Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 95.djvu/530

 95 STAT. 504

PUBLIC LAW 97-35—AUG. 13, 1981 PARTICIPATION IN HEAD START PROGRAMS

42 USC 9840.

42 USC 254c. 42 USC 254e.

SEC. 645. (a)(1) The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe eligibility for the participation of persons in Head Start programs assisted under this subchapter. Except as provided in paragraph (2), such criteria may provide (A) that children from low-income families shall be eligible for participation in programs assisted under this subchapter if their families' incomes are below the poverty line, or if their families are eligible or, in the absence of child care, would potentially be eligible for public assistance; and (B) pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe, that programs assisted under this subchapter may include, to a reasonable extent, participation of children in the area served who would benefit from such programs but whose families do not meet the low-income criteria prescribed pursuant to clause (A). (2) Whenever a Head Start program is operated in a community with a population of 1,000 or less individuals and— (A) there is no other preschool program in the community; (B) the community is located in a medically underserved area, as designated by the Secretary pursuant to section 330(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act and is located in a health manpower shortage area, as designated by the Secretary pursuant to section 332(a)(1) of such Act; (C) the community is in a location which, by reason of remoteness, does not permit reasonable access to the types of services described in clauses (A) and (B); and (D) not less than 50 percent of the families to be served in the community are eligible under the eligibility criteria established by the Secretary under paragraph (1); the Head Start program in each such locality shall establish the criteria for eligibility, except that no child residing in such community whose family is eligible under such eligibility criteria shall, by virtue of such project's eligibility criteria, be denied an opportunity to participate in such program. (b) The Secretary shall not prescribe any fee schedule or otherwise provide for the charging of any fees for participation in Head Start programs, unless such fees are authorized by legislation hereafter enacted. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the families of children who participate in Head Start programs and who are willing and able to pay the full cost of such participation from doing so. APPEALS, NOTICE, AND HEARING

42 USC 9841.

SEC. 646. The Secretary shall prescribe procedures to assure that— (1) special notice of and an opportunity for a timely and expeditious appeal to the Secretary will be provided for an agency or organization which desires to serve as a delegate agency under this subchapter and whose application to the Head Start agency has been wholly or substantially rejected or has not been acted upon within a period of time deemed reasonable by the Secretary, in accordance with regulations which the Secretary shall prescribe; (2) financial assistance under this subchapter shall not be suspended, except in emergency situations, unless the recipient agency has been given reasonable notice and opportunity to show cause why such action should not be taken; and (3) financial assistance under this subchapter shall not be terminated, an application for refunding shall not be denied, and

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