The 2024 National Head Start Association (NHSA) Winter Leadership Institute took place January 22-25 in Crystal City, Virginia and offered meaningful opportunities for collaboration and learning. Updates from the Office of Head Start (OHS) provided information about the status of federal initiatives and funding impacting Head Start/Early Head Start programs.
Here, we recap some of the highlights provided by Khari Garvin, Director of OHS. He also reminded attendees of the five OHS national priorities and their foundational importance to Head Start/Early Head Start. As stated on the OHS website, the five priorities include the following.
- Child Health and Safety: Reduce or eliminate children’s risk of exposure to harm or hazards.
- Partnerships with State Systems: Expand Head Start programs’ capacity to coordinate services with state systems and national programs.
- Reaching Children and Families: Ensuring that Head Start resources are targeted to children, families, and communities of greatest need.
- Investing in the Workforce: Supporting a highly-skilled workforce with competitive pay, benefits, and access to supports for staff wellness.
- Quality Environments: Strengthening the key components of infrastructure that assist Head Start programs with operating most effectively.
Final Rules and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): Two final rules were published in 2023. They were for the purpose of rescinding the requirements for universal masking as well as COVID-19 vaccine requirements for staff.
In November 2023, a NPRM for Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming was published. Many comments were received in response to the NPRM (read Foundations for Families’ comment). OHS was not able to provide details about the status of the NPRM except to mention that a final rule is anticipated, with the goal of increasing quality. Stay tuned for more information as the NPRM process moves forward.
Full Enrollment Initiative: OHS presented data that showed, in 2023, national Head Start/Early Head Start enrollment was 82%. Full enrollment continues to be a challenge for many programs. The Full Enrollment Initiative will continue, and OHS expressed a commitment to apply as much support and flexibility as possible to this process.
Change in Scope Requests: Change in Scope Requests have been increasing in recent years and OHS anticipates that there will be many more to follow. Looking back on the past year, OHS reports that two-thirds of Change in Scope Requests have been to increase staff wages.
Monitoring: When reflecting on the past year, Mr. Garvin noted that a majority of Focus Area 1 review results (90%) showed grants were either fully compliant or only had areas of concern. The rate was 59% for Focus Area Two reviews. With regard to RAN reviews, a majority were conducted due to either issues related to abuse/neglect (50%) or inadequate supervision (40%). The CLASS Video Pilot and CLASS American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Self-review Pilot are going well and progressing as planned.
Looking forward, there were a few vulnerabilities that OHS highlighted for programs with upcoming reviews. For Focus Area 1, these included compliance with teacher qualifications, mental health consultation services, and having an active Health Services Advisory Committee (HSAC). For Focus Area Two, these vulnerabilities also included teacher qualifications, as well as timely criminal record checks, ensuring lead-free facilities, accuracy of eligibility records, and internal controls.
Competitive Grants: Mr. Garvin shared that, this spring, OHS plans to release a $100 million competitive funding opportunity to support expansion. Details have not yet been released about what this opportunity will look like.
National Head Start Fellowship Program: The National Head Start Fellowship Program returned in 2023 and OHS expressed excitement about this initiative. OHS encouraged participation in webinars to learn more. (A timeline for application and selection of participants is detailed on ECLKC).
Foundations for Families offers a wide variety of Consulting Services, including support for programs in the Full Enrollment Initiative. Please be in touch to learn more. We would be glad to speak with you about your program’s needs.
Thank you.
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