It is recommended that at least 13 children be enrolled in each center-based option class where feasible.

A class is considered to serve predominantly four or five-year-old children if more than half of the children in the class will be four or five years old by whatever date is used by the State or local jurisdiction in which the Head Start program is located to determine eligibility for public school.

A class is considered to serve predominantly three-year-old children if more than half of the children in the class will be three years old by whatever date is used by the State or local jurisdiction in which Head Start is located to determine eligibility for public school.

Head Start grantees must determine the predominant age of children in the class at the start of the year.  There is no need to change that determination during the year.

In some cases, State or local licensing requirements may be more stringent than these class requirements, preventing the required minimum numbers of children from being enrolled in the facility used by Head Start. Where this is the case, Head Start grantees must try to find alternative facilities that satisfy licensing requirements for the numbers of children cited above. If no alternative facilities are available, the responsible HHS official has the discretion to approve enrollment of fewer children than required above.

Classes must operate for four or five days per week or some combination of four and five days per week.

The annual number of required days of planned class operations (days when children are scheduled to attend) is determined by the number of days per week each program operates. Programs that operate for four days per week must provide at least 128 days per year of planned class operations. Programs that operate for five days per week must provide at least 160 days per year of planned class operations.  Grantees implementing a combination of four and five days per week must plan to operate between 128 and 160 days per year. The minimum number of planned days of service per year can be determined by computing the relative number of four and five day weeks that the program is in operation. All center-based program options must provide a minimum of 32 weeks of scheduled days of class operations over an eight or nine month period. Every effort should be made to schedule makeup classes using existing resources if planned class days fall below the number required per year.

Programs must make a reasonable estimate of the number of days during a year that classes may be closed due to problems such as inclement weather or illness, based on their experience in previous years. Grantees must make provisions in their budgets and program plans to operate makeup classes and provide these classes, when needed, to prevent the number of days of service available to the children from falling below 128 days per year.

Each individual child is not required to receive the minimum days of service, although this is to be encouraged in accordance with Head Start

policies regarding attendance. The minimum number of days also does not apply to children with disabilities whose individualized education plan may require fewer planned days of service in the Head Start program.

Head Start grantees operating migrant programs are not subject to the requirement for a minimum number of planned days, but must make every effort to provide as many days of service as possible to each migrant child and family.

Staff must be employed for sufficient time to allow them to participate in pre-service training, to plan and set up the program at the start of the year, to close the program at the end of the year, to conduct home visits, to conduct health examinations, screening and immunization activities, to maintain records, and to keep service component plans and activities current and relevant. These activities should take place outside of the time scheduled for classes in center-based programs or home visits in home-based programs.

Head Start grantees must develop and implement a system that actively encourages parents to participate in two home visits annually for each child enrolled in a center-based program option.  These visits must be initiated and carried out by the child’s teacher. The child may not be dropped from the program if the parents will not participate in the visits.

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of this section with the exceptions and additions noted in paragraphs (c) (2) and (3) of this section.

A Head Start grantee implementing a center-based program option may operate a full day variation and provide more than six hours of class operations per day using Head Start funds. These programs must comply with all the requirements regarding the center-based program option found in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section with the exception of paragraph (b)(2) regarding the hours of service per day.

Programs are encouraged to meet the needs of Head Start families for full day services by securing funds from other agencies. Before implementing a full day variation of a center-based option, a Head Start grantee should demonstrate that alternative enrollment opportunities or funding from non-Head Start sources are not available for Head Start families needing full-day child care services.

Head Start grantees may provide full day services only to those children and families with special needs that justify full day services or to those children whose parents are employed or in job training with no caregiver present in the home. The records of each child receiving services for more than six hours per day must show how each child meets the criteria stated above.

Provide, at a minimum, two group socialization activities per month for each child (a minimum of 16 group socialization activities each year).

Make up planned home visits or scheduled group socialization activities that were canceled by the grantee or by program staff when this is necessary to meet the minimums stated above. Medical or social service appointments may not replace home visits or scheduled group socialization activities.

Allow staff sufficient employed time to participate in pre-service training, to plan and set up the program at the start of the year, to close the program at the end of the year, to maintain records, and to keep component and activities plans current and relevant. These activities should take place when no home visits or group socialization activities are planned.

Maintain an average caseload of 10 to 12 families per home visitor with a maximum of 12 families for any individual home visitor.

The purpose of the home visit is to help parents improve their parenting skills and to assist them in the use of the home as the child’s primary learning environment. The home visitor must work with parents to help them provide learning opportunities that enhance their child’s growth and development.

Home visits must, over the course of a month, contain elements of all Head Start program components. The home visitor is the person responsible for introducing, arranging and/or providing Head Start services.

These activities must be designed so that parents are expected to accompany their children to the group socialization activities at least twice each month to observe, to participate as volunteers or to engage in activities designed specifically for the parents.

Grantees must follow the nutrition requirements specified in 45 CFR 1304.23(b)(2) and provide appropriate snacks and meals to the children during group socialization activities.

Grantees implementing a combination program option must provide class sessions and home visits that result in an amount of contact with children and families that is, at a minimum, equivalent to the services provided through the center-based program option or the home-based program option.

Acceptable combinations of minimum number of class sessions and corresponding number of home visits are shown below. Combination programs must provide these services over a period of 8 to 12 months.

Grantees implementing the combination program option must comply with the class size requirements contained in § 1306.32(a).

The provisions of the following sections apply to grantees operating the combination program option: § 1306.32(b) (2), (5), (6), (7) and (9).

If a grantee operates a double session or a full day variation, it must meet the provisions concerning double sessions contained in § 1306.32(c)(1) and(3) and the provisions for the center-based program option’s full day variation found in § 1306.32(d).

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