HomeMy WebLinkAbout20090853RESOLUTION
RE: APPROVE PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS FOR HEAD START PROGRAMS
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, pursuant to
Colorado statute and the Weld County Home Rule Charter, is vested with the authority of
administering the affairs of Weld County, Colorado, and
WHEREAS, the Board has been presented with Program Instructions for Head Start
Programs to the County of Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County
Commissioners of Weld County, on behalf of the Department of Human Services, Family
Educational Network of Weld County, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
with terms and conditions being as stated in said instructions, and
WHEREAS, after review, the Board deems it advisable to approve said program
instructions, copies of which are attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Weld
County, Colorado, that the Program Instructions for Head Start Programs to the County of Weld,
State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, on behalf
of the Department of Human Services, Family Educational Network of Weld County, from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services be, and hereby are, approved.
The above and foregoing Resolution was, on motion duly made and seconded, adopted by
the following vote on the 13th day of April, A.D., 2009.
ATTEST:
l ii
Weld County Clerk to the Board ; sj az
J
BY
AP
ORM:
7 County Attorney
Date of signature-
Deputy Clerk to the Board_
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD
OLORADO
William F. Garcia, Chair
ouas Radema>~her, Pro-Tem
3arAP.
y Conway y
_Am
ra Kirkmeyer
David E. Long y
/15
2009-0853
HR0080
MEMORANDUM
a
0 rig
DATE: April 9, 2009
TO: William F. Garcia, Chair, Board of Cou ty C nC FROM: Judy A. Griego, Director, Hum ervic3 Dep
WIlD.
COLORADO RE:
The Weld County Department of Human Services' Family
Educational Network's Program Instruction from the
Department of Health and Human Services
Enclosed for Board Approval is the Department's Family Educational Network's Program
Instruction from the Department of Health and Human Services. These Program Instructions
provide programs with requirements and clarification of requirements set forth in the Head
Start Act and Performance standards. These were presented at the Board's March 30, 2009,
Work Session.
If you have any questions, give me a call at extension 6510.
2009-0853
ACF
Administration for Children and
Families
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
1. Log No. ACF-PI-HS-09-03
2. Issuance Date: 03/10/2009
3. Originating Office: Office of Head Start
4. Key Words: Provision of Diapers
PROGRAM INSTRUCTION:
TO: All Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees
SUBJECT: Provision of Diapers
INSTRUCTION:
Many children enrolled in Early Head Start programs, and some children enrolled in Head Start
programs, need to wear diapers. All center -based programs, consistent with the requirements of
45 CFR § 1304.53(b), are expected to provide whatever diapers are needed by the child during the
part of the day that the child is at the Early Head Start/Head Start center. Parents may not be
required to provide diapers for their enrolled child nor may parents be charged a fee for the costs
incurred by the program in providing diapers to children that need them.
Grantee and delegate agencies are further required, in 45 CFR § 1304.22(e)(5), to adopt sanitation
and hygiene procedures for diapering that adequately protect the health and safety of enrolled
children. These procedures must be able to accommodate, for an individual child, documented
medical advice received from a health care professional that requires the use or avoidance of a
specific identified diaper by brand or type.
Please direct any questions on this Instruction to your OHS Regional Office.
/ Patricia E. Brown /
Patricia E. Brown
Acting Director
Office of Head Start
ACF
Administration for Children and
Families
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
1. Log No. ACF-PI-HS-09-04
2. Issuance Date: 03/10/2009
3. Originating Office: Office of Head Start
4, Key Words: Enrollment of Children with Disabilities
PROGRAM INSTRUCTION:
TO: All Head Start agencies and delegate agencies
SUBJECT: Enrollment of Children with Disabilities
INSTRUCTION:
Current Head Start regulations found at 45 CFR §1305.6(c) have been superseded by the Head Start
Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9837, Section 640(d)(1), which requires that "the Secretary shall establish policies
and procedures to assure that for fiscal year 2009 and thereafter, not less than 10 percent of the
total number of children actually enrolled by each Head Start agency and each delegate agency will
be children with disabilities who are determined to be eligible for special education and related
services, or early intervention services, as appropriate, as determined under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), by the State or local agency providing services
under section 619 or part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)."
Head Start programs should note that to be counted toward the 100/c, actual enrollment requirement,
the children with disabilities they serve must, under Section 640(d)(1), have been determined
eligible for special services under IDEA by the agency providing IDEA services in their community.
