State Advisory Councils
Responses to Frequently Asked Questions on ECLKC

What is the purpose of the State Advisory Councils on early childhood education and care?

The State Advisory Councils will lead the development of a high quality, comprehensive system of early childhood education and care that ensures statewide coordination and collaboration among the wide array of early childhood programs and services in the State, including Head Start, child care and pre-kindergarten programs and services.

The Administration is committed to effective coordination of programs relating to early learning and child development, including new activities authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The State Advisory Councils play a key role in advancing the goal of integrated services to young children and families.

How is a State or Territory eligible to receive a grant to establish a State Advisory Council?

All 50 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and the Territories of Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Republic of Palau are eligible to receive a grant if the Governor has:

• designated or established a council to serve as the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care;
• designated an individual to coordinate the activities of the State Advisory Council;
• ensured, to the extent possible, the membership of the Council includes representatives specified in Section 642B (b)(1)(C) of the Act; and
• submit an application meeting requirements in Section 642B(b)(2)(B) as described below.

Does the State Advisory Council have to be a new entity?

No, the Governor may designate an existing entity in the State to serve as the State Advisory Council.  When designating an existing entity the Governor shall take steps to ensure that its membership includes, to the maximum extent possible, the statutorily required representatives.  

Must the State Advisory Council be formally established by Executive order or statute?

No, it is not required that State Advisory Councils be established by Executive order or statute.  In order to qualify as a designation there must be a public record of the Governor's designating the entity that will serve as the State Advisory Council.  Many States, however, have designated such Councils through Executive order or statute as a means of ensuring their sustainability. 

Who must be members of the Council?

Members shall include, to the extent possible:

• A representative of the State agency responsible for child care;
• A representative of the State educational agency;
• A representative of local educational agencies;
• A representative of institutions of higher education in the State;
• A representative of local providers of early childhood education and development services;
• A representative from Head Start agencies located in the State, including migrant and seasonal Head Start programs and Indian Head Start programs;
• The State Director of Head Start Collaboration;
• A representative of the State agency responsible for programs under section 619 or part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Act;
• A representative of the State agency responsible for health or mental health care; and
• Representatives of other entities determined relevant by the Governor.

Must the State Director of Head Start Collaboration serve as a member of the State Advisory Council?

As described above, Section 642B(b)(1)(C) of the Head Start Act lays out the requirements for membership on the State Advisory Council that must be met to the maximum extent possible. Another requirement, appearing in Section 642B(a)(4)(H) regarding State Collaboration grants, is for the State Collaboration Director to serve on the State Advisory Council to assist the efforts of Head Start agencies to engage in effective coordination and collaboration. Jurisdictions that do not participate in the State Collaboration program, like the Trust Territories, are not required to include a State Collaboration Director on their State Advisory Council.

How can States access the application package? 

Application information can be requested from carmen.bovell@acf.hhs.gov. Application information will also be available at http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov.

What must be included in an application?

• A statewide strategic report addressing the activities of the Advisory Council
• A description, for each fiscal year, of how the State will make effective use of funds available to facilitate the development or enhancement of high-quality systems of early childhood education and care designed to improve school preparedness, by developing or enhancing programs and activities consistent with the statewide strategic plan
• A description of the State early learning standards and the State's goals for increasing the number of children entering kindergarten ready to learn 
• Information identifying the agency or joint interagency office, and the individual designated by the Governor to coordinate the activities of the State Advisory Council
• A description of how the State plans to sustain activities under this paragraph beyond the grant period.
• More information on the content and required forms for the application is provided in the document titled “Content and Form of the Application

What information must be included in the statewide strategic report?  Does a State have to conduct a statewide needs assessment prior to completing this report?

The statewide strategic report must describe how the State Advisory Council will conduct the required activities including conducting periodic statewide needs assessments, identifying opportunities for and barriers to collaboration and coordination and developing recommendations.  The Council does not need to have conducted all of these activities, including conducting a full statewide needs assessment, prior to submitting an application.

