Title 20EducationRelease 119-73

§9409 Grant administration

Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 75— - EARLY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES › § 9409

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may use up to 3% of the money made available under section 9404 each year to pay the program’s administrative costs, including monitoring and evaluating state and local efforts. A State that gets a grant may use up to 2% of its grant to coordinate State-level early learning programs, up to 2% for its own grant administration and reporting to the Secretary, and up to 3% for State-provided training, technical help, and wage incentives for Local Councils. The Governor must appoint, after consulting the State legislature’s leaders, a Lead State Agency — the state office that will run the grant program. That agency must allocate funds to Local Councils under section 9411, help and advise Local Councils, make and send the State application, review and approve Local Council applications under section 9412, and make sure the education and children-and-family agencies work together. The agency must send an annual report to the Secretary showing how all funds were spent and documenting effects on things like parents’ ability to help their children learn, early literacy, connections among programs and with health care, access for children with special needs, expanded hours or numbers served, affordability for low-income families, quality from staff training and pay incentives, and removal of barriers such as transportation or lack of programs during nontraditional work times. The agency must also provide Local Councils with training and research that reflects current brain and early childhood development findings.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §9409

Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary may use not more than 3 percent of the amount appropriated under section 9404 of this title for a fiscal year to pay for the administrative costs of carrying out this chapter, including the monitoring and evaluation of State and local efforts.
(b)A State that receives a grant under this chapter may use—
(1)not more than 2 percent of the funds made available through the grant to carry out activities designed to coordinate early learning programs on the State level, including programs funded or operated by the State educational agency, health, children and family, and human service agencies, and any State-level collaboration or coordination council involving early learning and education, such as the entities funded under section 9835(a)(2)(B)(vi) of title 42;
(2)not more than 2 percent of the funds made available through the grant for the administrative costs of carrying out the grant program and the costs of reporting State and local efforts to the Secretary; and
(3)not more than 3 percent of the funds made available through the grant for training, technical assistance, and wage incentives provided by the State to Local Councils.
(c)(1)To be eligible to receive an allotment under this chapter, the Governor of a State shall appoint, after consultation with the leadership of the State legislature, a Lead State Agency to carry out the functions described in paragraph (2).
(2)(A)The Lead State Agency described in paragraph (1) shall allocate funds to Local Councils as described in section 9411 of this title.
(B)In addition to allocating funds pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Lead State Agency shall—
(i)advise and assist Local Councils in the performance of their duties under this chapter;
(ii)develop and submit the State application;
(iii)evaluate and approve applications submitted by Local Councils under section 9412 of this title;
(iv)ensure collaboration with respect to assistance provided under this chapter between the State agency responsible for education and the State agency responsible for children and family services;
(v)prepare and submit to the Secretary, an annual report on the activities carried out in the State under this chapter, which shall include a statement describing how all funds received under this chapter are expended and documentation of the effects that resources under this chapter have had on—
(I)parental capacity to improve learning readiness in their young children;
(II)early childhood literacy;
(III)linkages among early learning programs;
(IV)linkages between early learning programs and health care services for young children;
(V)access to early learning activities for young children with special needs;
(VI)access to existing early learning programs through expansion of the days or times that children are served;
(VII)access to existing early learning programs through expansion of the number of young children served;
(VIII)access to and affordability of existing early learning programs for low-income families;
(IX)the quality of early learning programs resulting from professional development, and recruitment and retention incentives for caregivers; and
(X)removal of ancillary barriers to early learning, including transportation difficulties and absence of programs during nontraditional work times; and
(vi)ensure that training and research is made available to Local Councils and that such training and research reflects the latest available brain development and early childhood development research related to early learning.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2007—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 110–134 substituted “entities funded under section 9835(a)(2)(B)(vi) of title 42” for “entities funded under section 9835(a)(5) of title 42”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 9409

Title 20Education

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73