§ 9835. Allotment of funds

§ 9835. Allotment of funds

(a) Distribution of appropriations; priorities, etc.

(1) Using the sums appropriated pursuant to section 9834 of this title for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate such sums in accordance with paragraphs (2) through (5).

(2)

(A) The Secretary shall determine an amount for each fiscal year for each State that is equal to the amount received through base grants for the prior fiscal year by the Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) in the State that are not described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (B).

(B) The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year such sums as are necessary—

(i) to provide each amount determined for a State under subparagraph (A) to the Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) in the State that are not described in clause (ii) or (iii), by allotting to each agency described in this clause an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal year;

(ii) to provide an amount for the Indian Head Start programs that is equal to the amount provided for base grants for such programs under this subchapter for the prior fiscal year, by allotting to each Head Start agency (including each Early Head Start agency) administering an Indian Head Start program an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal year;

(iii) to provide an amount for the migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, on a nationwide basis, that is equal to the amount provided nationwide for base grants for such programs under this subchapter for the prior fiscal year, by allotting to each Head Start agency administering a migrant or seasonal Head Start program an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal year;

(iv) to provide an amount for each of Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Virgin Islands of the United States (for Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) in the jurisdiction) that is equal to the amount provided for base grants for such jurisdiction under this subchapter for the prior fiscal year, by allotting to each agency described in this clause an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal year;

(v) if a base grant has been established through appropriations for the Federated States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands, to provide an amount for that jurisdiction (for Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) in the jurisdiction) that is equal to the amount provided for base grants for such jurisdiction under this subchapter for the prior fiscal year, by allotting to each agency described in this clause an amount equal to that agency’s base grant for the prior fiscal year; and

(vi) to provide an amount for a collaboration grant under section 9837b(a) of this title for each State, for the Indian Head Start programs, and for the migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, in the same amount as the corresponding collaboration grant provided under this subchapter for fiscal year 2007.

(C)

(i) The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year an amount that is not less than 2.5 percent and not more than 3 percent of the sums appropriated pursuant to section 9834 of this title for that fiscal year, to fund training and technical assistance activities, from which reserved amount—

(I) the Secretary shall set aside a portion, but not less than 20 percent, to be used to fund training and technical assistance activities for Early Head Start programs, in accordance with section 9840a(g)(2) of this title; and

(II) the Secretary shall set aside a portion, equal to the rest of the reserved amount, to fund training and technical assistance activities for other Head Start programs, in accordance with section 9843 of this title, of which portion—

(aa) not less than 50 percent shall be made available to Head Start agencies to use directly, which may include at their discretion the establishment of local or regional agreements with community experts, institutions of higher education, or private consultants, to make program improvements identified by such agencies, by carrying out the training and technical assistance activities described in section 9843(d) of this title;

(bb) not less than 25 percent shall be available to the Secretary to support a State-based training and technical assistance system, or a national system, described in section 9843(e) of this title for supporting program quality; and

(cc) the remainder of the portion set aside under this subclause shall be available to the Secretary to assist Head Start agencies in meeting and exceeding the standards described in section 9836a(a)(1) of this title by carrying out activities described in subsections (a), (b), (c), (f), and (g) of section 9843 of this title, including helping Head Start programs address weaknesses identified by monitoring activities conducted by the Secretary under section 9836a(c) of this title, except that not less than $3,000,000 of the remainder shall be made available to carry out activities described in section 9843(a)(3)(B)(ii) of this title.

(ii) In determining the portion set aside under clause (i)(I) and the amount reserved under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall consider the number of Early Head Start programs newly funded for that fiscal year.

(D) The Secretary shall reserve not more than $20,000,000 to fund research, demonstration, and evaluation activities under section 9844 of this title, of which not more than $7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 shall be available to carry out impact studies under section 9844(g) of this title.

(E) The Secretary shall reserve not more than $42,000,000 for discretionary payments by the Secretary, including payments for all costs (other than compensation of Federal employees) for activities carried out under subsection (c) or (e) of section 9836a of this title.

(F) If the sums appropriated under section 9834 of this title are not sufficient to provide the amounts required to be reserved under subparagraphs (B) through (E), the amounts shall be reduced proportionately.

(G) Nothing in this section shall be construed to deny the Secretary the authority, consistent with sections 9836, 9836a, and 9841 of this title to terminate, suspend, or reduce funding to a Head Start agency.

