Secretarial Determination To Lower Head Start Center-Based Service Duration Requirements, 5332-5334 [2020-00635]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
5332
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 20 / Thursday, January 30, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
reviewed carefully to eliminate drafting
errors and ambiguities.
H. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)
The Department has reviewed this
rule in accordance with Executive Order
13132 regarding federalism, and has
determined that it does not have
‘‘federalism implications.’’ The rule
does not ‘‘have substantial direct effects
on the States, on the relationship
between the national government and
the States, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government.’’
I. Executive Order 13045 (Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks)
In accordance with Executive Order
13045, HHS has evaluated the
environmental health and safety effects
of this rule on children. HHS has
determined that the rule would have no
effect on children.
Under Public Law 111–274 (October
13, 2010), executive Departments and
Agencies are required to use plain
language in documents that explain to
the public how to comply with a
requirement the Federal Government
administers or enforces. HHS has
attempted to use plain language in
promulgating the final rule consistent
with the Federal Plain Writing Act
guidelines.
List of Subjects in 42 CFR Part 81
Cancer, Government employees,
Nuclear materials, Occupational safety
and health, Radiation protection,
Radioactive materials, Workers’
compensation.
Final Rule
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
Appendix A to Part 81—[Removed]
2. Amend part 81 by removing
Appendix A.
■
Dated: January 10, 2020.
Alex M. Azar II,
Secretary, Department of Health and Human
Services.
[FR Doc. 2020–00636 Filed 1–29–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163–18–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
RIN 0970–AC63
K. Plain Writing Act of 2010
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the Department of Health and
Human Services adopts as final the
interim final rule published on August
1, 2019, at 84 FR 37587 and further
amends 42 CFR part 81 as follows:
Jkt 250001
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7384n(c); E.O. 13179,
65 FR 77487, 3 CFR, 2000 Comp., p. 321.
45 CFR Part 1302
In accordance with Executive Order
13211, HHS has evaluated the effects of
this rule on energy supply, distribution
or use, and has determined that the rule
will not have a significant adverse
effect.
17:08 Jan 29, 2020
1. The authority citation for part 81
continues to read as follows:
■
Administration for Children and
Families
J. Executive Order 13211 (Actions
Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use)
VerDate Sep<11>2014
PART 81—GUIDELINES FOR
DETERMINING PROBABILITY OF
CAUSATION UNDER THE ENERGY
EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL
ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM
ACT OF 2000
Secretarial Determination To Lower
Head Start Center-Based Service
Duration Requirements
Office of Head Start (OHS),
Administration for Children and
Families (ACF), Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notification; Head Start centerbased service duration requirements.
AGENCY:
The Secretary of Health and
Human Services has the authority, on or
before February 1, 2020, to lower the
percentage of center-based funded
enrollment slots for which Head Start
programs must provide 1,020 annual
hours of planned class operations, based
on an assessment of the availability of
sufficient funding to mitigate a
substantial reduction in funded
enrollment. The Secretary hereby gives
notice of his exercise of that authority
to reduce the percentage from 100
percent (all) of a Head Start program’s
center-based slots, to 45 percent of a
Head Start program’s center-based slots.
DATES: This action is effective January
30, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Office of Head Start, Mary
Switzer Bldg., 330 C Street SW,
Washington, DC 20201.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Colleen Rathgeb, Division Director for
Planning, Oversight and Policy, Office
of Head Start, OHS_duration@
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00034
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
acf.hhs.gov, (202) 358–3263 (not a tollfree call). Deaf and hearing impaired
individuals may call the Federal Dual
Party Relay Service at 1–800–877–8339
between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Head Start Duration Requirements
The Office of Head Start (OHS) has
long established performance
requirements for Head Start programs in
regulation, including duration
requirements. For more than two
decades, Head Start programs have been
required to meet a minimum service
duration of 3.5 hours per day, 4 days per
week, for 128 days per year for centerbased funded slots.1 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(2((i). However, in September
2016, OHS revised the regulations
governing the Head Start program,
known as the Head Start Program
Performance Standards. See 81 FR
61293 (Sept. 6, 2016). Those standards
required Head Start programs 2 to
provide,
(1) By August 1, 2019, 1,020 annual
hours of planned class operations over
the course of at least eight months per
year for at least 50 percent of its Head
Start center-based funded enrollment;
and
(2) By August 1, 2021, a program must
provide 1,020 annual hours of planned
class operations over the course of at
least eight months per year for all of its
Head Start center-based funded
enrollment. See 45CFR 1302.21(c)(2).
