Order Code RL30952
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Head Start: Background and Issues
Updated February 23, 2006
Melinda Gish
Specialist in Social Legislation
Domestic Social Policy Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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Head Start: Background and Issues
Summary
Head Start is a federal program that has provided comprehensive early
childhood development services to low-income children since 1965. Services
provided to preschool-aged children include child development, educational, health,
nutritional, social and other activities, intended to prepare low-income children for
entering kindergarten. The program is administered by the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS). Federal Head Start funds are provided directly to local
grantees, rather than through states. Programs are locally designed and are
administered by a network of over 1,600 public and private nonprofit and for-profit
agencies. In FY2005, Head Start funded enrollment for 906,993 children.
Head Start was last reauthorized in 1998 for FY1999-FY2003, and after
unsuccessful efforts to complete the reauthorization process on schedule, the 109th
Congress inherited the task of reauthorizing the program. On September 22, 2005,
the House passed a reauthorization bill (H.R. 2123), which, as amended, includes the
controversial provision to allow faith-based Head Start providers to discriminate in
hiring, based on religion. The bill also contains provisions to increase coordination
between Head Start and other entities providing early childhood services, and
increases competition for Head Start grants, requiring most to recompete every five
years. On the Senate side, a reauthorization bill (S. 1107) has not yet gone to the
floor, but has been approved in committee, with emphasis on improving coordination
among early childhood programs, and increasing staff qualifications. The bill does
not include the provision to allow faith-based providers to discriminate in hiring.
Head Start funding included in the FY2006 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-149) was subject to an across-the-board rescission of
1%, taking it to a level of $6.786 billion ($57 million less than the FY2005 level).
Supplemental dedicated funding for Head Start is included in the FY2006 Defense
Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-148), which provides $90 million for Head Start to
serve children displaced by the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005 and to help with the
costs of renovating affected facilities. The President’s budget for FY2007 proposes
$6.786 billion for Head Start (the same post-rescission level included in the FY2006
HHS appropriation law.)
Program performance, fiscal management, and the long-term impact on
children, particularly with respect to educational attainment, continue to be areas of
focus and concern. The 1998 revisions to the Head Start Act required HHS to
develop specific education performance standards, and established teacher and staff
training related to these standards as a priority use of quality improvement funds.
Development of a national reporting system that can be used to assess the
effectiveness of Head Start programs in achieving successful outcomes for children
in terms of school readiness — particularly the areas of literacy and number
knowledge — got underway during the 108th Congress. This national reporting
system was implemented in fall 2003, and is designed to assess Head Start four- and
five-year-olds twice a year on educational performance measures — using indicators
that were included in legislation as part of the 1998 reauthorization of Head Start.

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Contents
Recent Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
President’s FY2007 Budget Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
FY2006 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
FY2006 Defense Appropriations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Reauthorization Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Head Start Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Response to Gulf Coast Hurricanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Early Head Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
President’s Head Start Proposals
and Initiatives — Past and Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Reauthorization Bills in the 109th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Other Legislation in the 109th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Reauthorization Bills in the 108th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Other Head Start Legislation in the 108th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1998 Reauthorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Long-Term Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Coordination with Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
List of Tables
Table 1. Head Start Funding: FY1990-FY2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Table 2. Estimates of Head Start Populations
and Percent Served, FY2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Table 3. Head Start FY2006 State Allocations (estimates) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

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Head Start: Background and Issues
Recent Developments
President’s FY2007 Budget Proposal. The Administration’s budget
request for FY2007, released on February 6, 2006, proposes to maintain Head Start
funding at a level of $6.786 billion [the same amount, post-rescission, included in the
FY2006 HHS Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-149)]. In its Justification of Estimates
for the Appropriations Committees, the Administration (HHS) contends that by
allowing a greater portion of Head Start funds to be shifted away from training and
technical assistance and into direct service grants, the number of children estimated
to be served by Head Start (and Early Head Start) would increase to approximately
917,000 (an increase of roughly 10,000 children from FY2006 estimates). (For more
details, see President’s Head Start Proposals and Initiatives later in this report.)
FY2006 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations. The bill making FY2006
appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and
Education (H.R. 3010) was signed into law (P.L. 109-149) by the President on
December 30, 2005. Discretionary programs funded under this legislation are subject
to an across-the-board rescission of 1%, which decreases the Head Start funding level
to $6.786 billion. (For more details, see FY2006 Appropriations, later in this report.)
FY2006 Defense Appropriations. In response to last year’s Gulf Coast
hurricanes, the FY2006 Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 2863), also signed into
law (P.L. 109-148) on December 30, 2005, provides an additional $90 million for
Head Start, specifically to serve children displaced by the hurricanes and to help with
the costs of renovating affected facilities. (For more information on the Head Start
Bureau’s response to last year’s hurricanes, see Response to Gulf Coast Hurricanes,
later in this report.)
Reauthorization Developments. The Head Start program remains
unauthorized, and thus, a potential agenda item for the second session of the 109th
Congress. On September 22, 2005, the House amended and passed H.R. 2123, a
Head Start reauthorization bill, (231-184). Much of the floor debate was dominated
by discussion of the controversial amendment to allow faith-based Head Start
providers to discriminate in their hiring, based on religion. That amendment, offered
by Representative Boehner, was approved by a vote of 220-196. (For further
description of the underlying bill and other amendments agreed to on the floor, see
Reauthorization Legislation in the 109th Congress, later in this report.)
On the Senate side, a reauthorization bill has not yet reached the floor; however,
on May 25, 2005, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
approved its Head Start reauthorization bill, S. 1107, by voice vote. (For a

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description of S. 1107, also see Reauthorization Legislation in the 109th Congress,
later in this report.)
Overview
Head Start is a federal program that has provided comprehensive early
childhood development services to low-income children since 1965. The program
is administered by the Administration for Children and Families of the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS), which provides grants directly from the
federal government to local entities (as opposed to providing funding through the
state). Head Start was last reauthorized in 1998 (P.L. 105-285) for fiscal years 1999-
2003, and though addressed by legislation offered and vigorously debated during the
108th Congress, the Head Start Act was not ultimately reauthorized. Thus, the 109th
Congress inherited the task, and at present, the House has passed a bill (H.R. 2123)
and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions has approved
its version of a reauthorization bill (S. 1107), with bipartisan support.
The reauthorization bills that have been introduced in this Congress differ in
substantial ways from those that received attention in the 108th Congress. While
much of the debate in the last Congress focused on a House proposal to allow up to
eight qualifying states to take over the administration of Head Start programs in their
states, the current House bill (H.R. 2123) does not include that provision. Rather
than proposing the eight-state pilot project (characterized by critics as “block grants”
to eight states) that would allow for state administration of the Head Start program
(as did H.R. 2210, 108th Congress), the current House bill instead aims to promote
better coordination between Head Start and other early childhood programs by
requiring that Head Start grantees in all 50 states align their objectives for improving
school readiness with state-developed standards for kindergarten, and demonstrate
active partnerships with local school districts serving the same communities. The
direct relationship between the federal government and local grantees would remain
unchanged. Neither the reauthorization bill offered in the Senate during the last
Congress (S. 1940, 108th Congress), nor the current Senate committee-passed bill (S.
1107), includes a provision to allow for state administration of the Head Start
program.
Another major source of debate during reauthorization discussions in the 108th
Congress was a provision included in the House bill (H.R. 2210, 108th) — but not S.
1940 — which would have amended Section 654 of the Head Start Act to allow for
discrimination in the employment of Head Start staff, based on religion. An
amendment to strip the provision from H.R. 2210 was offered by Representative
Woolsey on the House floor, but the amendment was not adopted [failing 199-231],
and the House subsequently passed H.R. 2210, containing the new language allowing
discrimination, by a one-vote margin. In this Congress (the 109th), the House bill
(H.R. 2123), as introduced and amended in committee, did not contain the
discrimination language of the bill from the 108th Congress; however, Chairman
Boehner followed through on his plan (openly discussed in the committee mark-up)
to offer the provision as an amendment when the bill was brought to the House floor.
The provision faced strong opposition from Democrats, and dominated much of the
floor debate, but ultimately passed (220-196). The full bill, including the faith-based
amendment among others, passed the House by a vote of 231-184. It remains to be

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seen whether the controversial amendment will be offered on the Senate side, if and
when S. 1107 reaches the floor.

