A guiding principle of this blog is clarity. When we know something, officially, we tell you and we link to how we know. When we are offering an opinion, we try to make that very clear.
Today, we are going to post that we officially agree with most of you – there is a list of preliminary Round 2 DRS winners. No, we haven’t seen the list…but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist!
If you have been following this from start, you’ll recall we posted when OHS published the press release with a link to their official list of Round 1 preliminary winners. Many of us expected that they’d do that again since they didn’t mention, officially, an update in the process.
But, since we all know that agencies across the country have received official letters inviting them to enter negotiations for awards, we know that they must have unceremoniously changed their process. There must be a list and they must not be making it public.
What does that mean for the applicants? It seems logical to assume that if you are not in possession of a letter, you were not OHS’s first choice. Of course, negotiations are negotiations and sometimes they don’t work out. So, it is possible you’ll have an opportunity.
If you are in negotiations, congratulations! Remember – this is the VERY strongest position you’ll ever be in to get your base funding to adequately support what you want to do. If you know that it doesn’t and you know that your partners have contributed all they can, we encourage you to be deliberate and prudent and keep negotiating. No one wants to see you compete again!
If you applied but are not in negotiations, we are really sorry. This is an intense and costly process – win or lose. It is probably a good idea to talk to your partners, Policy Council and Board. This stinks.
Just so you don’t think we’ve given up on official news, we haven’t. Today on our sister blog, we let people know that the EHS-Child Care Partnership Grants have OFFICIALLY been posted to HHS’s grant forecast page. Maybe you are working on that, too?
Thanks.