Third round of competition for funding begins for more than 100 grantees
In its ongoing effort to improve the learning environment for children and ensure the integrity of services offered to families across the country, the Office of Head Start (OHS) has informed 103 grantees that they will need to compete for continued Head Start funding.
Under regulations announced in 2011, grantees that do not meet quality thresholds must compete with other potential early childhood education providers to receive future Head Start funds.
"We believe that all children deserve the best early education that each of their communities can offer," said Linda Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Interdepartmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development for Children and Families. "This administration believes in continuous improvement in order to achieve the highest quality possible."
OHS designated the grantees for competition because they had fiscal or management issues preventing them from properly managing federal funds, or had deficiencies discovered in their on-site federal monitoring review. Any grantee that scored in the lowest 10 percent out of all Head Start programs that received a CLASS review last year must also compete.
"We continue to hold providers to high standards for classroom quality and program integrity" said Ann Linehan, acting director of the Office of Head Start. "We're committed to making sure our grantees maintain high-quality learning settings, promote healthy child development, and deliver comprehensive family services."
Head Start provides comprehensive early education for children and a range of family support services to more than 1 million children from low-income families. Family services could include health, nutrition, social services and other services determined as necessary by family needs assessments, in addition to education and cognitive development services. Head Start services are designed to be responsive to each child and family's ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage.
This is the third group of grantees designated to compete for continued funding. The second group was announced in January of 2013.
See the Head Start providers affected by this announcement or learn more about Head Start by visiting the Head Start web page.
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