[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2636 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2636
To establish a grant program to promote emotional and social
development and school readiness.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 25, 2001
Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island (for himself, Mr. Gilman, Mr. George Miller
of California, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Strickland, Mr. Stark, Mr. DeFazio, Mr.
Sanders, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Owens,
Ms. Norton, Ms. McKinney, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Bonior, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms.
Solis, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Ford, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Cramer, Mr.
Langevin, Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, Mr. Foley, Mr. Cummings, Mr.
Sandlin, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Scott, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, Mr.
Blagojevich, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Allen, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Reyes,
Mr. Conyers, Mr. Fattah, and Ms. Watson of California) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program to promote emotional and social
development and school readiness.
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 ``Foundations for Learning Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) It has been and continues to be the policy of Congress
that all children enter school ready to learn.
(2) Success in school is dependent on emotional and social
development, including--
(A) the development of curiosity, self-direction,
and persistence in learning situations;
(B) the ability to cooperate, demonstrate caring,
and resolve conflict with peers; and
(C) the capacity to recognize and regulate one's
own emotions and behaviors.
(3) Kindergarten teachers report that increasing numbers of
children are unprepared to cope with the demands of school, not
because they do not have the academic tools, but because they
lack the social skills and emotional self-regulation necessary
to succeed. In a recent survey, 46 percent of kindergarten
teachers reported that at least half of their class had
difficulty following direction, 34 percent reported half of the
class or more had difficulty working as part of a group, and 20
percent said at least half of the class had problems with
social skills.
(4) The National Academy of Sciences has recommended that
resources on par with those focused on literacy and numerical
skills should be devoted to strategies promoting young
children's emotional, regulatory, and social development. It
concluded that enhancement of social and emotional development
are as important in early childhood as enhancement of
linguistic and cognitive competence.
(5) Few early childhood programs, including those supported
by the Federal Government such as Head Start, have sufficient
capacity adequately to address the emotional and social
developmental needs of eligible children with prevention and
early intervention services.
(6) Extensive research has identified a number of risk
factors, including poverty, parental depression and substance
abuse, abuse and neglect, homelessness, low birth weight and
other medical problems, and others, the presence of which,
particularly when more than one is present, increase a child's
likelihood of early school failure.
(7) Although a child's development will vary from
individual to individual and depends on a multitude of
biological and environmental factors, early interventions with
eligible children and their families can increase the
probability of a more favorable developmental and academic
trajectory.
(8) Research overwhelmingly demonstrates that a child's
development is deeply influenced by the relationships with
parents, the behavior of parents, and the environment in the
home. Parents are the most influential adults in their
children's lives and are responsible for promoting their
children's healthy development. Therefore, any effective
attempt to improve young children's social and emotional
development necessarily must involve the families of those
children.
(9) Second only to the immediate family, child care
providers shape children's emotional and social development.
Sixty-one percent of children under the age of 4 are in
regularly scheduled child-care by someone other than a parent,
including 44 percent of infants under 1, 53 percent of 1-year-
olds, and 57 percent of 2-year-olds.
(10) The Surgeon General's Conference on Children's Mental
Health has recommended the creation of tangible tools for early
childhood service providers to help them assess children's
social and emotional needs and discuss those issues with
families and make referrals.
(11) A child's healthy emotional and social development
must be assessed in the context of cultural influences and
consequently any efforts to promote development must be
culturally competent.
(12) Early interventions for eligible children have
demonstrated later savings in public expenditures for special
education, income support, and criminal justice.
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Education, in consultation with
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, is authorized to make
grants to States to assist eligible children to become ready for
school.
(b) Allotments.--If the amount appropriated under section 9 and not
reserved under subsection (c) for a fiscal year exceeds $200,000,000,
the Secretary shall--
(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), allocate funds to
the States based on the ratio of the amount of funds received
by a State under part A of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the preceding fiscal year
to the amount of funds received by all the States under such
part for such fiscal year; and
(2) allocate not less than 0.40 percent for each State.
(c) Reservations of Funds.--Of the amount appropriated under
section 9 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve--
(1) one-half of one percent for Indian tribes;
(2) one-half of one percent for Native Alaskan regional
corporations and Native Hawaiian entities;
(3) one percent for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
(4) not more than 3 percent for administrative costs; and
(5) not more than 3 percent for technical assistance,
sharing of best practices, and evaluations described under
subsection (e).
