ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.

SEC. 106. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS. (a) Allotments.—Section 640(a) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (2)— (A) in subparagraph (A)— (i) by striking “and migrant” the first place it appears and all that follows through “handicapped children”, and inserting “Head Start programs, services for children with disabilities, and migrant and seasonal Head Start programs”; (ii) by striking “and migrant” each other place it appears and inserting “Head Start programs and by migrant and seasonal”, and (iii) by striking “1994” and inserting “1998”; (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking “(B) payments” and all that follows through “Virgin Islands according” and inserting the following: “(B) payments, subject to paragraph (7)— “(i) to Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United States; “(ii) for fiscal years ending before October 1, 2001, to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau; and 112 STAT. 2706 “(iii) if legislation approving renegotiated Compacts of Free Association for the jurisdictions described in clause (ii) has not been enacted before September 30, 2001, for fiscal year 2002 to those jurisdictions; according”; (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking “; and” and inserting “, of which not less than $3,000,000 of the amount appropriated for such fiscal year shall be made available to carry out activities described in section648(c)(4);”; (D) in subparagraph (D), by striking “related to the development and implementation of qualify improvement plans under section 641A(d)(2).” and inserting “carried out under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 641A(d) related to correcting deficiencies and conducting proceedings to terminate the designation of Head Start agencies; and”; (E) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following: “(E) payments for research, demonstration, and evaluation activities under section 649.”; and (F) by adding at the end the following: “No Freely Associated State may receive financial assistance under this subchapter after fiscal year 2002.”; (2) in paragraph (3)— (A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking “equal” and all that follows through “amount;” and inserting “equal to the sum of— “(I) 60 percent of such excess amount for fiscal year 1999, 50 percent of such excess amount for fiscal year 2000, 47.5 percent of such excess amount for fiscal year 2001, 35 percent of such excess amount for fiscal year 2002, and 25 percent of such excess amount for fiscal year 2003;“; (B) in subparagraph (B)— (i) in clause (ii)— (I) by striking “adequate qualified staff” and inserting “adequate numbers of qualified staff”; and (II) by inserting “and children with disabilities” before “, when”; (ii) in clause (iv), by inserting before the period the following: “, and to encourage the staff to continually improve their skills and expertise by informing the staff of the availability of Federal and State incentive and loan forgiveness programs for professional development”; (iii) in clause (v), by inserting “and collaboration efforts for such programs” before the period; (iv) in clause (vi), by striking the period and inserting “, and are accessible to children with disabilities and their parents.”; (v) by redesignating clause (vii) as clause (viii); and (vi) by inserting after clause (vi) the following: “(vii) Ensuring that such programs have qualified staff that can promote language skills ana literacy growth of children and that can provide children with a variety of skills that have been identified, through scientifically based reading research, as predictive of later reading achievement.”; (C) in subparagraph (C)— 112 STAT. 2707 (i) in clause (i)— (I) in subclause (I)— (aa) by striking “this subparagraph” and inserting “this paragraph”; (bb) by striking “of staff” and inserting “of classroom teachers and other staff”; (cc) by striking “such staff” and inserting “qualified staff, including recruitment and retention pursuant to achieving the requirements set forth in section 648A(a)”; and (dd) by adding at the end the following: “Preferences in awarding salary increases, in excess of cost-of-living allowances, with such funds shall be granted to classroom teachers and staff who obtain additional training or education related to their responsibilities as employees of a Head Start program.”; (II) in subclause (II), by striking “the subparagraph” and inserting “this subparagraph”; and (III) by adding at the end the following: “(III) From the remainder of the amount reserved under this paragraph (after the Secretary carries out subclause (I)), the Secretary shall carry out any or all of the activities described in clauses (ii) through (vii), placing the highest priority on the activities described in clause (ii).”; (ii) by amending clause (ii) to read as follows: “(ii) To train classroom teachers and other staff to meet the education performance standards described in section 641A(a)(1)(B), through activities— “(I) to promote children’s language and literacy growth, through techniques identified through scientifically based reading research; “(II) to promote the acquisition of the English language for non-English background children and families; “(III) to foster children’s school readiness skills through activities described in section 648A(a)(1); and “(IV) to provide training necessary to improve the qualifications of the staff of the Head Start agencies and to support staff training, child counseling, and other services necessary to address the problems of children participating in Head Start programs, including children from dysfunctional families, children who experience chronic violence in their communities, and children who experience substance abuse in their families.”; (iii) by striking clause (v); and (iv) by redesignating clauses (vi) and (vii) as clauses (v) and (vi), respectively: and (D) in subparagraph (D)(i)(II), by striking “and migrant” and inserting “Head Start programs and migrant and seasonal”; (3) in paragraph (4)— (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking “1981” and inserting “1998”; (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as follows: “(B) any amount available after all allotments