(a) Establishing policy councils and policy committees. Each agency must establish and maintain a policy council responsible for the direction of the Head Start program at the agency level, and a policy committee at the delegate level.  If an agency delegates operational responsibility for the entire Head Start program to one delegate agency, the policy council and policy committee may be the same body.

(b) Composition. 

(1) A program must establish a policy council in accordance with section 642(c)(2)(B) of the Act, or a policy committee at the delegate level in accordance with section 642(c)(3) of the Act, as early in the program year as possible. Parents of children currently enrolled in each program option must be proportionately represented on the policy council and on the policy committee at the delegate level.

(2) The program must ensure members of the policy council, and of the policy committee at the delegate level, do not have a conflict of interest pursuant to sections 642(c)(2)(C) and 642(c)(3)(B) of the Act. Staff may not serve on the policy council or policy committee at the delegate level except parents who occasionally substitute as staff.  In the case of tribal grant recipients, this exclusion applies only to tribal staff who work in areas directly related to or which directly impact administrative, fiscal, or programmatic issues.

(c) Duties and responsibilities. 

(1) A policy council is responsible for activities specified at section 642(c)(2)(D) of the Act. A policy committee must approve and submit to the delegate agency its decisions in each of the following areas referenced at section 642(c)(2)(D)(i) through (vii) of the Act.

(2) A policy council, and a policy committee at the delegate level, must use ongoing monitoring results, data on school readiness goals, other information described in §1302.102, and information described in section 642(d)(2) of the Act to conduct its responsibilities.

(d) Term. 

(1) A member will serve for one year.

(2) If the member intends to serve for another year, s /he must stand for re-election.

(3) The policy council, and policy committee at the delegate level, must include in its bylaws how many one-year terms, not to exceed five terms, a person may serve.

(4) A program must seat a successor policy council, or policy committee at the delegate level, before an existing policy council, or policy committee at the delegate level, may be dissolved.

(e) Reimbursement.  A program must enable low-income members to participate fully in their policy council or policy committee responsibilities by providing, if necessary, reimbursements for reasonable expenses incurred by the low-income members.