(3)

(A) From any amount remaining for a fiscal year after the Secretary carries out paragraph (2) (referred to in this paragraph as the “remaining amount”), the Secretary shall—

(i) subject to clause (ii)—

(I) provide a cost of living increase for each Head Start agency (including each Early Head Start agency) funded under this subchapter for that fiscal year, to maintain the level of services provided during the prior year; and

(II) subject to subparagraph (B), provide $10,000,000 for Indian Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs), and $10,000,000 for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, to increase enrollment in the programs involved;

(ii) subject to clause (iii), if the remaining amount is not sufficient to carry out clause (i)—

(I) for each of fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010—

(aa) subject to subparagraph (B), provide 5 percent of that amount for Indian Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs), and 5 percent of that amount for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, to increase enrollment in the programs involved; and

(bb) use 90 percent of that amount to provide, for each Head Start agency (including each Early Head Start agency) funded as described in clause (i)(I), the same percentage (but not less than 50 percent) of the cost of living increase described in clause (i); and

(II) for fiscal year 2011 and each subsequent fiscal year—

(aa) provide, for each Head Start agency (including each Early Head Start agency) funded as described in clause (i)(I), the cost of living increase described in clause (i); and

(bb) subject to subparagraph (B), with any portion of the remaining amount that is not used under item (aa), provide equal amounts for Indian Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs), and for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs, to increase enrollment in the programs involved; and

(iii) if the remaining amount is not sufficient to carry out clause (ii) for the fiscal year involved, use that amount to provide, for each Head Start agency (including each Early Head Start agency) funded as described in clause (i)(I), the same percentage of the cost of living increase described in clause (i).

(B)

(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, the Indian Head Start programs shall not receive more than a total cumulative amount of $50,000,000 for all fiscal years, and the migrant and seasonal Head Start programs shall not receive more than a total cumulative amount of $50,000,000 for all fiscal years, under clause (i)(II), and subclauses (I)(aa) and (II)(bb) of clause (ii), of subparagraph (A) (referred to in this subsection as the “special expansion provisions”), to increase enrollment in the programs involved.

(ii)

(I) Funds that are appropriated under section 9834 of this title for a fiscal year, and made available to Indian Head Start programs or migrant or seasonal Head Start programs under the special expansion provisions, shall remain available until the end of the following fiscal year.

(II) For purposes of subclause (I)—

(aa) if no portion is reallocated under clause (iii), those funds shall remain available to the programs involved; or

(bb) if a portion is reallocated under clause (iii), the portion shall remain available to the recipients of the portion.

(iii) Of the funds made available as described in clause (ii), the Secretary shall reallocate the portion that the Secretary determines is unobligated 18 months after the funds are made available. The Secretary shall add that portion to the balance described in paragraph (4), and reallocate the portion in accordance with paragraph (4), for the following fiscal year referred to in clause (ii).

(4)

(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), from any amount remaining for a fiscal year after the Secretary carries out paragraphs (2) and (3) (referred to in this paragraph as the “balance”), the Secretary shall—

(i) reserve 40 percent to carry out subparagraph (C) and paragraph (5);

(ii) reserve 45 percent to carry out subparagraph (D); and

(iii) reserve 15 percent (which shall remain available through the end of fiscal year 2012) to provide funds for carrying out section 9837b(b)(2) of this title.

(B)

(i) Under the circumstances described in clause (ii), from the balance, the Secretary shall—

(I) reserve 45 percent to carry out subparagraph (C) and paragraph (5); and

(II) reserve 55 percent to carry out subparagraph (D).

(ii) The Secretary shall make the reservations described in clause (i) for a fiscal year if—

(I) the total cumulative amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(iii) for all preceding fiscal years equals $100,000,000; or

(II) in the 2-year period preceding such fiscal year, funds were reserved under subparagraph (A)(iii) in an amount that totals not less than $15,000,000 and the Secretary received no approvable applications for such funds.

(iii) The total cumulative amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(iii) for all fiscal years may not be greater than $100,000,000.

(C) The Secretary shall fund the quality improvement activities described in paragraph (5) using the amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(i) or subparagraph (B)(i)(I), as appropriate, of which—

(i) a portion that is less than 10 percent may be reserved by the Secretary to provide funding to Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) that demonstrate the greatest need for additional funding for such activities, as determined by the Secretary; and

(ii) a portion that is not less than 90 percent shall be reserved by the Secretary to allot, to each Head Start agency (including each Early Head Start agency), an amount that bears the same ratio to such portion as the number of enrolled children served by the agency involved bears to the number of enrolled children served by all the Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies), except that the Secretary shall account for the additional costs of serving children in Early Head Start programs and may consider whether an agency is providing a full-day program or whether an agency is providing a full-year program.

