§ 2-143 — Governance of the office of children's affairs and program components

Sec. 2-143. - Governance of the office of children's affairs and program components.

A. Organization. The city and county of Denver, acting by and through the office of the mayor, shall be responsible for, and shall have the power, to oversee and govern the office of children's affairs. The office of children's affairs shall include the following: the Denver great kids head start office and any other offices or administrative components concerning children, youth, and education that may be established from time to time. B. Head start. An agency currently known as and to be known as the Denver great kids head start office is hereby created as an agency under the office of children's affairs. 1. Governance of head start programs. The city and county of Denver shall, subject to and contingent upon the receipt and continuing availability of federal funds, in whole or in part, for the purposes of head start, be responsible for, and shall have the power, to oversee and govern the administration of the city's head start programs on behalf of the city and county of Denver in accordance with 42 U.S.C.A. § 9831 et seq., (2011), 45 C.F.R. 1301, et seq., and any and all other applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, and executive orders, as may be created and amended from time to time. 2. Head start office staff. In accordance with career service rules the head start director shall be selected by the director of the office of children's affairs, and shall be confirmed separately by the mayor and the Denver head start policy council acting by resolution. The head start director will manage the Denver head start office and shall employ, with the approval of the Denver head start policy council, such staff as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of the head start office. The staff of the Denver head start office, including the head start director, shall be career service employees. 3. Powers and duties of the head start office. The Denver head start office shall be directly responsible for, and shall have the power to perform all actions necessary to deliver head start programs in accordance with 42 U.S.C.A. § 9831, et seq., (2011), 45 C.F.R. 1301, et seq., and any and all other applicable federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations, ordinances and executive orders, as may be created and amended from time to time. The Denver great kids head start office will so perform such functions in accordance with and subject to the Charter and the Revised Municipal Code. The duties of the Denver great kids head start office shall include: a. Complying with the requirements of all applicable federal, state, and local laws concerning the operation of head start programs and grant administration; b. Performing any other tasks which may be required by law; c. Developing and, upon approval of the Denver great kids head start policy council, implementing policies and procedures to provide a formal structure of policy groups to share governance of head start programs; d. Developing and, upon approval of the Denver great kids head start policy council, implementing program planning procedures, communications systems, record-keeping systems, reporting systems, self-assessment systems, and program monitoring procedures; e. Establishing a senior management team comprised of the Denver great kids head start director, the executive directors of each and every delegate agency under the Denver great kids head start program, the great kids head start program directors employed by each delegate agency, and the director of the office of children's affairs. The senior management team will meet regularly and will provide status reports to the Denver head start director concerning compliance with federal head start program performance standards in the operation of head start programs and other applicable federal, state or local requirements. The head start director shall make regular reports to the Denver head start policy council and to the mayor, city council, auditor and the Office of Human Resources; and f. Performing other duties related to young children and families as assigned. 4. The policy council. The city head start policy council shall be structured as follows: a. Membership. The membership of the Denver great kids head start policy council shall consist of at least twenty-one (21) members. The members of the Denver great kids head start policy council shall consist of the following two types of representatives: parents of children currently enrolled in Denver head start programs and community representatives. b. Parents. At least twelve (12) members of the Denver great kids head start policy council shall be parents of currently enrolled children. Parents of currently enrolled children shall elect all parent members of the Denver great kids head start policy council. c. Community representatives. Nine (9) members of the Denver great kids head start policy council shall be at large representatives of the community served by Denver's great kids head start program and may include parents of children who were formerly enrolled in Denver's great kids head start program. d. Nomination and election of community representatives. The community representative members of the Denver great kids head start policy council shall be seated as follows: 1. Five (5) community representatives of the Denver great kids head start policy council shall be nominated by the mayor and referred to the Denver head start policy council for election; and 2. Four (4) community representatives of the Denver great kids head start policy council shall be nominated by the city council by resolution and referred to the Denver head start policy council for election. e. Adjustments to membership. Each of the delegate agencies retained by the city by contract to provide head start services shall designate two (2) parents of children currently enrolled in head start programs administered by the designating delegate agency. In the event that the city increases or decreases the number of delegate agencies retained by the city by contract to provide head start services, the total number of seats on the policy council to be filled by parents shall be adjusted upward or downward accordingly. At least fifty-one (51) percent of the members of the Denver great kids head start policy council shall be parents of children currently enrolled in head start programs administered by the city and county of Denver. In the event that any proposed change in membership to the Denver great kids head start policy council may cause the number of parent members to be less than fifty-one (51) percent of the total number of persons seated to serve on the policy council, then the director of the Denver great kids head start office shall recommend to the Denver great kids head start policy council and the policy council shall adopt a procedure to ensure that the membership remains at least fifty-one (51) percent parents of children currently enrolled in head start programs administered by the city and county of Denver. f. Terms/removal and vacancies. The terms of the community representatives shall be a maximum of five (5) one-year terms, in accordance with applicable federal law. Upon notice from the policy council of a vacancy in the membership of the policy council, the director shall notify the appropriate appointing authority of such vacancy. The appropriate appointing authority shall then, in accordance with subsection 2-143.B.4.d., nominate a new member to stand for election by the policy council to serve a maximum of five (5) one-year terms.

(Ord. No. 319-03, § 1, 5-5-03; Ord. No. 316-05, § 1, 5-9-05; Ord. No. 775-07, § 5, 12-26-07; Ord. No. 626-11, § 1, 12-12-11; Ord. No. 661-12, § 1, 12-26-12; Ord. No. 141-13, § 3, 3-18-13; Ord. No. 718-14, § 1, 12-1-14; Ord. No. 978-17, § 1, 10-2-17)