Therefore, Head Start programs should not count, for purposes of meeting this requirement, those
children who have an individualized education program (IEP) developed solely by the Head Start
program, as described under 45 CFR §1308.19(d).
Head Start programs typically meet the 10% enrollment level by enrolling some children with
previously identified disabilities and identifying other children's disabilities after they enroll in the
Head Start program, The 2007-2008 Head Start Program Information Report indicates that 6% of
enrolled Head Start children had disabilities that were identified before that program year began; an
additional 6°/a of enrolled children had their disabilities identified during that program year. This
pattern in Head Start enrollment is expected to continue, since Head Start often provides the first
opportunity for a comprehensive assessment of a child's development and special needs.
Head Start programs are encouraged to conduct their recruitment, enrollment, and identification of
children with disabilities in close collaboration with its IDEA partners so that they will attain the
enrollment level of at least 10% for children with disabilities as early in the program year as is
possible. Recognizing that the initial identification of children's disabilities requires time for the
necessary collaboration with families and local IDEA service agencies to evaluate a child's needs and
develop individualized services plans, the Office of Head Start believes the 10% actual enrollment
requirement should be met no later than by the mid -point of an agency's program year. It is also
recognized that new "Response to Intervention (RTI)" approaches being proposed by some IDEA
partners may impact child identification schedules, Head Start programs should work with their IDEA
agency partners to promptly identify children's needs so they will receive any needed special
services for most of their Head Start program year. Each grantee and delegate agency should
document that, from the midpoint of their program year to its end, it maintained an enrollment of
children with disabilities that was at least 10 percent of its total funded enrollment.
Waiver Requirement
The Head Start Act requires HHS to provide Head Start agencies, in appropriate circumstances, with
waivers of this 10 percent enrollment requirement. To request a waiver, a Head Start agency should
provide its Regional Office with:
• A written description of specific steps the agency has taken to attempt to meet the requirement
in the current program year, and an explanation of why, despite these steps, it was unable to
meet the 10% level. This statement should document how the agency is collaborating with the
local agencies providing services under Section 619 or Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) in their service area to recruit and identify children with disabilities.
Written confirmation of the Head Start agency's efforts to actively collaborate with the local IDEA
agency(ies) to promote the enrollment of children with disabilities in the Head Start program, and
of the Head Start agency's willingness and specific efforts to recruit and enroll eligible children
with disabilities when Head Start could serve as an appropriate placement. One form of
documentation that would be persuasive would be written documentation from the local IDEA
agency(ies) that the Head Start agency is making specific efforts to collaborate with them to
encourage children with disabilities to enroll in the Head Start program when Head Start could
serve as an appropriate placement. (If the local IDEA agency(ies) were unable or unwilling to
collaborate with the Head Start agency in serving children with disabilities, there should be
documentation that the Head Start program had informed the Regional Office of this problem
when it occurred.)
A written description of the Head Start agency's proposed approach to improve the enrollment of
children with disabilities to reach the 10% level in the next program year. Such descriptions
should describe how the IDEA agencies in their community(ies) will work with the Head Start
program to implement the approach.
Upon reviewing the above information, and any other information needed to clarify the grantee's
request, the Regional Office may, consistent with the requirements of the statute, grant a waiver for
a period of up to three years, but in the absence of unusual circumstances waivers will not be
granted for more than a year. The grantee should provide the Regional Office with an update, as
requested by the Regional Office, of its progress in improving its enrollment rate during the balance
of the program year. If, in the following year the program has not met the 10% enrollment rate by
the midpoint of its program year, it may submit another waiver request.
Please direct any questions on this Instruction to your OHS Regional Office.
/ Patricia E. Brown /
Patricia E. Brown
Acting Director
Office of Head Start
Conversion of Enrollment Slots from Head Start Children to Early Head Start
Children ACF-PI-HS-09-01
ACF
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
1. Log No. ACF-PI-
HS -09-01
2. Issuance Date:
01/08/2009
3. Originating Office: Office of Head Start
4. Key Words: Early Head Start Conversion
PROGRAM INSTRUCTION
TO: All Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees
SUBJECT: Conversion of Enrollment Slots from Head Start Children to Early Head Start Children
INSTRUCTION:
Changes to the Head Start Act, signed by President Bush on December 12, 2007, include new
language in Sections 640(f)(2)( B) and 645(a)(5) that allows any Head Start grantee that
currently operates either a Head Start program alone or a Head Start and an Early Head Start
program to propose using a portion of the funds currently awarded to the grantee for purposes
of serving Head Start children (i.e. children age 3 to compulsory school age) to, instead, serve
infant and toddler age children. (There are no new funds available for this conversion so without
outside funding a conversion of enrollment slots will result in a reduction of the total funded
enrollment in the grantee's Head Start program.)