Concerns regarding financial management problems among some Head Start
grantees (highlighted by a February 28, 2005 GAO report),1 and other program
performance issues are newly addressed by current reauthorization bills. Both the
House bill and the Senate committee-passed bill include provisions to increase
competition for grants, requiring most grantees to recompete for funding every five
years. Priority for funding (and refunding) would be given to high performing
grantees (those found to be meeting the goals aligned with the Head Start child
outcomes framework, state early learning standards, and expectations for local
schools).
Congress appropriates funds annually for the Head Start program as part of the
appropriations process for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Appropriations have been made without an authorization since FY2003. The Head
Start program has received increases of varying levels over the past two decades (see
Table 1). At the conclusion of the 108th Congress, the Consolidated Appropriations
Act for FY2005 was signed into law (P.L. 108-447), providing the Head Start
program with $6.843 billion (this amount reflects the across-the-board cut of 0.8%
applied to the $6.899 billion found in the legislative language). Of that amount,
$1.386 billion became available in FY2006. Head Start funding in the FY2006 HHS
Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-149) is subject to an across-the-board cut of 1%, which
brings the total to $6.786 billion (with $1.389 billion of that becoming available in
FY2007). In addition, the Defense Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-148) includes $90
million in supplementary funding for Head Start, to be used specifically for grantees
serving children displaced by last year’s Gulf Coast hurricanes, and to help with costs
of renovating Head Start facilities that were affected by the storms. (See FY2006
Appropriations, later in this report.)
Head Start Program
Services. Head Start provides comprehensive early childhood development,
educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to low-income preschool
children and their families. These services are intended to prepare children to enter
kindergarten and to improve the conditions necessary for their success in later school
and life. Head Start strongly emphasizes the involvement of families and the local
community to assure that programs are responsive to the unique needs of each
community. Since flexibility in local program design and operation is encouraged,
there is wide variation across the country in how Head Start services are delivered
(e.g., center-based, home-based, or some combination), as well as in local program
costs, sponsoring agencies, and coordination arrangements with other social service
programs. Head Start operates both full- and part-day programs — most only during
the school year. Some local Head Start programs do coordinate with other programs
to lengthen the time of care, both in terms of hours, and the year. Full-day
1 Government Accountability Office, Head Start: Comprehensive Approach to Identifying
and Addressing Risks Could Help Prevent Grantee Financial Management Weaknesses,
GAO-05-176, Feb. 28, 2005, [http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05176.pdf].

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enrollment in Head Start is defined as six or more hours per day. Part-day sessions
must comply with a minimum class time requirement of 3.5 hours.
Funding. Federal appropriations for Head Start substantially increased during
the 1990s, tripling from the FY1990 level of $1.552 billion to the FY1999 level of
$4.658 billion, and more than quadrupling from FY1990 to the FY2005 level of
$6.843 billion. These increased appropriations have been used both to expand the
number of children served and for quality improvement activities. This year
(FY2006), regular Head Start funding decreased to $6.786 billion (after the 1%
across-the-board rescission); however the FY2006 Defense Appropriations Act (P.L.
109-148) does provide $90 million in supplementary funding to assist with Head
Start needs arising as a result of the Gulf Coast hurricanes (See Table 1).
Table 1. Head Start Funding: FY1990-FY2006
($ in billions)
Year
Authorization
Appropriation
Year
Authorization
Appropriation
1990
1.552
1.552
1999
ssan
4.658
1991
2.386
1.952
2000
ssan
5.267a
1992
4.273
2.202
2001
ssan
6.200a
1993
5.924
2.776
2002
ssan
6.538a
1994
7.660
3.326
2003
ssan
6.668a
1995
ssan
3.534
2004
expired
6.775a,b
1996
ssan
3.569
2005
expired
6.843c
1997
ssan
3.981
expired
6.786d
2006
1998
ssan
4.347
(see footnote e)
0.090e
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) based on data from the Head
Start Bureau.
ssan = such sums as necessary.
a. This amount includes an advance appropriation of $1.4 billion for the following fiscal year.
b. This amount reflects the across-the-board 0.59% rescission applied to discretionary programs under
the FY2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-199).
c. This amount reflects the across-the-board 0.8% rescission applied to discretionary programs under
the FY2005 Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-447). Of the $6.843 billion, $1.386 billion became
available in FY2006. (Prior to the rescission, the total amount was $6.899 billion.)
d. This amount reflects the across-the-board 1% rescission applied to discretionary programs under
the FY2006 Labor-HHS- Education Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-149). (Prior to the rescission, the
amount was $6.843 billion.) Of the $6.786 billion, $1.389 billion becomes available in FY2007.
e. The FY2006 Defense Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-148) provides $90 million in Head Start
funding to be used specifically to address needs arising from the Gulf Coast hurricanes (i.e.,
serving displaced children and helping with costs of renovating affected facilities). Therefore,
this funding will not be allocated in accordance with the regular Head Start allocation formula.
This funding has no specified authorization under the Head Start Act.
Unlike some other federal social service programs that are funded through the
states, HHS awards Head Start funds directly to local public and private nonprofit

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and for-profit grantees. Grantees must contribute a 20% nonfederal match, which
may be in cash or in-kind, unless they are granted a waiver. No more than 15% of
a grantee’s total program costs may be for administration. Funds are awarded to over
1,600 grantees at the discretion of HHS from state allocations determined by a
formula in law. However, before these state allocations are made, the law contains
a series of set-aside provisions that reserve funds for specified activities.
Under the 1998 Head Start amendments (P.L. 105-285), up to $35 million of
total Head Start appropriations is reserved annually for transition-to-school grants;
up to $5 million is reserved annually for national research on the impact of Head
Start; and $12 million in FY1999 and such sums as necessary thereafter is reserved
for other research, demonstration and evaluation activities, including longitudinal
studies.
Also of total Head Start appropriations, the Secretary must reserve 13% for use
in the following priority order:
! Indian and migrant Head Start programs, and services for children
with disabilities;
! payments to outlying territories, not to exceed one-half of 1% of the
total annual appropriation. The territories include Guam, American
Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands,
Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau;
! training and technical assistance (not less than 2% of the total annual
appropriation, of which at least $3 million must be related to family
literacy);
! discretionary payments made by the Secretary, including the costs
(other than federal salaries) of local program monitoring and
correcting deficiencies and conducting proceedings to terminate
Head Start grantees; and
! payments for research, demonstration and evaluation activities.
Of remaining Head Start appropriations (after reserving the amounts described
above and adjusting the prior year appropriation to reflect the percentage change in
the Consumer Price Index), “regular” Head Start funds are allotted among states
according to the following formula, which was established in the 1998 amendments:
! each state first receives an amount equal to the amount received by
grantees in that state for FY1998, and any amounts available above
the FY1998 level are distributed proportionately among states on the
basis of the number of children under five years old whose family
income is below the federal poverty line.
Although the amounts allocated according to the above formula are actually
distributed directly to local grantees, the Secretary may use a portion of these funds
to make grants to the states, to foster collaboration within the state among Head Start
and other activities designed to benefit low-income children and families. These
state collaboration grants typically range between $125,000 and $225,000 per state.
(See Table 3 at the end of this report for estimated state allocations for Head Start
for FY2006.)

