[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1474 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1474

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 28 (legislative day, July 21), 2003

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


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

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

SEC. 2. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD.

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

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

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Center of excellence.--The term `center of 
        excellence' means a Center of Excellence in Early Childhood 
        designated under subsection (b).
            ``(2) State council.--The term `State council' means a 
        State Council for Excellence in Early Childhood described in 
        subsection (e).
    ``(b) Designation and Bonus Grants.--The Secretary shall establish 
a program under which the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) designate up to 200 exemplary Head Start agencies as 
        Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood; and
            ``(2) make bonus grants to the designated centers of 
        excellence to carry out the activities described in subsection 
        (d).
    ``(c) Application and Designation.--
            ``(1) Application.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive 
                designation as a center of excellence under subsection 
                (b), a Head Start agency in a State shall be nominated 
                by the Governor of the State and shall submit an 
                application to the Secretary at such time, in such 
                manner, and containing such information as the 
                Secretary may require.
                    ``(B) Contents.--At a minimum, the application 
                shall include--
                            ``(i) evidence that the Head Start program 
                        carried out by the agency has improved the 
                        school readiness of, and enhanced academic 
                        outcomes for, children who have participated in 
                        the program;
                            ``(ii) evidence that the program meets or 
                        exceeds Head Start standards and performance 
                        measures described in subsections (a) and (b) 
                        of section 641A, as evidenced by successful 
                        completion of programmatic and monitoring 
                        reviews, and has no citations for substantial 
                        deficiencies with respect to the standards and 
                        measures;
                            ``(iii) information demonstrating the 
                        existence of a collaborative partnership 
                        between the Head Start agency and the 
                        Governor's office;
                            ``(iv) a nomination letter from the 
                        Governor, demonstrating the agency's ability to 
                        carry out the coordination, transition, and 
                        training services of the program to be carried 
                        out under the bonus grant involved, including 
                        coordination of activities with State and local 
                        agencies that provide early childhood services 
                        to children and families in the community 
                        served by the agency; and
                            ``(v) information demonstrating the 
                        existence of, or the agency's plan to 
                        establish, a local council for excellence in 
                        early childhood, which shall include 
                        representatives of all the institutions, 
                        agencies, and groups involved in the work of 
                        the center for and the local provision of 
                        services to eligible children and other at-risk 
                        children, and their families.
            ``(2) Selection.--In selecting agencies to designate as 
        centers of excellence under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 
        designate at least 1 from each of the 50 States and the 
        District of Columbia.
            ``(3) Term of designation.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the 
                Secretary shall designate a Head Start agency as a 
                center of excellence for a 5-year term. During the 
                period of that designation, subject to the availability 
                of appropriations, the agency shall be eligible to 
                receive a bonus grant under subsection (b).
                    ``(B) Revocation.--The Secretary may revoke an 
                agency's designation under subsection (b) if the 
                Secretary determines that the agency is not 
                demonstrating adequate performance.
            ``(4) Amount of bonus grant.--The Secretary shall base the 
        amount of funding provided through a bonus grant made under 
        subsection (b) to a center of excellence for the center's staff 
        costs on the number of children served at the center of 
        excellence. The Secretary shall make such a bonus grant in an 
        amount of not less than $100,000 per year.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) Activities.--A center of excellence that receives a 
        bonus grant under subsection (b) may use the funds made 
        available through the bonus grant--
                    ``(A) to provide Head Start services to additional 
                eligible children;
                    ``(B) to better meet the needs of working families 
                in the community served by the center by serving more 
                children in Early Head Start programs or in full-
                working-day, full calendar year Head Start programs;
                    ``(C) to model and disseminate best practices for 
                achieving early academic success, including achieving 
                school readiness and developing preliteracy and 
                prenumeracy skills for at-risk children, and to provide 
                seamless service delivery for eligible children and 
                their families;
                    ``(D) to coordinate early childhood and social 
                services available in the community served by the 
                center for at-risk children (prenatal through age 8) 
                and their families, including services provided by 
                child care providers, health care providers, and 
                providers of income-based financial assistance, and 
                other State and local services;
                    ``(E) to provide training and cross training for 
                Head Start teachers and staff, and to develop agency 
                leaders;
                    ``(F) to provide effective transitions between Head 
                Start programs and elementary school, to facilitate 
                ongoing communication between Head Start and elementary 
                school teachers concerning children receiving Head 
                Start services, and to provide training and technical 
                assistance to providers who are public elementary 
                school teachers and other staff of local educational 
                agencies, child care providers, family service 
                providers, and other providers of early childhood 
                services, to help the providers described in this 
                subparagraph increase their ability to work with low-
                income, at-risk children and their families; and
                    ``(G) to carry out other activities determined by 
                the center to improve the overall quality of the Head 
                Start program carried out by the agency and the program 
                carried out under the bonus grant involved.
            ``(2) Involvement of other head start agencies and 
        providers.--Not later than the second year for which the center 
        receives a bonus grant under subsection (b), the center, in 
        carrying out activities under this subsection, shall work with 
        the center's delegate agencies, several additional Head Start 
        agencies, and other providers of early childhood services in 
        the community involved, to encourage the agencies and providers 
        described in this sentence to carry out model programs. The 
        center shall establish the local council described in 
        subsection (c)(1)(B)(v).
    ``(e) State Councils for Excellence in Early Childhood.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary shall make grants to 
        States to enable the States to establish State Councils for 
        Excellence in Early Childhood. The State council established by 
        a State shall include representatives of Head Start agencies, 
        public elementary schools, providers of early childhood 
        services (including family service providers), and other 
        entities working with centers of excellence in the State. The 
        State council shall be chaired by a Director of a center of 
        excellence in the State.
            ``(2) Functions.--The State council shall work with the 
        State Head Start Office of Collaboration. The State council 
        shall review and compile information on the work of the centers 
        of excellence in the State, collecting and disseminating 
        information on the findings of the centers, and identifying 
        barriers to and opportunities for success in that work that 
        could be addressed at a State level. The State Head Start 
        Office of Collaboration shall address the barriers and 
        opportunities.
    ``(f) Research and Reports.--
            ``(1) Research.--The Secretary shall make a grant to an 
        independent organization to conduct research on the ability of 
        the centers of excellence to improve the school readiness of 
        children receiving Head Start services, and to positively 
        impact school results in the earliest grades. The organization 
        shall also conduct research to measure the success of the 
        centers of excellence at encouraging the center's delegate 
        agencies, additional Head Start agencies, and other providers 
        of early childhood services in the communities involved to meet 
        measurable improvement goals, particularly in the area of 
        school readiness.
            ``(2) Report.--Not later than 48 months after the date of 
        enactment of the Head Start Centers of Excellence Act of 2003, 
        the organization shall prepare and submit to the Secretary and 
        Congress a report containing the results of the research 
        described in paragraph (1).
    ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated for fiscal year 2004 and each subsequent fiscal year--
            ``(1) $90,000,000 to make bonus grants to centers of 
        excellence under subsection (b) to carry out activities 
        described in subsection (d);
            ``(2) $2,500,000 to pay for the administrative costs of the 
        Secretary in carrying out this section, including the cost of a 
        conference of centers of excellence;
            ``(3) $5,500,000 to make grants to States for State 
        councils to carry out the activities described in subsection 
        (e); and
            ``(4) $2,000,000 for research activities described in 
        subsection (f).''.
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