PROGRAM INSTRUCTION

TO: Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies

SUBJECT: Receipt of Public Assistance and Determining Eligibility for Head Start

LEGAL AND RELATED REFERENCES: The Head Start Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq. 45 CFR 1305, Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment and Attendance in Head Start.

BACKGROUND:

Section 645(a) of the Head Start Act states that "children from low-income families shall be eligible for participation in programs assisted under this subchapter if their families' incomes are below the poverty line, or if their families are eligible ...for public assistance." Historically, Head Start defined families eligible for public assistance as those who were receiving payments through the AFDC program (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) or through the SSI program (Supplemental Security Income). With welfare reform and the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, AFDC has been replaced by the TANF program (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). This Instruction clarifies the issue of what constitutes TANF eligibility for purposes of determining eligibility for Head Start.

INSTRUCTION:

For a child to be eligible for Head Start services, Head Start grantees must verify that the child meets the requirements regarding age and be from a "low-income" family. (Alternatively, grantees may enroll the child as part of the enrollees who can be from "over-income" families, as allowed by 45 CFR Part 1305 and, if applicable, by Section 645(a)(2) and (d) of the Head Start Act.). A low-income family is a family whose income before taxes is below the poverty line or a family that is receiving public assistance, even if the family's income exceeds the poverty line. Children in foster care are also Head Start eligible, regardless of family income. Public assistance means that the family is receiving benefits or services through the TANF or SSI programs. (Before the passage of TANF in 1996, public assistance meant that a family was receiving benefits through AFDC or SSI.)
TANF is in many ways a much more complex program than AFDC because States have great flexibility in determining the types of benefits they provide to participating families. This may make the issue of deciding who is and who is not to be considered a TANF recipient more difficult than it was under AFDC.

In determining a family's Head Start eligibility, grantees should consider a family as receiving public assistance if the family is receiving benefits or services, funded under the authority of the TANF program, which are being provided on a regular (i.e., not episodic) basis. Some of the types of services which would be considered as TANF benefits or services include, but are not necessarily limited to, cash payments, vouchers and other forms of benefits designed to meet the family's ongoing basic needs, supportive services such as transportation, subsidized child care and employment-related services such as job training.

All Head Start programs should become familiar with their State and/or county TANF program to help facilitate the process of determining eligibility for Head Start.

Questions on this matter should be referred to your ACF Regional Office or, as appropriate, the American Indians or Migrant Programs Branches.
/S/
Patricia Montoya
Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families