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FY2006 Appropriations. Following a lengthy appropriations process that
included three continuing resolutions2 and consideration of two conference reports3,
a bill making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education
(H.R. 3010) was ultimately signed into law (P.L. 109-149) on December 30, 2005.
Head Start, like other discretionary programs funded under this act, is subject to an
across-the-board cut of 1%, which brings the total appropriation to $6.786 billion (of
which $1.389 billion becomes available in FY2007). In addition to funding, the law
includes provisions allowing for Head Start transportation safety waivers, an earmark
of $1 million to be used to establish a National Academy of Sciences panel to review
and provide guidance on appropriate outcomes and assessments for young children,
and a provision limiting the use of Head Start funds to pay compensation in excess
of the Executive Level II rate.
Earlier in the appropriations process, the House had passed its version of H.R.
3010, which would have funded Head Start at a level of $6.899 billion. The Senate-
passed version would have provided the lesser amount of $6.874 billion. As part of
passing its version of H.R. 3010, the Senate accepted an amendment (S.Amdt. 2280)
offered by Senator Harkin, which would provide the HHS Secretary with the
authority to temporarily waive certain transportation safety requirements for Head
Start programs, and postpone the effective date of particular Head Start regulations
under certain conditions. Similar transportation safety provisions were adopted in
conference. The conference report did not adopt either the House- or Senate-
proposed funding level, however. Instead, Head Start funding was maintained at the
FY2005 level.
Additional Funding in the Defense Appropriations Act. The Defense
Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-148) includes $90 million in additional funding for
Head Start, to be used specifically for grantees serving children displaced by last
year’s Gulf Coast hurricanes, and to help with the costs of renovating Head Start
facilities affected by the storms. Those funds will not be allocated according to the
standard Head Start formula due to the targeted purpose of the funding. As discussed
below, the Head Start Bureau has taken action to assess and address the needs of
Head Start grantees in response to last year’s hurricanes. Data collected will be used
to determine allocation of the $90 million to affected grantees.
Response to Gulf Coast Hurricanes. The Head Start Bureau has urged
all of its grantees to provide Head Start services to any displaced children and
families now in their communities as a result of the hurricanes. On September 12,
2005, HHS announced that it was making available $15 million for this purpose, to
help cover costs over a 30-day period. Grantees have been instructed to treat any
2 The first continuing resolution (H.J.Res. 68/P.L. 109-77) extended funding through
November 18, 2005. The second (H.J.Res. 72, P.L. 109-105) continued the funding through
December 17, 2005), and the third (H.J.Res. 75, P.L. 109-128) through December 31, 2005.
3 On November 17, 2005, the House failed to approve the first Conference Report (H.Rept.
109-300) on H.R. 3010. A second Conference Report (H.Rept. 109-337) was subsequently
approved by the House on December 14, 2005 (by vote of 215-213), and by unanimous
consent in the Senate on December 21, 2005. Head Start provisions in the two did not
differ.

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preschool-aged child whose family has been displaced from their home as income-
eligible, with or without documentation. The Head Start Bureau has anticipated that
programs serving newly enrolled displaced children may struggle to meet certain
Head Start regulations, and has issued guidance for requesting waivers in those areas.
Moreover, the Bureau has encouraged grantees to contact their regional federal
offices with any concerns arising from serving evacuated families. The regional
offices have been asked (by HHS) to collect data (on a daily basis) from their
respective grantees regarding the number of evacuee children being served by their
program(s), and whether these children are new to Head Start, or, instead, were
previously enrolled in a Head Start program in the community from which they have
been displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina. For copies of documents prepared
by HHS relating to Head Start’s role in responding to children and families affected
by Hurricane Katrina, as well as Head Start staff from centers affected by the
hurricane, see the following website: [http://www.headstartinfo.org/hurricane_rir.
htm].
Eligibility. As authorized by law, HHS regulations require that at least 90%
of children enrolled by each Head Start grantee must come from families with
income at or below the official federal poverty guideline ($20,000 for a family of four
in 2006) or from families receiving welfare assistance. Up to 10% of the children
may be from families whose incomes exceed the poverty guideline. Regulations also
require grantees to reserve at least 10% of their slots for children with disabilities.
Head Start is authorized to serve children at any age prior to compulsory school
attendance; however, most children are three- and four-year-olds. However, the 1994
reauthorization did create the Early Head Start program, which serves children under
age 3. In FY2004, according to HHS fact sheets, children under age 3 represented
only 9% of total enrollment.
Under the 1998 amendments, a child who has been determined to be low-
income and who is participating in Head Start may continue to be considered low-
income for another program year. The 1998 amendments also provide grantees with
additional flexibility in determining family income and therefore, eligibility for
participation. Specifically, the amendments authorize grantees to consider family
income during the 12 months before the month in which an application is submitted,
or during the calendar year before the calendar year in which an application is
submitted.
Participation. Data from HHS show funded enrollment for Head Start in
FY2005 to have totaled 906,993 children (of whom almost 62,000 were under age
3 and served by Early Head Start).4 It should be noted that “funded enrollment”
refers to the number of Head Start “slots” that are funded, not the total number of
children served throughout the year (accounting for turnover), which is higher. The
funded enrollments for FY2005 (906,993), FY2004 (905,851) and FY2003 (909,608)
all represent decreases from the FY2002 level of 912,345, and do not trend in the
same direction from year to year (when funding has increased), reflecting that an
increase in funding does not necessarily translate to additional slots. Rather, the
4 Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
FY2007 Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees.

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decrease may be indicative of grantees opting to convert the home-based slots to
more expensive center-based care, or part-day slots to full-day. In his FY2007
budget proposal, the President requests no additional funds for Head Start, but
estimates that 10,000 additional children will be served. The budget reflects that in
FY2007, the portion of Head Start funds directed to service grants would increase by
almost $68 million, thus boosting funded enrollment while decreasing the amount of
funds available for training and technical assistance. (The FY2007 training and
technical assistance amount is estimated at approximately $105 million, down from
almost $173 million for FY2006.)

Table 2 provides estimates of the percentage of the population economically
eligible for and served by the Head Start program in 2004, by age. As shown in the
enrollment column, most children served by Head Start are three- and four-year-olds,
contributing to the higher percentage of eligibles served. It should be noted that the
percentage of eligible children under age 3 served (3%) is notably lower than that of
three- and four-year-old children, in part because the applicable program for children
under three, Early Head Start, is by current law limited to 10% of the total Head Start
appropriation.
Table 2. Estimates of Head Start Populations
and Percent Served, FY2004
(number in thousands)
Population
Economically
FY2004
Percent
Age
March 2005
eligible 2004
enrollment
served
Under 3
12,082
2,651
82
3%
Age 3
3,974
828
308
37%
Age 4
4,063
852
471
55%
Age 3-4 (combined)
8,037
1,680
779
46%
Age 5 and above
7,719
1,511
45
3%
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) using data from the March
2005 Current Population Survey (CPS). Estimates of economic eligibility are based on the percentage
of children living in families with annual income below Federal Poverty Income Guidelines or in
families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), in 2004. Head Start enrollment
estimates are based on data and estimates from HHS.
Early Head Start. Early Head Start (EHS) was established in the 1994
reauthorization legislation (P.L. 103-252), to serve infants and toddlers who are
generally too young to participate in the regular Head Start program. The law
requires that a portion of Head Start’s total appropriation be set aside to fund the
EHS program. For FY1998, Congress earmarked more than was required by law for
EHS, and the statutory set-aside was increased in the 1998 amendments to Head
Start. One of the few legislative changes sought by the Clinton Administration,
during the 1998 debate on Head Start, was an increase in the EHS program. The
current law EHS set-asides are 7.5% in FY1999, 8% in FY2000, 9% in FY2001, and
10% in each of FY2002 and FY2003. (Although authorized only through FY2003,
the allotments since then have maintained the 10% set-aside for Early Head Start.)

