The 2022 National Head Start Association (NHSA) Winter Leadership Institute took place virtually, January 24-27, 2022. As customary for NHSA conferences, representatives from the Office of Head Start (OHS) held a session to share updates from the administration and OHS. Here, we provide some of the important federal funding and policy updates that were shared by OHS leaders.
As 2021 comes to a close, we thank you for the critical role your programs play in serving children and families. We have enjoyed getting to know programs through our work together, at conferences, and in conversations. And, we appreciate you reading our blog!
2021 was a year of opportunities and challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the importance of child care and also the challenges faced by the industry. The challenges the Head Start community faced in 2021, and will continue to face in 2022, are truly unprecedented. In fact, the Office of Head Start reports greater need than ever among children and families.
The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the tenth round of Designation Renewal System (DRS) grant competitions were announced on Grants.gov on Friday, November 19. Applications are due no later than February 2, 2021. NOFOs are available on Grants.gov by searching for Head Start grant opportunities. If you’re used to seeing “Funding Opportunity Announcement” or “FOA” in grant documents, note that the Office of Head Start has begun using NOFO instead.
This year’s National Head Start Association (NHSA) Fall Leadership Institute took place virtually, September 20-23,2011. New and exciting information was shared, including updates on potentially historic increases in funding for Head Start and the child care community.
The 2021-2022 program year is the third program year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Head Start/Early Head Start monitoring processes have been adapted with the changing circumstances. Focus Area 1 and Focus Area 2 reviews took place virtually during the 2020-2021 program year, and CLASS reviews were suspended.
2021-2022 program year reviews will return to some sense of “normal,” and there are notable changes for programs anticipating a review. These changes are described in a July 27, 2021 Information Memorandum (IM) from the Office of Head Start (OHS).
Promoting excellence in early childhood education to support families and strengthen communities.