To amend the Head Start Act to designate up to 200 Head Start centers as Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood, and for other purposes.

July 28 (legislative day, JULY 21), 2003

Mr. ALEXANDER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

To amend the Head Start Act to designate up to 200 Head Start centers as Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood, 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.

This Act may be cited as the `Head Start Centers of Excellence Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD.

The Head Start Act is amended by inserting after section 641A (42 U.S.C. 9836a) the following:

`SEC. 641B. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD.

`(a) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

`(1) CENTER OF EXCELLENCE- The term `center of excellence' means a Center of Excellence in Early Childhood designated under subsection (b).

`(2) STATE COUNCIL- The term `State council' means a State Council for Excellence in Early Childhood described in subsection (e).

`(b) DESIGNATION AND BONUS GRANTS- The Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary shall--

`(1) designate up to 200 exemplary Head Start agencies as Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood; and

`(2) make bonus grants to the designated centers of excellence to carry out the activities described in subsection (d).

`(c) APPLICATION AND DESIGNATION-

`(1) APPLICATION-

`(A) IN GENERAL- To be eligible to receive designation as a center of excellence under subsection (b), a Head Start agency in a State shall be nominated by the Governor of the State and shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.

`(B) CONTENTS- At a minimum, the application shall include--

`(i) evidence that the Head Start program carried out by the agency has improved the school readiness of, and enhanced academic outcomes for, children who have participated in the program;

`(ii) evidence that the program meets or exceeds Head Start standards and performance measures described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 641A, as evidenced by successful completion of programmatic and monitoring reviews, and has no citations for substantial deficiencies with respect to the standards and measures;

`(iii) information demonstrating the existence of a collaborative partnership between the Head Start agency and the Governor's office;

`(iv) a nomination letter from the Governor, demonstrating the agency's ability to carry out the coordination, transition, and training services of the program to be carried out under the bonus grant involved, including coordination of activities with State and local agencies that provide early childhood services to children and families in the community served by the agency; and

`(v) information demonstrating the existence of, or the agency's plan to establish, a local council for excellence in early childhood, which shall include representatives of all the institutions, agencies, and groups involved in the work of the center for and the local provision of services to eligible children and other at-risk children, and their families.

`(2) SELECTION- In selecting agencies to designate as centers of excellence under subsection (b), the Secretary shall designate at least 1 from each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia.

`(3) TERM OF DESIGNATION-

`(A) IN GENERAL- Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall designate a Head Start agency as a center of excellence for a 5-year term. During the period of that designation, subject to the availability of appropriations, the agency shall be eligible to receive a bonus grant under subsection (b).

`(B) REVOCATION- The Secretary may revoke an agency's designation under subsection (b) if the Secretary determines that the agency is not demonstrating adequate performance.

`(4) AMOUNT OF BONUS GRANT- The Secretary shall base the amount of funding provided through a bonus grant made under subsection (b) to a center of excellence for the center's staff costs on the number of children served at the center of excellence. The Secretary shall make such a bonus grant in an amount of not less than $100,000 per year.

`(d) USE OF FUNDS-

`(1) ACTIVITIES- A center of excellence that receives a bonus grant under subsection (b) may use the funds made available through the bonus grant--

`(A) to provide Head Start services to additional eligible children;

`(B) to better meet the needs of working families in the community served by the center by serving more children in Early Head Start programs or in full-working-day, full calendar year Head Start programs;

`(C) to model and disseminate best practices for achieving early academic success, including achieving school readiness and developing preliteracy and prenumeracy skills for at-risk children, and to provide seamless service delivery for eligible children and their families;

`(D) to coordinate early childhood and social services available in the community served by the center for at-risk children (prenatal through age 8) and their families, including services provided by child care providers, health care providers, and providers of income-based financial assistance, and other State and local services;

`(E) to provide training and cross training for Head Start teachers and staff, and to develop agency leaders;

`(F) to provide effective transitions between Head Start programs and elementary school, to facilitate ongoing communication between Head Start and elementary school teachers concerning children receiving Head Start services, and to provide training and technical assistance to providers who are public elementary school teachers and other staff of local educational agencies, child care providers, family service providers, and other providers of early childhood services, to help the providers described in this subparagraph increase their ability to work with low-income, at-risk children and their families; and

`(G) to carry out other activities determined by the center to improve the overall quality of the Head Start program carried out by the agency and the program carried out under the bonus grant involved.

`(2) INVOLVEMENT OF OTHER HEAD START AGENCIES AND PROVIDERS- Not later than the second year for which the center receives a bonus grant under subsection (b), the center, in carrying out activities under this subsection, shall work with the center's delegate agencies, several additional Head Start agencies, and other providers of early childhood services in the community involved, to encourage the agencies and providers described in this sentence to carry out model programs. The center shall establish the local council described in subsection (c)(1)(B)(v).

`(e) STATE COUNCILS FOR EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD-

`(1) ESTABLISHMENT- The Secretary shall make grants to States to enable the States to establish State Councils for Excellence in Early Childhood. The State council established by a State shall include representatives of Head Start agencies, public elementary schools, providers of early childhood services (including family service providers), and other entities working with centers of excellence in the State. The State council shall be chaired by a Director of a center of excellence in the State.

`(2) FUNCTIONS- The State council shall work with the State Head Start Office of Collaboration. The State council shall review and compile information on the work of the centers of excellence in the State, collecting and disseminating information on the findings of the centers, and identifying barriers to and opportunities for success in that work that could be addressed at a State level. The State Head Start Office of Collaboration shall address the barriers and opportunities.

`(f) RESEARCH AND REPORTS-

`(1) RESEARCH- The Secretary shall make a grant to an independent organization to conduct research on the ability of the centers of excellence to improve the school readiness of children receiving Head Start services, and to positively impact school results in the earliest grades. The organization shall also conduct research to measure the success of the centers of excellence at encouraging the center's delegate agencies, additional Head Start agencies, and other providers of early childhood services in the communities involved to meet measurable improvement goals, particularly in the area of school readiness.

`(2) REPORT- Not later than 48 months after the date of enactment of the Head Start Centers of Excellence Act of 2003, the organization shall prepare and submit to the Secretary and Congress a report containing the results of the research described in paragraph (1).

`(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2004 and each subsequent fiscal year--

`(1) $90,000,000 to make bonus grants to centers of excellence under subsection (b) to carry out activities described in subsection (d);

`(2) $2,500,000 to pay for the administrative costs of the Secretary in carrying out this section, including the cost of a conference of centers of excellence;

`(3) $5,500,000 to make grants to States for State councils to carry out the activities described in subsection (e); and

`(4) $2,000,000 for research activities described in subsection (f).'.

END