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The first EHS grants were awarded in September 1995, and totaled $47 million.
In FY2005, nearly $685 million was used to support more than 650 projects in all 50
states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These projects served
approximately 62,000 low-income families with children under the age of 3.
EHS grantees must design programs which respond to the strengths and needs
of individual families with services including education, in and out of the home;
home visits, especially for families with newborns and infants; parent education,
including parent-child activities; comprehensive health services, including services
to women during and after pregnancy; and ongoing parental support through case
management and peer groups. All programs must conduct an assessment of
community resources and needs and must ensure the recruitment and development
of high-quality staff.
In addition to increasing EHS appropriations, the 1998 amendments also require
that an EHS research and evaluation plan be developed to identify successful
program models and variables contributing to program outcomes and to lay
groundwork for future longitudinal studies.
President’s Head Start Proposals and Initiatives — Past and
Present. Over the course of his presidency, President Bush has proposed significant
changes to the Head Start program. Not all the proposals have gained legislative
traction. Some proposals have remained dormant, with no legislative support; others
have been modified and included in unsuccessful reauthorization measures, only to
be dropped from pending reauthorization bills; a few remain as current
reauthorization proposals; and finally, a few initiatives are currently under way, not
requiring new congressional approval. All of these proposals and initiatives are
discussed below, starting with proposals and initiatives mentioned as part of the
President’s FY2007 budget.
Training and Technical Assistance Set-aside Proposal. The
President’s budget for FY2007 maintains its earlier support for a change to the
statutory set-aside of Head Start funds for training and technical assistance. (The
Administration has been advocating for this change since its FY2004 budget request.)
The proposal specifically calls for changing current law’s set-aside for training
and technical assistance (T/TA) from at least 2% of the total Head Start
appropriation to up to 2%. In doing so, the Administration contends that the
Secretary will be afforded more discretionary authority to allocate resources each
year in a manner that would maximize benefits to children and families.
According to the FY2007 budget documents, approximately $68 million
previously allocated for T/TA purposes would be shifted into service grants (i.e., the
portion of the appropriation from which the state allotments for grantees are made),
leaving $105 million (1.5%) for T/TA, compared to the $173 million (2.5%)
estimated allocation for T/TA in FY2006. One anticipated result of this shift,
according to the Administration’s estimates, is that 10,000 more children would be
served by Head Start in FY2007 (for a total of 916,851) than are estimated to be
served in FY2006. While more children are expected to be served under the FY2007
proposal, the “average cost per child” in Head Start or Early Head Start is estimated

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to be decreasing from the FY2005 actual of $7,287 per child to $7,223 per child in
FY2007.
FACES and Head Start Impact Study. In addition to reiterating support
for a change to the T/TA set-aside, the FY2007 budget proposal maintains the
Administration’s commitment to funding two comprehensive Head Start evaluation
studies: the Family and Children Experiences Survey (FACES) and the National
Impact Study. FACES and the Impact Study are two evaluation efforts already under
way that are designed to measure the effectiveness of the Head Start program.
FACES, initially launched in 1997 (with the most recent cohort starting in Fall
of 2000), is a periodic, longitudinal study of successive nationally representative
samples of children and families in Head Start programs. The purpose of the study
is to provide descriptions of the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical
development of Head Start children; the characteristics, well-being, and
accomplishments of families; the observed quality of Head Start classrooms; and the
characteristics, needs, and opinions of Head Start teachers and other program staff.
Children and parents are studied at entry into the program, followed for one or two
years of program participation, and followed-up at the end of the child’s kindergarten
year.5
The National Impact Study, mandated by the 1998 reauthorization law (P.L.
105-285), began in FY2001, and is designed to provide a national analysis of the
impact of Head Start on the development and school-readiness of low-income
children. The HHS study requires random assignment of children to Head Start and
non-Head Start groups, with attention being paid to the type and quality of other care
and services that the control group receives. Data collection began in the fall of
2002, and is scheduled to continue through 2006. Preliminary results from the first
year of data collection demonstrate small to moderate positive effects favoring the
children enrolled in Head Start for some outcomes in each domain. Fewer positive
effects were found for children in the 4-year-old group.6
National Reporting System (NRS). The President used the FY2007 budget
as an opportunity to maintain his support for continuing the development and
implementation of a national reporting system that can be used to assess the
effectiveness of Head Start programs in achieving successful outcomes for children
in terms of school readiness — particularly in the areas of language comprehension,
vocabulary, phonemic and numeracy awareness, letter recognition, and for children
whose native language is not English, progress toward acquisition of the English
language. Not having required legislative action, this national reporting system,
implemented for the first time in the fall of 2003, is designed to assess Head Start 4-
5 For information on recent findings from the FACES study research team, see “What Are
We Learning About Program Quality and Child Development?” by Ruth Hubbell, available
at [http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/faces/pres_papers/nhsa/nhsa_home.html].
6 Highlights of the preliminary findings from the Head Start Impact Study, as published by
the Department of Health and Human Services, can be found at
[http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/reports/first_yr_execsum/firstyr
_sum_highlights.html].

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and 5-year olds twice a year on educational performance measures — using
indicators that were included in legislation as part of the 1998 reauthorization of
Head Start [P.L. 105-285, Section 108 (b)(5)]. A May 2005 report from the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that analysis of the NRS to
support its use for the purposes of accountability is incomplete, and provides
recommendations for improving the implementation of the system.7
Project STEP. Like the National Reporting System, which did not require any
additional legislative action to be implemented, the Administration’s initiative aimed
at enhancing professional development continues to move ahead. This initiative is
known as Project STEP. The Strategic Teacher Education Program, also known as
Project STEP, is described by the Head Start Bureau as “a comprehensive, multi-
faceted, sequential professional development endeavor to ensure teachers use
research-based strategies to implement early and emergent literacy.” As part of this
development, during the summer and fall of 2002, 3,000 Head Start staff and 100
state child care administrators received 32 hours of training in strategies to support
children’s emerging literacy. Those who were trained are expected to serve as
“mentor coaches” for staff within their respective Head Start programs.
State Pilot Projects. The proposal to allow some or all states to administer
the Head Start program (as opposed to the direct federal to local structure now in
place) is not contained in any of the reauthorization bills pending before Congress.
Likewise, the President did not reintroduce the proposal in his FY2007 budget
request. However, in past budgets, the President advocated for shifting the
administration of the program to the states.
In his FY2006 budget, the President requested $45 million to support his
initiative to improve Head Start by funding a nine-state pilot project to coordinate
Head Start, state preschool programs, and federal child care grants into a
comprehensive system of early childhood programs. According to the
Administration’s budget documents, coordination is a means of improving preschool
programs in general, to help ensure that children enter school prepared to succeed.
The nine-state pilot project was intended to assist states with implementing reforms
that promote better coordination, and in turn, school readiness.
The nine-state pilot project proposal, first introduced in the FY2005 budget,
followed the more expansive proposal from FY2004, which would have allowed all
states the option to administer Head Start, provided they fulfilled certain criteria.
That initial proposal, issued on February 3, 2003, alongside release of the President’s
FY2004 Budget, was included in a press release announcing the President’s proposal
to make changes to the Head Start program.8 This was followed by a White House
document outlining the Administration’s assessment of the status of the Head Start
7 Government Accountability Office, Head Start: Further Development Could Allow Results
of New Test to Be Used for Decision Making, May 2005, GAO-05-343,
[http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05343.pdf].
8 For additional information, see the press release from the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), at [http://www.dhhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20030203.html].

