Category: General

Highlights from the NHSA Webinar – “Fiscal Year 2015 Budget”

In case you weren’t able to view the March 11th National Head Start Association webinar on the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget, there were some interesting points of discussion and worthwhile news on upcoming opportunities. Items discussed include the increase in Head Start funding, the President’s 2015 budget proposal, upcoming opportunities, NHSA’s top advocacy priorities, and NHSA’s advocacy plan for the next 2 months. See the bulleted highlights below for the details.

Head Start Funding FY 2008 – FY 2014:

  • Head Start’s funding level has increased significantly. In FY 2008, Head Start’s funding level was approximately 6.8 billion and in FY 2014, it is just over 8.5 billion. While most federal programs’ funds recently decreased, (including child welfare, education and health), Head Start’s funds have increased. This is due to your great advocacy work!

FY 2015 President’s Budget Proposal:

  • Head Start/Early Head Start
    • $8.868 billion ($270 million increase)
    • $8.193 billion in base funding (including $100 million COLA)
    • $650 million for Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships ($150 million increase)
    • $25 million for DRS transition
  • Opportunity, Growth & Security Initiative
    • $56 billion fund that includes $800 million for Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships and for “supporting Head Start grantees who are expanding program duration and investing in teacher quality”
  • Maternal, Infant & Early Childhood Home Visiting
    • $500 million total funding (roughly $120 million increase); 15 billion over 10 years
  • Child Care and Development Fund
    • $750 million mandatory; $57 million increase in discretionary money
  • Community Services Block Grant
    • $350 million in total funding (cut of $324 million)
  • Race to the Top – Pre-K
    • $500 million in discretionary Race to the Top funding ($250 million increase over FY 2014)
    • $1.3 billion in FY 2015 for State partnership Pre-K (Strong Start)

Opportunities for the Head Start Community:

  • Rethink & refresh – let’s put the sequester behind us and promote our commitment to quality.
  • Consider Early Head Start – Child Care partnerships to serve more birth to 3 children with the new funding.
  • Position Head Start as the most accountable and effective early childhood education and driver of economic mobility.

NHSA’s Top Advocacy Priorities:

  • Head Start funding
  • Preventing resumption of sequester of 2016
  • Positioning Head Start in the President’s Plan and Strong Start legislation
  • DRS mitigation
  • Implementing the Policy Agenda
  • Preparations for Reauthorization

Advocacy Plan – March & April:

  • Workforce State of Emergency – Call for stories: NHSA is looking for stories from Head Start staff who are struggling due to not receiving a livable wage. We are also looking for stories of other struggles (i.e. stress, healthcare costs, continuing education, etc.). These stories will become our advocacy activities.  For more information – go.nhsa.org/workforce-emergency.
  • Members of Congress are on a 2-week recess in April (weeks of April 14th & April 24th). Invite them to visit your program to say thank you and to remind them that Head Start changes the lives of children and families in their district and across the country.

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.

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