National Head Start Association

Week of July 23, 2010

Dear Friends: 

We hope each and every one of you had a wonderful July 4^th Holiday weekend. Please read this email and share it with others in your network. It starts with an URGENT CALL TO ACTION, contains a Legislative Update, an NHSA Update, Additional Resources just for you. 

NHSA UPDATE AT A GLANCE 

• Urgent Call to Action - Head Start Appropriations
• Support Head Start Honor Roll of 10 States
• Ongoing Public Dialogue about Head Start - USA Today

 

• Legislative Update
  • Appropriations
  • Child Nutrition Reauthorization
  • Senator Robert C. Byrd Laid to Rest Tuesday, July 6, 2010
  • Special Elections Update: West Virginia
  • Recess Beginning Monday, August 9^th, 2010

 

• NHSA Update
  • NHSA Affiliate Relations -Working for You 
  • Save the Date for the Leadership Institute and Head Start's 45th Anniversary Celebration!
  • Head Start Researcher/Practitioner Connections Group
  • Meet This Summer's NHSA Fellows and Interns
  • Go Smart Update
  • NHSA Directors' Leadership Training

 

• Other Calls To Action
  • Envisioning Head Start for the Future -- 2012

 

• Resources for You
  • Get Ready for Fall-Check out On-Demand Topics from the Head Start Legal Advisory Service
  • U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Recalls You Need to Know
  • Information and Resources to Apply for Home Visiting Program Grants

 

• Dollar Per Child

URGENT CALL TO ACTION 

Head Start Appropriations 

We need your help with Appropriations and the time is now! Without your action, there is a chance that Congress might not include funding for the slots and jobs recently expanded through ARRA in the FY 2011 appropriation. You did a great job reaching and influencing the US House last week and we avoided a serious cut in funding, but now we need to make sure our Senators get the message too!  

First things first - visit the Support Head Start website! Easily send all of your legislators a message encouraging them to support funding for Head Start and Early Head Start through the Support Head Start website. Click here to access the site.  

Once you've sent your letters to Congress, get three of your friends to send a letter as well! After you've sent your letter, if you get only three other people to sign onto the message and they each get three more people, then you will have sent thirteen messages to Congress. Thirteen messages make a much bigger impact than one letter and it's just as easy! Join NHSA staff and other Head Start advocates by pledging to get three friends to send their letters to Congress on NHSA's Support Head Start Website. And by all means post the request on your Facebook page. 

Support Head Start's Honor Roll 

A shout-out to top ten states that generated most contacts with Congress in the last week on the www.supportheadstart.org website: California -(esp. CA-50, 49, 18, 19 and 52), Minnesota, New York, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Washington. And a very special mention to South Dakota and Montana, which, despite low population density, made a significant number of contacts. They realize how important their Members of Congress are and NHSA applauds their efforts. THANK YOU all for your advocacy that benefits all of Head Start and keep up the great work!!! If your state is not on the honor roll yet and you would like some help from NHSA, please get in touch and we will do everything to help. Everyone's participation counts, but doubly and triply so if your Member is on a key committee.  

Ongoing Public Dialogue about Head Start 

As we wrote to you on July 13^th, USA Today published an editorial against the increased appropriations for Head Start requested in the President's FY2011 budget ($989 million increase over last year's amount). USA Today's rationale for opposing the funding increase was based on the belief that the Impact Study "fadeout" effect caused Head Start to be less effective than it could be. As a result, it suggested that additional money should not be invested in Head Start until its effectiveness can be improved. 

On that same day, NHSA's executive director, Yasmina Vinci, published an opposing viewpoint. It in, she explained the return on investment from the program, in the form of fewer crimes, less hours of special education needed, higher high school graduation rates and higher college enrollment rates. Some days later, letters to the editor from the field in support of Head Start and its effects on low-income children and families were also published.  

On the 20^th, Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius had a letter to the editor in USA Today about the old data used in the Impact Study and how HHS plans to strengthen the program.  