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CRS-12
program, and its plans for the program in the future.9 The Administration stated that
the top goal of the Head Start reauthorization should be to improve both Head Start
and other preschool programs to ensure that children are prepared to enter
kindergarten. The President asserted that states should have the opportunity to
administer the program, provided they demonstrate how Head Start will be
coordinated with other preschool programs and services to emphasize developing
skills and behaviors including language development; pre-reading skills; numeracy;
and social and emotional competence, while meeting state-established accountability
standards.
Under the President’s proposal, interested states would submit a plan for the
approval of both HHS and the Department of Education, in which they outline: state
preschool goals and activities; a state accountability program; an explanation of how
the current level of enrollment of Head Start-eligible three- and four-year-olds would
be maintained (if not exceeded); information regarding the most recent year’s
spending on Head Start and state preschool programs, and assurances that this level
would be at a minimum maintained; plans for assuring professional development for
staff; and the plans for coordination of programs and funding (state and federal) for
the purpose of promoting school readiness. Programs specifically mentioned were
Head Start, Early Head Start, Title I preschool, the special education preschool
program (IDEA), state-funded preschool, and the Child Care and Development Block
Grant.
The President’s FY2005 budget did not reiterate plans to allow all the states the
option to administer Head Start, but did continue to promote the goal of improved
coordination among Head Start and other early childhood and child care programs,
through a new set of nine pilot programs. Those same goals (and pilot program
proposals) were raised again in the President’s budget for FY2006. Note that in the
House reauthorization bill (H.R. 2210, 108th Congress) a maximum of eight states
would have been afforded the option of administering the Head Start program. The
Senate bill (S. 1940, 108th Congress) did not provide for state administration of Head
Start. In this Congress (109th) neither the House nor Senate bills (H.R. 2123 and S.
1107, respectively) include the state pilot proposal in any form.
FY2004 Proposal to Transfer Head Start to Department of
Education. The proposal to transfer Head Start from HHS to the Department of
Education has lay dormant since first proposed in the Administration’s FY2004
budget. In the FY2004 budget, the Administration contended that “in order to
improve coordination between Head Start and other Federal, State, and local
programs affecting pre-school children, the President plans to move responsibility for
managing the Head Start program from the Department of Health and Human
Services to the Department of Education.”10 It proposed that this transition begin in
2004, with the Department of Education assuming full responsibility for the program
in 2005. However, such a transition would have required a change to the Head Start
statute, and was not proposed in either the House or Senate reauthorization
9 This document, entitled “Head Start Policy Book” on the White House website, is available
at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/hspolicybook/summary.html].
10 See Fiscal Year 2004 Budget of the U.S. Government: Analytical Perspectives, p. 251.

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CRS-13
legislation introduced in the 108th Congress. Moreover, the FY2005 budget did not
mention any plan to transfer the Head Start program from HHS, nor did either the
FY2006 or FY2007 budgets.
History of the Proposed Transfer of Head Start to the Department of
Education. During his 2000 presidential campaign, President Bush proposed
moving the Head Start program from HHS to the Department of Education as part
of an effort to prioritize the education (school-readiness) component of Head Start
over the health, nutrition, and social service components of the program. The
President proposed a Reading First reform agenda aimed at making pre-reading and
numeracy skills Head Start’s top priority. By also supporting an early childhood
reading initiative in the Department of Education, along with a reading program
focused on children in kindergarten through second grade who are at risk of falling
behind, the President’s goal is to ensure that young children participating in existing
preschool and Head Start programs are able to read by the time they reach third
grade.
Many Head Start advocates believe that the Head Start program should remain
in HHS. Because Head Start offers a wide variety of services beyond traditional
education, there is concern that transferring the program to the Department of
Education could restrict Head Start to a narrow, classroom program, without the broad
set of human services currently provided. Opponents of the shift further suggest that
moving the program from an agency where children receive comprehensive services,
to one focused on education, would compromise the parental and community action
strengths of Head Start. When promoting the proposal in the FY2004 budget, an aide
to the President offered assurances that the proposed move was not intended to
interrupt any of the social service components, but rather to stress the most important
part of Head Start, which the President believes is literacy development. At the time
of proposing it, the President described the transfer as consistent with his priorities,
and expressed hope that moving the program to the Department of Education would
increase the chances of making every child a proficient reader by third grade. Some
of those in favor of keeping Head Start in HHS argue that Head Start currently focuses
on getting children ready for school, including readiness in language and early
literacy.
There is a history of proposed transfers of the Head Start program. In 1978,
President Carter proposed to transfer Head Start to the Department of Education.
Edward Zigler, a noted architect of Head Start, was one of the most ardent opponents
of the transfer, for the reasons cited above. While the Reagan Administration tried to
include Head Start in a block grant, up until now, no President since Carter has
recommended a transfer of Head Start to the Department of Education. As mentioned
earlier, however, neither the House nor Senate reauthorization bill (H.R. 2210 and S.
1940, 108th Congress) included the proposal to transfer Head Start to the Department
of Education, and the President’s most recent budget is silent on the issue of a
transfer.
Reauthorization Bills in the 109th Congress. Thus far, a bill to
reauthorize the Head Start program (H.R. 2123) has been introduced, amended and
approved by the House, and on the Senate side, another bill (S. 1107) has been
approved (by voice vote) by the full Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

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CRS-14
Committee, but has not yet reached the floor. Summaries of major provisions in the
two bills appear below.
The School Readiness Act of 2005 (H.R. 2123, amended and passed
by the House, 231-184, September 22, 2005). This bill to reauthorize the Head
Start Act was originally introduced on May 5, 2005 by Representative Castle. It was
amended and approved (48-0) by the full Committee on Education and the Workforce
on May 18, 2005. Most recently, on September 22, 2005, H.R. 2123 was amended
further, and passed by the House.

The bill would authorize funding for Head Start at a level of $6.9 billion for
FY2006, and such sums as may be necessary for FY2007-FY2011. Of the total
appropriation, 3.5% would be reserved for Indian Head Start programs and at least 5%
for migrant and seasonal programs (under current law, Indian, Migrant and Seasonal
programs do not have a specified set-aside, but are categories for which the 13%
reservation may be spent). The set-aside for training and technical assistance would
be changed from at least 2% to “equal to 2%.” Funding for Early Head Start would
be maintained at 10% for each of FY2006-FY2011.
This year’s House bill would increase competition for Head Start grants,
requiring recompetition every five years for grantees shown to have a deficiency.
Grantees without deficiencies would be designated as priority grantees, and would not
be subject to recompetition (in that five-year cycle). Priority grantees would earn that
designation in part by demonstrating active partnerships and collaboration with local
educational agencies. The bill would also require that to be designated as a Head Start
grantee, the Head Start agency must establish an independent board of directors,
which would have oversight responsibility for all program activities and finances.
While the board would be required to consult with its policy council (of whom a
majority of members must be parents of enrolled or recently enrolled children), policy
councils would not retain their current regulatory authority to jointly approve or
disapprove of many budget, program, and hiring policies. They would instead serve
in an advisory capacity. (On the House floor, Representative Souder offered an
amendment that would have maintained the policy councils’ decision-making
authority, but it failed by a vote of 153-266.)
H.R. 2123 would put into law the requirement that each Head Start agency is to
establish procedures for evaluating its delegate agencies, and procedures for, when
necessary, defunding them. The bill also would add to law new provisions regarding
reduction of funding for grantees that exhibit chronic underenrollment. Reduction and
redistribution of funds would occur only if actual enrollment still fails to reach 95%
of funded enrollment after receiving technical assistance attempting to remedy the
situation. The House bill also makes changes to a grantee’s rights with respect to
appealing any suspension or termination. Under H.R. 2123, a grantee would no longer
receive reimbursement (with federal Head Start funds) for legal fees and other costs
associated with waging an appeal.
As a means of improving coordination among Head Start and other state and
local early childhood education programs, H.R. 2123 would require that Head Start
agencies enter into a memorandum of understanding with those state and local

