including
  children with disabilities, homeless children,
  children who have been abused or neglected, and
  children in foster care)

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Monitoring

• Final Bill
• Requires the triennial review use a risk-based
  assessment' system that is less focused on a
  checklist of more than 1,200 items, and more
  focused on a broad view of program quality
  service delivery and sound fiscal management.
• Includes new requirements regarding the
  qualifications of the review team in order to
  respond to serious concerns about the
  qualifications of the members of the review
  teams.

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Monitoring

• Requires triennial reviews address program
  weaknesses and strengths. The current model of
  focusing solely on program deficits runs counter
  to central principles of typical grant review
  systems and leads to an unnecessarily hostile
  relationship between Head Start agencies and
  review teams.
• The Committee believes triennial reviews can be
  invaluable to improving program quality, but only
  if they are conducted in a manner in which Head
  Start programs are collaborators in their own
  improvements.

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Monitoring

• Requires the Secretary to ensure that reviews are
  conducted by review teams that include
  individuals who are knowledgeable, to the maximum
  extent practicable, about the needs of homeless
  children and children in foster care

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Data Collection and Reporting

• Requires Head Start programs to collect data on
  the number of homeless children and children in
  foster care participating in the program
• Requires the Secretary to prepare a report on the
  status of children in Head Start programs,
  including homeless children, children in foster
  care, and children referred by child welfare
  agencies

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Voter Education

• Deal reached on voter education language
• No federal funds can be used for voter education
  activities
• But outside community organization can register
  parents to vote during hours of operation

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Contact Information

• Barbara Duffield, Policy Director
• NAEHCY
• Phone [phone]
• Email bduffield_at_naehcy.org
• JooYeun Chang, Director of Public Policy
• Casey Family Programs
• Phone [phone]
• Email jchang_at_casey.org
• Joel Ryan, Executive Director,
• Washington State Association of Head Start and
  ECEAP
• Phone [phone]
• Email joel_at_wsaheadstarteceap.com