(D) The Secretary shall fund expansion of Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs) using the amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(ii) or subparagraph (B)(i)(II), as appropriate, of which the Secretary shall—

(i) use 0.2 percent for Head Start programs funded under clause (iv) or (v) of paragraph (2)(B) (other than Early Head Start programs);

(ii) for any fiscal year after the last fiscal year for which Indian Head Start programs receive funds under the special expansion provisions, use 3 percent for Head Start programs funded under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) (other than Early Head Start programs), except that the Secretary may increase that percentage if the Secretary determines that the results of the study conducted under section 9844(k) of this title indicate that the percentage should be increased;

(iii) for any fiscal year after the last fiscal year for which migrant or seasonal Head Start programs receive funds under the special expansion provisions, use 4.5 percent for Head Start programs funded under paragraph (2)(B)(iii) (other than Early Head Start programs), except that the Secretary may increase that percentage if the Secretary determines that the results of the study conducted under section 9844(l) of this title indicate that the percentage should be increased; and

(iv) from the remainder of the reserved amount—

(I) use 50 percent for Head Start programs funded under paragraph (2)(B)(i) (other than Early Head Start programs), of which—

(aa) the covered percentage shall be allocated among the States serving less than 60 percent (as determined by the Secretary) of children who are 3 or 4 years of age from families whose income is below the poverty line, by allocating to each of those States an amount that bears the same relationship to that covered percentage as the number of children who are less than 5 years of age from families whose income is below the poverty line (referred to in this subclause as “young low-income children”) in that State bears to the number of young low-income children in all those States; and

(bb) the remainder shall be allocated proportionately among the States on the basis of the number of young low-income children; and

(II) use 50 percent for Early Head Start programs.

(E) In this paragraph, the term “covered percentage” means—

(i) for fiscal year 2008, 30 percent;

(ii) for fiscal year 2009, 40 percent;

(iii) for fiscal year 2010, 50 percent;

(iv) for fiscal year 2011, 55 percent; and

(v) for fiscal year 2012, 55 percent.

(5)

(A) Not less than 50 percent of the amount reserved under subparagraph (A)(i) or subparagraph (B)(i)(I), as appropriate, of paragraph (4) to carry out quality improvement activities under paragraph (4)(C) and this paragraph shall be used to improve the compensation (including benefits) of educational personnel, family service workers, and child counselors, as described in sections 9839(a) and 9848 of this title, in the manner determined by the Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) involved, to—

(i) ensure that compensation is adequate to attract and retain qualified staff for the programs involved in order to enhance program quality;

(ii) improve staff qualifications and assist with the implementation of career development programs for staff that support ongoing improvement of their skills and expertise; and

(iii) provide education and professional development to enable teachers to be fully competent to meet the professional standards established under section 9843a(a)(1) of this title, including—

(I) providing assistance to complete postsecondary course work;

(II) improving the qualifications and skills of educational personnel to become certified and licensed as bilingual education teachers, or as teachers of English as a second language; and

(III) improving the qualifications and skills of educational personnel to teach and provide services to children with disabilities.

(B) Any remaining funds from the reserved amount described in subparagraph (A) shall be used to carry out any of the following activities:

(i) Supporting staff training, child counseling, and other services, necessary to address the challenges of children from immigrant, refugee, and asylee families, homeless children, children in foster care, limited English proficient children, children of migrant or seasonal farmworker families, children from families in crisis, children referred to Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs) by child welfare agencies, and children who are exposed to chronic violence or substance abuse.

(ii) Ensuring that the physical environments of Head Start programs are conducive to providing effective program services to children and families, and are accessible to children with disabilities and other individuals with disabilities.

(iii) Employing additional qualified classroom staff to reduce the child-to-teacher ratio in the classroom and additional qualified family service workers to reduce the family-to-staff ratio for those workers.

(iv) Ensuring that Head Start programs have qualified staff that promote the language skills and literacy growth of children and that provide children with a variety of skills that have been identified, through scientifically based reading research, as predictive of later reading achievement.

(v) Increasing hours of program operation, including—

(I) conversion of part-day programs to full-working-day programs; and

(II) increasing the number of weeks of operation in a calendar year.

(vi) Improving communitywide strategic planning and needs assessments for Head Start programs and collaboration efforts for such programs, including outreach to children described in clause (i).