Under the new regulations, this
requirement is a minimum; programs
can choose to operate some or all slots
at a greater number of annual hours. The
1,020 hours requirement represents an
increase from the existing minimum
requirement of 3.5 hours per day, 4 days
per week, for 128 days per year, which
is equivalent to 448 annual hours. The
regulation, however, authorized the
Secretary to reduce those requirements,
by February 1, 2018 and February 1,
2020, respectively, based on an
assessment of the availability of
sufficient funding to mitigate a
substantial reduction in funded
enrollment. See 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(3).
As noted, the 100 percent service
duration standard is one of two
requirements OHS included in the
performance standards to phase-in full
day, full school year services for all
1 ‘‘Center-based slots’’ refers to Head Start-funded
slots.
2 In this notice, ‘‘Head Start’’ refers to programing
services to preschool-age children, and does not
refer to Early Head Start services.
E:\FR\FM\30JAR1.SGM
30JAR1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 20 / Thursday, January 30, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
Head Start center-based slots over five
years. OHS based its decision to require
Head Start programs to provide 1,020
annual hours of service to all centerbased slots, by August 1, 2021, on a
body of research that suggests children
in poverty benefit from longer exposure
to high-quality early learning programs
than what is provided by part-day and/
or part-year programs. Research on fullday programs, instructional time,
summer learning loss, and attendance
all indicate longer service duration is
linked with improved child outcomes 3
and increased parental workforce
participation.4 Moreover, increased
service duration allows teachers more
time to provide individualized and
content-rich learning that is important
for positive child outcomes, and also
better supports working families who
need a safe, nurturing care environment
for their children during the day.
The January 2018 Notice
On January 19, 2018, the Secretary
issued a document, under 45 CFR
1302.(c)(3)(i), reducing to zero the
percent of Head Start center-based slots
required to provide 1,020 annual hours
of service by August 1, 2019. See 83 FR
2743 (Jan. 19, 2018). As explained at the
time, the decision was made due to
insufficient funding to support the
implementation of the 50 percent
service duration requirement without
significant slot loss.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
The March 2019 Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking
OHS has also revisited the merits of
the 100 percent service duration
standard and became concerned that
3 Advisory Committee on Head Start Research
and Evaluation: Final Report. (2012). Washington,
DC: Office of Head Start, Administration for
Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.; Li, W. (2012). Effects of Head
Start hours on children’s cognitive, pre-academic,
and behavioral outcomes: An instrumental variable
analysis. Presented at Fall 2012 Conference of the
Association for Public Policy Analysis and
Management.; Robin, K.B., Frede, E.C., Barnett,
W.S. (2006.) NIEER Working Paper—Is More Better?
The Effects of Full-Day vs Half-Day Preschool on
Early School Achievement. NIEER.; Walston, J.T.,
and West, J. (2004). Full-day and Half-day
Kindergarten in the United States: Findings from
the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study,
Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (NCES 2004–078).
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.; Wasik, B. & Snell, E.
(2015). Synthesis of Preschool Dosage: Unpacking
How Quantity, Quality and Content Impacts Child
Outcomes. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
4 Gibbs, C.R. (2014). A Matter of Time? Impact of
Statewide Full-day Kindergarten Expansions on
Later Academic Skills and Maternal Employment.
