“Fiscal Year 2013, Budget in Brief: Strengthening Health and Opportunities for All Americans” (US Department of Health and Human Services), an electronic document, was made available today. It details the 2013 budget requests for DHHS.
All of it is interesting, generally, but we particularly encourage you to look at page 89. This is the page that talks about the discretionary budget for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and that is we find the Head Start budget. Although the 2013 budget request shows a decrease of $309 million from 2012 generally, the Head Start request, particularly, is for $85 million more than in 2012. Much of the increase seems to be going to fund the changes brought about by CFR 1307:
“On November 8, 2011 the President announced
important new steps to improve the quality of
services and accountability at Head
Start programs across the country.
Under these new rules, grantees that
do not meet quality benchmarks will
be required to compete against other
organizations in their community for
continued funding. Of the additional
$85 million requested over FY 2012,
$40 million would be used to support
this effort by minimizing potential
service disruptions in the transition
between incumbent and new
grantees. The request includes
$2 million for monitoring of new
grantees to ensure that they meet Head Start’s critical
mission – to help children from low-income families
achieve their full potential and, in turn,
help our country build tomorrow’s workforce.” (p. 89)
That’s $40 million to minimize service disruptions and $2 million for monitoring of new grantees to make sure they do what they are supposed to do: meet Head Start’s mission of helping children from low-income families achieve their full potential.
Moreover, on page 89 there is a blue box, highlighted from the rest, that talks about CFR 1307 in particular:
What do you and your organization think about the 2013 budget as it relates to CFR 1307?
Thank you.
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If your agency has activated a ‘trigger’ and is facing recompetition – you might want or need guidance. In most cases, we can help you get through this critical period and, if we can’t, we’ll certainly help you find the support you need.
If you are a delegate agency thinking about responding to the upcoming RFP to continue to serve your children and families on your own, but are unsure about grant writing, give us a call.
If you are a community based, solid organization with your heart and management practices in the right place and think could do just as well or better on behalf of young children and their families, we can help you think that through and move forward if you’d like. Call us: 703-299-6570 or [email protected].