Twenty-four of the Head Start school programs funded through the 2009 stimulus — every program surveyed by the Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) Inspector General (OIG) — have failed to comply fully with child protection laws, and 21 of those programs have failed to comply fully with requirements that they conduct appropriate background checks for employees hired to work in the Head Start program, according to a new report.
The inspector general, Daniel Levinson, said that “21 of 24 grantees [reveiewed] did not comply fully with Federal Head Start or State requirements to conduct criminal records checks, conduct recurring background checks, document criminal records checks, conduct checks of childcare exclusion lists, or conduct checks of child abuse and neglect registries.” Levinson also noted that “of the 24 Head Start grantees we reviewed, none complied fully with Federal Head Start or State requirements to protect children from unsafe materials and equipment.”
The Head Start program is designed to provide low-income children with social services and educational assistance, among other things. Created in 1994, it received $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2009, and then another $2.1 billion through the 2009 stimulus.
Twenty-four percent of the employees who worked for Head Start grantees “had not met all Federal or State preemployment requirements,” according to the report.
The Administration of Children and Families said that “of the 24 grantees for which OIG conducted health and safety audits, three were terminated and 21 corrected their deficiencies.”
