On June 28, 2019, DRS Round 8 forecasts appeared on grants.gov. There are 146 grant competitions forecasted for this fall. A majority of the grant competitions are for Head Start/Early Head Start funding and few are for Early Head Start Expansion or Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) grants.
When are the grant competitions?
Most grant competitions are forecasted for the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to be released on September 4, 2019. Proposals are expected to be due November 4, 2019. This approximately 8 week turnaround is typical for DRS grant competitions.
What is the estimated award date and project start date?
Estimated award date is June 30, 2020 and the estimated project start date is July 1, 2020.
How many grants will be awarded?
The number of expected awards varies from grant to grant. You should look at your grant forecast’s “Expected Number of Awards” to see how many awards OHS expects to make for the particular grant. It tends to be as few as 1 award or as many as 5 or more, depending factors such as the funding amount and size of the service area.
How can I view a grant forecast?
Go to grants.gov and click “Search Grants.” In the Keywords box you can search by “Head Start.” If you know how a particular service area is defined, you could also include the service area name (e.g., county name). If you want to receive updates about the grant forecast, click the red “Subscribe” button to log in and set your alert preferences.
How can I prepare for a DRS grant competition?
Check out some of our past blog posts related to preparing for DRS.
How to Use the Wait for DRS to Enhance Proposal Competitiveness
Planning for 2019: Maximize DRS Proposal Competitiveness with a Strong Community Assessment
Strategies for Successful Submission of your DRS Proposal
We understand that DRS competitions can cause stress. Actively planning for the DRS grant competition can help to alleviate some of that stress. Focus on activities such as identifying your DRS team, solidifying your program design, and determining key roles such as budget lead and grant writer.
Keep an eye on your grant forecast on grant.gov for any changes, and check back here for updates and information as we lead up to DRS FOAs posting to grants.gov.
Thank you.