[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 13 (Friday, January 19, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2743-2744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00897]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
45 CFR Part 1302
RIN 0970-AC63
Secretarial Determination To Lower Head Start Center-Based
Service Duration Requirement
AGENCY: Office of Head Start (OHS), Administration for Children and
Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Secretarial determination on Head Start center-based service
duration requirements; waiver.
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SUMMARY: With this document, the Secretary exercises his authority to
waive the August 1, 2019 Head Start center-based service duration
requirements, effectively lowering this requirement from 50 percent to
0 percent. However, the requirement that Early Head Start programs
provide 1,380 annual hours of planned class operations for all center-
based enrollment by August 1, 2018 remains in effect.
DATES: This waiver is effective January 19, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Office of Head Start, Mary Switzer Bldg., 330 C Street SW,
Washington, DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colleen Rathgeb, Division Director for
Planning, Oversight and Policy, Office Head Start,
[email protected], (202) 358-3263 (not a toll-free call). Deaf
and hearing impaired individuals may call the Federal Dual Party Relay
Service at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background Information
In the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007,
Congress instructed the Office of Head Start to update its Head Start
Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) by regulation and ensure that any
such revisions in the standards do not result in the elimination of or
any reduction in the quality, scope, or types of health, educational,
parental involvement, nutritional, social, or other social services. We
published a final rule to complete this revision at 45 CFR chapter
XIII, subchapter B, on September 6, 2016. This final rule included a
provision at Sec. 1302.21(c)(2)(iii) that would require each Head
Start center-based program, by August 1, 2019, to provide 1,020 annual
hours of planned class operations over the course of at least eight
months per year for at least 50 percent of its Head Start center-based
funded enrollment. This requirement represents an increase from the
existing minimum requirement of 3.5 hours per day, 4 days per week, for
128 days per year, which is equivalent to 448 annual hours. The longer
1,020 annual hour service duration requirement was based on a body of
research that suggests individual disadvantaged children benefit from
longer exposure to enriching early learning programs than what is
provided by the part-day, part-year programs. Research on full-day
programs, instructional time, summer learning loss, and attendance all
indicate longer service duration is linked with improved child
outcomes. Moreover, increased service duration allows teachers more
time to provide individualized and content-rich learning that is
important for positive child outcomes. However, the research does not
provide clarity on an exact threshold or combination of hours and days
needed to achieve positive child outcomes.
We also recognize extended services come at a significant cost for
Head Start programs. Without additional funding from Congress to
support longer hours of program operations, a requirement to increase
service duration so that 50 percent of Head Start center-based slots in
each program operate for 1,020 annual hours would result in the Head
Start program serving significantly fewer children. Although research
points to the benefits of increased service duration for an individual
child, research has not answered whether the population as a whole
benefits more when fewer children are served for a longer time as
compared to more children being served for a shorter time.
[[Page 2744]]
Because future appropriations levels were not known when the HSPPS
final rule was published in September 2016, the final rule provided
authority for the Secretary to lower the increased Head Start center-
based service duration requirements based on an assessment of available
funding closer to the requirement's effective date in order to prevent
thousands of disadvantaged children not having access to Head Start.
Authority
Section 1302.21(c)(3)(i) of the HSPPS final rule allows the
Secretary to lower the required percentage of funded enrollment slots
for which programs must provide 1,020 annual hours of planned class
operations from the 50 percent required in Sec. 1302.21(c)(2)(iii), on
or before February 1, 2018, based on an assessment of the availability
of sufficient funding to mitigate a substantial reduction in funded
enrollment.
Funding Assessment
The Secretary has made an assessment that Head Start appropriations
are not sufficient to allow the requirement at Sec.
1302.21(c)(2)(iii), for 50 percent of each program's Head Start center-
based slots to operate for 1,020 annual hours, to go into effect
without resulting in a substantial reduction in funded enrollment.
