Designation of Head Start agencies

The Secretary is authorized to designate as a Head Start agency any local public or private nonprofit agency, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agency, within a community, pursuant to the requirements of this section. Notwithstanding paragraph (1), until such time as the Secretary develops and implements the system for designation renewal under this section, the Secretary is authorized to designate as a Head Start agency, any local public or private nonprofit agency, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agency, within a community, in the manner and process utilized by the Secretary prior to December 12, 2007. To be considered for designation renewal, an entity shall submit an application to the Secretary, at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require. The Secretary shall develop a system for designation renewal that integrates the recommendations of the expert panel convened under paragraph (2) to determine if a Head Start agency is delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program that meets the educational, health, nutritional, and social needs of the children and families it serves, and meets program and financial management requirements and standards described in section 9836a(a)(1) of this title, based on— Not later than 3 months after December 12, 2007, the Secretary shall convene an expert panel of 7 members to make recommendations to the Secretary on the development of a transparent, reliable, and valid system for designation renewal. The Secretary, in convening such panel, shall appoint the following: Within 9 months after being convened by the Secretary, the expert panel shall issue a report to the Secretary that provides recommendations on a proposed system for designation renewal that takes into account the criteria in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1) to evaluate whether a Head Start agency is fulfilling its mission to deliver a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program, including adequately meeting its governance, legal, and financial management requirements. Not later than 3 months after receiving the report described in paragraph (4), the Secretary shall publish a notice describing a proposed system for designation renewal in the Federal Register, including a proposal for the transition to such system, providing at least 90 days for public comment. The Secretary shall review and consider public comments prior to finalizing the system for designation renewal described in this subsection. Not later than 12 months after publishing a notice describing the proposed system under paragraph (5), the Secretary shall implement the system for designation renewal and use that system to determine— A grantee who is determined under such system— On making a determination described in subparagraph (A)(iii), the Secretary shall engage in government-to-government consultation with the appropriate tribal government or governments for the purpose of establishing a plan to improve the quality of Head Start programs operated by the Indian Head Start agency. Such plan shall be established and implemented within 6 months after the Secretary’s determination. Not more than 6 months after the implementation of that plan, the Secretary shall reevaluate the performance of the Indian Head Start agency. If the Indian Head Start agency is still not delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program, the Secretary shall conduct an open competition as described in subsection (d), subject to the limitations described in subsection (e). The Secretary shall ensure the system for designation renewal is fair, consistent, and transparent and is applied in a manner that renews designations, in a timely manner, grantees as Head Start agencies for periods of 5 years if such grantees are delivering high-quality and comprehensive Head Start programs. The Secretary shall periodically evaluate whether the criteria of the system are being applied in a manner that is transparent, reliable, and valid. Each Head Start agency shall be reviewed under the system for designation renewal described in paragraph (6), not later than 3 years after the implementation of such system. A Head Start agency shall not be subject to the requirements of the system for designation renewal prior to 18 months after December 12, 2007. The Secretary shall establish and implement a schedule for reviewing each Head Start agency under the system for designation renewal described in paragraph (6), consistent with subparagraphs (A) and (B). The Secretary shall— prior to implementing the system for designation renewal, provide a report to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate— If no entity in a community is determined to be successfully delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program, as specified in subsection (c), the Secretary shall, after conducting an open competition, designate for a 5-year period a Head Start agency from among qualified applicants in such community. In selecting from among qualified applicants for designation as a Head Start agency, the Secretary shall consider the effectiveness of each such applicant to provide Head Start services, based on— the capacity of such applicant to serve eligible children with— the plan of such applicant to coordinate and collaborate with other public or private entities providing early childhood education and development programs and services for young children in the community involved, including— local entities, such as a public or school library, for— the plan of such applicant— to offer (directly or through referral to local entities, public and school libraries, and entities carrying out family support programs) to such parents— at the option of such applicant, to offer (directly or through referral to local entities) to such parents— to extend outreach to fathers (including father figures), in appropriate cases, in order to strengthen the role of those fathers in families, in the education of young children, and in the Head Start program, by working directly with the fathers through activities such as— In selecting from among qualified applicants for designation as a Head Start agency, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that have demonstrated capacity in providing effective, comprehensive, and well-coordinated early childhood education and development services and programs to children and their families. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except as provided in paragraph (2), under no condition may a non-Indian Head Start agency receive a grant to carry out an Indian Head Start program. In a community in which there is no Indian Head Start agency available for designation to carry out an Indian Head Start program, a non-Indian Head Start agency may receive a grant to carry out an Indian Head Start program but only until such time as an Indian Head Start agency in such community becomes available and is designated pursuant to this section. If no agency in a community is designated under subsection (d), and there is no qualified applicant in the community, the Secretary shall designate a qualified agency to carry out the Head Start program in the community on an interim basis until a qualified applicant from the community is designated under subsection (d). The Secretary shall require that the practice of significantly involving parents and community residents in the area affected by the program involved, in the selection of Head Start agencies, be continued. For purposes of this subchapter, a community may be a city, county, or multicity or multicounty unit within a State, an Indian reservation (including Indians in any off-reservation area designated by an appropriate tribal government in consultation with the Secretary), or a neighborhood or other area (irrespective of boundaries or political subdivisions) that provides a suitable organizational base and possesses the commonality of interest needed to operate a Head Start program.