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Head Start corrective action plan extended to Oct. 14 as county files revised policies
Summary
Heidi presented a corrective action plan after a FY2024 Head Start monitoring review and February 2025 noncompliance letter, explaining that the program received an extension to Oct. 14 and has revised conduct, data, transition and hiring policies to meet federal requirements.
Heidi, the presenter identified in the transcript, told Anaconda Deer Lodge County commissioners that the Head Start corrective action plan responds to a fiscal year 2024 monitoring review and a February 2025 noncompliance letter and that the program has an extended submission deadline.
"The original CAP submission deadline was June 16, but we requested and were granted an extension. The new deadline is October 14," Heidi said, describing the schedule and the program team's work with regional grant specialists.
The corrective action plan lists several changes the program will document and implement. Heidi said the office of Head Start found the current code-of-conduct policy "very brief" and asked the program to expand confidentiality and child-supervision language, explicitly list prohibited activities A–D, and define disciplinary steps for violations. The packet also includes new data collection, data-security and data-reporting policies; a data-driven decision-making procedure; and revised transition guidance to cover Early Head Start infants and toddlers.
Heidi described tightened hiring and background-check procedures after the monitoring review found a missing form in an employee file: "Everyone in our building has had a background check... the person was safe. I didn't have the background check form." She said the updated hiring packet requires a completed background check before employment and extends the checklist to outside providers and volunteers.
The packet also contains revised ERC (eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, attendance) documentation, an over-income category, age-range point adjustments for enrollment, new eligibility verification forms, and a tracking form to record family contact from application through eligibility determination. Heidi said a program self-assessment begun in February highlighted staff requests for more professional-development training and improved parent communication.
Commissioners asked whether the program could meet the new Oct. 14 deadline. Heidi said the written policies and procedures presently before the commission are a "big piece" of the work and that once commissioners approve the documentation and she has access to staff and families, she expects to meet the deadline.
Next steps: commissioners indicated they would review the packet and sign off on documentation so staff could implement the changes and prepare the formal submission to the Office of Head Start.