The Department of Labor 2013–2014 Scholars
Program, 2.; Morrissey, T.W. (2017). Child care and
parent labor force participation: A review of the
research literature. Review of Economics of the
Household, 15(1), 1–24.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:52 Jan 29, 2020
Jkt 250001
this requirement may be too prescriptive
to afford programs flexibility to design
and operate service models that best
meet the needs of the families they
serve, especially in light of insufficient
federal appropriations for all programs
to meet this requirement. Although
research points to the benefits of
increased service duration for an
individual child and family, research
cannot answer whether the population
as a whole benefits more when fewer
children are served for a longer period
of time in high-quality early education
programs as compared to more children
being served for a shorter time in highquality early education programs.
Therefore, OHS issued a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on March
26, 2019, that proposed to remove the
100 percent service duration standard.
OHS issued the NPRM with the goals of
reducing regulatory burden and
restoring flexibility to Head Start
grantees to design programs that best
meet the needs of their local
communities. The public comment
period has since ended, and OHS is
currently reviewing the comments and
considering its next steps.
In the meantime, if the 100 percent
service duration standard were to go
into effect without additional funding
from Congress to support it, Head Start
programs would be required to decrease,
significantly, the number of centerbased slots available in Head Start
programs because they would have to
extend the number of hours for which
they provide classroom services. The
performance standards regulation
authorizes the Secretary to lower this
requirement by February 1, 2020, based
on an assessment of available funding,
to avoid significant slots loss in Head
Start due to this requirement. As OHS
considers the next steps for the overall
policy direction on service duration,
OHS needs to consider the impact that
the 100 percent service duration
standard would have on the number of
children that each Head Start grantee
services and address any significant slot
loss in those Head Start programs.
Authority
The requirements under 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(3)(ii) of the Head Start
Program Performance Standards allows
the Secretary to lower the 100 percent
service duration requirement described
in 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(2)(iv), on or before
February 1, 2020, based on an
assessment of the availability of
sufficient funding to mitigate a
substantial reduction in funded
enrollment in Head Start. That section
provides, On or before February 1, 2020,
the Secretary may lower the required
PO 00000
Frm 00035
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
5333
percentage described in paragraph
(c)(2)(iv) of this section [establishing the
100 percent service duration
requirement], based on an assessment of
the availability of sufficient funding to
mitigate a substantial reduction in
funded enrollment. 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(3)(ii).
In the January 2018 Federal Register
document, HHS and OHS removed the
parallel provision that required at least
50 percent of a Head Start program’s
center-based slots provide 1,020 hours
of classroom operations per year—
meaning that Head Start grantees did
not have to significantly reduce slots in
order to meet this requirement.
Funding Assessment
Based on the information and the
Head Start program assessment
provided to him, the Secretary
concludes that Head Start
appropriations are not sufficient to
allow the requirement at 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(2)(iv), for 100 percent of each
Head Start program’s center-based slots
to operate for 1,020 annual hours, to go
into effect without resulting in a
substantial reduction in Head Start
center-based slots.
In fiscal year (FY) 2016, Congress
appropriated $294 million to support an
increase in hours of program operations
across Head Start and Early Head Start.
At that time, the 100 percent service
duration standard was not in effect.
However, eligible programs that wished
to voluntarily increase hours of program
operations for their Head Start or Early
Head Start center-based slots could
submit an application to receive
supplemental funds. Head Start
programs operating less than 40 percent
of their center-based slots for 1,020
hours were eligible to apply for funding.
Due to the limited availability of
funding, OHS used the 40 percent
threshold to prioritize those Head Start
programs operating the fewest full day,
full school year slots and to help ensure
all Head Start programs had at least 40
percent of their slots operating at 1,020
annual hours. Over 600 Head Start
programs were able to increase service
duration for their center-based slots
through this funding opportunity.
Subsequently, in FY 2018, Congress
appropriated an additional $260 million
to further support an increase in hours
of operation for Head Start programs.
Head Start programs that operated less
than 45 percent of their center-based
slots at 1,020 hours, and wished to
increase hours of program operation,
were eligible to submit an application to
receive funds. Over 500 programs were
able to increase service duration for 45
percent of their Head Start center-based
E:\FR\FM\30JAR1.SGM
30JAR1
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
5334
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 20 / Thursday, January 30, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
slots to 1,020 hours per year. Some
eligible programs chose not to apply for
one or both rounds of additional
funding to support longer service
duration.
