Headstart, Economic Opportunity, and Community Partnership Act

Headstart, Economic Opportunity, and Community Partnership Act. Provides that the Headstart and Follow Through programs shall be administered in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; and that there shall be established within the Office of Child Development a division of migrant programs and a division of Indian programs with sums of $10,000,000 authorized to be appropriated annually for the administration of each such division.

Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to provide financial assistance for Headstart programs to eligible agencies which provide comprehensive health, educational, and other social services and which provide for the direct participation of parents.

Allots funds to States on the basis of relative numbers of public assistance recipients, unemployed persons, and children from families below the poverty line. Limits the Federal share to 80 percent of approved costs. Provides that services must be in addition to comparable available Federal services. Provides that 10 percent of the total number of enrollment opportunities in Headstart programs in the Nation must be available for handicapped children.

Authorizes the Secretary to designate as Headstart agencies any public and private agencies which are determined by the Secretary to be capable of meeting the purposes of this Act.

Provides for parental and community involvement in the conduct of programs, and for technical assistance and training.

Provides for submission of program plans to Governors prior to approval and, if disapproved, for reconsideration by the Secretary.

Establishes requirements for the standards of organization, management, and administration which will insure the purposes of Headstart programs. Limits program administration and development costs to 15 percent of total program costs.

Provides that the Secretary shall by regulation prescribe eligibility for participation in Headstart programs. Prohibits the Secretary from imposing any fees for participation in Headstart.

Provides for notice and opportunity for appeals by agencies whose request for funding has been denied; and a full and fair hearing prior to the termination of funding.

Requires the maintenance of adequate financial records by recipients of financial assistance and their accessibility by Government auditors.

Authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance to public or private agencies for research, demonstration, and pilot projects; and for the Secretary to establish an overall plan for their approval.

Requires that the Secretary provide for the continuing evaluation of Headstart programs, publish standards of evaluation, and authorizes him to require Headstart agencies to conduct independent evaluations.

Authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance to appropriate agencies, organizations, and educational institutions to carry out Follow Through programs which will serve primarily children from low-income families who were previously enrolled in Headstart and are currently enrolled in kindergarten and primary grades in order to aid in the continued development of these children.

Limits the Federal share to 80 percent of approved program costs with a waiver provision. Requires that services provided under Follow Through program supplement, not serve as a substitute for, existing services.

Authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance for research, demonstration, and pilot projects, and for program evaluation, and technical assistance and training in furtherance of Follow Through programs under this Act.

Provides that recipients of financial assistance under this part shall make maximum employment opportunities available to parents of program participants and to community residents. Provides for adequate notice and fair hearings prior to suspension of grants.

Provides that wages and salaries of laborers and mechanics employed in federally assisted projects related to the purposes of this Act shall be in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act.

Prohibits the involvement of Headstart programs in partisan or nonpartisan political activities and voter registration.

Provides for advance funding to afford adequate notice of funding available with respect to Headstart and Follow Through programs.

Provides that the Secretary shall provide special assistance to the needs of persons of limited English-speaking ability by providing bilingual Headstart and Follow Through programs.

Establishes within the Community Services Administration a National Office for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers; and requires that, in providing financial assistance under title III-B, of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (relating to the coordination of programs and projects under such Act), priority be given to existing providers of services.

Native American Economic Opportunity Programs Act - Provides that the purpose of this new title is to promote the goal of enabling American Indians, Hawaiian Natives, and Alaskan Natives to become fully self-sufficient.

Authorizes the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity to provide financial assistance to public and nonprofit private agencies for projects pertaining to the purposes of this title, equal to 80 percent of the cost of an assisted project, unless a higher percentage is authorized by the Secretary.

Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance and training in connection with the provision of financial assistance under this title.

Authorizes the Secretary to support research, demonstration, and pilot projects pertaining to the purposes of this title.

Requires that the governing body of an Indian reservation or Alaskan Native village must be given the opportunity to disapprove any self-sufficiency project or research demonstration or pilot project to be carried out pursuant to this Act on the reservation or in the village.

Imposes notice and hearing requirements in connection with the suspension or termination of assistance, or the denial of refunding for research, demonstration, and pilot projects under this Act.

Requires the Director to provide for the continuing evaluation of projects assisted under this title.

Authorizes the Director to provide financial assistance to public and private agencies for the conduct of research, demonstration, and pilot projects to stimulate the better focusing of public and private resources upon the goal of enabling low-income persons to become self-sufficient.

Authorizes the Director, in conducting evaluations of such projects, to involve program participants whenever feasible.

Provides that nothing in this Act relative to research, demonstration and pilot projects shall be construed to authorize Federal control over the activities of educational institutions.

Authorizes such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 1975 thru 1977 to carry out this title.

Requires the Director, directly or through grants or contracts, to measure and evaluate the impact of all programs authorized by the Economic Opportunity Act and poverty-related programs authorized by other Acts.

Authorizes the Director to provide financial assistance to carry out agreements entered into by community action agencies and a public agency or a political subdivision of a State. States that such agreements shall provide for the planning, development, and administration of programs and activities of community action programs provided that the Federal share shall not exceed 80 percent and matching non-Federal funds shall be in cash.

Establishes an Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Community Services to encourage community partnership agreements, review and evaluate such agreements, survey public and private resources available for antipoverty efforts, and identify and encourage means of increasing such resources.