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CRS-15
entities, and align all program activities, curricula, and instruction with state-
developed K-12 academic standards.
New standards with respect to staff qualifications and degree requirements are
also included in H.R. 2123. This bill would require that by the end of FY2011, at
least 50% of all Head Start teachers in center-based programs have a B.A. or advanced
degree in early childhood education; or a B.A. or advanced degree in a related field,
with pre-school teaching experience.
The bill also adopted the provision to commission a National Academy of
Sciences panel to review a range of issues related to early childhood care and
education. The panel would be required to complete its recommendations within 18
months of convening.
Floor Amendments to H.R. 2123. Amendments offered and accepted on
the House floor included the hotly debated provision to allow faith-based Head Start
providers to discriminate in hiring, based on religion (H.Amdt. 574, Boehner,
accepted 220-196); an amendment to suspend further implementation of the National
Reporting System while the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) conducts a review
and provides guidance (as authorized in H.R. 2123) on appropriate child outcomes and
assessments for young children (H.Amdt. 568, Kind, accepted by voice vote); a
provision directing the Secretary of HHS to implement an outreach program to train
and recruit African-American and Latino-American men to become Head Start
teachers (H.Amdt. 567, Davis (IL), accepted 401-14); an amendment to decrease
barriers to homeless and foster children’s participation in Head Start (H.Amdt. 571,
Millender-McDonald, accepted by voice vote); an amendment to assist Head Start
programs in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina by providing additional resources,
waiving documentation requirements for six months, and providing the Secretary of
HHS with waiver authority to exempt programs from providing their local match
(20%) (H.Amdt. 573, Woolsey, accepted by voice vote); an amendment to allow Head
Start centers to develop or maintain partnerships with institutions of higher education
and non-profit organizations to support college students that serve as mentors and
reading coaches to preschool children (H.Amdt. 565, DeLauro, accepted by voice
vote); an amendment directing HHS to undergo a management reform initiative, with
the aid of an outside management consulting firm (H.Amdt. 569, Mica, accepted by
voice vote); an amendment to initiate a study to assess the impact of new Head Start
teacher qualification and development regulations on teacher retention (H.Amdt. 570,
Filner, accepted by voice vote); and an amendment to include children with
disabilities as a group for which special staff training shall be provided (H.Amdt. 566,
Stearns, accepted 411-0).
The Head Start Improvements for School Readiness Act (S. 1107,
approved by Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee,
May 25, 2005). This bill to reauthorize the Head Start Act was introduced by HELP
Committee Chairman Enzi on May 23, 2005, and approved by voice vote with no
amendments two days later by the HELP Committee.
The bill would authorize funding for Head Start at the following levels: $7.215
billion for FY2006; $7.515 billion for FY2007; $7.815 billion for FY2008; and such
sums as necessary for FY2009 and FY2010. Under S. 1107, changes would be made

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to the way funds are allotted among programs: tribal programs would receive 4% of
the entire Head Start appropriation, and migrant and seasonal programs 5% (provided
that doing so would not reduce the total number of children served by Head Start
programs); exactly 2% of funds would be reserved for training and technical
assistance; and state allotments would be based on amounts received in FY2005
(updating the “hold harmless” from FY1998) with any remaining funds distributed
not by the share of poor children under age 5 (as dictated by current law), but instead
by apportioning 65% of the remainder among states giving priority to those whose
programs serve the lowest percentage of eligible children, and awarding 35% of the
remainder on a competitive basis.
The percentage of funding reserved for Early Head Start programs would be
increased from the current level of 10%. Reservations would be as follows: 11% for
FY2006; 13% for FY2007; 15% for FY2008; 17% for FY2009; and 18% for FY2010.
Like the House bill, S. 1107 increases competition for grant funds, by requiring
grantees to recompete for funding every five years. High-performing grantees would
receive priority, with “high-performing” meaning those grantees who meet goals for
improving school readiness and who meet goals aligned with the Head Start child
outcomes framework, state early learning standards, and requirements and
expectations for local schools. The bill requires agencies designated as Head Start
grantees to assemble a governing body, which is to receive regular and accurate
information about program planning, finances, and performance data, and is to work
with the grantee’s policy council and committee.
Like the House bill, S. 1107 would put into law the requirement that each Head
Start agency is to establish procedures for evaluating its delegate agencies, and
procedures for, when necessary, defunding them. The bill also would add to law new
provisions regarding reduction of funding for grantees that exhibit chronic
underenrollment. Reduction and redistribution of funds would occur only if actual
enrollment still fails to reach 95% of funded enrollment after receiving technical
assistance attempting to remedy the situation.
Similar to the bill introduced in the Senate last Congress, S. 1107 would
authorize $90 million for the Secretary to make a maximum of 200 grants (of at least
$200,000 per year for five years) to Head Start agencies nominated by Governors as
“Centers of Excellence” in early childhood. Grants could be used for purposes such
as: furthering best practices, serving more children, and providing additional training
for staff. In a separate authorization of funds, S. 1107 would authorize $10 million
in FY2006 (and such sums as necessary for FY2007-FY2010) to award grants for
tribal colleges and university Head Start partnerships.
Staff qualifications and degree requirements for Head Start teachers are also
addressed by S. 1107. Among other provisions to increase staff qualifications, the bill
would require (except in cases where a waiver could be granted) that by the end of
FY2010, all Head Start teachers in center-based programs have at least an associate
degree relating to early childhood (or a related educational area, with coursework
relating to early childhood). In states that have established state teacher requirements
for their pre-K programs, all Head Start teachers would be required (by the end of
FY2011) to meet those requirements (provided they are not lower than Head Start

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CRS-17
requirements). For states without established pre-K staff requirements, 50% of Head
Start teachers in those states’ programs would be required to have a B.A. degree
relating to early childhood by the end of FY2011. All Head Start teachers would be
required to attend an average of at least 15 hours of professional development a year.
Also adopted from last Congress’s Senate committee bill is the provision
increasing income eligibility for Head Start from the poverty line up to 130% of the
poverty guideline. Moreover, any homeless child would be deemed eligible for the
program. The bill also adopted the provision to commission a National Academy of
Sciences panel to review a range of issues related to early childhood care and
education — including assessments. (During the brief discussion of S. 1107 prior to
a voice vote passage, a few Democratic members of the committee did express
concern regarding use of the National Reporting System, noting that the recently
released (May 17, 2005) GAO report calls the effectiveness of the assessment system
into question.)11
Other Legislation in the 109th Congress. Bills that have been introduced
this Congress with provisions pertaining to Head Start include S. 189 (Inhofe), a bill
to amend the Head Start Act to require parental consent for nonemergency intrusive
physical examinations; H.R. 2340 (De Lauro)/S. 117 (Feinstein), a bill to extend
loan forgiveness for certain loans to Head Start teachers; S. 15 (Bingaman) a bill that
would authorize increased funding for Head Start, and increase access to Early Head
Start, and Indian and Migrant programs; S. 9 (Enzi) a comprehensive education bill
that calls for the Senate, in reauthorizing Head Start, to establish new educational
standards for Head Start, to improve coordination and alignment of Head Start with
other early childhood programs, and to support efforts to improve fiscal management
and accountability; and, H.R. 778 (Putnam), a bill to provide greater accountability
for Head Start agencies. Bills to enable children affected by Hurricane Katrina to
participate in Head Start and Early Head Start (by waiving requirements when
necessary, and by providing additional technical assistance) include H.R. 3890
(Thompson, B.), S. 1715 (Enzi), and H.R. 3975 (Jindal).
Reauthorization Bills in the 108th Congress. Efforts to pass
reauthorization legislation in the 108th Congress were unsuccessful, after the House
narrowly passed its bill (H.R. 2210) by one vote, and a markedly different bill
emerged out of committee in the Senate (S. 1940), but was never brought to the full
floor. The House bill’s passage followed a heated debate over proposals to allow state
administration of Head Start in up to eight qualifying states, and to allow
discrimination in employment of Head Start staff based on religion. The Senate bill
contained neither of those controversial provisions. Both bills propose to increase
competition for Head Start grants, and also to foster greater collaboration between
Head Start and other entities providing early childhood services at the state and local
level. Likewise, both bills propose to increase staff qualifications beyond the levels
required by the legislation enacted in 1998. Summary of both bills follow. Also,
11 Government Accountability Office, Head Start: Further Development Could Allow
Results of New Test to Be Used for Decision Making, May 2005, GAO-05-343,
[http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05343.pdf].