OHS has conducted an assessment of
available funding and the percentages of
slots individual programs currently
operate at 1,020 annual hours.
Approximately 30 percent of Head Start
center-based programs currently operate
all of their slots for 1,020 hours or
longer per year. Conversely,
approximately 10 percent of Head Start
center-based programs do not operate
any of their slots for 1,020 hours per
year. Approximately 78 percent of Head
Start center-based programs operate at
least 45 percent of their slots at 1,020
hours per year. Approximately 59
percent of Head Start center-based
programs operate at least 50 percent of
their slots at 1,020 hours per year.
Based on this assessment, ACF/OHS
estimates that full implementation of
the requirement at 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(2)(iv) for the remaining
programs to operate 100 percent of their
Head Start center-based slots for 1,020
annual hours would cost approximately
$730 million in additional funding. In
the absence of additional appropriations
to support longer duration, Head Start
programs would have to adjust (reduce)
the number of slots available, in order
to be able to operate the remaining slots
at 1,020 hours per year. The
requirement would result in a loss of
approximately 73,800 Head Start slots,
which represents roughly 11 percent of
existing Head Start slots. This loss
would constitute a substantial reduction
in Head Start funded enrollment, and
therefore makes lowering the 100
percent requirement necessary.
The FY 2020 President’s Budget did
not request an increase in
appropriations to support longer service
duration in Head Start. OHS does not
expect sufficient funding to become
available for Head Start programs to
meet the Head Start Program
Performance Standards 100 percent
duration standard by August 2021.
However, currently 78 percent of Head
Start programs (1,050 programs) operate
at least 45 percent of their center-based
slots at 1,020 hours. In contrast, 410
Head Start programs operate less than
45 percent of their center-based slots at
1,020 hours. If OHS were to require all
Head Start programs to operate at least
45 percent of their center-based slots at
1,020, OHS assumes that approximately
20 percent of all Head Start center-based
programs (290 programs, or
approximately 70 percent of Head Start
programs that operate less than 45
percent of their center-based slots at
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:52 Jan 29, 2020
Jkt 250001
1,020 hours on an annual basis) would
apply for and receive a waiver of this
requirement.5 This would leave 120
programs (representing 6,600 centerbased slots) that would likely need to
increase duration for some of their slots
in order to meet a requirement to
operation 45 percent of their centerbased slots at 1,020 hours per year. OHS
estimates that it would cost $25.5
million for these programs to meet such
a requirement; to meet the requirement,
without an increase in funding, would
require such programs to decrease the
number of center-based Head Start slots
by less than 1 percent or approximately
2,600 Head Start slots.
OHS believes lowering the 1,020
annual hour requirement from 100
percent to 45 percent reflects prior
Congressional appropriations because
the most recent appropriations allowed
programs to increase the percentage of
slots that operate for 1,020 hours up to
45 percent. This will mitigate the
chance of substantial slot loss that
would likely occur under a 100 percent
requirement.
Based on this assessment presented
by OHS, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services determines that there is
insufficient funding for Head Start
programs to implement a 100 percent
service duration requirement of 1,020
hours per year, without a substantial
reduction in funded enrollment.
Accordingly, the Secretary exercises his
authority to lower the required
percentage from 100 percent to 45
percent, based on the assessment that
there is sufficient Head Start funding
available such that a requirement that
45% of center-funded slots operate at
1,020 hours per year would not result in
a substantial reduction in funded
enrollment. Accordingly, by this notice,
HHS lowers the 100 percent duration
requirement to 45 percent.
Conclusion
In accordance with 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(3)(ii), the Secretary
determines that there is not sufficient
funding available to mitigate a
substantial reduction in funded
enrollment resulting from the
requirement described in 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(2)(iv), that 100 percent of a
Head Start program’s center-based
funded enrollment operate for 1,020
annual hours of planned classroom
operations by August 1, 2021, and
hereby lowers that percentage from 100
5 In order to receive a waiver of the 100 percent
duration requirement, a program would have to
demonstrate the their proposed program design
effectively supports children’s development and
progress in early learning outcomes and better
meets the needs of parents.
