8-Exhibit 4 - 1302.21 Center-based option.pdf

1302.21 Center-based option.

headstart.gov/policy/45-cfr-chap-xiii/1302-21-center-based-option

Head Start Program Performance Standards

Head Start Program Performance Standards

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Part 1301—Program Governance

1301.1 Purpose.

1301.2 Governing body.

1301.3 Policy council and policy committee.

1301.4 Parent committees.

1301.5 Training.

1301.6 Impasse procedures.

Part 1302—Program Operations

1302.1 Overview.

1302 Subpart A—Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance

1302.10 Purpose.

1302.11 Determining community strengths, needs, and resources.

1302.12 Determining, verifying, and documenting eligibility.

1302.13 Recruitment of children.

1302.14 Selection process.

1302.15 Enrollment.

1302.16 Attendance.

1302.17 Suspension and expulsion.

1302.18 Fees.

1302 Subpart B—Program Structure

1302.20 Determining program structure.

1302.21 Center-based option.

1302.22 Home-based option.

1302.23 Family child care option.

1302.24 Locally-designed program option variations.

1302 Subpart C—Education and Child Development Program Services

1302.30 Purpose.

1302.31 Teaching and the learning environment.

1302.32 Curricula.

1302.33 Child screenings and assessments.

1302.34 Parent and family engagement in education and child development services.

1302.35 Education in home-based programs.

1302.36 Tribal language preservation and revitalization.

1302 Subpart D—Health and Mental Health Program Services

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1302.40 Purpose.

1302.41 Collaboration and communication with parents.

1302.42 Child health status and care.

1302.43 Oral health practices.

1302.44 Child nutrition.

1302.45 Supports for mental health and well-being.

1302.46 Family support services for health, nutrition, and mental health.

1302.47 Safety practices.

1302 Subpart E—Family and Community Engagement Program Services

1302.50 Family engagement.

1302.51 Parent activities to promote child learning and development.

1302.52 Family partnership services.

1302.53 Community partnerships and coordination with other early childhood and education programs.

1302 Subpart F—Additional Services for Children with Disabilities

1302.60 Full participation in program services and activities.

1302.61 Additional services for children.

1302.62 Additional services for parents.

1302.63 Coordination and collaboration with the local agency responsible for implementing IDEA.

1302 Subpart G—Transition Services

1302.70 Transitions from Early Head Start.

1302.71 Transitions from Head Start Preschool to kindergarten.

1302.72 Transitions between programs.

1302 Subpart H—Services to Enrolled Pregnant Women

1302.80 Enrolled pregnant women.

1302.81 Prenatal and postpartum information, education, and services.

1302.82 Family partnership services for enrolled pregnant women.

1302 Subpart I—Human Resources Management

1302.90 Personnel policies.

1302.91 Staff qualifications and competency requirements.

1302.92 Training and professional development.

1302.93 Staff health and wellness.

1302.94 Volunteers.

1302 Subpart J—Program Management and Quality Improvement

1302.100 Purpose.

1302.101 Management system.

1302.102 Program goals, continuous improvement, and reporting.

Part 1303—Financial and Administrative Requirements

1303.1 Overview.

1303 Subpart A—Financial Requirements

1303.2 Purpose.

1303.3 Other requirements.

1303.4 Federal financial assistance, non-federal match, and waiver requirements.

1303.5 Limitations on development and administrative costs.

1303 Subpart B—Administrative Requirements

1303.10 Purpose.

1303.11 Limitations and prohibitions.

1303.12 Insurance and bonding.

1303 Subpart C—Protections for the Privacy of Child Records

1303.20 Establishing Procedures.

1303.21 Program procedures – applicable confidentiality provisions.

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1303.22 Disclosures with, and without, parental consent.

1303.23 Parental rights.

1303.24 Maintaining records.

1303 Subpart D—Delegation of Program Operations

1303.30 Grant recipient responsibility and accountability.

1303.31 Determining and establishing delegate agencies.

1303.32 Evaluations and corrective actions for delegate agencies.

1303.33 Termination of delegate agencies.

1303 Subpart E—Facilities

1303.40 Purpose.

1303.41 Approval of previously purchased facilities.

1303.42 Eligibility to purchase, construct, and renovate facilities.

1303.43 Use of grant funds to pay fees.

1303.44 Applications to purchase, construct, and renovate facilities.

1303.45 Cost-comparison to purchase, construct, and renovate facilities.

1303.46 Recording and posting notices of federal interest.

1303.47 Contents of notices of federal interest.

1303.48 Grant recipient limitations on federal interest.

1303.49 Protection of federal interest in mortgage agreements.

1303.50 Third party leases and occupancy arrangements.

1303.51 Subordination of the federal interest.

1303.52 Insurance, bonding, and maintenance.

1303.53 Copies of documents.

1303.54 Record retention.

1303.55 Procurement procedures.

1303.56 Inspection of work.

1303 Subpart F—Transportation

1303.70 Purpose.

1303.71 Vehicles.

1303.72 Vehicle operation.

1303.73 Trip routing.

1303.74 Safety procedures.

1303.75 Children with disabilities.

Part 1304—Federal Administrative Procedures

1304 Subpart A—Monitoring, Suspension, Termination, Denial of Refunding, Reduction in

Funding, and their Appeals

1304.1 Purpose.

1304.2 Monitoring.

1304.3 Suspension with notice.

1304.4 Emergency suspension without advance notice.

1304.5 Termination and denial of refunding.

1304.6 Appeal for prospective delegate agencies.

1304.7 Legal fees.

1304 Subpart B—Designation Renewal

1304.10 Purpose and scope.

1304.11 Basis for determining whether a Head Start agency will be subject to an open competition.

1304.12 Grant recipient reporting requirements concerning certain conditions.

1304.13 Requirements to be considered for designation for a five-year period when the existing grant recipient in a community is not determined to be delivering a high-quality and comprehensive Head Start program and is not automatically renewed.

