In March, the Office of Head Start (OHS) hosted a webinar to preview the release the Head Start Grant Application Instructions with Guidance, Version 3.01. (If you missed the webinar, there is another chance to learn more. Register here for the April 4th webinar.) Since all Head Start/Early Head Start grantees must submit either a continuation or baseline application annually, the upcoming changes are important to understand.

Jane Hanson shares her insights on how the November 2023 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from OHS could impact your wage study, where to find reliable wage data, and why making hourly wage comparisons is an important part of your analysis. Ms. Hanson is a Consultant with Foundations for Families specializing in wage comparability studies. Read an earlier interview about wage studies here.

We had the pleasure of presenting our current thinking about wage comparability studies to a number of Head Start grantees at the Region IV Head Start Association Annual Training Conference & Expo. While we were in Atlanta, we heard from agencies that are still struggling to recruit and retain staff. Many programs are stuck in a challenging cycle – they don’t have enough teachers to open all their classrooms, and their current wages are making it difficult to recruit and retain qualified staff. If this cycle goes on long enough, the program can become underenrolled and even end up in the Full Enrollment Initiative.

On March 14, 2024, three Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for Head Start Expansion, Early Head Start Expansion, and Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) grants were posted on grants.gov. Grant applications are due May 14, 2024.

Details on the grants open for competition, funding amounts, estimated number of awards, and anticipated project start dates are listed below. These details have not changed since the grants were forecasted earlier this month.

On March 5, 2024, three Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for expansion and partnership grant opportunities were forecasted on grants.gov. This includes Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) Grants; American Indian and Alaska Native EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Grants; and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Expansion, EHS Expansion, and EHS-CCP Grants.

Community assessments are a foundational requirement for Head Start/Early Head Start programs and have taken on new significance and utility as programs navigate unprecedented staffing shortages, participation in the Full Enrollment Initiative, and evolving community needs. Some programs are also planning for a Change in Scope Request, which requires a justification built on up-to-date and relevant community and program data.

If you attended last month’s NHSA Winter Leadership Institute, you might have heard the Office of Head Start (OHS) presentation in which it was shared that, nationally, Head Start enrollment is at 82%. OHS expressed a continued commitment to the Full Enrollment Initiative and the importance of compliance with enrollment requirements. Many programs are in the Full Enrollment Initiative currently, or will be designated soon, and there are strategies and supports to help programs manage the process.

The 2024 National Head Start Association (NHSA) Winter Leadership Institute took place January 22-25 in Crystal City, Virginia and offered meaningful opportunities for collaboration and learning. Updates from the Office of Head Start (OHS) provided information about...

Self-assessment is a process that, when planned well and conducted comprehensively, can yield useful information to improve program quality and help a program understand how well it is functioning. Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) require that Head...

Throughout 2023, we heard from programs that are juggling multiple moving pieces in program planning and operations. Programs are navigating action planning for the Full Enrollment Initiative, competing in DRS, or considering a change in scope request. Other programs are getting ready for federal monitoring review or preparing a baseline or continuation application; and for some, these timelines are changing.

This month, the Office of Head Start (OHS) released a Risk Assessment Notification (RAN) protocol and sample reporting form to assist programs that experience a child health and safety incident. This new information follows the kick off of FY2024 Head Start monitoring and is in direct response to a concerning increase in the number of child health and safety issues among Head Start/Early Head Start programs in recent years.

Last week, the Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for grants in the upcoming round of DRS were announced. This is the tenth round of DRS, and ten NOFOs were released for grants open for competition. Two of those NOFOs are for Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) grants.

The Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the fifth round of EHS Expansion and Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants (EHS-Expansion and EHS-CCP) may be released this fall. Since each round of EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP has become increasingly...

This is the fourth of four 2020 quarterly status updates about the Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) initiative. Learn about what to expect for EHS-CCP and EHS Expansion in 2021. Round 4 grant award negotiations...

This time last year, the Office of Head Start (OHS) issued a Program Instruction (PI) announcing an opportunity for grantees to consolidate their Head Start and Early Head Start grants. Now, consolidations may include Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership...

This is the third of four 2020 quarterly status updates about the Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start - Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) initiative. Learn about next steps for EHS-CCP Round 4 applicants and what all grantees should know about changes to...

The EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) has been updated to provide extensions to the application deadline in six states: Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oregon. For applicants in these states, the deadline is...

Grants.gov is scheduled for maintenance this weekend, leading up to Monday’s deadline for submission of EHS-CCP proposals. The maintenance schedule states that systems will go offline Saturday, September 19 at 12:01am ET and will go back online Monday, September 21 at...

Applications for EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Round 4 funding are due in 10 days, on September 21, 2020. This is anticipated to be the most competitive round of funding yet, and high quality applications will stand out. Here are five tips to keep in mind as you finalize...

When the EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Round 4 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) was released last month, one of the highlights we noticed is that funding may be prioritized for services in Qualified Opportunity Zones. Here, we provide information about Qualified...

The Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the fourth round of Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Grants was released on Grants.gov. The applications are due no later than September 21st. The FOA can be found here. With a sixty...