(d) Special Rule.--If the amount appropriated under this Act in a
fiscal year is less than $200,000,000, the Secretary, in consultation
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, is authorized to award
grants to local coordinating councils, consistent with priorities
described in section 7(b), on a competitive basis, of sufficient size
and for a period of sufficient duration to assist eligible children to
be ready for school.
(e) Evaluation.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall, on an ongoing basis--
(A) evaluate promising strategies being implemented
in the States pursuant to this Act and the success of
those strategies in promoting emotional and social
development and school readiness in eligible children,
including, at the Secretary's discretion, by the
performance of long-term longitudinal studies; and
(B) issue reports and provide technical assistance
based on the knowledge gained from those evaluations.
(2) Review expenditures.--Not less than once every 3 years,
the Secretary shall evaluate the expenditure of grants made
under this Act in order to assess and report on the range of
services being provided, the success of States in meeting the
performance measures established pursuant to their State plans,
and make recommendations regarding changes needed in program
design or operations.
SEC. 4. STATE PLANS.
(a) In General.--In order to receive a grant under section 3, a
State shall submit a State plan to the Secretary, at such time and in
such form as the Secretary may require, and shall include in the State
plan--
(1) an assurance that the State shall provide, either
directly or through private contributions, non-Federal matching
funds equal to not less than 20 percent of the amount of the
grant with such funds contributed in cash or in kind, fairly
evaluated, including contributions of facilities, staff time,
or donated equipment;
(2) specification of the sources of non-Federal matching
funds described in paragraph (1);
(3) an assurance that funds received shall supplement, not
supplant, other public funds expended to promote the emotional,
social, and behavioral development of young children;
(4) an assurance that the State and its political
subdivisions shall maintain a level of expending funds that
equals or exceeds the amount spent for programs described in
section 5(b) in the preceding fiscal year;
(5) composition of the statewide coordinating council
(referred to in this Act as the ``SCC'');
(6) the name of the agency designated as the lead agency;
(7) a description of the population the State intends to
serve, the manner in which the grant will be expended to
improve the emotional and social development of children
served, and measurable performance goals consistent with the
planned uses of the grant;
(8) an assurance that activities conducted with the grant
will be undertaken in a culturally competent and
developmentally appropriate manner; and
(9) the manner in which services will be coordinated with
existing similar services provided by public and nonprofit
entities within the State.
(b) Approval.--The Secretary shall approve an application by a
State under this Act unless the Secretary determines that--
(1) the matching requirement of section 4(1) is not met;
(2) the performance measures set forth in the State plan
are not satisfactory; or
(3) the State plan is otherwise inconsistent with the
purposes of this Act.
SEC. 5. USES OF FUNDS.
(a) Permissible Uses of Funds.--A State that receives funds under
this Act may use such funds in a manner intended to benefit eligible
children, for the following:
(1) Screening.--To use valid, reliable, and appropriate
measures, procedures, or methods to screen children suspected
of developmental delays or being eligible for services under
this Act to determine if a child has 2 or more characteristics
described in section 8(2) and, when appropriate, to develop a
comprehensive plan to address the emotional and social
development of eligible children.
(2) Family support initiatives.--
(A) Parenting education.--To provide
individualized, intensive parenting skills training and
support, including opportunities for family-to-family
support, to parents of eligible children.
(B) Family support.--To provide appropriate family
support services designed to help parents increase
their capacity to foster their children's emotional,
social, and behavioral development.
(C) Regular and intensive home visits.--To provide
regular and intensive home visits to families with
eligible children, including infants, or increase the
capacity of existing home visitation programs to
provide interventions or services that assist families
in promoting the emotional and social development of
young children.
(3) Consultations and support to providers of early
childhood services.--
(A) Professional development.--To provide
professional development to child care workers, Early
Head Start, Head Start, preschool, and kindergarten
teachers and other providers of early childhood
services to help them foster the healthy emotional,
social, and behavioral development of children in their
care or with whom they have regular contact.
