New!
Head Start News
Head Start News provides timely information for Head Start Preschool and Early Head Start programs about regulatory requirements, Office of Head Start priorities, and Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) for DRS grant competitions, as well as tips, strategies, and resources to support compliance and continuous program improvement.
If you followed our DRS Updates blog before, you will want to sign up for this new blog now! When there is a forecasted or open DRS competition, we will use Head Start News to continue to share tips, strategies, and resources to help agencies in DRS, at risk of being in DRS, or those wishing to compete for the service areas to submit the most competitive application.
The Head Start News blog is published a minimum of quarterly. Subscribing also gives you access to our Monthly Round Up, where we highlight blog posts from both of our blogs, upcoming events, and newsworthy research and reflections.
DRS Grant Competitions Delayed Until Spring 2026
For programs awaiting a DRS competition, little information has been shared in recent months about the timeline for the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to be released. Usually, by late summer, a forecast for the NOFO is on Grants.gov and DRS competitions typically open in the fall or early winter. This time, those months came and went without any Head Start updates on Grants.gov. Earlier this week, the Office of Head Start (OHS) shared a communication with some programs about the timeline for DRS and what to expect next.
What to Expect for DRS in 2023
DRS can feel unpredictable as programs learn about deficiencies or await a grant competition. From timelines to process, it can be hard to know what to expect. In this blog post, we recap what we know about the status of DRS in 2023, from open competitions to what may come.
DRS NOFOs Posted for Four States and Applications Due January 24, 2023
On November 10, 2022, five Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for Designation Renewal System (DRS) grant opportunities posted on grants.gov. These grants were forecasted in October and were expected to post earlier this month. Applications for DRS grants are due January 24, 2023.In addition to accessing NOFOs on grants.gov, they are downloadable from the Office of Head Start (OHS) Funding Opportunities website. Service areas with grants open for competition, estimated funding amounts, and estimated numbers of awards are summarized below.