PO 00000
Frm 00036
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
percent to 45 percent. This
determination is effective immediately.
Because the performance standards
govern the Secretary’s discretion in this
matter, and authorize the Secretary to
take this action, no public comment
process is required.
The service duration requirements for
Head Start center-based programs
described in 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(2)(i) and
(ii) also remain in effect for those slots
not operating at 1,020 annual hours.
Under these requirements, a Head Start
center-based program must provide, at a
minimum, at least 160 days per year of
planned class operations if it operates
for five days per week, or at least 128
days per year if it operates four days per
week. Classes must operate for a
minimum of 3.5 hours per day. These
requirements are minimums, and
programs can choose to operate some
slots longer each day and/or for more
days per year. Additionally, the
requirement that Early Head Start
programs provide 1,380 annual hours of
planned class operations for all centerbased enrollment remains in effect.
Dated: December 19, 2019.
Alex M. Azar II,
Secretary, Department of Health and Human
Services.
[FR Doc. 2020–00635 Filed 1–29–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4181–01–P
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 6101, 6103, 6104, and
6105
[CBCA–TA–2020–01; Docket No. 2020–0007;
Sequence No. 1]
Rules of Procedure of the Civilian
Board of Contract Appeals; Technical
Amendment
Civilian Board of Contract
Appeals; General Services
Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
This document makes
amendments to the Rules of Procedure
of the Civilian Board of Contract
Appeals.
DATES: Effective: January 30, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
James Johnson, Chief Counsel, Civilian
Board of Contract Appeals, 1800 M
Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC
20036; at 202–606–8788; or email at
jamesa.johnson@cbca.gov, for
clarification of content. For information
on status or publication schedules,
contact the Regulatory Secretariat
Division at 202–501–4755.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\30JAR1.SGM
30JAR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5332-5334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00635]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
45 CFR Part 1302
RIN 0970-AC63
Secretarial Determination To Lower Head Start Center-Based
Service Duration Requirements
AGENCY: Office of Head Start (OHS), Administration for Children and
Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notification; Head Start center-based service duration
requirements.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Secretary of Health and Human Services has the authority,
on or before February 1, 2020, to lower the percentage of center-based
funded enrollment slots for which Head Start programs must provide
1,020 annual hours of planned class operations, based on an assessment
of the availability of sufficient funding to mitigate a substantial
reduction in funded enrollment. The Secretary hereby gives notice of
his exercise of that authority to reduce the percentage from 100
percent (all) of a Head Start program's center-based slots, to 45
percent of a Head Start program's center-based slots.
DATES: This action is effective January 30, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Office of Head Start, Mary Switzer Bldg., 330 C Street SW,
Washington, DC 20201.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colleen Rathgeb, Division Director for
Planning, Oversight and Policy, Office of Head Start,
[email protected], (202) 358-3263 (not a toll-free call). Deaf
and hearing impaired individuals may call the Federal Dual Party Relay
Service at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Head Start Duration Requirements
The Office of Head Start (OHS) has long established performance
requirements for Head Start programs in regulation, including duration
requirements. For more than two decades, Head Start programs have been
required to meet a minimum service duration of 3.5 hours per day, 4
days per week, for 128 days per year for center-based funded slots.\1\
45 CFR 1302.21(c)(2((i). However, in September 2016, OHS revised the
regulations governing the Head Start program, known as the Head Start
Program Performance Standards. See 81 FR 61293 (Sept. 6, 2016). Those
standards required Head Start programs \2\ to provide,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ ``Center-based slots'' refers to Head Start-funded slots.
\2\ In this notice, ``Head Start'' refers to programing services
to preschool-age children, and does not refer to Early Head Start
services.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) By August 1, 2019, 1,020 annual hours of planned class
operations over the course of at least eight months per year for at
least 50 percent of its Head Start center-based funded enrollment; and
(2) By August 1, 2021, a program must provide 1,020 annual hours of
planned class operations over the course of at least eight months per
year for all of its Head Start center-based funded enrollment. See
45CFR 1302.21(c)(2).