(B) Programmatic consultation.--To provide
programmatic consultations to child care providers,
Early Head Start and Head Start providers, preschools,
and kindergartens and other providers of early
childhood services to assist them in creating an
environment and interventions or supports most
conducive to the healthy emotional, social, and
behavioral development of young children in their care
or with whom they have regular contact.
(C) Family consultations.--To provide child- or
family-centered consultations to child care providers,
Early Head Start and Head Start providers, preschools,
and kindergartens and other providers of early
childhood services to help them address the emotional,
social, and behavioral developmental needs of eligible
children in their care or with whom they have regular
contact.
(D) Hiring practices.--To assist child care
providers, Early Head Start and Head Start providers,
preschools, and kindergartens and other providers of
early childhood services in hiring qualified mental
health or behavioral health specialists.
(4) Services to eligible children and their families.--
(A) Early interventions.--To deliver and coordinate
a continuum of early intervention services, crisis
intervention services, screening and other appropriate,
reliable, and valid assessments, referrals, and other
classroom and home-based interventions that promote the
emotional and social development and school readiness
of eligible children by identifying and addressing the
unique needs of the children and their families.
(B) Mental health.--To provide mental health
services to eligible children and, when necessary to
promote the child's healthy development, their
families, provided that such services cannot be paid
for by other sources.
(C) Coordination.--To coordinate and facilitate
access by eligible children and their families to the
services available through--
(i) part C or section 619 of part B of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20
U.S.C. 1431 et seq.);
(ii) the medicaid program under title XIX
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et
seq.);
(iii) State children's health insurance
program under title XXI of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.); and
(iv) other community resources, including
mental health, physical health, substance
abuse, educational, domestic violence, child
welfare, and social services.
(D) Program participation.--To facilitate
participation in Head Start, Early Head Start, or child
care and preschool programs offering substantially the
same range of services as Head Start or Early Head
Start for eligible children by removing ancillary
barriers to access such as transportation difficulties
and the absence of programs during nontraditional work
times.
(E) Ancillary services.--To provide ancillary
services such as transportation or child care in order
to facilitate the delivery of any other services or
activities authorized by this Act.
(5) Development of community resources.--
(A) Curriculums.--To develop social and emotional
competencies curricula for use in early childhood
settings.
(B) Partnerships.--To develop or enhance early
childhood community partnerships and build towards a
community system of care that brings together child-
serving agencies and or organizations to provide
individualized supports for eligible children and their
families.
(C) Evaluation.--To evaluate the success of
strategies and services provided pursuant to this Act
in promoting young children's successful entry to
school and maintain data systems required for effective
evaluations.
(6) Administrative costs.--To pay for costs of
administering the activities authorized by this Act, provided
such expenditures shall not exceed 4 percent of the grant
received by a local coordinating council.
(b) Limitation.--A State may use funds under this Act to pay only
for services that--
(1) the State is currently not providing under--
(A) the medicaid program under title XIX of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.);
(B) the State children's health insurance program
under title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1397aa et seq.);
(C) early intervention services under part C or
section 619 of part B of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.);
and
(D) State and local mental health programs; and
(2) cannot be paid for by other Federal, State, or local
sources, excluding Head Start or Early Head Start, or by
private insurance.
(c) Provision of Services.--All services provided pursuant to this
Act--
(1) shall be provided in the most culturally competent
manner practicable;
(2) if a charge is imposed for such services, shall be
based on a sliding scale based on ability to pay and shall not
be imposed on any child of a family whose income is below 200
percent of the poverty line (as such term is defined in section
673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C.
9902(2)));
(3) shall be provided by or under the supervision of
qualified professionals with expertise in early childhood
development; and
(4) shall be intended to benefit eligible children.
SEC. 6. STATE ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Lead Agency.--
(1) In general.--The chief executive officer of the State
shall name a lead agency to administer a program established
pursuant to this Act.
(2) Duties.--The lead agency shall--
(A) in consultation with the SCC, establish
performance goals consistent with the purposes
described in its State plan;
(B) if administering a statewide program, adhere to
the priorities described in section 5;
(C) monitor and evaluate the success of activities
funded under this Act in meeting its performance goals
and the long-term impact of such activities on success
in school of eligible children;
(D) submit an annual report to the Secretary
regarding the State's progress in meeting the
performance goals, a description of any barriers
encountered in serving eligible children, and other
pertinent results of its monitoring and evaluation; and
(E) provide subgrants in accordance with section 7
if not administering a statewide program.
