Review of Head Start Health and Safety Standards at Tallatoona Community Action Partnership, Inc.

Tallatoona Community Action Partnership, Inc. (the Grantee), located in Georgia, generally complied with Federal and State regulations on ensuring the health and safety of children in its care. However, as of June 2009, the files on 21 of the Grantee's 162 employees did not contain evidence of criminal record checks, and as of May 2009, 7 of the Grantee's 8 childcare facilities did not meet all Federal Head Start and State regulations on protecting children from unsafe materials and equipment. The Grantee's failure to consistently comply with Head Start regulations jeopardized the health and safety of children in its care.

We recommended that the Grantee consistently follow its existing procedures to ensure that (1) all employee criminal record checks are completed and employee files contain evidence of the checks and (2) all necessary repairs are completed and all unsafe conditions are addressed. In response, the Grantee described its actions to address the deficiencies that we identified.