[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 187 (Thursday, September 28, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45205-45207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20499]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
45 CFR Part 1302
RIN 0970-AC63
Head Start Program
AGENCY: Office of Head Start (OHS), Administration for Children and
Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Final rule; delay of compliance date.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Head Start will delay the compliance date for
background check procedures and the date for programs to participate in
their state or local Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS).
Both requirements are described in the Head Start Program Performance
Standards (HSPPS) final rule that was published in the Federal Register
on September 6, 2016. We believe programs and states will benefit from
more time to fully implement these changes.
DATES: The date for programs to comply with background checks
procedures described in 45 CFR 1302.90(b) and for programs to
participate in QRIS described in 45 CFR 1302.53(b)(2) is delayed until
September 30, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colleen Rathgeb, Division Director of
Early Childhood Policy and Budget, Office of Early Childhood
Development, [email protected], (202) 401-1195 (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:
Background
The Head Start program provides grants to local public and private
non-profit and for-profit agencies to provide comprehensive education
and child development services to economically disadvantaged children,
birth to age 5, and families and to help young children develop the
skills they need to be successful in school. We amended our Head Start
Program Performance Standards in a final rule that published in the
Federal Register on September 6, 2016.
The Head Start Program Performance Standards define requirements
grantees and delegate agencies must implement to operate high quality
Head Start or Early Head Start programs and provide
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a structure to monitor and enforce quality standards.
Promoting Child Safety and State Partnerships
Child safety is a top priority in the final rule. We strengthened
our criminal background check requirements at 45 CFR 1302.90(b), in the
final rule, to reflect changes in the Improving Head Start for School
Readiness Act of 2007, Public Law 110-134, and to complement background
check requirements in the Child Care and Development Block Grant
(CCDBG) Act of 2014, Public Law 113-186.
In addition to background check requirements, we aim to strengthen
partnerships between states and Head Start programs. As part of this
effort, 45 CFR 1302.53(b) in the final rule requires Head Start
programs to take an active role in promoting coordinated early
childhood systems, including those in their state. As part of these
requirements, most Head Start programs must participate in QRIS, if
they meet certain conditions.
Compliance Dates
In the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of the final rule, we
provided a table, Table 1: Compliance Table that lists dates by which
programs must implement specific standards. We currently list September
30, 2017, as the date by which programs must comply with background
check requirements at 45 CFR 1302.90(b). We had previously extended
background check requirements until September 30, 2017, to align with
the background check requirement deadline in the CCDBG Act through a
Federal Register document, published on December 6, 2016. However,
programs are required to continue to adhere to the criminal record
check requirements in section 648A of Head Start Act, as amended by the
Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, Public Law 110-
134. We list August 1, 2017, as the date programs must participate in
their states' Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) pursuant to
45 CFR 1302.53(b)(2).
Background Checks Procedures in the Final Rule
Generally, 45 CFR 1302.90(b)(1) requires that before a person is
hired, programs must conduct a sex offender registry check and obtain
either a state or tribal criminal history records, including
fingerprint checks, or a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal
history records, including fingerprint checks.
In 45 CFR 1302.90(b)(2), (4), and (5), we afford programs 90 days
to obtain whichever check they could not obtain before the person was
hired, as well as child abuse and neglect state registry check, if
available. We require programs to have systems in place that ensure
these newly hired employees do not have unsupervised access to children
until their background process is complete. A complete background check
consists of a sex offender registry check, state or tribal history
records, including fingerprint check and FBI criminal history records,
including fingerprint check, as well as a child abuse and neglect state
registry check, if available. We also require programs to conduct
complete background checks for each employee at least once every five
years.
We believe programs will need more time to implement systems to
complete the backgrounds checks process listed at 45 CFR 1302.90(b)(2),
(4), and (5) in our final rule. Also, we recognize most states will
have systems that can accommodate our programs' background checks
requests by September 30, 2018. Congress requires states that receive
CCDBG funds to implement systems for comprehensive background checks
for all child care teachers and staff. These states must have
requirements, as well as policies and procedures to enforce and conduct
criminal background checks for existing and prospective child care
providers, by September 30, 2017, but Congress gave states the
authority to request extensions until September 30, 2018, and several
states have done so. Since these systems enable Head Start programs to
meet the HSPPS requirements in 45 CFR 1302.90(b), we can minimize
burden on Head Start programs if we extend the compliance date for 45
CFR 1302.90(b) to September 30, 2018. Until September 30, 2018, the
criminal record check requirements from section 648A of the Head Start
Act continue to remain in place.
QRIS Requirement in the Final Rule
QRIS is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the
level of quality in early and school-age care and education programs.
QRIS award quality ratings to programs that meet a set of defined
program standards. Since the 1990s, many states have developed a QRIS.
The requirements at 45 CFR 1302.53(b) require Head Start programs
to take an active role in promoting coordinated early childhood systems
to maximize access to services, reduce system duplication, foster
informed quality improvement, and ensure Head Start programs are part
of larger early childhood systems within their states. These
requirements went into effect on November 7, 2016. To further Head
Start's role in state systems of quality improvement, the HSPPS
requires programs to participate in QRIS, if they meet certain
conditions described at 45 CFR 1302.53(b)(2).
We understood from the public comment process and from subsequent
discussions with Head Start grantees and state organizations that there
are concerns about the time and resources needed by both the states and
grantees to ensure Head Start grantees are able to participate in their
QRIS. We understand programs have taken steps to participate in QRIS
and that many states are assessing their QRIS with new Head Start QRIS
participation policies, but additional time is needed to align these
systems. We want to minimize any unintentional burden on states that
choose to adapt their systems to incorporate Head Start participation,
as well as alleviate programs' concerns about meeting the current
compliance date for participation in QRIS.
Given the variation in the state/local QRIS landscape and the
applicability of the conditions in the regulation, the original
compliance date for the requirement in the HSPPS at 45 CFR
1302.53(b)(2) was August 1, 2017 in the previously mentioned compliance
table. Through this document, we are delaying the date by which
programs must implement the specific requirement for QRIS participation
until September 30, 2018. The broader requirement for Head Start
programs to take an active role in promoting coordinated early
childhood systems continues to be in effect.
Conclusion
We ordinarily publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the
Federal Register to provide a period for public comment before the
provisions of a rule take effect in accordance with section 553(b) of
the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b)). However, we
can waive this notice and comment procedure if the Secretary finds, for
good cause, that the notice and comment process is impracticable,
unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and incorporates a
statement of the finding and the reasons therefore in the notice.
We find good cause to waive public comment under section 553(b) of
the APA because it is unnecessary and contrary to the public interest
to provide for public comment in this instance. The delayed compliance
date poses no harm or burden to programs or the public. A period for
public comment would have only extended programs'
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concerns about complying with these requirements by the compliance
date. Programs may voluntarily come into compliance at an earlier date
if they have the processes already in place. Programs that do not have
processes already in place, have until September 30, 2018, to comply
with the requirements on background checks at 45 CFR 1302.90(b) and the
requirement to participate in their states' QRIS at 45 CFR
1302.53(b)(2).
Dated: September 6, 2017.
Steven Wagner,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.
Approved: September 6, 2017.
Thomas E. Price,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-20499 Filed 9-27-17; 8:45 am]
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