Caring Start Act of 2017
This bill amends the Head Start Act to require that, in providing and allocating resources for training and technical assistance, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) give priority consideration to activities that:
Such assistance must also, to the maximum extent practicable, assist Head Start agencies in adopting evidence-based approaches to best identify and serve children whose experiences have elicited a toxic stress response. (Toxic stress response can result from strong or prolonged adversity without adequate adult support.)
HHS shall fund personnel training in:
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 737 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 737
To amend the Head Start Act to promote trauma-informed practices, age-
appropriate positive behavioral intervention and support, services for
young children who have experienced trauma or toxic stress, and
improved coordination between Head Start agencies and other programs
that serve very young children.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 30, 2017
Ms. Clark of Massachusetts (for herself and Mr. Reed) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Head Start Act to promote trauma-informed practices, age-
appropriate positive behavioral intervention and support, services for
young children who have experienced trauma or toxic stress, and
improved coordination between Head Start agencies and other programs
that serve very young children.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Caring Start Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Neglect, hunger, abuse, and other forms of trauma
present significant challenges to young children's learning and
social-emotional development.
(2) Trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive caregiving is an
ideal targeted intervention for vulnerable children who
experience trauma.
(3) A child's development relies significantly on the
development of executive function skills, including cognitive
flexibility, self-regulation, and effortful control and
attention.
(4) Focusing on these skills, even though they are not
obviously academic, is critical in order to improve children's
long-term outcomes.
(5) Providing high-quality early childhood education can
protect young children from some of the most adverse effects of
poverty, enable their healthy development, strengthen their
health, and reduce or mediate toxic stress responses to adverse
experiences.
(6) Robust support, professional development, and
specialized training for the early education and care workforce
is essential to providing a high-quality early education to
every child.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.
Section 648 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(3)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in clause (ii) by striking ``and'' at
the end,
(ii) in clause (iii) by striking ``and'' at
the end, and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(iv) activities that support the
implementation of evidence-based trauma-
informed practices, age-appropriate positive
behavioral interventions and supports, early
childhood mental health consultation, and
prevention of suspension and expulsion; and
``(v) activities that appropriately
increase the level of coordination between Head
Start agencies and other programs that serve
very young children, in order to increase the
general quality, availability, and reliability
of services provided; and'',
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in clause (xv) by striking ``and'' at
the end,
(ii) in clause (xvi) by striking the period
at the end and inserting ``; and'', and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(xvii) assist Head Start agencies in
adopting evidence-based approaches to best
identify and serve children whose experiences
have elicited a toxic stress response.'',
(2) in subsection (b)(2)--
(A) in subparagraph (F) by striking ``and'' at the
end,
(B) in subparagraph (G) by striking the period at
the end and inserting a semicolon, and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(H) in evidence-based trauma-informed practices,
as well as early childhood mental health consultation
and age-appropriate positive behavioral interventions
and supports; and
``(I) in helping children who have experienced, or
are experiencing, trauma or toxic stress.'', and
(3) in subsection (d)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (G) by striking ``and children
under 3 years of age, where applicable'' and inserting
``children who experience trauma, and children under 3
years of age, especially for whom such experiences have
caused a toxic stress response, including appropriate
training and professional development on evidence-based
trauma-informed practices and early childhood mental
health consultation'',
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as
subparagraph (J), and
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the
following:
``(I) Activities designed to prevent suspension and
expulsion and to increase utilization of age-
appropriate positive behavioral interventions and
supports.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
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