However, a State would have to have begun the process of assessing the needs of the State to the degree it was necessary to submit an application with a strategic report. 

If a state with an established State Advisory Council already has conducted a comprehensive statewide needs assessment and begun other planning activities, they should include this information in their report and use it to inform their proposal for use of the grant funds. 

Are public hearings and input required prior to submitting an application?

Consistent with Section 642B(b)(1)(D)(ii) States are required to hold public hearings and provide an opportunity for public comment before submitting the strategic report with their application. 

What activities are required?

As described in section 642B of the Act, the State Advisory Councils shall:

• Conduct periodic statewide needs assessments on the quality and availability of early childhood education and development programs and services from birth to school entry;
• Identify opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration and coordination;
• Develop recommendations on increasing participation in child care and early education programs, including outreach to underrepresented and special populations;
• Develop recommendations on the development of a unified data collection systems for public early childhood and development programs and services;
• Develop recommendations on statewide professional development and career advancement plans for early childhood educations;
• Assess the capacity and effectiveness of institutes of higher education supporting the development of early childhood educators;
• Make recommendations for improvements in State early learning standards and undertake efforts to develop high-quality comprehensive early learning standards, as appropriate; and
• Facilitate the development or enhancement of high-quality systems of early childhood education and care designed to improve school readiness through one or more of the following activities:
• Promoting school preparedness of children from birth through school entry;
• Supporting professional development, recruitment, and retention initiatives for early childhood educators;
• Enhancing existing early childhood education and development programs; and services
• Carrying out other activities consistent with the State's plan and application.

What can constitute the 70% non-Federal share?

Any non-Federal resources used to support the grant can be claimed as non-Federal share. These can include state, local or private contributions which benefit the federally assisted project.  The non-Federal share may be met by cash or in-kind contributions including but not limited to investments in early childhood education and development programs, professional development, recruitment and retention of the early childhood workforce, planning and establishing unified data collection systems, conducting statewide needs assessments and “in-kindâ€� contributions of real property, equipment and supplies as well as services, fairly valued, provided by State employees, consultants and Advisory Committee members with direct and tangible benefits for the State Advisory Council program.

How is the 70% non-Federal share calculated?

States must provide at least 70 percent of the total approved cost of the project. The total approved cost of the project is the sum of the ACF (Federal) share and the non-Federal share.  For example, in order to meet the match requirements, a project requesting $500,000, in ACF (Federal) funds must provide a non-Federal share of the approved total project cost of at least $1,167,000, which is 70 percent of total approved project cost of $1,667,000.

Can a State or Territory request a waiver of the 70 percent non-Federal share?

There is no waiver authority of the non-Federal share for these grants.

How and when does the State or Territory report the non-Federal share?

States and Territories will include the non-Federal share in each year's budget and will have until the end of the three year grant period to give a final report of the non-Federal share.   

Do States have to apply for the full allocation or can they apply for only a portion of the allocation?

States can apply for a portion of the amount allocated for their State except that no State can apply for less than $500,000. However since these are one time grants a State would not be able to subsequently apply for the remaining portion of their allocation. 

What is the due date for applications?

Applications are due no later than August 1, 2010. States and Territories are encouraged to inform ACF by letter whether or not they intend to submit an application. 
Mail both the letter and application to:

David Kadan
ACF Grants Management Officer
Administration for Children and Families
Division of Discretionary Grants
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW
Aerospace/6th Floor East
Washington, DC 20447

Are there funding restrictions for this grant?  

The grants awarded under this announcement are not to be used to supplant ongoing early childhood or other collaboration activities currently undertaken by the State.  

Costs of organized fund raising, including financial campaigns, endowment drives, solicitation of gifts and bequests, and similar expenses incurred solely to raise capital or obtain contributions, are unallowable under this grant award. Grant awards will not allow reimbursement of pre-award costs.

What are the reporting requirements on this grant?