So what does all of this show? ...That Head Start is relevant in everyday lives across the country. ...That the public is watching what we do and how we do it. ...And that we need to continue to explain carefully what it is you do every day and why it matters.  

Thanks to those of you who talked to your local media or wrote letters to the editor! These efforts show that together, we can continue to make a difference.   

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE  

Appropriations Update 

Here are a few key terms that may be helpful to know as we move through the process.  

Key Terms: 

ARRA: ARRA stands for theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly known as the Recovery Act or the Economic Stimulus package. This act included an expansion of Early Head Start and Head Start as well as additional money for COLA, facilities, and quality. Although ARRA directly expanded the number of slots in Head Start/Early Head Start programs and provided quality improvement funds to programs, it was one-time money and is not a part of our base grants or guaranteed money moving past this year.  

Bill Mark-Up: A bill mark-up is the meeting when a Committee in the House of Senate discusses specific bill language, amounts, and figures prior to the bill getting "reported out" of Committee. It is the first time that the bill is publicly debated and the first time where amendments are heard on the bill. 

Continuing Resolution (CR): A Continuing Resolution is a resolution that continues federal spending for a period of time at the same levels as the previous term. To put it in context, that would mean that a CR this fall would continue federal spending at the appropriation levels passed for FY 2010 until new appropriations levels are determined. To be enacted, a CR has to be voted on and pass both the House and Senate, like other bills. 

FY 2011: Fiscal Year 2011. For the Federal Government, FY2011 goes from October 1, 2010 - September 30, 2011. 

Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies: Head Start is under the jurisdiction of this Appropriations Subcommittee. The Chairman of this Appropriations Subcommittee in the Senate is Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee is Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS). The Chairman of this Appropriations Subcommittee in the House is Rep. Dave Obey (D-WI) and the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee is Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS). 

Current Appropriations Activity: 

House Appropriations: On Thursday, July 15, 2010, the House Labor, HHS, and Education Subcommittee concluded its bill mark-up for FY 2011 appropriations.  

The Big Picture: The Subcommittee bill totals about $176.4 billion-which is about $1.5 billion less than the President's FY2011 funding request. 

• Head Start Programs: If this bill were to pass and become law, then our community would receive roughly $124 million less than the President's request, but $866 million of the funding under ARRA would become a part of the permanent Head Start funding.  We do not yet know what the $124 million loss would mean for programs because it depends on the specific language the Subcommittee uses. We'll let you know once we hear! 
    
  The hope remains that the Senate Subcommittee may restore the 124 million in their mark-up - that is why the call to action above is important. 
   
• Child Care and Development Block Grant: The Subcommittee included $2.827 for CCDBG-about $100 million less than the President's ask.
   
• Additional Measures that Impact Head Start: In oral statements, Chairman Obey mentioned concern over the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports of fraud in LIHEAP and Head Start and explained that the bill includes measures to address the issues.

 

• $25 million is included for added staff to perform monitoring and oversight of programs and for additional T/TA to help strengthen programs.
• $7.5 million has been added for the HHS Inspector General to conduct audits and investigations.
• A final important measure included is a report requested from the HHS Secretary as to what "steps they are taking to combat fraud and abuse" by mid-September so that additional steps to increase or decrease funding can be taken in Conference on the bill.

 To read the Chairman's statement, the bill's summary table, and for additional information, click here. 

Next Steps: The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee will be marking up its bill next week (again, see the call to action above).

After both Subcommittees have marked up their bills, then the 2 full Appropriations Committees must vote on them. After that process occurs, the bills will move to the House and Senate floor for a full vote. If there are differences, they will need to be ironed out in a conference committee consisting of members from the House and from the Senate. Once both houses have the same exact bill language, they will vote again. If they both pass that same language, the President will sign the bill into law. If, however, they don't do this in the very short timeframe they have before the next federal fiscal year starts in October, we are likely to see a CR (defined above). After that, we may also see what is known as a "minibus" or an "omnibus" which marries multiple appropriations bills together (for different departments and agencies) into one complex bill so that the House and Senate don't have to vote separately on each of the 13 appropriations bills.    

