1. (a) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall establish a competitive grant program to assist nonprofit agencies and local and regional boards of education, which are federal Head Start grantees, in (1) establishing extended-day and full-day, year-round, Head Start programs or expanding existing Head Start programs to extended-day or full-day, year-round programs, (2) enhancing program quality, (3) increasing the number of children served in programs that are both a Head Start program and Early Head Start grantee or delegate, (4) increasing the number of Early Head Start children served above those who are federally funded, and (5) increasing the hours for children currently receiving Early Head Start services. The commissioner, after consultation with the committee established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, shall establish criteria for the grants, provided at least twenty-five per cent of the funding for such grants shall be for the purpose of enhancing program quality. Nonprofit agencies or boards of education seeking grants pursuant to this section shall make application to the commissioner on such forms and at such times as the commissioner shall prescribe. All grants pursuant to this section shall be funded within the limits of available appropriations or otherwise from federal funds and private donations. All full-day, year-round Head Start programs funded pursuant to this section shall be in compliance with federal Head Start performance standards.
2. (b) The Office of Early Childhood shall annually allocate to each town in which the number of children under the temporary family assistance program, as defined in subdivision (17) of section 10-262f, equals or exceeds nine hundred children, (1) determined for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1996, to June 30, 2024, inclusive, an amount equal to one hundred fifty thousand dollars plus eight and one-half dollars for each child under the temporary family assistance program, provided such amount may be reduced proportionately so that the total amount awarded pursuant to this subsection does not exceed two million seven hundred thousand dollars, and (2) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, an amount determined in accordance with the provisions of section 35 of public act 24-78*. The office shall award grants to the local and regional boards of education for such towns and nonprofit agencies located in such towns which meet the criteria established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to maintain the programs established or expanded with funds provided pursuant to this subsection in the fiscal years ending June 30, 1996, and June 30, 1997. Any funds remaining in the allocation to such a town after grants are so awarded shall be used to increase allocations to other such towns. Any funds remaining after grants are so awarded to boards of education and nonprofit agencies in all such towns shall be available to local and regional boards of education and nonprofit agencies in other towns in the state for grants for such purposes.

3. (c) There is established a committee to advise the commissioner concerning the coordination, priorities for allocation and distribution, and utilization of funds for Head Start and Early Head Start and concerning the competitive grant program established under this section, and to evaluate programs funded pursuant to this section. The committee shall consist of the following members:

   1. (1) One member designated by the commissioner; (2) six members who are directors of Head Start programs, two from community action agency program sites or school readiness liaisons, one of whom shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and one by the speaker of the House of Representatives, two from public school program sites, one of whom shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate and one by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, and two from other nonprofit agency program sites, one of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate and one by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; (3) one member designated by the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity; (4) one member designated by the Early Childhood Cabinet, established pursuant to section 10-16z; (5) two members designated by the Head Start Association, one of whom shall be the parent of a present or former Head Start student; (6) one member designated by the Connecticut Association for Community Action who shall have expertise and experience concerning Head Start; (7) one member designated by the Region I Office of Head Start within the federal Administration of Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services; and (8) the director of the Head Start Collaboration Office.
4. (d) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, for purposes of this section.

*Note: Section 35 of public act 24-78 is special in nature and therefore has not been codified but remains in full force and effect according to its terms.

History: P.A. 92-222 transferred the program from the department of human resources to the department of education, added Subsec. (a)(2) and (3), required 25% of the funding for grants to be used to enhance program quality, changed the applicable date in Subsec. (a) from June 25, 1991, to July 1, 1992, and increased the membership of the advisory committee from 11 to 13 by adding a member designated by the commission on children and a member designated by the Connecticut Association for Community Action; P.A. 93-262 replaced references to commissioner of income maintenance and commissioner of human resources with references to commissioner of social services, effectively reducing committee membership from 13 to 12 members, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-266 inserted new Subsec. (b) re allocation for fiscal years ending June 30, 1996, and June 30, 1997, relettering former Subsecs. (b) and (c) as (c) and (d), effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-247 made a technical change in Subsec. (a) and in Subsec. (b) provided for annual grants, provided for proportional reductions so that the total amount of grants does not exceed $2,700,000, and changed the provision dealing with how grant funds are to be used, effective July 1, 1997; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 00-1 amended Subsec. (c) to expand committee membership to include school readiness coordinators, effective June 21, 2000; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-3 amended Subsec. (a) to delete restriction that 75% of funding be allocated to Head Start programs established prior to July 1, 1992, effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 12-120 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “twelve members as follows” with “the following members”, designating existing provisions re members as Subdivs. (1) to (7), replacing “coordinators” with “liaisons” and adding “public” re school program sites in Subdiv. (2), replacing “Council” with “Cabinet” in Subdiv. (4), replacing “one member” with “two members”, deleting “Directors” and making a conforming change in Subdiv. (5), replacing “Office of Human Development Services, Office of Community Programs, Region 1 of the federal Department of Health and Human Services” with “Region I Office of Head Start within the federal Administration of Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services” in Subdiv. (7) and adding Subdiv. (8) re director of Head Start Collaboration Office, effective June 15, 2012; P.A. 14-39 replaced references to Commissioners and Departments of Education and Social Services with references to Commissioner and Office of Early Childhood, amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Services,” with “Early Childhood” and making a technical change, amended Subsec. (b) by replacing references to aid to dependent children program with references to temporary family assistance program and replacing “subdivision (14)” with “subdivision (17)” re Sec. 10-262f and amended Subsec. (c)(4) by replacing reference to Early Childhood Education Cabinet with reference to Early Childhood Cabinet and adding “, established pursuant to section 10-16z”, effective July 1, 2014; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 amended Subsec. (a) by adding “in programs that are both a Head Start program and Early Head Start grantee or delegate” in Subdiv. (3), adding Subdiv. (4) re increasing number of Early Head Start children served and adding Subdiv. (5) re increasing hours for children currently receiving Early Head Start services, and amended Subsec. (c) by adding “and Early Head Start”, effective July 1, 2015; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3 amended Subsec. (c)(3) by replacing “Commission on Children” with “Commission on Women, Children and Seniors”, effective July 1, 2016; P.A. 19-117 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “Commission on Women, Children and Seniors” with “Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity”, effective July 1, 2019; P.A. 24-78 amended Subsec. (b) by designating existing provision re amount equal to $150,000 plus $8.50 for each child under temporary family assistance program as Subdiv. (1) and amending same to replace “fiscal year ending June 30, 1996” with “fiscal years ending June 30, 1996, to June 30, 2024, inclusive”, and adding Subdiv. (2) re amount determined in accordance with P.A. 24-78, S. 35, effective July 1, 2024, and repealed section, effective July 1, 2025.