How Do the Requirements Regarding Enrollment of at Least 10% of Children with Disabilities Apply for an Agency that has Both a Head Start and an Early Head Start Program with One Grant Award?

Response:

In recognition of the value and worth of all children, Early Head Start (EHS) requires inclusion of children with disabilities. The Head Start Program Performance Standards require that at least 10 percent of the total number of enrollment opportunities be made available to children with disabilities. Children with disabilities are defined as those children who are eligible for services under State regulations governing Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA is a Federal law that is implemented at the State and local levels to provide screening, assessment, and, for eligible children, early intervention services based on Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP).

Agencies operating both Early Head Start and Head Start programs under a combined grant application are expected to implement their recruitment, selection, and enrollment plans to provide proportional representation of children with disabilities in both programs’ enrollment opportunities. For example, if an agency is operating both an EHS and a HS program, and the agency enrolls 50 children in EHS and 100 children in HS, the agency is expected to reserve 10% of both program’s enrollment slots for children with disabilities – 5 slots in EHS and 10 slots in HS. If agencies were to combine their enrollment, it could significantly reduce the enrollment opportunities for infants and toddlers with disabilities. The concern is programs then may not assign priority to the recruitment and selection of infants and toddlers with disabilities in the Early Head Start program.

Considerations:

What is the program’s plan for recruitment, selection, and enrollment of infants and toddlers with disabilities?
How do the EHS program and the Part C partner communicate, coordinate, and plan for success recruitment and program services for children with disabilities?
When, if ever, has the program met the 10% enrollment requirements?
How does the EHS program ensure that there is a proportional representation of infants and toddlers with disabilities when it operates conjointly with a Head Start program?

Program Performance Standards, Title 45, Code of Federal Regulations:

1305.6(c) At least 10 percent of the total number enrollment opportunities in each grantee and each delegate agency during an enrollment year must be made available to children with disabilities in Section 1305.2(a).
1305.2 Enrollment opportunities means vacancies that exist at the beginning of the enrollment year or during the year because of children who leave the program, that must be filled for a program to achieve and maintain its funded enrollment.

Resources:

(December 2000) Revised Grant Application and EHS Enrollment Opportunities for Children with Disabilities

Hilton/Early Head Start Training Program – SpecialQuest. The Head Start Bureau has a partnership with the Conrad Hilton Foundation that provides training and ongoing follow-up to Early Head Start and Migrant Head Start programs for the development of quality, collaborative, inclusive services for infants and toddlers with significant disabilities. At the core of this training program is an intensive series of workshops called the SpecialQuest, which five-member community teams from EHS localities gain state-of-the-art information and develop team plans. In keeping with Head Start's focus on continuous quality improvement, participation in the SpecialQuest is a four-year commitment that includes four trainings and follow-up activities. http://www.specialquest.org/

The Tip Sheet is not a regulatory document. Its intent is to provide a basis for dialogue, clarification, and problem solving among the Head Start Bureau, Regional Offices, T & TA consultants, and grantees.