Funding Highlights from 2023 NHSA Winter Leadership Institute

The 2023 National Head Start Association (NHSA) Winter Leadership Institute took place January 22-25 in Crystal City, Virginia. The conference facilitated many opportunities for collaboration and learning. Updates from the Office of Head Start (OHS) and other federal partners provided information about the status of federal initiatives and funding impacting Head Start/Early Head Start programs. Here, we recap some of the big picture and program-specific highlights.Fiscal Year 2023 Head Start Budget and Expansion Funding: The FY2023 budget for Head Start is $11.996 billion, a $960 million increase from the fiscal year prior. Funding for Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) makes up a significant portion of the increase, approximately $596 million. The FY2023 increase also includes $100 million expansion funding for Head Start, Early Head Start, or Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP). Funding will be available until September 30, 2024. OHS is in the process of determining how, specifically, this funding opportunity will be used. More information is expected in coming months.COVID Relief Funding: COVID relief, funded through three initiatives - Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, 2020 (CARES), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) and American Rescue Plan Act, 2021 (ARP) - continues to support Head Start/Early Head Start programs. Expenditure deadlines are approaching and OHS strongly encouraged programs to complete spending and closeout activities and to apply for carryover, if needed. CARES funding is tied to a program’s grant cycle, while CRRSA and ARP have deadlines of March 31, 2023. OHS stressed that a carryover request must be submitted prior to closing the budget period.Full Enrollment Initiative: OHS presented data that showed national enrollment is 78% for Head Start and 79% for Early Head Start. Full enrollment continues to be a challenge for many programs. OHS staff noted that, in January 2023, underenrollment letters will be sent to grant recipients that are “significantly under enrolled.” These letters will go to 225 grant recipients who will then initiate an underenrollment plan. Decisions on designation of chronically underenrolled and further action on funding will take place in March 2024. For programs designated as chronically underenrolled, this may include recapturing, withholding, or reducing funding.Change in Scope: Change in scope requests have been increasing in recent years and OHS anticipates that there will be an even greater number in FY2023. In FY2022, enrollment reduction was the most common request, followed by conversion. This trend holds true for changes in scope submitted in FY2023 to date. OHS acknowledged the November 2022 IM on considerations before requesting an enrollment reduction or conversion as an important resource for programs to review. Competitive DRS Grants: Little information was shared about the status or timing of the next round of DRS grant competitions. Data shows that few programs are being found deficient through federal monitoring. For example, FY2022 monitoring showed that 1% of programs participating in a Focus Area 2 review received a deficiency. Some programs are found deficient as a result of incidents in the program. OHS reminded programs that reporting incidents is critical and does not always lead to a deficiency. Stay tuned to our DRS Updates blog for future time-sensitive updates related to DRS.The Winter Leadership was a wealth of information, particularly on some of the most pressing issues for Head Start/Early Head Start programs. If your program is considering a conversion or change in scope, we can help. Foundations for Families team members provide grant writing services and conduct wage studies and community assessments to help. Explore our Consulting Services and please contact us to learn more.Thank you.Thank you for reading our blog. We encourage you to use our blog posts for thought, integration, and sharing. When using or sharing content from blog posts, please attribute the original content to Foundations for Families.