Provides that, out of any sums allocated for local initiative programs under the Economic Opportunity Act for any fiscal year, the Director may allocate for community partnership agreements under this Act up to 50 percent of any amounts appropriated between $330,000,000 and $450,000,000 .

Modifies the formula for allotment of funds to community action programs under the Economic Opportunity Act to refer to the poverty criteria used in the 1970 census.

Adds programs known as Emergency Energy Conservation Services, Summer Youth Recreation, and Urban Housing Demonstration Program to the list of those to which the Director may provide financial assistance to carry on local programs for purposes consonant with the objectives of the Economic Opportunity Act. Revises the Senior Opportunities and Services program to authorize counseling, administrative representation, information, and referral services for the elderly. Changes the name of the Youth Recreation and Sports Program to the "National Summer Youth Sports Program".

Revises title VII of the Economic Opportunity Act (relating to community economic development) to encourage the development of special self-help and community mobilization programs so as to contribute to the elimination of poverty and the establishment of permanent economic and social benefits.

Authorizes the Director to provide funding, subject to specified requirements, to establish special programs of assistance to private locally initiated community development corporations which are directed to the solution of critical problems existing in particular communities or neighborhoods, are of sufficient size, scope and duration to have an appreciable impact in such communities, neighborhoods, and rural areas, and have the prospect of continuing such an impact after termination of financial assistance under this part; and to provide financial and other assistance to start, expand, or locate enterprises close to the area to be served so as to provide employment and ownership opportunities for residents of such areas.

States that programs may include economic and business development programs, community development and housing activities, training and employment programs and supportive social services. Provides that such programs are to contribute on an equitable basis between urban and rural areas to the elimination of poverty and the establishment of permanent economic and social benefits in urban and rural areas.

Authorizes the Director to provide financial assistance, including loans, to low-income rural, families to effect a permanent increase in the families' incomes or improvement in living or housing conditions. Provides that such loans will have a maximum maturity of 15 years and will total not more than $3,500. Authorizes the Director to provide financial assistance to local cooperative associations in rural areas for establishing and operating cooperative programs.

Establishes conditions for financial assistance including number of low-income members in a cooperative association receiving assistance, provision for adequate technical assistance, and determination that an applicant is fulfilling a need not already met. States that funds under this part shall not be used to substitute funds for related purposes under the Act.

Authorizes the Director to make or guarantee loans to community development corporations and families and local cooperatives for business, housing, and community development projects. Specifies the terms and conditions of lending and repayment with respect to such loans. Establishes a Development Loan Fund to carry out the lending and guarantee functions for such loans.

Requires the Director to prepare a plan of action for the establishment of a Model Community Economic Development Finance Corporation and to submit such plan of action to the appropriate committees of Congress not later than June 1, 1975.

Authorizes the Director to provide technical assistance to community development corporations and both urban and rural cooperatives, and training for employees of community development corporations and employees and members of urban and rural cooperatives.

Permits community development corporations to use funds granted for community economic development as private paid-in capital for small business investment company and local development corporation programs of the Small Business Administration.

Provides that areas selected for developmental assistance shall be deemed "redevelopment areas" within the meaning of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 and shall qualify for assistance under specified provisions of such Act.

Provides that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall assure that community corporations qualify as sponsors under the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 and the National Housing Act of 1949; that land for housing and business location is available under the Housing Act of 1949; and that funds are available under the Housing Act of 1954.

Provides that the Secretary of Agriculture or the Administrator of the Farmers Home Administration shall take steps to insure that community development corporations and local cooperative associations qualify for and receive assistance under the Farmers Home Administration and the Rural Development Act of 1962.

Provides that the Director shall take steps to encourage State and local governments to provide assistance to community development corporations and local cooperative associations.

Requires that the Director shall conduct research to suggest new programs and policies to achieve the purposes of this part.

Authorizes the Director to provide financial assistance to public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations for planning of community economic development programs and cooperative programs under this Act.

Provides for the establishment of a Community Economic Development Resources Committee to advise the Director on the administration of this title and to develop plans and procedures for cooperative efforts of Federal agencies required to provide assistance for supportive programs and activities under this Act.

Provides for the establishment of a National Commission on Community Economic Development to conduct a study which shall consider an appropriate administrative agency for the carrying out of community economic development programs in the future. States that the Commission shall submit a final report to the President and to the Congress on the results of its study, not later than June 30, 1975.

Establishes within the executive branch a Community Services Administration, which shall be the successor authority to the Office of Economic Opportunity effective October 1, 1975, or in the alternative that the Office of Economic Opportunity will become an independent agency within the executive branch on that date.

Revises the poverty line for the purposes of the Economic Opportunity Act, to reflect the full percentage change in the Consumer Price Index over an annual or other interval. Provides that, in applying the poverty line to families, the family unit shall not be defined so as to include income earned by individuals who are eighteen years of age or older other than the parents. States that for purposes of this Act, disadvantaged persons include those who suffer in the labor market because of their limited speaking, reading, and writing abilities in the English language.

Extends the authority to carry out programs under the Economic Opportunity Act for three additional years, through fiscal year 1978.

Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 1975 through 1978 for carrying out the Economic Opportunity Act.

Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1975, 1976, and 1977 for the Headstart, Follow Through, Native Americans Economic Development, and Community Economic Development programs in such amounts as are necessary to carry out the purposes of those programs.