are made under subparagraph (A) for such fiscal year shall be distributed proportionately on the basis of the number of children less 112 STAT. 2708than 5 years of age from families whose income is below the poverty line.”; and (C) by adding at the end the following: “For purposes of this paragraph, for each fiscal year the Secretary shall use the most recent data available on the number of children less than 5 years of age from families whose income is below the poverty line, as published by the Department of Commerce, unless the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce determine that use of the most recent data available would be inappropriate or unreliable. If the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce determine that some or all of the data referred to in this paragraph are inappropriate or unreliable, the Secretaries shall issue a report setting forth their reasons in detail.”; (4) in paragraph (5)— (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking “subparagraph (B)” and inserting “subparagraphs (B) and (D)”; (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting before the period the following: “and to encourage Head Start agencies to collaborate with entities involved in State and local planning processes (including the State lead agency administering the financial assistance received under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and the entities providing resource and referral services in the State) in order to better meet the needs of low–income children and families”; (C) in subparagraph (C)— (i) in clause (i)(I), by inserting “the appropriate regional office of the Administration for Children and Families and” before “agencies”; (ii) in clause (iii), by striking “and” at the end; (iii) in clause (iv)— (I) by striking “education, and national service activities,” and inserting “education, and community service activities,”; (II) by striking “and activities” and inserting “activities”; and (III) by striking the period and inserting “(including coordination of services with those State officials who are responsible for administering part C and section 619 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431–1445, 1419)), and services for homeless children;”; and (iv) by adding at the end the following: “(v) include representatives of the State Head Start Association and local Head Start agencies in unified planning regarding early care and education services at both the State and local levels, including collaborative efforts to plan for the provision of full-working-day, full calendar year early care and education services for children; and “(vi) encourage local Head Start agencies to appoint a State level representative to represent Head Start agencies within the State in conducting collaborative efforts described in subparagraphs (B) and (D), and in clause (v).”; (D) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (F); and (E) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following: 112 STAT. 2709 “(D) Following the award of collaboration grants described in subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall provide, from the reserved sums, supplemental funding for collaboration grants— “(i) to States that (in consultation with their State Head Start Associations) develop statewide, regional, or local unified plans for early childhood education and child care that include the participation of Head Start agencies; and “(ii) to States that engage in other innovative collaborative initiatives, including plans for collaborative training and professional development initiatives for child care, early childhood education and Head Start service managers, providers, and staff. “(E) (i) The Secretary shall— “(I) review on an ongoing basis evidence of barriers to effective collaboration between Head Start programs and other Federal, State, and local child care and early childhood education programs and resources; “(II) develop initiatives, including providing additional training and technical assistance and making regulatory changes, in necessary cases, to eliminate barriers to the collaboration; and “(III) develop a mechanism to resolve administrative and programmatic conflicts between programs described in subclause (I) that would be a barrier to service providers, parents, or children related to the provision of unified services and the consolidation of funding for child care services. “(ii) In the case of a collaborative activity funded under this subchapter and another provision of law providing for Federal child care or early childhood education, the use of equipment and nonconsumable supplies purchased with funds made available under this subchapter or such provision shall not be restricted to children enrolled or otherwise participating in the program carried out under that subchapter or provision, during a period in which the activity is predominantly funded under this subchapter or such provision.”; and (5) in paragraph (6)— (A) by inserting “(A)” before “From”; (B) by striking “3 percent” and all that follows and inserting the following: “7.5 percent for fiscal year 1999, 8 percent for fiscal year 2000, 9 percent for fiscal year 2001, 10 percent for fiscal year 2002, and 10 percent for fiscal year 2003, of the amount appropriated pursuant to section 639(a), except as provided in subparagraph (B).”; and (C) by adding at the end the following: “(B)(i) If the Secretary does not submit an interim report on the preliminary findings of the Early Head Start impact study currently being conducted by the Secretary (as of the date of enactment of the Head Start Amendments of 1998) to the appropriate committees by June 1, 2001, the amount of the reserved portion for fiscal year 2002 that exceeds the reserved portion for fiscal year 2001, if any, shall be used for quality improvement activities described in section 640(a)(3) and shall not be used to serve an increased number of eligible children under section 645A. “(ii) If the Secretary does not submit a final report on the Early Head Start impact study to the appropriate committees by June 1, 2002, or if the Secretary finds in the report that there 112 STAT. 2710are substantial deficiencies in the programs carried out under section 645A, the amount of the reserved portion for fiscal year 2003 that exceeds the