In Focus: Head Start/Early Head Start
Apr 23, 2013 | Permalink »
Write a Letter Thanking the President for His Historic Early Childhood Investment
Recently, President Obama released his 2014 budget proposal. This budget includes historic investments across several early childhood programs including increased investment in a comprehensive birth-to-five early education continuum built upon child care, home visiting, Head Start, Early Head Start, and preschool - all critical programs for children, especially the most vulnerable children.
With our partners from the Strong Start for Children - Building America's Future campaign, CLASP will be collecting thank you notes from across the country and delivering them to the White House. Please join us in thanking President Obama for making investments in young children a priority!
Mail us your hard copy letters (a drawing or hand print by a child on your letter would be great) to deliver to the White House. We must receive all letters at CLASP by Monday, April 29. Please send your letters and drawings to: Emily Firgens, CLASP, 1200 18th ST NW, Suite 200, Washington DC, 20036. You can also email your letters to efirgens@clasp.org. We are collecting them rather than asking you to send them directly to the White House due to security protocols.
We hope you will join us in thanking President Obama for his early childhood initiative by sending CLASP your letters by May 2!
Thank you, and please contact Emily Firgens at efirgens@clasp.org or 202-906-8031 if you have any questions.
Apr 15, 2013 | Permalink »
Head Start Designation Renewal System—Round One Negotiations Begin
The Office of Head Start has recently announced the results of the first round of the Head Start Designation Renewal System (DRS), which requires all lower-performing Head Start grantees that fail to meet a new set of rigorous benchmarks to re-compete for continued federal funding.
Of the Head Start grantees required to re-compete for their funding in the first round of DRS, 80 maintained their funding, 25 will be replaced by new programs and 14 grantees will have their grants split between new and existing providers. 160 potential grantee agencies entered into negotiations with HHS starting last week. The list of grantees and further information is available on the Administration for Children and Families website.
The "Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007" requires DRS as a way to identify Head Start programs in need of improvement and maintain the quality of this critically important program for our countries' poor children and their families. The DRS was created through regulation that became effective in December 2011.
The regulation outlined seven conditions that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) considered in determining whether or not programs are delivering high quality, comprehensive services - and this, in turn, was used to identify programs that were required to re-compete for their existing Head Start contracts and funding. The seven conditions include:
- One or more deficiencies in budget and fiscal management data, annual audits, and classroom quality (under section 641A(c)(1)(A), (C), or (D) of the Act)
- Failure to establish school readiness
- Failure to meet minimum thresholds on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS): Pre-K domains
- Revocation of a license to operate a center or program
- Suspension from the Head Start program
- Debarment from receiving Federal or State funds or disqualification from the Child and Adult Care Food Program
- Having one or more material weaknesses or being at risk for failing to function as a going concern
The competition for the second round of DRS will begin in the spring. Grantees were notified in January if they met the conditions and will be required to re-compete.
Apr 11, 2013 | Permalink »
The President’s Budget: Historic for Early Childhood
Yesterday, the President released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Budget. For young children and the child care and early education community that supports them, the budget comes as a much anticipated follow-up to the President's State of the Union address where he outlined early learning as a priority. This budget includes historic investments across several early childhood programs.
The President's budget includes increased investment in a comprehensive birth-to-five early education continuum including child care, home visiting, Head Start, Early Head Start, and preschool-all critical programs for children, especially the most vulnerable children.
Through companion investments in the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, the President's proposal introduces new details to what the White House is calling its Preschool for All initiative. These investments include:
- Preschool -$75 billion in mandatory funding across 10 years to support state preschool programs. $1.3 billion of the $75 billion would be allocated in FY 2014. Additionally, $750 million in discretionary funding would be available in FY 2014 as development grants to states to create or strengthen their early education systems in preparation for the Preschool for All initiative.
- Home Visiting- $15 billion over 10 years to expand home visiting programs. Home visiting programs provide family support and connect children and their parents to resources during a critical development period for young children.
- Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships- $1.4 billion to support Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships. These will provide increased access to comprehensive, high quality child care for infants and toddlers.