LegiStorm

Summary:

Head Start is a federal program that has provided comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children since 1965. The program seeks to promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social, and other services. Head Start is administered by the U.S. 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 roughly 1,600 public and private nonprofit and for-profit agencies. Most children served in Head Start programs are three- and four-year olds, but in 1994 Head Start was expanded to include an Early Head Start program, which serves children from birth to three years of age. Except as noted, the term Head Start in this report typically refers to both of these programs. The FY2013 operating level for Head Start was $7.573 billion. This amount is $395 million (-5%) less than Head Start's FY2012 funding level of $7.969 billion. The FY2013 operating level includes amounts provided in the final FY2013 appropriations law (P.L. 113-6), an across-the-board rescission of 0.2% (per Section 3004 of P.L. 113-6), and reductions required by the sequester ordered on March 1, 2013. Sequestration is an automatic spending reduction process in which budgetary resources are canceled to enforce budget policy goals. The FY2013 sequester was ordered by the President as a result of provisions in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25), as amended. According to HHS, roughly 57,000 children were cut from Head Start programs as a result of this sequester. In FY2013, Head Start also received roughly $95 million (post-sequester) from P.L. 113-2 for disaster relief costs related to Hurricane Sandy. These funds were appropriated in addition to funds provided in the final FY2013 appropriations law. Congress did not enact FY2014 appropriations prior to the start of the fiscal year on October 1, 2013. This resulted in a funding gap and partial government shutdown that lasted until a short-term continuing resolution (CR) was signed into law on October 17, 2013. That CR (P.L. 113-46) funds Head Start at its annualized FY2013 post-sequester levels through January 15, 2014. Prior to the start of the fiscal year, in July 2013, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an appropriations bill (S. 1284, S.Rept. 113-71) that would have provided Head Start with $9.621 billion in FY2014. This is the full amount requested in the FY2014 President's Budget and is roughly $2 billion (+27%) more than the program's post-sequester FY2013 operating level. The President's request included $1.4 billion for a newly proposed Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Program. The House Appropriations Committee has not taken action on this bill. The Head Start Act was most recently reauthorized with the signing of the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-134) on December 12, 2007. This law authorized the program through the end of FY2012, meaning that Head Start is currently due for reauthorization. The 2007 reauthorization law included provisions to increase the program's authorized funding levels; revise the allocation formula; limit grantee designation periods to five years (at which point the grant may be re-competed); expand eligibility to allow grantees to fill up to 35% of their slots with children from families with income between 100% and 130% of the poverty line (in certain circumstances); increase qualifications and training requirements for Head Start staff; delineate roles and responsibilities of a grantee's governing body and policy council; and terminate the National Reporting System. The law also contained provisions aimed at promoting coordination among Head Start grantees and other state and local early childhood programs.