It is a very complex and confusing process with many moving parts. What is important is to follow what is happening in the short-term and act on that. This week, it is extremely important that we contact our Senators, especially if your Senator is on the Senate's Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies. Please see the Call to Action above and visit the Support Head Start website. Rest assured, we'll keep you updated on any and all new developments! 

Child Nutrition Reauthorization 

The bill to reauthorize child nutrition funding and services was marked up by the House Education and Labor Committee level last week. Some of the highlights for the bill, H.R.5504-Improving Nutrition for America's Children include: 

• Eliminating individual paper applications for schools or LEAs with high proportions of low-income children to receive federal reimbursement for free or reduced price meals under such programs.
• State Childhood Hunger Challenge Grants for the establishment of expanding the school breakfast program at low-income schools.
• Expanding access of low-income rural areas to the summer food service program.
• Requiring nutrition standards made by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for all foods sold in school through school lunch or breakfast programs. Also, this bill requires science-based nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools outside the school lunch and breakfast programs.
• Establishing school wellness policies that include goals for nutrition promotion and education, physical activity and education, and other school-based activities that promote student wellness.
• Reimbursed meals and snacks provided under the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) must meet the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
• Encouraging breastfeeding for WIC participants and encouraging WIC electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems to be implemented nationwide.

The next step for the bill will be to pass through the House Budget committee, before it goes to the full House floor. As you may remember, the Senate passed their version of the bill out of committee in early May, but it has not yet been voted on by the full Senate. Assuming the bill does pass out of both the full Senate and the full House, it will most likely go to a conference committee before being signed by President Obama.

Stay tuned for more information!  

Senator Robert C. Byrd Laid to Rest Tuesday, July 6, 2010 

On Tuesday, July 06, 2010, Washington's longest serving member of Congress, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.V.) was laid to rest after his passing on June 28, 2010. Senator Byrd spent 51 years serving West Virginians in the Senate and 6 years in the House of Representatives. During his tenure, Senator Byrd held a number of offices in the Senate, including majority and minority leader and president pro tem, but was perhaps most well known for his role as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Upon the passing of the 92 year old Senator, President Obama remarked that America had lost "a voice of principle and reason." To read more about the life and history of Senator Byrd, as well as other statements and remarks on his passing, please visit his website. 

Special Election Update: West Virginia 

As we mentioned in our NHSA Update in May, a special election is held when a seat becomes vacant between regularly scheduled elections. The recent passing of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia (see above) has left one of West Virginia's two Senatorial seats vacant, prompting the need to hold a special election.   On July 16, 2010, the West Virginia Governor, Governor Joe Manchin appointed his former chief counsel, Carte Goodwin, to serve in a temporary manner as Senator until a special election occurs this fall.  On July 20, 2010, Governor Manchin announced that he will be running for the West Virginia Senate seat this November. Although there is still much speculation about who will run against the Governor for the Senate seat, no official announcements have been made yet.  

Recess Beginning Monday, August 9, 2010 

As we mentioned in our last Update, the House and Senate will enter their Work Periods, also known as "Recess," at the beginning of August and will return to the Hill following Labor Day on Friday, September 10. With your legislators back in their home districts and states, this extended recess is a wonderful time to meet with them and explain to them why Head Start works and is so important to your community. See our Call to Action for specifics to share with them during your meeting!   

NHSA UPDATE 

NHSA Affiliate Relations -- Working for You Building Community: On the Ground, In the Clouds

Join the Affiliate Relations' Technology Workgroup 

It goes without saying that most of us would be lost without being connected. For program leaders, advocates and most professionals in general, we have come to expect the immediacy email, cell phones and other forms of electronic communications bring to our professional and personal lives. Increasingly, Head Start Associations are engaged with review and consideration of their technology practices. A scan of Head Start Association web sites provides a glimpse into the wide range of technology currently being utilized. (To see Head Start Association web sites go to NHSA Affiliate Relations page). Moving from the standard practice of posting information and pushing out detail via email to a more involved relationship of web-based social networks can be daunting and costly. However, as common as email, cell phones and web sites are today, a social network based association design is on your horizon - and it is on NHSA's too! 

