On September 3, 2024, two Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for Designation Renewal System (DRS) grant opportunities were forecasted on grants.gov. There is a NOFO for Head Start/Early Head Start and there is a NOFO for Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership Grants.
Per grants.gov, the geographic areas and funding amounts for the NOFOs include the following.
Head Start/Early Head Start Recipient – Multiple Communities in AR, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MT, NC, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, PR, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI
Federal funding totaling approximately $655,841,603 will be made available in roughly seventy-four (74) competitive opportunities in twenty-eight (28) states.
Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Grants – Multiple Communities in GA, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, VA, WI
Federal funding totaling approximately $29,325,341 will be made available in roughly ten (10) competitive opportunities in nine (9) states.
All competitions are expected to open on October 21, 2024 and the estimated due date for applications is December 20, 2024. Detailed lists of service areas up for competition will be posted on the Office of Head Start Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) Locator, though as of the publishing of this blog post (September 3), this information is not yet available.
The timeline for DRS grant competitions is approximately 9 weeks. This is a typical turnaround for Head Start/Early Head Start grant applications but the timeline moves quickly. Therefore, if your program is in DRS, we recommend getting an early start on application planning. This includes program design and budget planning. It is also important to have up-to-date data on community needs and wage comparability that your program can use to justify its program design.
If your program is in DRS, we can help. Foundations for Families offers services to help programs get ready for a competitive grant. We also offer a variety of consulting services to help programs through the DRS process. If your program needs assistance preparing for or writing a DRS grant proposal, please contact us.
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