Earlier this month there was a forecast on grants.gov for Early Head Start (EHS) Expansion and Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) Grants. However, that forecast was removed just a few days later. We’ve been keeping our eye on grants.gov to see if the forecast reappears. There’s no news to share yet, but as soon as there is we’ll let you know.
Still, there’s a strong possibility that a competition will open for a third round of EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP grants. You might remember that earlier this year there was an increase in funding approved for EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP grants. We expect the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the competitive grants to come this year.
In the meantime, you can take steps to ground yourself in the EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP model. We recommend taking a look at the Round 2 EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Grant FOA. It’s possible there will be some differences, though the core aspects of the FOA may be similar. With other recent competitive Head Start/Early Head Start grants – notably, Designation Renewal System (DRS) – we noticed some modifications in the FOA to align better with the new Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) and Aligned Monitoring System 2.0 (AMS 2.0). Perhaps we’ll see the same sort of alignment with the next EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Grant FOA.
We’re also looking forward to seeing if there are priority or bonus points awarded to applicants. In EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Round 1 and Round 2, applicants that proposed to serve high poverty zip codes and Promise Zones received bonus points. In Round 2, applicant also received bonus points if proposing to provide services in a designated rural area. Regardless of how priorities or bonus points shake out in the Round 3 FOA you must be able to demonstrate the need for services and justify your model.
This spring, we spent some time on our DRS Updates blog discussing the strong alignment between Community Assessment and Head Start/Early Head Start grant writing. We touched on the importance of considering if your program’s community assessment is ready to inform grant writing. These same ideas apply to EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP grant writing. Check out these data gathering tips to help ensure a strong demonstration of need in your proposal. If your program intends to apply for EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP funds and your Community Assessment is out of date, we recommend addressing this as soon as possible. You’ll save yourself time in the grant writing process if you have data about community need at your fingertips. The Community Assessment data will also be a vital resource as your team determines your program model, service area, and partners.
If your program needs assistance conducting or updating a Community Assessment to inform a future EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Grant proposal, we can help. We offer this service either independently or in combination with grant services. Please be in touch to explore what the right level of support is for your program. We’ll consider the current status of your program’s Community Assessment as well as the potential timing of the upcoming EHS Expansion and EHS-CCP Grant FOA.
Thank you.