Any grantee (with the exception of an Indian tribe that currently operates both an Early Head
Start and Head Start program; see below) wishing to propose such a conversion should submit a
request to its OHS Regional Office with appropriate governing body approval.
The request should include the following information:
• The amount of funds that is currently being used to serve Head Start children that you
are proposing to use to instead serve Early Head Start children, the number of Early Head
Start children proposed to be served and the number by which the enrollment in the Head
Start program will be reduced.
• A community -wide strategic planning and needs assessment demonstrating how the use
of such funds would best meet the needs of your community. Grantees should include in
this assessment your current Head Start (and, if applicable, EHS) service area and your
proposed Head Start and EHS service area.
• A description of how the needs of eligible Head Start children will be met in your
community if the conversion takes place, including the needs of those children who will
not be able to be served by your Head Start program should your request be approved.
• A description of how the needs of pregnant women, and of infants and toddlers, will be
addressed. Include in this discussion the proposed program option(s) you will use to
provide EHS services.
• A discussion of your agency's capacity and capability to carry out an effective Early Head
Start program in accordance with the requirements of Section 645A (b) of the Head Start
Act and all applicable program performance standards. Include a discussion of the
qualifications of those staff, including classroom staff, that is proposed to be part of your
EHS program and a discussion of the physical infrastructure, including facilities, that will
be used to support the new or expanded Head Start program.
• Assurances that your agency will participate in technical assistance activities (including
planning, start-up site visits, and national training activities) in the same manner as
current Early Head Start grantees.
• The proposed timetable for implementing this conversion. Also, please discuss any one-
time funding necessary to implement your proposed conversion and how your agency
intends to secure such funding.
SPECIAL NOTE FOR INDIAN TRIBES ONLY
Under Section 645 (d)(3) of the Act, an Indian tribe that operates both an Early Head Start
program and a Head Start program may, at its discretion, at any time during the grant period
involved, reallocate funds between the Early Head Start program and the Head Start program in
order to address fluctuations in client populations. Any Indian tribe that exercises its discretion
to reallocate funds is asked to notify its OHS Regional Office prior to the effective date of such
reallocation.
Please direct any questions on this Instruction to your OHS Regional Office.
/Patricia E. Brown/
Patricia E. Brown
Acting Director
Office of Head Start
Conversion of Part -day Slots to Full -working Day Slots or Sessions ACF-PI-HS-09-02
ACF
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
1. Log No. ACF-PI-
HS-09-02
2. Issuance Date:
01/08/2009
3. Originating Office: Office of Head Start
4. Key Words: Full -working Day Conversion
PROGRAM INSTRUCTION
TO: All Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees
SUBJECT: Conversion of Part -day Slots to Full -working Day Slots or Sessions
INSTRUCTION:
Changes to the Head Start Act, signed by President Bush on December 12, 2007, include new
language in Sections 640(f)(2)(A) and 645(a)(4) that allow a Head Start or Early Head Start
grantee to propose to convert some of its part -day slots to full -working day slots. (Please note
that the Head Start Act defines "full -working day" to mean not less than 10 hours per day while
noting that no Head Start program is required by this definition to serve children for more hours
per day than is permitted by state law (including regulations); that is, full -working day could be
fewer than 10 hours if the State did not allow a child to be served for that long a period of time.)
This instruction is intended for any grantee seeking to use Head Start funds to cover a portion of
the additional costs needed to provide full -working day services. Any grantee proposing to use
Head Start funds for such a purpose should submit a request to its responsible OHS Regional
Office. The request should include the following information:
A discussion of why you believe your agency's community wide strategic planning and
needs assessment supports the need for full -working day services.
• The number of children currently served by your program, by program option.
• The number of children you are proposing to serve, by program option.
• The amount of grant funds that is proposed to be used to support full -working day
services.
• The number of hours per day and days per year you are proposing to serve children in
this full -working day option.