The State must submit an interim report 18 months after receipt of the grant and a final report at the end of the grant period to the Secretary on the activities, outcomes, use of funds and remaining needs. Additionally, the ARRA reporting requirements will apply to these grants, further details on these requirements will be forthcoming.  

Beginning with FY 2009 awards, ACF grantees will begin using the Standard Form (SF) for required performance progress reporting (PPR). The SF-PPR is a standard government-wide performance progress reporting format consisting of a series of forms implemented by Federal agencies to collect performance information from award recipients. ACF grantees will begin using the standard format implemented through ACF's Office of Grants Management (OGM), entitled the "ACF-OGM-SF-PPR." Use of the ACF-OGM-SF-PPR will begin for new awards and continuation awards made by ACF in FY 2009. At a minimum, grantees will be required to submit the ACF-OGM-SF-PPR, which consists of the ACF-OGM-SF-PPR Coversheet and the ACF-OGM-SF-PPR Appendix B Program Indicators.

Grantees will continue to use the Financial Status Report (FSR) SF-269 (long form) for required financial reporting. The SF-269 (long form) and the ACF-OGM-SF-PPR may be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/grants_resources.html. Grantees should consult their award documents to determine the appropriate performance progress report format required under their award.

Financial reports are due 30 days after the end of the reporting period. Final program performance and financial reports are due 90 days after the close of the project period.

Who must submit the application to HHS? 

The Governor or the individual designated by the Governor to coordinate the activities of the Council must submit the application. 

Who should be contacted if there are questions or if additional information is needed?
                                                                                      
Patricia Brown
Acting Director
Office of Head Start
Administration for Children and Families
8th Floor, Portals Building
1250 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20024
Phone:  202-205-8573
Email: patricia.brown@acf.hhs.gov

How much funding is available to each State and how was this determined? 

State allocations were based on each State's relative number of children under the age of five from families whose income is below the poverty line, except that each State and territory was allocated the statutory minimum of $500,000. The population estimates of the number of poor children were from 2005-2007 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates.    

State Allocations for
State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood Education and Care

STATES & TERRITORIES	ALLOCATIONS
Alabama	$1,797,985
Alaska	$500,000
Arizona	$2,325,469
Arkansas	$1,174,518
California	$10,653,958
Colorado	$1,329,635
Connecticut	$582,974
Delaware	$500,000
District of Columbia	$500,000
Florida	$4,818,802
Georgia	$3,476,312
Hawaii	$500,000
Idaho	$500,000
Illinois	$3,584,080
Indiana	$1,911,431
Iowa	$705,525
Kansas	$811,043
Kentucky	$1,565,631
Louisiana	$2,000,023
Maine	$500,000
Maryland	$895,886
Massachusetts	$1,137,560
Michigan	$2,893,552
Minnesota	$1,046,290
Mississippi	$1,521,067
Missouri	$1,810,733
Montana	$500,000
Nebraska	$500,000
Nevada	$623,467
New Hampshire	$500,000
New Jersey	$1,594,234
New Mexico	$857,642
New York	$5,424,273
North Carolina	$3,053,061
North Dakota	$500,000
Ohio	$3,511,771
Oklahoma	$1,506,605
Oregon	$1,000,761
Pennsylvania	$3,020,281
Puerto Rico	$2,910,285
Rhode Island	$500,000
South Carolina	$1,628,299
South Dakota	$500,000
Tennessee	$2,254,123
Texas	$11,274,474
Utah	$695,884
Vermont	$500,000
Virginia	$1,645,761
Washington	$1,542,064
West Virginia	$642,214
Wisconsin	$1,272,323
Wyoming	$500,000
American Samoa	$500,000
Guam	$500,000
No. Mariana Islands	$500,000
Virgin Islands	$500,000
Palau	$500,000
Total	$100,000,000

See PDF Version:
     State Advisory Councils - Responses to Frequently Asked Questions on ECLKC [PDF, 55KB]

See also:
     ARRA: Head Start Funds for State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood Education and Care - Governors' Letter
     State Advisory Councils - Application Content and Format