Prior to publication of the HSPPS final rule, Congress appropriated
$294 million in fiscal year (FY) 2016 to support an increase in hours
of program operations across Head Start and Early Head Start. At the
time of the FY 2016 funding to support and increased duration, the
regulatory requirements were not in effect. Programs that wished to
voluntarily increase hours of program operations to 1,020 annual hours
for up to 40 percent of their Head Start center-based slots or to 1,380
annual hours for their Early Head Start center-based slots were
eligible to submit an application by June 2016 to receive additional
funds. Some eligible programs chose not to apply for additional
funding. There are programs that currently operate none of their Head
Start center-based funded enrollment for 1,020 annual hours. There are
also programs that currently operate all of their Head Start center-
based funded enrollment for 1,020 hours or longer. These requirements
are minimums, and programs could choose to operate some slots longer
each day and/or for more days per year.
In the HSPPS final rule, we estimated the cost for programs to
implement the 50 percent service duration requirement to be $535
million. Since the publication of the final rule in September 2016,
when Head Start programs were notified of the future requirements to
increase center-based service duration to 1,020 annual hours, no
additional funds have been appropriated to support increases in service
duration. While we requested funds to support additional increases in
service duration in FY 2017, Congress did not further increase Head
Start appropriations for this purpose.
HHS has conducted an assessment of available funding and the
current percentages of slots individual programs currently operate at
1,020 annual hours. Based on this assessment, we estimate that without
additional funding, implementation of the requirement at Sec.
1302.21(c)(2)(iii) for each program to operate 50 percent of its Head
Start center-based slots for 1,020 annual hours would result in a loss
of approximately 41,000 Head Start slots, which represents roughly five
percent of existing Head Start slots. The FY 2018 President's Budget
did not request an increase in appropriations to support increases in
service duration. We do not expect sufficient funding to become
available in time for grantees to meet the current HSPPS standard.
Conclusion
Under Sec. 1302.21(c)(3)(i), the Secretary has made a
determination that there is not sufficient funding available to
mitigate a substantial reduction in funded enrollment resulting from
the requirement described in Sec. 1302.21(c)(2)(iii), and hereby
waives the requirement that 50 percent of a program's Head Start
center-based program's funded enrollment that must operate for 1,020
annual hours of planned class operations by August 1, 2019, effectively
lowering the percentage to 0. This determination is effective
immediately. Because the HSPPS final rule governs the Secretary's
discretion in this matter, the public comment process is not required.
The service duration requirements for Head Start center-based
programs described in Sec. 1302.21(c)(2)(i) and (ii) remain in effect.
Under these requirements, a Head Start center-based program must
provide, at a minimum, at least 160 days per year of planned class
operations if it operates for five days per week, or at least 128 days
per year if it operates four days per week. Classes must operate for a
minimum of 3.5 hours per day. These requirements are minimums, and
programs could choose to operate some slots longer each day and/or for
more days per year. The Head Start Act allows programs to request to
convert part-day slots to full-day or full-working-day slots. This
determination by the Secretary provides local Head Start programs
maximum flexibility to determine program schedules that best meet the
demonstrated needs in their communities, and ensures low-income
children will not lose access to Head Start's comprehensive services
and a preschool experience before entering Kindergarten because of a
federal requirement. Additionally, the requirement under Sec.
1302.21(c)(1)(i) that Early Head Start programs provide 1,380 annual
hours of planned class operations for all center-based enrollment by
August 1, 2018 also remains in effect.
The Secretary's determination under Sec. 1302.21(c)(3)(i) does not
affect the Secretary's authority to make a separate determination under
Sec. 1302.21(c)(3)(ii) on or before February 1, 2020, to maintain or
lower the service duration requirement described in Sec.
1302.21(c)(2)(iv) based on an assessment of the availability of
sufficient funding to mitigate a substantial reduction in funded
enrollment resulting from that requirement.
In addition, the Secretary's determination under Sec.
1302.21(c)(3)(i) does not change or affect current processes that allow
grantees to request to serve children for longer service duration
within existing funding levels as part of the grantee's annual service
and enrollment negotiations with the Office of Head Start.
Dated: January 16, 2018.
Eric D. Hargan,
Acting Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2018-00897 Filed 1-18-18; 8:45 am]
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