Under the new regulations, this requirement is a minimum; programs
can choose to operate some or all slots at a greater number of annual
hours. The 1,020 hours requirement represents an increase from the
existing minimum requirement of 3.5 hours per day, 4 days per week, for
128 days per year, which is equivalent to 448 annual hours. The
regulation, however, authorized the Secretary to reduce those
requirements, by February 1, 2018 and February 1, 2020, respectively,
based on an assessment of the availability of sufficient funding to
mitigate a substantial reduction in funded enrollment. See 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(3).
As noted, the 100 percent service duration standard is one of two
requirements OHS included in the performance standards to phase-in full
day, full school year services for all
[[Page 5333]]
Head Start center-based slots over five years. OHS based its decision
to require Head Start programs to provide 1,020 annual hours of service
to all center-based slots, by August 1, 2021, on a body of research
that suggests children in poverty benefit from longer exposure to high-
quality early learning programs than what is provided by part-day and/
or part-year programs. Research on full-day programs, instructional
time, summer learning loss, and attendance all indicate longer service
duration is linked with improved child outcomes \3\ and increased
parental workforce participation.\4\ Moreover, increased service
duration allows teachers more time to provide individualized and
content-rich learning that is important for positive child outcomes,
and also better supports working families who need a safe, nurturing
care environment for their children during the day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Advisory Committee on Head Start Research and Evaluation:
Final Report. (2012). Washington, DC: Office of Head Start,
Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.; Li, W. (2012). Effects of Head Start hours on
children's cognitive, pre-academic, and behavioral outcomes: An
instrumental variable analysis. Presented at Fall 2012 Conference of
the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.; Robin,
K.B., Frede, E.C., Barnett, W.S. (2006.) NIEER Working Paper--Is
More Better? The Effects of Full-Day vs Half-Day Preschool on Early
School Achievement. NIEER.; Walston, J.T., and West, J. (2004).
Full-day and Half-day Kindergarten in the United States: Findings
from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of
1998-99 (NCES 2004-078). U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.; Wasik, B. & Snell, E. (2015). Synthesis of
Preschool Dosage: Unpacking How Quantity, Quality and Content
Impacts Child Outcomes. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
\4\ Gibbs, C.R. (2014). A Matter of Time? Impact of Statewide
Full-day Kindergarten Expansions on Later Academic Skills and
Maternal Employment. The Department of Labor 2013-2014 Scholars
Program, 2.; Morrissey, T.W. (2017). Child care and parent labor
force participation: A review of the research literature. Review of
Economics of the Household, 15(1), 1-24.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The January 2018 Notice
On January 19, 2018, the Secretary issued a document, under 45 CFR
1302.(c)(3)(i), reducing to zero the percent of Head Start center-based
slots required to provide 1,020 annual hours of service by August 1,
2019. See 83 FR 2743 (Jan. 19, 2018). As explained at the time, the
decision was made due to insufficient funding to support the
implementation of the 50 percent service duration requirement without
significant slot loss.
The March 2019 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
OHS has also revisited the merits of the 100 percent service
duration standard and became concerned that this requirement may be too
prescriptive to afford programs flexibility to design and operate
service models that best meet the needs of the families they serve,
especially in light of insufficient federal appropriations for all
programs to meet this requirement. Although research points to the
benefits of increased service duration for an individual child and
family, research cannot answer whether the population as a whole
benefits more when fewer children are served for a longer period of
time in high-quality early education programs as compared to more
children being served for a shorter time in high-quality early
education programs. Therefore, OHS issued a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) on March 26, 2019, that proposed to remove the 100
percent service duration standard. OHS issued the NPRM with the goals
of reducing regulatory burden and restoring flexibility to Head Start
grantees to design programs that best meet the needs of their local
communities. The public comment period has since ended, and OHS is
currently reviewing the comments and considering its next steps.
