ACYF Administration on Children, Youth and Families	U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children and Families
	1. Log No. ACYF-IM-HS-00-19	2. Issuance Date: 09/08/00
	3. Originating Office: Head Start Bureau
	4. Key Word: Family Child Care NPRM

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM [See Attachments at the bottom]

TO: Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies

SUBJECT: Proposed Regulation on Family Child Care Homes as a Head Start program option.

INFORMATION: Attached for your review and comment is a copy of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Family Child Care, as published in the Federal Register on August 29, 2000. The Head Start Bureau is seeking public comments on the provisions of this NPRM by October 30, 2000.

BACKGROUND: In the last several years many Head Start programs have seen significant changes in the needs of their children and families, particularly the need for quality child care for those Head Start parents who are working or in job training. While many Head Start families' needs for child care may best be met by a center-based program option, other families may benefit from other approaches. Therefore, in order to assure that local programs are offered sufficient flexibility to design programs that work best for their families and their communities, we are proposing to add another program option - family child care - as an acceptable model for providing Head Start services.

Through the funding of several demonstration projects, a number of Head Start grantees have already implemented a family child care model. Head Start conducted an evaluation of the "Head Start Family Child Care Homes' Demonstration 1992-97" to determine whether the services provided in family child care settings can meet the Head Start Performance Standards and have comparable impacts on children and families, as compared to those enrolled in center-based programs.

Based on the data derived from this study, it has been decided that family child care is a viable setting for providing comprehensive Head Start services. The findings show that services delivered in a family child care setting can meet Head Start standards of quality and can produce outcomes for children and families similar to those of other program options.

In developing this proposed regulation, the Head Start Bureau convened several meetings attended by representatives from a cross section of for-profit and non-profit family child care programs, other organizations and agencies, experts, and parents to advise the Bureau regarding various aspects of family child care programming. The family child care issues addressed by these groups included staff qualifications, staff-child ratios, oversight and support, and utilization of multiple funding sources.

Informed by years of experience, and by a wide range of individuals and groups, as well as the findings of the evaluation study, the Head Start Bureau is proposing that family child care become a program option.

PROVISIONS OF THE PROPOSED RULE:

Head Start grantees and delegate agencies providing services in family child care homes would be required to implement the current Head Start Program Performance Standards and the additional requirements set forth in this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). This NPRM amends 45 CFR Part 1304 (Program Performance Standards for the Operation of Head Start Programs by Grantee and Delegate Agencies) and 45 CFR Part 1306 (Head Start Staffing Requirements and Program Options). It, among other things, proposes to:

• Specify group size and staff-child ratios for the operation of a family child care program option;
• Require that Head Start agencies ensure proper oversight and support of family child care teachers;
• Add specific requirements regarding staffing qualifications for child care teachers and child development specialists;
• Require that Head Start agencies provide ongoing training specific to family child care; and
• Require that family child care programs operate on a year-round basis.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

As explained in the NPRM, comments are to be addressed to Associate Commissioner, Head Start Bureau, 330 C STREET, SW; Washington, D.C. 20201. Comments must be submitted by October 30, 2000.

Your comments are extremely important to the development of a final regulation that will best support quality services to children and families. Therefore, I ask that you, your staff and parents carefully review the text of the proposed regulation. Please address in your comments those elements of the proposed rule that you believe should remain in the final rule as well as those that you believe should be changed. All comments will be taken into account and summaries of the comments received will be published with the final rule in the Federal Register.

To assist us in the review of comments, please cite the section and paragraph number of the proposed regulation that relates to each individual comment and explain the reason for each comment.

Helen H. Taylor
Associate Commissioner
Head Start Bureau

Attachments:
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Family Child Care Homes
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Family Child Care Homes [PDF, 141KB]