Insights from Experts
Talking Points
Talking Points offers insights from experts on the topics we know are important to organizations working to strengthen communities, including organizational development, childcare, and housing stabilization. Our writers share their knowledge, research, and practical strategies for building the structures and systems you need to promote excellence in service delivery.
Talking Points is published a minimum of monthly. Subscribing also gives you access to our Monthly Round Up, where we highlight blog posts, upcoming events, and newsworthy research and reflections.
New Grant Aims to Improve Housing Stability and Support for Low-Income Families
In many communities, a lack of affordable housing is an ongoing challenge. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, no state in the U.S. has an adequate supply of affordable rental housing for the lowest income renters and rising rental costs often make it difficult to maintain housing. A newly forecasted grant from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services, will help to address these challenges by leveraging the expertise of Community Action Agencies.
Annual Report: Providing Enrollment Data Alongside Community Context
Head Start annual reporting is established in Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), Section §1302.102(d)(2), and is required in the Head Start Act, Section 644(a)(2). To fully address requirements, programs must include a summary of their most recent community assessment in the annual report. Including a summary of the community assessment provides an opportunity to highlight community needs and also offers a chance to provide important context related to other required areas of annual reporting.
Underenrollment Action Planning Begins for Many HS/EHS Programs
Underenrollment is a longstanding issue faced by many Head Start/Early Head Start programs. It continues to present a major challenge for programs and is now coupled with an unprecedented child care staffing crisis. 2023 is the first year the Full Enrollment Initiative is being implemented since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and an estimated 225 grant recipients just received letters designating their program as chronically underenrolled.
Making the Case for HS/EHS Enrollment Reduction or Conversion
On November 7, 2022, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) issued an Information Memorandum, Enrollment Reductions and Conversion of Head Start Slots to Early Head Start Slots (ACF-IM-HS-22-09), that provides guidance to Head Start/Early Head Start programs about how to submit a change in scope and the factors that programs should take into consideration for such a request.
Funding Highlights from 2022 NHSA Fall Leadership Institute
The 2022 National Head Start Association (NHSA) Fall Leadership Institute took place September 19-22 in Washington, DC. It was a welcome opportunity to see colleagues in person, as the last couple years it has taken place virtually. One aspect of the conference that was particularly interesting from the funding perspective was Updates from the Office of Head Start. We learned about big picture and program-specific funding opportunities.
NHSA Winter Leadership Institute Provides Federal Policy and Budget Updates
The 2022 National Head Start Association (NHSA) Winter Leadership Institute took place virtually, January 24-27, 2022. As customary for NHSA conferences, representatives from the Office of Head Start (OHS) held a session to share updates from the administration and OHS. Here, we provide some of the important federal funding and policy updates that were shared by OHS leaders.
Looking Ahead to Recovery and Rebuilding in 2022
As 2021 comes to a close, we thank you for the critical role your programs play in serving children and families. We have enjoyed getting to know programs through our work together, at conferences, and in conversations. And, we appreciate you reading our blog!2021 was a year of opportunities and challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the importance of child care and also the challenges faced by the industry. The challenges the Head Start community faced in 2021, and will continue to face in 2022, are truly unprecedented. In fact, the Office of Head Start reports greater need than ever among children and families.
Funding Highlights from NHSA Fall Leadership Institute
This year’s National Head Start Association (NHSA) Fall Leadership Institute took place virtually, September 20-23,2011. New and exciting information was shared, including updates on potentially historic increases in funding for Head Start and the child care community.
FY2022 HS/EHS Monitoring Process Brings Updates to Format and Focus
The 2021-2022 program year is the third program year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Head Start/Early Head Start monitoring processes have been adapted with the changing circumstances. Focus Area 1 and Focus Area 2 reviews took place virtually during the 2020-2021 program year, and CLASS reviews were suspended.2021-2022 program year reviews will return to some sense of “normal,” and there are notable changes for programs anticipating a review. These changes are described in a July 27, 2021 Information Memorandum (IM) from the Office of Head Start (OHS).
Growing Community Needs Revealed by COVID-19 Impact Data
There is no doubt that COVID-19 and the resulting economic shutdown has affected communities nationwide. The impacts on children and families are far reaching, and extend deep into health, employment, education, and social services.
How to Support Meaningful Practice-Based Coaching in Family Child Care Programs
In this blog post, we look at some of the strengths and challenges of implementing practice-based coaching with family child care programs, and we share examples of how the uniqueness of the family child care setting supports quality improvement.