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1304.14 Tribal government consultation under the Designation Renewal System for when an Indian Head Start grant is being considered for competition.

1304.15 Designation request, review and notification process.

1304.16 Use of CLASS: Pre-K instrument in the Designation Renewal System.

1304.17 Flexibility for Head Start Designation Renewal determinations in certain emergencies

1304 Subpart C—Selection of Grant recipients through Competition

1304.20 Selection among applicants.

1304 Subpart D—Replacement of American Indian and Alaska Native Grant Recipients

1304.30 Procedure for identification of alternative agency.

1304.31 Requirements of alternative agency.

1304.32 Alternative agency—prohibition.

1304 Subpart E—Head Start Fellows Program

1304.40 Purpose.

1304.41 Head Start Fellows Program.

Part 1305—Definitions

1305.1 Purpose

1305.2 Terms

(a) Setting. The center-based option delivers the full range of services, consistent with §1302.20(b).

Education and child development services are delivered primarily in classroom settings.

(b) Ratios and group size.

(1) Staff-child ratios and group size maximums must be determined by the age of the majority of children and the needs of children present. A program must determine the age of the majority of children in a class at the start of the year and may adjust this determination during the program year, if necessary. Where state or local licensing requirements are more stringent than the teacher-child ratios and group size specifications in this section, a program must meet the stricter requirements. A program must maintain appropriate ratios during all hours of program operation, except:

(i) For brief absences of a teaching staff member for no more than five minutes; and,

(ii) During nap time, one teaching staff member may be replaced by one staff member or volunteer who does not meet the teaching qualifications required for the age.

(2) An Early Head Start or Migrant or Seasonal Head Start class that serves children under 36 months old must have two teachers with no more than eight children, or three teachers with no more than nine children. Each teacher must be assigned consistent, primary responsibility for no more than four children to promote continuity of care for individual children. A program must minimize teacher changes throughout a child’s enrollment, whenever possible, and consider mixed age group classes to support continuity of care.

(3) A class that serves a majority of children who are three years old must have no more than 17 children with a teacher and teaching assistant or two teachers. A double session class that serves a majority of children who are three years old must have no more than 15 children with a teacher and teaching assistant or two teachers.

(4) A class that serves a majority of children who are four and five years old must have no more than

20 children with a teacher and a teaching assistant or two teachers. A double session class that serves a majority of children who are four and five years old must have no more than 17 children with a teacher and a teaching assistant or two teachers.

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Table to §1302.21(b) — Center-based group size

4 and 5 year olds

No more than 20 children enrolled in any class. No more than 17 children enrolled in any double session class.

3 year olds No more than 17 children enrolled in any class. No more than 15 children enrolled in any double session class.

Under 3 years old

No more than 8 or 9 children enrolled in any class, depending on the number of teachers.

(c) Service duration.

(1) Early Head Start.

(i) A program must provide 1,380 annual hours of planned class operations for all enrolled children.

(ii) A program that is designed to meet the needs of young parents enrolled in school settings may meet the service duration requirements in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section if it operates a center-based program schedule during the school year aligned with its local education agency requirements and provides regular home-based services during the summer break.

(2) Head Start Preschool.

(i) Service duration for at least 45 percent. A program must provide 1,020 annual hours of planned class operations over the course of at least eight months per year for at least 45 percent of its Head

Start Preschool center-based funded enrollment.

(ii) Service duration for remaining slots. A 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.

(iii) Double session. Double session variation must provide classes for four days per week for a minimum of 128 days per year and 3.5 hours per day. Each double session class staff member must be provided adequate break time during the course of the day. In addition, teachers, assistants, and volunteers must have appropriate time to prepare for each session together, to set up the classroom environment, and to give individual attention to children entering and leaving the center.

(iv) Special provision for alignment with local education agency. A Head Start Preschool program providing fewer than 1,020 annual hours of planned class operations or fewer than eight months of service is considered to meet the requirements described in paragraphs (c)(2)(i) of this section if its program schedule aligns with the annual hours required by its local education agency for grade one and such alignment is necessary to support partnerships for service delivery.

(3) Exemption for Migrant or Seasonal Head Start programs. A Migrant or Seasonal program is not subject to the requirements described in paragraph (c)(1) or (2) of this section, but must make every effort to provide as many days and hours of service as possible to each child and family.

(4) Calendar planning. A program must:

(i) Plan its year using a reasonable estimate of the number of days during a year that classes may be closed due to problems such as inclement weather; and,

(ii) Make every effort to schedule makeup days using existing resources if hours of planned class operations fall below the number required per year.

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(d) Licensing and square footage requirements.

(1) The facilities used by a program must meet state, tribal, or local licensing requirements, even if exempted by the licensing entity. When state, tribal, or local requirements vary from Head Start requirements, the most stringent provision takes precedence.

(2) A center-based program must have at least 35 square feet of usable indoor space per child available for the care and use of children (exclusive of bathrooms, halls, kitchen, staff rooms, and storage places) and at least 75 square feet of usable outdoor play space per child.

(3) A program that operates two or more groups within an area must ensure clearly defined, safe divisions to separate groups. A program must ensure such spaces are learning environments that facilitate the implementation of the requirements in subpart C of this part. The divisions must limit noise transfer from one group to another to prevent disruption of an effective learning environment.

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