reserved portion for fiscal year 2002, if any, shall be used for quality improvement activities described in section 640(a)(3) and shall not be used to serve an increased number of eligible children under section 645A. “(iii) In this subparagraph: “(I) The term ‘appropriate committees’ means the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. “(II) The term ‘reserved portion’, used with respect to a fiscal year, means the amount required to be used in accordance with subparagraph (A) for that fiscal year. “(C)(i) For any fiscal year for which the Secretary determines that the amount appropriated under section 639(a) is not sufficient to permit the Secretary to reserve the portion described in subparagraph (A) without reducing the number of children served by Head Start programs or adversely affecting the quality of Head Start services, relative to the number of children served and the quality of the services during the preceding fiscal year, the Secretary may reduce the percentage of funds required to be reserved for the portion described in subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year for which the determination is made, but not below the percentage required to be so reserved for the preceding fiscal year. “(ii) For any fiscal year for which the amount appropriated under section 639(a) is reduced to a level that requires a lower amount to be made available under this subchapter to Head Start agencies and entities described in section 645A, relative to the amount made available to the agencies and entities for the preceding fiscal year, adjusted as described in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), the Secretary shall proportionately reduce— “(I) the amounts made available to the entities for programs carried out under section 645A; and “(II) the amounts made available to Head Start agencies for Head Start programs.”. (b) Children With Disabilities.—Section 640(d) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(d)) is amended— (1) by striking “1982” and inserting “1999”; (2) by striking “(as defined in section 602(a) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)”; and (3) by adding at the end the following: “Such policies and procedures shall require Head Start agencies to coordinate programmatic efforts with efforts to implement part C and section 619 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C 1431–1445, 1419).”. (c) Increased Appropriations.—Section 640(g) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835(g)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (2)— (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking the semicolon and inserting “, and the performance history of the applicant in providing services under other Federal programs (other than the program carried out under this subchapter);”; 112 STAT. 2711 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the semicolon and inserting “, and organizations and public entities serving children with disabilities;”; (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the semicolon and inserting “and the extent to which, and manner in which, the applicant demonstrates the ability to collaborate and participate with other local community providers of child care or preschool services to provide full-working-day full calendar year services;”; (D) in subparagraph (E), by striking “program; and” and inserting “program or any other early childhood program;”; (E) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and (F) by adding at the end the following: “(G) the extent to which the applicant proposes to foster partnerships with other service providers in a manner that will enhance the resource capacity of the applicant; and “(H) the extent to which the applicant, in providing services, plans to coordinate with the local educational agency serving the community involved and with schools in which children participating in a Head Start program operated by such agency will enroll following such program, regarding such services and the education services provided by such local educational agency.”; and (2) by adding at the end the following: “(4) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(2), after taking into account paragraph (1), the Secretary may allocate a portion of the remaining additional funds under subsection (a)(2)(A) for the purpose of increasing funds available for activities described in such subsection.”. (d) Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs.—Section 640(1) (42 U.S.C. 9835(l)) is amended— (1) by striking “(l)” and inserting “(l)(1)”; (2) by striking “migrant Head Start programs” each place it appears and inserting “migrant and seasonal Head Start programs”; (3) by striking “migrant families” and inserting “migrant and seasonal farmworker families”; and (4) by adding at the end the following: “(2) For purposes of subsection (a)(2)(A), in determining the need and demand for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs (and services provided through such programs), the Secretary shall consult with appropriate entities, including providers of services for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs. The Secretary shall, after taking into consideration the need and demand for migrant and seasonal Head Start programs (and such services), ensure that there is an adequate level of such services for eligible children of migrant farmworkers before approving an increase in the allocation of funds provided under such subsection for unserved eligible children of seasonal farmworkers. In serving the eligible children of seasonal farmworkers, the Secretary shall ensure that services provided by migrant and seasonal Head Start programs do not duplicate or overlap with other Head Start services available to eligible children of such farmworkers. “(3) In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary shall continue the administrative arrangement responsible for meeting the 112 STAT. 2712needs of children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and Indian children and shall ensure that appropriate funding is provided to meet such needs.”. (e) Confirming Amendment.—Section 644(f)(2) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9839(f)(2)) is amended by striking “Except” and all that follows through “financial” and inserting “Financial”.