This month, the Office of Head Start (OHS) released a Risk Assessment Notification (RAN) protocol and sample reporting form to assist programs that experience a child health and safety incident. This new information follows the kick off of FY2024 Head Start monitoring and is in direct response to a concerning increase in the number of child health and safety issues among Head Start/Early Head Start programs in recent years.
In a FY24 RAN Informational Session, OHS shared that from FY2022 to FY2023, there was an increase in the number of child health and safety issues in every category reported. For example, the number of abuse, neglect, or inappropriate conduct issues increased from 95 to 126; the number of inadequate supervision issues increased from 72 to 107. In FY2023, there were also 42 cases of recipients failing to make a timely report of an incident. OHS is focused on addressing the child health and safety incidents as well as challenges with reporting of incidents when they occur. As stated by Khari Garvin, Director, OHS, in the FY24 RAN Informational Session:
We hope that by providing this update, bringing this to focus, and ensuring recipients are aware that we need to do better as a national program, we can work together with the Regional Offices, Regional Training and Technical Assistance, the National Centers to refine recipient systems that need improvement and implement practices that will prevent children from being at risk of harm.
RAN reviews are a type of special review that helps OHS to understand the root cause of incidents and supports grantees to make any necessary improvements to their program. A RAN review is one action that might take place following an incident, though it is not always necessary.
As described in the new RAN Review FY2024 Monitoring Protocol, incident reporting is the first step that programs take after a child health and safety issue has occurred. OHS then analyzes the report and may request additional information. Based on this information, OHS will determine if a RAN review will take place. If required, a Program Specialist will conduct the review using the RAN protocol to document health and safety incidents; identify contributing factors that may have enabled the incident; communicate corrective action steps; and provide feedback and support to prevent future incidents. Following the review, OHS issues a report of any findings.
Given the importance of reporting health and safety incidents, and an increase in programs’ failure to make timely reports, OHS developed and released a FY24 Sample Incident Reporting Form. This form will support programs to comply with the timeline (immediately, and no later than seven days following an incident) and detail necessary in an incident report. The form documents the following.
- Each incident and associated dates (Part 1: Program Information)
- Reporting to other agencies and authorities and status of investigations (Part 2: Reporting)
- Information about the type of incident(s) (Part 3: Type of Incident)
- Detailed information about each incident, such as where the incident took places, circumstances related to the incident, and who was involved (Part 4: Incident Details)
While use of the FY24 Sample Incident Reporting Form is not required, it does help programs to ensure they are providing all necessary information required by OHS. If your program chooses to use a different form, we encourage you to cross reference it with the sample form to check that it is providing the same level of detail and information that OHS expects.
With sufficient information provided to OHS, follow up (e.g., RAN review) might not be necessary. However, if it is, a thorough review of the RAN Review FY2024 Monitoring Protocol will help programs to prepare responses and documentation that may be requested.
If your program anticipates a federal monitoring review this program year, we encourage you to explore Foundations for Families’ Consulting Services. If you need assistance preparing for a federal review, please be in touch. Our team of consultants will work with your program to determine a process, timeline, and approach that is the best fit for your needs.
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