Over the next few months, NHSA Affiliate Relations will be exploring an E*Commons. The purpose of this site will be to support the dynamic work of the collective affiliate's network. To establish a plan we are forming a working group - interested? Our goal will be to design, launch and maintain an on-line community over the next 12 months. By participating you will provide your guidance as to what is needed, gain knowledge and insight on the resources required and become a technology change agent for your association.Three easy steps to join: 

1. Email Econdon@nhsa.org - in the subject line note "Technology Workgroup"
2. Go on line to order "The Networked Nonprofit", by Beth Kanter & Allison Fine
3. Go to Beth Kanter's Website and join her blog

Together we will learn about nodes, ties and hubs, we will think about transparency, we will explore engagement and connections, and we might even find a way to listen, learn and adapt to the needs of our members! Closing Note: If joining the TW is not an option, still order the book "The Networked Nonprofit", by Beth Kanter & Allison Fine. It is easy to use and will deepen your knowledge as a leader in the field of human services/nonprofit management. 

Save the Date for the Leadership Institute and the 45th Anniversary Celebration of Head Start! 

Please mark your calendar and have friends mark theirs-you don't want to miss this year's NHSA Leadership Institute, "Building Social Capital: Head Start's Horizons"! We will be meeting September 20-23, 2010 at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC where we will cover hot Head Start topics including: 

• An update on federal legislation affecting Head Start;
• Discussions about the revisions of Head Start Program Performance Standards, ethics, media relations, Migrant/Seasonal Head Start issues, NHSA affiliate relations; and
• A session about how to make Head Start part of a birth to grade 3 model.

This institute will provide an opportunity for Head Start leaders to educate their members of Congress about the need to approve President Obama's FY 2011 budget proposal for Head Start. If you have any questions about the Leadership Institute, please contact Ben Allen at ballen@nhsa.org. 

One key highlight of the week will be the Lady Bird Johnson Head Start Hero's Award presentation to Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) on the morning of September 22, 2010. Both Senators are retiring in January 2011 and both have been incredible champions of Head Start for many years. Please join us in honoring the 2010 Head Start Heros! 

Additionally, attendees will have an opportunity to attend The Dream Lives On: Celebrating 45 Years of Head Start. To register for the Leadership Institute and/or the 45^th Anniversary Celebration, please click here. 

Head Start Researcher/Practitioner Connections Group 

NHSA is continuing its work finding new and exciting ways for our community to connect. In this spirit, we have created a new Head Start connections group for professional networking and dialogue among researchers and practitioners by using LinkedIn. The purposes of this group are to foster connections between Head Start practitioners and the researchers and to generate research addressing questions of interest to the Head Start community. Fifty practitioners and researchers have joined the group so far. 

To join the group, please click here. 

Meet This Summer's NHSA Fellows and Interns 

For a short time during this summer, NHSA welcomes two new members to our team! Laura Dallas McSorley is working with us as a Summer Fellow with Teach for America's Policy and Advocacy Leadership Initiative in the Public Policy and Research Department. Laura, a former Head Start teacher within the District of Columbia Public Schools, will be working on decoding the Head Start Act's provision for teacher credentialing that allows for Teach for America corps members to be in Head Start classrooms as teachers with BAs. Her project's goal is to provide information to Head Start administrators on Teach for America, including a step-by-step guide to getting corps members into the classroom. 

In addition, Melissa Stout, an incoming senior at Miami University (Ohio) who is majoring in Health Education and Health Studies with a minor in Nutrition, is interning with us this summer in the same department. During her time with us, Melissa will be building a database of Head Start alumni, former parents, and volunteers/supporters, helping research Head Start jobs data from the recovery.gov ARRA database, and assisting with various research and advocacy projects.Please join us in welcoming Laura and Melissa to our NHSA family!   

