Author: RWS Developer

Key Points from the Winter Leadership Institute

In case you weren’t able to attend the 2014 National Head Start Association Winter Leadership Institute in DC last week, below are the highlights.

Update on the Sequester—

  • The sequester is being restored for Head Start and the expectation is that the 5.27% will be returned to Head Start programs.  It is most likely that Head Start will be flat funded for the next few years.

 Update on Early Head Start – Child Care Funding Opportunities—

  • $500 million dollars will be made available for Early Head Start – Child Care partnerships.  The priorities for these new monies are partnerships with child cares and plans to ensure a smooth transition as children leave Early Head Start.  A big part of the application will be how much the community needs Early Head Start – which will be driven by the Community Assessment.  The minimum number of Early Head Start children to be served is 72.  Webinars with more details to come shortly.  We’re expecting a short timeline between when the grant opportunities are posted and when the grant applications will be due (60 days).

Update on Reauthorization—

  • The next Reauthorization is in the preparation stages.  It took about 5 years for the 2007 Reauthorization to be accomplished.  We are positioning ourselves to be in the driver’s seat because last time, others drove the process, and we had to fight to change important pieces of the legislation.

Update on the revised Performance Standards—

  • While several drafts of the revised Head Start Program Performance Standards have been written, the revised Standards are still “under construction” – working on best language.  The plan is for the revised version to be out for public comment in a year.

Update on Monitoring—

  • A Head Start Key Indicator Screener Tool has been developed.  The tool is a subset of the compliance measures in the federal monitoring protocol – 15 core indicators & 41 additional indicators.  This mini-monitoring tool will show if there are issues with programs – if you fail any one item, you would most likely fail the entire Review.  This screener will be used between now and May for grantees who won their grant back in Recompetition.

 Update on Recompetition—

  • NHSA has recommended to the President that some changes be made to the Designation Renewal System (DRS) system. These include: 1) to stop referring to programs in DRS as low quality, 2) to release competition details in order to improve transparency, and 3) to treat low CLASS score as a non-compliance instead of a deficiency.
  • 38% of deficiencies were non-compliances during Federal Monitoring Reviews that were not corrected.
  • Will every program will be in Recompetition at some point? This question was answered at the Institute.  Programs will only be in Recompetition if 1 of the 7 triggers occurs in their program.  If no trigger occurs, then your program is automatically renewed for 5 years.
  • The list of programs in Round 3 of Recompetition will be announced soon…….. and winners in Round 2 of Recompetition are expected to be announced in April.

Getting Ahead of the Game

About 2 weeks ago, we received great news that Head Start received a 1 billion dollar boost in its funding.  While we don’t know a lot of specifics yet, we’ve been told that the monies that were reduced by sequestration will be restored.  We’ve also been told that 500 million dollars of the monies will be for Early Head Start – Child Care partnerships.

Before we receive more information, it’s time to get your ducks in a row.  When the funding opportunities are posted, we’re expecting a short timeline to write the grant application.  We’ve found that there’s a lot you can do now to be in good shape when the grant opportunities are posted. Things to do now to get ahead of the game include:

Investigate potential child care partners.

Talk with center directors of child care centers or family child care providers in your service area.  Tell them about Head Start and share information on Head Start requirements and goals.  Ask similar questions about their child care center.  See if it may be a potential match.

Get a comprehensive Community Assessment.

You will need data that shows why your service area is in high need of services.  You’ll also need data that describes all of the needs of the children and families in your area.

Think about how your program stands out from others.

Brainstorm with your team. Make a list of all the ways that your program provides high quality services – ways that it goes above and beyond.  Ask yourself, and your team, what it is you do that is innovative.

Need some help writing your grant? Or are you interested in having your grant reviewed?  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255.

Here are my CLASS Scores … Now What?

A client recently asked me, “How do I raise my Instructional Support scores?” You’ve certainly heard a lot about the importance of high CLASS scores. In Head Start, they are the measure of high quality classrooms and are tied to Recompetition. Your staff conducts CLASS observations and the scores are then shared with all. If your program is like most programs, your lowest scores are in the area of instructional support. So now, what can you do to improve those scores?

We’ve found that successful training in this area includes the following 3 points:

Use every moment as a teaching moment.

Training activities should focus on finding teaching opportunities throughout the entire day. Select a well-known story and discuss questions to ask children. Practice skills such as feedback loops as well as repetition and extension by talking through real scenarios in Head Start classrooms.  Intentionality is key here.

Think back and look forward.

Provide teaching staff with CLASS observation notes of one of their classrooms. Be sure to guide the staff through a review of the feedback. Take a look back at what could have been done; and look forward to what can be done. These steps will help your staff to identify and take advantage of teaching moments.

This is a new language.

The dimensions within the instructional support domain are a new language for us all.  Incorporating these skills into daily practice is a process and it takes time.  Specialized training followed up by mentoring and coaching are the first steps.

Have a question about improving your CLASS scores? Give us a call.

A Good Community Assessment is Essential

Do you make decisions for your program without enough data? It happens. More frequently than you think. Here are a few thoughts to consider:

What is comprehensive data?

It all starts with a good Community Assessment.  A comprehensive Community Assessment provides a complete picture of the current conditions in your service area – including the needs of low-income children and families.  Once you have a complete picture, you and your team can plan and make the right decisions for your Head Start program.

Where do you find the data that you need?

There is a wealth of data available from a variety of sources.  Externally, there is the Census Bureau, State Departments of Health, Kids Count Data Center, and State Data Centers, just to name a few.  Internally, there is your PIR and surveys of your parents, Policy Council, Board of Directors, staff, and community partners.

How do you use the data?

A good Community Assessment will be user friendly – providing you with key findings and trends.  It should also compare the current data to the previous years’ data.  So now you have what you need to make decisions.  From the information, you should be able to answer these questions:

  • Are we selecting the children who are the most in need?
  • Are my centers in the right locations?
  • Do the program options that we offer meet the needs of our parents?
  • Are we providing children and families with the services that they need?
  • Are we collaborating with the right community partners?

A comprehensive Community Assessment is the tool that you need to make good decisions in serving the children and families in your program.  If you need help creating a Community Assessment, we can help.  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 to discuss your needs.

Sequestration Brings Opportunity

Sequestration is one of the most recent challenges for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.  I believe that now is the time for Head Start and Early Head Start programs to create both a short-term and long-term plan to address sequestration.

Cutting 5% is quite a task since Head Start and Early Head Start programs already run their programs on a lean budget.  Programs are having to be creative to find 5% of their budget to cut.  Short-term options such as enrollment reductions, staff reductions, shorter program year, switching program options and many other possibilities are being considered.  Unfortunately, many of the options come at quite a cost to Head Start children and families, staff and the community.  Brainstorming has produced many additional budget cutting ideas as well.

I’ve always believed that Head Start should not put all of their “eggs” in the “Head Start basket”.  It is risky to assume that there will never be a cut in Head Start funding and, unfortunately, that is certainly the case now.

A long-term strategy that I recommend is researching and applying for additional grant opportunities.  Additional grant opportunities can support your Head Start or Early Head Start grant and assist in defraying some of the costs that are currently coming out of your Head Start grant.  There are early childhood-related grants available that could be a good match with Head Start and Early Head Start grants.  This way, programs are not placing all of their “eggs” in “one basket” and can more easily manage and maneuver when Head Start funding gets cut.

— Deborah Kaiser