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following is a summary of S. 1483, a reauthorization bill introduced by Senator Dodd,
prior to the HELP committee’s activity on S. 1940.
The School Readiness Act of 2003 (H.R. 2210, 108th Congress) —
Passed by the House. This bill to reauthorize the Head Start Act was introduced
in the House by Representative Castle on May 2, 2003, with eight Republican co-
sponsors. The originally introduced bill, H.R. 2210, was subsequently amended at
both the subcommittee and full committee level, and was passed by the House on July
25, 2003.
H.R. 2210, as amended by the full Committee on Education and the Workforce
on June 19, 2003, included two titles; the first would have amended sections of the
current Head Start law, and the second would have introduced a new option for eight
qualifying states to administer their own federal Head Start funds. (The bill as
originally introduced would have provided this option to all qualifying states, but as
amended would have limited the option to eight qualifying states over the five year
period of the legislation.) H.R. 2210 was reported from the full Committee on
Education and the Workforce with a vote of 27 (Republicans) to 20 (Democrats), and
subsequently was passed by the House by a one-vote margin of 217-216. Prior to
passage, Representative George Miller offered a substitute bill on the floor (H.Amdt.
322), which proposed to retain the changes to Title I as included in H.R. 2210, with
the exception of the bill language allowing discrimination in employment based on
religion.12 The substitute bill would have struck Title II (the section proposing state
demonstration projects). The Miller amendment failed by a vote of 200-229.
H.R. 2210 as passed would have authorized an appropriation for Head Start in
FY2004 of $6.87 billion, rising to $7.427 billion in FY2008. If appropriated, this
FY2004 amount would have reflected a $200 million increase above the FY2003
funding level of $6.67 billion. The President’s budget request for FY2004 included
$6.816 billion for Head Start, which is $54 million less than the amount H.R. 2210
would have authorized.
Major features of the bill’s Title I (“Program Improvements”) included increased
credentials for Head Start teachers; a 2% cap on the percentage of funds to be reserved
for training and technical assistance (under current law, the floor is set at 2%);
increased requirements to promote collaboration and coordination among early
childhood programs; a 60% set-aside of excess appropriation funds for quality
improvement; a requirement that at least 10% of the total Head Start appropriation be
reserved for Early Head Start; and new language that would explicitly allow faith-
based Head Start programs to discriminate in hiring, based on religion (Sec. 116).
The proposal to increase credentials for Head Start teachers would have required
that by 2008, 50% of Head Start teachers have a B.A. or advanced degree in early
childhood education. (Current law requires that 50% of Head Start teachers
nationwide have an A.A. or above in early childhood education by 2003. That
12 For more discussion of executive and legislative efforts to allow for religious
organizations to give preference to co-religionists when hiring, see CRS Report RS21924,
Charitable Choice: Expansion by Executive Action, by Joe Richardson.

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CRS-19
requirement was met.) In addition, within three years after the date of enactment, this
legislation would have required that the Secretary require all Head Start teachers in
center-based programs, hired following the date of enactment, to have an A.A. degree
or above in early childhood education, or be enrolled in a program of study leading to
an A.A. degree in early childhood education, with an agreement to complete the
program within three years of being hired.
Title II (“State Demonstration Program”) of the bill contained provisions that
would have allowed up to eight qualifying states to participate in “state demonstration
programs” in which their allocation of federal Head Start funding would be
administered by the state (as opposed to current law’s system of direct federal to local
grantees). To qualify, a state would have had to have an existing state-supported
system of public-pre-kindergarten; standards for school readiness that are aligned with
state kindergarten through grade 12; prior-year state and local spending at a level of
at least 50% of the federal Head Start funds to be allocated to the state; and an
established “means” for interagency coordination and collaboration. States would
have been required to demonstrate that their standards “generally meet or exceed the
standards that ensure the quality and effectiveness of programs operated by Head Start
agencies.”
A local grantee currently receiving funds would have continued to receive funds,
from the participating state, for at least three years after that state received approval
to participate in the program (assuming the grantee has no uncorrected deficiencies
identified in monitoring reports from the most recent five-year period).
Head Start Improvements for School Readiness Act (S. 1940/ S.Rept.
108-208, 108th Congress). This bill to reauthorize Head Start was introduced and
reported by Chairman Gregg of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee on November 24, 2003. There were significant differences between the
House bill (H.R. 2210) and the bill reported by the HELP committee. Most notably,
S. 1940 (S.Rept. 108-208), unlike the House-passed H.R. 2210, would not have
provided any state the option to administer the Head Start program (nor would it have
changed current law with respect to the non-discrimination in hiring provision). A
summary of many of the bill’s provisions follows.
As reported, S. 1940 did not include a funding authorization amount for FY2004,
but would have authorized $7.215 billion for FY2005, $7.615 billion for FY2006,
$8.015 billion for FY2007, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years
2008 and 2009. The bill would have made changes to the way in which Head Start
funds are allocated, allowing not less than 4% to Indians, and not less than 5% to
migrant and seasonal Head Start programs (provided this could be done without
reducing the total number of children funded by Head Start). The bill would also have
changed the way in which remaining funds (after the set-asides, including exactly 2%
for training and technical assistance) would be allocated, giving priority to grantees
in states serving the smallest percentages of eligible children, and distributing a
portion of the funds on a competitive basis. The bill would have provided a 60% set-
aside of excess appropriation funds for quality improvement.
The percentage of funds allotted for the Early Head Start program would have
been maintained at 10% in FY2004 and would have gradually increased to 18% in

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FY2009. Collaboration grants would have been awarded to each state by the
Secretary, and each state’s Governor would have designated a State Advisory Council
to advise states on collaboration between Head Start and other entities involved with
early child care and education.
The bill would have authorized $90 million for the Secretary to make a
maximum of 200 grants (of at least $100,000 per year for five years) to Head Start
agencies nominated by Governors as “Centers of Excellence” in early childhood.
Grants could have been used for purposes such as: furthering best practices, serving
more children, and providing additional training for staff.
The bill would have also addressed the population of children eligible for Head
Start services by increasing the eligibility level to 130% of the poverty line. Programs
would also have been required to keep an active waiting list at all times. S. 1940
would have required monthly enrollment reporting to the Secretary, and if actual
enrollment were found to be lower than 95% of funded enrollment for a period of a
year, technical assistance would have been required to be provided to alleviate chronic
under-enrollment. If the under-enrollment were to persist after 18 months of technical
assistance, the bill would have allowed for the grantee’s base grant to be reduced by
a percentage reflecting the under-enrollment.
The bill would have provided for the Secretary to make training and technical
assistance funds available to support a regional or state system of early childhood
education and training and technical assistance. The bill also outlined a variety of
uses for those funds.
Other provisions in the bill included increasing Head Start staff qualifications
and requirements (ultimately requiring that no later than September 30, 2010, 50% of
all Head Start teachers in center-based programs have both a B.A. degree relating to
early childhood and demonstrated teaching competencies); requiring that school
readiness-related goals be established by a Head Start agency before designating it as
such; commissioning a National Academy of Sciences panel to review a range of
issues related to early childhood care and education (including assessments); and
authorizing $10 million for FY2004 to award grants for tribal college (or university)
Head Start partnerships.
Head Start Coordination and School Readiness Act (S. 1483, 108th
Congress) — Introduced (Dodd). This bill to reauthorize Head Start was
introduced by Senator Dodd on July 29, 2003. Unlike the House bill, S. 1483 would
not have provided any state the option to administer the Head Start program. Included
in the bill were provisions to require expanded coordination and collaboration among
Head Start and other agencies, and to provide funding for doing so. The bill would
have established state Head Start Quality Improvement and Collaboration (HSQIC)
Offices, expanding the functions of state Head Start Collaboration Offices. As
proposed, the HSQIC Offices would have worked in consultation with State advisory
councils (also newly defined in the bill) to improve coordination among programs, and
to plan for a state system of training and technical assistance. Advisory councils
would have been composed of representatives from a wide range of early child hood
programs, agencies and organizations in the state, including Head Start.