NHSA Directors' Leadership Training 

NHSA's Leadership Team, consisting of Yasmina Vinci, Carolyn Stennett, and NHSA's departmental directors, participated in an intensive two-day training last week. Leadership Team worked intensely on two things: 

1. Training on how to develop meaningful strategic plans (for the department and for the organization)
2. Strategies and tactics on how to work together efficiently and effectively with the help of a Team Coach

Both of those foci are extremely important to moving NHSA forward so it can best serve the interests of children, families, programs, and affiliates. Specifically, the clarity of mission and goals, and the commitment to work together in ways that expect everyone to have a role to play and a contribution to make, should help us achieve excellence for the Head Start community.   

RESOURCES FOR YOU 

Get Ready for the Fall-Check out On-Demand Topics from the Head Start Legal Advisory Service 

The Head Start Legal Advisory Service will be taking a breather for most of the summer and will be back as programs return to the classroom in late summer. During our summer hiatus, you can continue use our on-demand content to view at your leisure for 30 days! Check out on-demand topics at: Head Start Legal Advisory Service Topics. 

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Recalls You Need to Know 

NHSA is dedicated to making sure our Head Start children and families remain safe. To do so, we are bringing you the "Most Wanted" recall list from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC") to make sure your program staff and families are aware of the latest and most relevant recalls from the CPSC. Check out this list and links with additional information below: 

Most Wanted List:

Stork Craft Cribs 
Dorel Asia Cribs 
Simplicity Bassinets 
Playskool Tool Benches 
Delta Cribs (Spring Peg) 
Kolcraft Play Yards 

For more information on these and other recalls, please visit http://www.cpsc.gov/ 

Information and Resources to Apply for Home Visiting Program Grants 

As we mentioned in an earlier issue of the NHSA Update, the Health Services and Resources Association and the Administration for Children and Families recently announced that $90 million in Affordable Care Act funding has been available for Maternal, Infant, and Childhood Home Visiting Program Grants. Click here for more information. In addition, Child Trends has just published a step-by-step guide for planning state needs assessments as required in the state application process. Click here to access the guide. 

DOLLAR PER CHILD

 NHSA thanks all of the programs and individuals who have donated to the Dollar per Child Campaign ("DPC") so far this year and particularly in the past month. Also, in the next update, we will provide you with a year-end summary of the Dollar per Child contributions for NHSA's FY2009-2010.  

The donors from the past month are:

Catholic Charities, Illinois (Joliet)
Illinois Head Start Association, Illinois
Clay County Family Resource Center, Indiana
Clay County Child Care Center, Kansas
South Shore Early Education Head Start, Massachusetts
Missouri Head Start Association, Missouri
Region VII Head Start Association, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas
Center for Family Resources, New Jersey
Head Start of Rockland, New York
New York State Head Start Association, New York
Blair County Head Start, Pennsylvania
Community Service Agency of South Texas, Texas  

As you know, the funds from Dollars per Child help NHSA pay for all of our legislative efforts, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Head Start Appropriations, Early Learning Challenge Fund, and other legislative efforts. Your support of the DPC Campaign is vital to NHSA's advocacy efforts on behalf of the Head Start Community.  We cannot do our work without your support!

Our work is far from done. With an ever-challenging budget situation in Washington, the struggle to preserve the gains of the ARRA will undoubtedly be even more strenuous in the coming years. So don't wait!!! Please send your contributions, whatever amount you can afford, whether it is $1 per child, $5 per child, or $10 per child. You can even easily donate online on our website. 

Dollar per Child funds will ensure that NHSA can continue to lead the way in all of the future advocacy efforts coming up - from regulatory issues with the Office of Head Start, to additional fiscal year appropriations, to the next Head Start Act reauthorization, which is not far off. Remember, raise your hand! Use your words! Together we can make a difference. 

NHSA continues to work for you and with you on your behalf on matters of importance to the Head Start community.

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© National Head Start Association, 2010.

All rights reserved. Please feel free to redistribute this NHSA Update in its entirety to your networks. When you do so, please ensure that NHSA is credited with its contents. Forwarding this email in this original form is sufficient observation of the copyright.