A discussion of the additional non -Head Start resources that will be used to support your
proposed conversion of slots. Grantees not proposing to use any non -Head Start
resources for this conversion should include a discussion of all the potential funding
sources available to them in their community (i.e. Child Care funding, State pre -K
funding, etc.) and why none of these resources are available to assist the grantee with
this proposed conversion.
The proposed timetable during which this conversion, if approved, would be implemented.
Please direct any questions on this Instruction to your OHS Regional Office.
/Patricia E. Brown/
Patricia E. Brown
Acting Director
Office of Head Start
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ACF
Administration for Children
and Families
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
1. Log No. ACF-
PI-HS-09-04
2. Issuance Date:
03/10/2009
3. Originating Office: Office of Head
Start
4. Key Words: Enrollment of Children
with Disabilities
PROGRAM INSTRUCTION
TO: All Head Start Agencies and Delegate Agencies
SUBJECT: Enrollment of Children with Disabilities
INSTRUCTION:
Current Head Start regulations found at 45 CFR § 1305.6(c) have been superseded by the
Head Start Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9837, Section 640(d)(1), which requires that "the Secretary
shall establish policies and procedures to assure that, for fiscal year 2009 and thereafter,
not less than 10 percent of the total number of children actually enrolled by each Head
Start agency and each delegate agency will be children with disabilities who are
determined to be eligible for special education and related services, or early intervention
services, as appropriate, as determined under the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), by the State or local agency providing services under
section 619 or part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]."
Head Start programs should note that to be counted toward the 10% actual enrollment
requirement, the children with disabilities they serve must, under Section 640(d)(1), have
been determined eligible for special services under IDEA by the agency providing IDEA
services in their community. Therefore, Head Start programs should not count, for
purposes of meeting this requirement, those children who have an individualized
education program (IEP) developed solely by the Head Start program, as described under
45 CFR § 1308.19(d).
Head Start programs typically meet the 10% enrollment level by enrolling some children
with previously identified disabilities and identifying other children's disabilities after they
enroll in the Head Start program. The 2007-2008 Head Start Program Information Report
indicates that 6% of enrolled Head Start children had disabilities that were identified
before that program year began; an additional 6% of enrolled children had their
disabilities identified during that program year. This pattern in Head Start enrollment is
expected to continue, since Head Start often provides the first opportunity for a
comprehensive assessment of a child's development and special needs.
Head Start programs are encouraged to conduct their recruitment, enrollment, and
identification of children with disabilities in close collaboration with its IDEA partners so
that they will attain the enrollment level of at least 10% for children with disabilities as
early in the program year as possible. Recognizing that the initial identification of
children's disabilities requires time for the necessary collaboration with families and local
IDEA service agencies to evaluate a child's needs and develop individualized services
plans, the Office of Head Start believes the 10% actual enrollment requirement should be
met no later than by the midpoint of an agency's program year. It is also recognized that
new "Response to Intervention (RTI)" approaches being proposed by some IDEA partners
may impact child identification schedules. Head Start programs should work with their
IDEA agency partners to promptly identify children's needs so they will receive any
needed special services for most of their Head Start program year. Each grantee and
delegate agency should document that, from the midpoint of their program year to its
end, it maintained an enrollment of children with disabilities that was at least 10 percent
of its total funded enrollment.
Waiver Requirement
The Head Start Act requires HHS to provide Head Start agencies, in appropriate
circumstances, with waivers of this 10 percent enrollment requirement. To request a
waiver, a Head Start agency should provide its Regional Office with:
A written description of specific steps the agency has taken to attempt to meet the
requirement in the current program year, and an explanation of why, despite these
steps, it was unable to meet the 10% level. This statement should document how
the agency is collaborating with the local agencies providing services under Section
619 or Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in their
service area to recruit and identify children with disabilities.
Written confirmation of the Head Start agency's efforts to actively collaborate with
the local IDEA agency(ies) to promote the enrollment of children with disabilities in
the Head Start program, and of the Head Start agency's willingness and specific
efforts to recruit and enroll eligible children with disabilities when Head Start could
serve as an appropriate placement. One form of documentation that would be
persuasive would be written documentation from the local IDEA agency(ies) that
the Head Start agency is making specific efforts to collaborate with them to
encourage children with disabilities to enroll in the Head Start program when Head
Start could serve as an appropriate placement. (If the local IDEA agency(ies) were
unable or unwilling to collaborate with the Head Start agency in serving children
with disabilities, there should be documentation that the Head Start program had
informed the Regional Office of this problem when it occurred.)