(3) Funds.--In any fiscal year the lead agency--
(A) shall reserve 2 percent of allotted funds under
this Act for evaluation and technical assistance; and
(B) may use not more than 4 percent of allotted
funds under this Act for administrative costs.
(b) SCC.--
(1) In general.--The chief executive officer of a State
shall appoint individuals to serve on a SCC.
(2) Representatives.--Individuals who serve on a SCC shall
include representation from parents, early childhood providers,
early childhood mental health providers, the State educational
agency, the State mental health agency, State child care agency
(including child care resource and referral staff), the State
Head Start association, the State agency responsible for
administering part C of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), the State preschool
agency, the State child welfare agency and any other individual
or group the chief executive officer considers appropriate.
(3) Existing council.--If a comparable council or entity
exists, the chief executive officer may designate such council
or entity to serve as the SCC.
(4) Role of scc.--The SCC shall establish guidelines for
State administration of the program, prepare a State plan in
accordance with section 4, and advise the lead agency.
SEC. 7. LOCAL ADMINISTRATION.
(a) In General.--If the lead agency and SCC determine that the
program should be administered at a local level, the lead agency shall
accept applications from local coordinating councils.
(b) Priority.--The lead agency shall give priority to applications
from local coordinating councils that--
(1) demonstrate broad collaboration among relevant local
agencies and organizations and others in the development of the
application and in the planned implementation;
(2) involve parents in planning and administration;
(3) propose projects targeted to eligible children for whom
multiple risk factors apply and who are most in need of
services to promote emotional and social development;
(4) can be replicated;
(5) demonstrate cultural competency;
(6) integrate planning and services with existing early
childhood and school readiness programs;
(7) provide access to a full spectrum of early intervention
services and mental health treatments for children and their
families; and
(8) demonstrate sufficient professional capacity in the
community to implement successfully planned activities.
(c) Sufficient Size.--A subgrant made available under this section
shall be of sufficient size, scope, and quality to enable a local
coordinating council to carry out the purposes of this Act effectively.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ``young children'' means children from zero to
age 6.
(2) The term ``eligible children'' means young children to
whom 2 or more of the following characteristics apply:
(A) Low birth weight.
(B) Cognitive deficit or developmental disability.
(C) Parental substance abuse.
(D) Custodial parent with less than secondary
school diploma.
(E) Parental depression or other mental illness.
(F) Abuse, maltreatment, or neglect.
(G) Family income below 200 percent of the Federal
poverty line (as such term is defined in section 673(2)
of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C.
9902(2))).
(H) Early behavioral and peer relationship
problems.
(I) Exposure to violence.
(J) Homelessness.
(K) Removed from child care, Head Start, or
preschool for behavioral reasons or at risk of being so
removed.
(3) The term ``local coordinating council'' means a group
composed of some combination of parents, early childhood
providers, early childhood mental health providers, community
mental health centers, local schools, and local agencies
involved in early childhood emotional, social, and behavioral
development and school readiness including local councils
established under the Early Learning Opportunities Act of 2000,
or other existing local councils focusing on children and
families.
(4) The term ``provider of early childhood services'' means
a public or private entity that has regular contact with young
children, including child welfare agencies, child care
providers, Head Start and Early Head Start providers,
preschools, kindergartens, mental health professionals, family
courts, homeless shelters, libraries, and primary care
providers.
(5) The term ``parent'' means the biological or adoptive
parent, foster parent, grandparent, or other family member or
legal guardian having physical custody of the child.
(6) The term ``family member of a child'' means a person
related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption who shares
a primary residence with the child or shares custody of the
child.
(7) The term ``early intervention services'' means services
that--
(A) are provided to--
(i) eligible children who have not been
diagnosed with a mental health disorder; or
(ii) if necessary to promote such
children's emotional and social development,
their families;
(B) promote healthy emotional and social
development by remedying or permitting children to
overcome risk factors or develop protective factors
against such risks; and
(C) connect children and their families to other
community resources and services as appropriate.
(8) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
Education.
(9) The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States and the
District of Columbia.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
$250,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2003,
and such sums as may be necessary thereafter.
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