In the meantime, if the 100 percent service duration standard were
to go into effect without additional funding from Congress to support
it, Head Start programs would be required to decrease, significantly,
the number of center-based slots available in Head Start programs
because they would have to extend the number of hours for which they
provide classroom services. The performance standards regulation
authorizes the Secretary to lower this requirement by February 1, 2020,
based on an assessment of available funding, to avoid significant slots
loss in Head Start due to this requirement. As OHS considers the next
steps for the overall policy direction on service duration, OHS needs
to consider the impact that the 100 percent service duration standard
would have on the number of children that each Head Start grantee
services and address any significant slot loss in those Head Start
programs.
Authority
The requirements under 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(3)(ii) of the Head Start
Program Performance Standards allows the Secretary to lower the 100
percent service duration requirement described in 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(2)(iv), on or before February 1, 2020, based on an
assessment of the availability of sufficient funding to mitigate a
substantial reduction in funded enrollment in Head Start. That section
provides, On or before February 1, 2020, the Secretary may lower the
required percentage described in paragraph (c)(2)(iv) of this section
[establishing the 100 percent service duration requirement], based on
an assessment of the availability of sufficient funding to mitigate a
substantial reduction in funded enrollment. 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(3)(ii).
In the January 2018 Federal Register document, HHS and OHS removed
the parallel provision that required at least 50 percent of a Head
Start program's center-based slots provide 1,020 hours of classroom
operations per year--meaning that Head Start grantees did not have to
significantly reduce slots in order to meet this requirement.
Funding Assessment
Based on the information and the Head Start program assessment
provided to him, the Secretary concludes that Head Start appropriations
are not sufficient to allow the requirement at 45 CFR
1302.21(c)(2)(iv), for 100 percent of each Head Start program's center-
based slots to operate for 1,020 annual hours, to go into effect
without resulting in a substantial reduction in Head Start center-based
slots.
In fiscal year (FY) 2016, Congress appropriated $294 million to
support an increase in hours of program operations across Head Start
and Early Head Start. At that time, the 100 percent service duration
standard was not in effect. However, eligible programs that wished to
voluntarily increase hours of program operations for their Head Start
or Early Head Start center-based slots could submit an application to
receive supplemental funds. Head Start programs operating less than 40
percent of their center-based slots for 1,020 hours were eligible to
apply for funding. Due to the limited availability of funding, OHS used
the 40 percent threshold to prioritize those Head Start programs
operating the fewest full day, full school year slots and to help
ensure all Head Start programs had at least 40 percent of their slots
operating at 1,020 annual hours. Over 600 Head Start programs were able
to increase service duration for their center-based slots through this
funding opportunity.
Subsequently, in FY 2018, Congress appropriated an additional $260
million to further support an increase in hours of operation for Head
Start programs. Head Start programs that operated less than 45 percent
of their center-based slots at 1,020 hours, and wished to increase
hours of program operation, were eligible to submit an application to
receive funds. Over 500 programs were able to increase service duration
for 45 percent of their Head Start center-based
[[Page 5334]]
slots to 1,020 hours per year. Some eligible programs chose not to
apply for one or both rounds of additional funding to support longer
service duration.
OHS has conducted an assessment of available funding and the
percentages of slots individual programs currently operate at 1,020
annual hours. Approximately 30 percent of Head Start center-based
programs currently operate all of their slots for 1,020 hours or longer
per year. Conversely, approximately 10 percent of Head Start center-
based programs do not operate any of their slots for 1,020 hours per
year. Approximately 78 percent of Head Start center-based programs
operate at least 45 percent of their slots at 1,020 hours per year.
Approximately 59 percent of Head Start center-based programs operate at
least 50 percent of their slots at 1,020 hours per year.