A written description of the Head Start agency's proposed approach to improve the
enrollment of children with disabilities to reach the 10% level in the next program
year. Such descriptions should describe how the IDEA agencies in their
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community(ies) will work with the Head Start program to implement the approach.
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Upon reviewing the above information, and any other information needed to clarify the
grantee's request, the Regional Office may, consistent with the requirements of the
statute, grant a waiver for a period of up to three years, but in the absence of unusual
circumstances waivers will not be granted for more than a year. The grantee should
provide the Regional Office with an update, as requested by the Regional Office, of its
progress in improving its enrollment rate during the balance of the program year. If, in
the following year the program has not met the 10% enrollment rate by the midpoint of
its program year, it may submit another waiver request.
Please direct any questions on this Instruction to your OHS Regional Office.
/Patricia E. Brown/
Patricia E. Brown
Acting Director
Office of Head Start
Statutory Requirement regarding compensation of Head Start staff
ACF-PI-HS-08-03
The new Head Start Act, Section 653, limits the compensation of Head Start staff. The new language
precludes use of any Federal funds to pay any part of the compensation of an individual employed by a
Head Start agency whose compensation exceeds the rate payable for level II of the Executive Schedule,
which is currently $172,200. While similar language regarding compensation limitations was included in the
last few Head Start appropriations bills, some of the requirements of Section 653 are different from
previous requirements.
Statutory Requirement regarding compensation of Head Start staff
ACF
Administration for Children and
Families
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
1. Log No. ACF-PI-
HS-08-03
2. Issuance Date:
5/12/2008
3. Originating Office: Office of Head Start
4. Key Words: Cap on Staff Compensation
PROGRAM INSTRUCTION:
TO: Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies
SUBJECT: Statutory Requirement regarding compensation of Head Start staff
INSTRUCTION:
The recently enacted Head Start Act contains new language in Section 653 regarding limitations on the
compensation of Head Start staff. Specifically, it precludes using any Federal funds (including, of course,
Head Start grant funds) to pay any part of the compensation of an individual employed by a Head Start
agency if that individual's compensation exceeds the rate payable for level II of the Executive Schedule
(currently $172,200).
As you know, similar language regarding compensation limitations was included in the last few Head Start
appropriations bills. However, some of the requirements of Section 653 are different than previous
requirements. Specifically:
• Compensation is specifically defined in Section 653 to include "salaries, bonuses, periodic payments,
severance pay, the value of any vacation time, the value of a compensatory or paid leave benefit
not [explicitly) excluded and the fair market value of any employee perquisite or benefit not
[explicitly] excluded." Explicitly excluded from counting as compensation is "any Head Start agency
expenditure for a health, medical, life insurance, disability, retirement or any other employee
welfare or pension benefit."
• The cap precludes any federal funds being used to pay an individual whose compensation exceeds
the cap, not just Head Start grant funds. Moreover, unlike previous policy in which grant funds
could be used to pay up to the cap, but not for any compensation that exceeded the cap, the new
statutory requirement precludes any funds being used to pay any part of an individual's
compensation, if that individual's compensation exceeds the cap. For example, previously if an
individual who worked full time for Head Start had a 2008 compensation level of, say, $180,000,
that grantee would have been authorized to charge up to $172,200 of that compensation to the
Head Start grant, finding $7,800 in non -grant funds to fully pay that individual. The new
requirement will not permit any Head Start (or other federal) funds, to be used to pay any part of
that individual's compensation. That is, all $180,000 would have to come from non-federal sources
or the individual's compensation would need to be reduced. It is important to note that this cap
applies to all staff who receive any part of their compensation from Head Start (or other federal
funding sources), including those whose salaries are part of an indirect cost pool.
The Office of Head Start recognizes that some grantees will need to make adjustments to their personnel
policies and/or will need to have their indirect cost rate re -determined by their cognizant federal agency. In
order to give these agencies a reasonable period of time to make such changes, implementation of the
compensation cap will be effective for all Head Start grantees beginning with the awarding of their FY 2009
annual grant award. Grantees are urged to use the intervening time to make whatever adjustments are
needed to assure full compliance with the compensation cap requirements.
Please direct any questions regarding this Program Instruction to your OHS Regional Office.
/ Patricia E. Brown /
Patricia E. Brown
Acting Director
Office of Head Start
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