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The bill would have authorized $8.570 billion for FY2004, $10.445 billion for
FY2005, $12.384 billion for FY2006, $14.334 billion for FY2007, and $16.332
billion for FY2008.
Under this bill, center-based Head Start program classrooms would have been
required within eight years (at most) to have at least one teacher with a B.A. degree
in early childhood education (or an advanced degree in related field). Like the House
bill, this bill proposed that within three years of enactment, the Secretary of HHS
would have required that newly hired Head Start teachers (for center-based programs)
have an A.A., B.A., or advanced degree in early childhood education, or be currently
enrolled (or enrolled within a year) in an associate degree program in early childhood
education. S. 1483 would have authorized new additional funding to be used to meet
the increased staff qualification requirements: $387 million for FY2004, rising to $841
million for FY2008.
Other Head Start Legislation in the 108th Congress. Several Head Start
bills of narrower scope than the reauthorization bills outlined above were introduced
in the 108th Congress. S. 1474 (Alexander), The Head Start Centers of Excellence
Act of 2003, would have established grant programs to fund 200 Head Start agencies
designated by HHS as “Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood.” This bill would
also have awarded grants to states to establish state councils that would identify
barriers to, and opportunities for, coordination and collaboration among early
childhood programs. S. 1444 (Harkin) would have gradually increased the set-aside
for Early Head Start to 20% in FY2008. The overall authorization of appropriations
for FY2003-FY2008 would have been set at “such sums as may be necessary.” H.R.
2563 (Berkley) would have amended the Head Start Act to provide additional funding
for states with increased numbers of Head Start-eligible children. S. 1469
(Bingaman) would have amended the Head Start Act to provide grants to Tribal
Colleges and Universities to increase the number of post-secondary degrees in early
childhood education and related fields earned by Indian Head Start agency staff. H.R.
2291 (DeLauro)/S. 140 (Feinstein) would have amended the Higher Education Act
to extend loan forgiveness for certain loans to Head Start teachers. H.R. 2945 (P.
Kennedy)/S. 1620 (Bingaman) would have conditioned the implementation of
assessment procedures in connection with the Head Start National Reporting System
on Child Outcomes.
1998 Reauthorization. Although Head Start has traditionally enjoyed
widespread support, the program has not been without criticism. Concern has been
expressed about the quality of services and the program’s potential for sustaining
positive effects over the long term. The 1998 amendments to Head Start, included in
the legislation reauthorizing the program in 1998, continued to emphasize the need for
quality improvement.
The 1998 reauthorization law (P.L. 105-285) increased the amount of new
appropriations that must be used for quality improvement activities, at least until
FY2003, and slowed the pace at which the program could expand. The law required
HHS to develop specific education performance standards, and established teacher and
staff training related to these standards as a priority use of quality improvement funds.
The law encouraged payment of higher salaries for staff with higher levels of
education and training, and required every Head Start classroom to have a teacher with

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demonstrated competency to perform certain functions related to school readiness and
child development. The legislation also required that, by September 30, 2003, half of
all Head Start teachers nationwide must have at least an associate, bachelors, or
graduate degree in early childhood education or development, or in a related field with
experience teaching preschool children. According to HHS Head Start Program
Information Report (PIR) data, this requirement was met in the 2002 program year,
reaching just over 50% — up from 37% holding a postsecondary degree in 1999. The
law further required HHS to develop results-based performance measures, and to
review the effectiveness of individual programs in meeting those measures.
Long-Term Benefits. During the 1998 reauthorization of Head Start, several
congressional committees expressed interest in a rigorous evaluation component for
Head Start. While there is widespread agreement that Head Start produces significant
short-term gains, there continues to be disagreement over the program’s long-term
benefits. Several studies in the 1980s and early 1990s found a “fade-out” of Head
Start benefits for children during their later school years, but some researchers have
questioned whether this apparent fade-out was due to the children’s preschool
experience or the poor quality of the schooling they later received. A 1995 report by
the Packard Foundation presents evidence that high-quality early childhood education
for low-income children, including Head Start, does produce long-term educational,
economic, and societal gains.13 Head Start programs included in the review generally
showed significant favorable effects on grade retention and special education
placement. Multi-service Head Start programs did not fare as well as better-funded
public preschool programs in overall effectiveness measures, although the report noted
that Head Start participants tend to be more disadvantaged, so that comparisons could
be affected by preexisting conditions.
The General Accounting Office (GAO, now the Government Accountability
Office) published a Head Start literature review in 1997, in which it concluded that
an extensive body of literature exists, but the research is inadequate to draw
conclusions about the impact of Head Start on a national basis (Head Start: Research
Provides Little Information on Impact of Current Program, HEHS-97-59, April
1997). GAO noted that most of the studies were on cognitive outcomes and did not
evaluate such program components as nutrition or health-related services. Moreover,
the quality of some of the research was poor and none of the studies used a nationally
representative sample that would enable conclusions to be drawn about the national
program. However, GAO pointed out that HHS currently has a variety of research and
evaluation activities underway that will eventually produce information about the
program’s impact.
The 1998 amendments to Head Start mandated and reserved funds for additional
studies on the impact of Head Start. The law also required all Head Start agencies to
coordinate with the local education agency and community schools, to develop
procedures for the transition of Head Start children into kindergarten and elementary
13 The Future of Children, Long-term Outcomes of Early Childhood Programs, The David
and Lucille Packard Foundation, winter 1995. Available via the web, at
[http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info.htm?doc_id=77657].

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school. The law also required HHS to provide technical assistance to Head Start
programs to help ensure school readiness of children and to promote family literacy.
Coordination with Child Care. Particularly in light of welfare reform
requirements instituted in 1996, which have caused more parents to work or
participate in training activities, Head Start is working to respond to the needs of
families for full-time child care. In recent years, HHS has used some of the Head Start
expansion funds to build partnerships with child care providers to deliver full-day,
full-year services. The 1998 amendments also were intended to encourage
collaboration between child care and Head Start and to promote the development of
unified early education and child care plans that will increase the availability of full-
time services. The law authorized the Secretary of HHS to provide supplemental
collaboration funds to states that undertake such unified planning or other innovative
collaborative initiatives.
The 1998 amendments also directed the Secretary to identify barriers to
collaboration and to develop a mechanism for resolving programmatic conflicts, and
to provide technical assistance related to the provision of full-day, full-year services.
In addition, factors to be considered in awarding Head Start expansion grants, under
the 1998 amendments, include the applicant’s ability to coordinate with other
community child care providers and preschool programs to provide full-day, full-year
services. Moreover, the law authorized Head Start agencies to charge fees for
extended-day services provided to children, if necessary as part of a collaboration with
another agency.

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Table 3. Head Start FY2006 State Allocations (estimates)
State
Amount
State
Amount
Alabama
$105,445,702
Nevada
24,010,240
Alaska
12,334,160
New Hampshire
13,237,322
Arizona
102,351,937
New Jersey
127,580,568
Arkansas
63,810,415
New Mexico
51,718,840
California
822,423,688
New York
428,381,625
Colorado
67,580,333
North Carolina
139,705,993
Connecticut
51,322,209
North Dakota
16,984,081
Delaware
13,088,903
Ohio
244,154,425
District of Columbia
24,828,932
Oklahoma
80,149,597
Florida
260,213,365
Oregon
58,808,799
Georgia
166,637,089
Pennsylvania
225,638,287
Hawaii
22,631,998
Puerto Rico
246,548,310
Idaho
22,560,529
Rhode Island
21,770,652
Illinois
267,756,678
South Carolina
81,585,880
Indiana
95,131,796
South Dakota
18,616,257
Iowa
50,977,124
Tennessee
118,014,758
Kansas
50,361,235
Texas
473,394,133
Kentucky
106,648,069
Utah
37,344,905
Louisiana
144,282,095
Vermont
13,408,742
Maine
27,304,203
Virginia
97,997,344
Maryland
77,167,673
Washington
99,247,635
Massachusetts
107,146,849
West Virginia
50,080,683
Michigan
231,945,258
Wisconsin
89,868,619
Minnesota
71,203,817
Wyoming
12,233,919
Mississippi
159,894,206
Virgin Islands
7,908,133
Missouri
117,670,333
Outer Pacific
7,230,279
Montana
20,716,482
American Indian
185,355,446
Nebraska
35,658,108
Migrant Programs
283,312,070
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) based on data included in the
Department of Health and Human Services FY2007 Justification of Estimates for Appropriations
Committees.
Note: Estimated state allocations do not include estimated funding for technical assistance ($173
million), Research, Development and Evaluation ($20 million), and Program Support ($40 million),
or the supplemental $90 million in hurricane relief funding.

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