Based on this assessment, ACF/OHS estimates that full
implementation of the requirement at 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(2)(iv) for the
remaining programs to operate 100 percent of their Head Start center-
based slots for 1,020 annual hours would cost approximately $730
million in additional funding. In the absence of additional
appropriations to support longer duration, Head Start programs would
have to adjust (reduce) the number of slots available, in order to be
able to operate the remaining slots at 1,020 hours per year. The
requirement would result in a loss of approximately 73,800 Head Start
slots, which represents roughly 11 percent of existing Head Start
slots. This loss would constitute a substantial reduction in Head Start
funded enrollment, and therefore makes lowering the 100 percent
requirement necessary.
The FY 2020 President's Budget did not request an increase in
appropriations to support longer service duration in Head Start. OHS
does not expect sufficient funding to become available for Head Start
programs to meet the Head Start Program Performance Standards 100
percent duration standard by August 2021. However, currently 78 percent
of Head Start programs (1,050 programs) operate at least 45 percent of
their center-based slots at 1,020 hours. In contrast, 410 Head Start
programs operate less than 45 percent of their center-based slots at
1,020 hours. If OHS were to require all Head Start programs to operate
at least 45 percent of their center-based slots at 1,020, OHS assumes
that approximately 20 percent of all Head Start center-based programs
(290 programs, or approximately 70 percent of Head Start programs that
operate less than 45 percent of their center-based slots at 1,020 hours
on an annual basis) would apply for and receive a waiver of this
requirement.\5\ This would leave 120 programs (representing 6,600
center-based slots) that would likely need to increase duration for
some of their slots in order to meet a requirement to operation 45
percent of their center-based slots at 1,020 hours per year. OHS
estimates that it would cost $25.5 million for these programs to meet
such a requirement; to meet the requirement, without an increase in
funding, would require such programs to decrease the number of center-
based Head Start slots by less than 1 percent or approximately 2,600
Head Start slots.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ In order to receive a waiver of the 100 percent duration
requirement, a program would have to demonstrate the their proposed
program design effectively supports children's development and
progress in early learning outcomes and better meets the needs of
parents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OHS believes lowering the 1,020 annual hour requirement from 100
percent to 45 percent reflects prior Congressional appropriations
because the most recent appropriations allowed programs to increase the
percentage of slots that operate for 1,020 hours up to 45 percent. This
will mitigate the chance of substantial slot loss that would likely
occur under a 100 percent requirement.
Based on this assessment presented by OHS, the Secretary of Health
and Human Services determines that there is insufficient funding for
Head Start programs to implement a 100 percent service duration
requirement of 1,020 hours per year, without a substantial reduction in
funded enrollment. Accordingly, the Secretary exercises his authority
to lower the required percentage from 100 percent to 45 percent, based
on the assessment that there is sufficient Head Start funding available
such that a requirement that 45% of center-funded slots operate at
1,020 hours per year would not result in a substantial reduction in
funded enrollment. Accordingly, by this notice, HHS lowers the 100
percent duration requirement to 45 percent.
Conclusion
In accordance with 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(3)(ii), the Secretary
determines that there is not sufficient funding available to mitigate a
substantial reduction in funded enrollment resulting from the
requirement described in 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(2)(iv), that 100 percent of
a Head Start program's center-based funded enrollment operate for 1,020
annual hours of planned classroom operations by August 1, 2021, and
hereby lowers that percentage from 100 percent to 45 percent. This
determination is effective immediately. Because the performance
standards govern the Secretary's discretion in this matter, and
authorize the Secretary to take this action, no public comment process
is required.
The service duration requirements for Head Start center-based
programs described in 45 CFR 1302.21(c)(2)(i) and (ii) also remain in
effect for those slots not operating at 1,020 annual hours. Under these
requirements, a Head Start center-based program must provide, at a
minimum, at least 160 days per year of planned class operations if it
operates for five days per week, or at least 128 days per year if it
operates four days per week. Classes must operate for a minimum of 3.5
hours per day. These requirements are minimums, and programs can choose
to operate some slots longer each day and/or for more days per year.
Additionally, the requirement that Early Head Start programs provide
1,380 annual hours of planned class operations for all center-based
enrollment remains in effect.
Dated: December 19, 2019.
Alex M. Azar II,
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2020-00635 Filed 1-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4181-01-P
