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What’s New

The “What’s New” section contains the latest information relevant to the Head Start community. Each dated entry below provides a brief description and links to the corresponding materials. You may also register on the ECLKC to receive automatic alerts for “What’s New” and other topics.

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December 2009

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November 2009

  • 11/18/09

    Important! Change to ARRA Reporting - COLA

    All Head Start and Early Head Start grantees who receive Cost of Living Increases (COLA) are informed that the use of these funds will no longer be reported as jobs retained.

    SUPPLEMENTAL JOBS GUIDANCE FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES

    Q. If States issue retention bonuses or provide cost of living increases with ARRA funding, are those counted as jobs retained? (Q&A Updated on November 17, 2009)

    A. In general, it is important to emphasize that the purpose of the Recovery Act is to create new job opportunities or retain positions which would have otherwise been eliminated due to the unprecedented downturn in the economy. We do not advocate the use of Recovery Act funds for cost of living increases or retention bonuses, except where required by law.

    While maintaining emphasis on the guidance above, the previously published FAQ on cost of living increases and retention bonuses went on to allow the flexibility to include estimates of such forms of compensation to be included in the total estimates of jobs created and retained by the Recovery Act. Since the time that FAQ was published, OMB has determined that any Recovery funds used for cost of living increases or retention bonuses are to be excluded from the total number of jobs created and retained calculation.

     

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October 2009

  • 10/27/09

    Information Memorandum

    Influenza Preparedness - (ACF-IM-HS-09-08)
     

  • 10/06/09

    Program Instruction

    Head Start / Early Head Start Emergency Preparedness Survey - (ACF-PI-HS-09-09)
     

  • 10/02/09

    Carmen Nazario Announces the Director of the Office of Head Start

    I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Yvette Sanchez Fuentes to be the Director of the Office of Head Start. Yvette, currently Executive Director of the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, has extensive experience at the local, regional and national level, providing services to young children from low income families. Her knowledge and commitment will enable her to help lead ACF's critically important mission of enriching the quality of early childhood development for our nation's most vulnerable children. Please join me in welcoming Yvette to the ACF family.

    Yvette’s bio:

    As the Executive Director of the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, Ms. Sanchez Fuentes works with early education services, policies, and resources for migrant and seasonal farm worker children and their families. Prior to joining the Association, Yvette worked for the Education Development Center where she was the Early Childhood Specialist for the International Systems Division and provided technical assistance to projects in Honduras, El Salvador, and Egypt. Yvette has served as a National Head Start Fellow where she provided consultation in literacy, parent education, child care collaborations, and program improvement to Migrant and Seasonal Head Start and other early childhood education programs nationwide. Early in her career, Ms. Sanchez Fuentes managed services for a large migrant and seasonal program for staff development and family child care initiatives. She received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from California State Polytechnic University.

    Carmen R. Nazario
    Assistant Secretary for Children and Families

     

  • 10/01/09

    Policy Clarification

    What is the Teach For America program referred to in the December 12, 2007 amendments to the Head Start Act, Section 648A(a)(3) Alternative Credentialing and Degree Requirements? - (OHS – PC – J – 043)
     

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September 2009

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August 2009

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July 2009

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June 2009

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May 2009

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April 2009

  • 04/27/09

    One-time Funding Opportunities

    As Head Start grantees are considering how best to use their COLA and Quality Improvement Allocations, the Office of Head Start (OHS) wants to inform you that later this fiscal year OHS intends to make available one-time funding to address grantee health and safety issues and to address grantee training and technical assistance needs. As in past years, applicants will need to submit funding requests to their Regional Office and, as in past years, not all applicants will be funded or funded at their full request. Nonetheless, each grantee may wish to consider the pending availability of these funds in making decisions about the most effective use of its COLA and Quality Improvement allocations.

     

  • 04/15/09

    Policy Clarification

    May Head Start grant funds be used to pay for mental health services for parents of Head Start children? - (OHS - PC - B - 050)
     

  • 04/03/09

    New Funds Will Improve Head Start and Early Head Start Programs

    The Office of Head Start wishes to inform Head Start programs of two pieces of information that we believe will be of interest to you. The first is a news release announcing how the $2.1 billion in funds, made available to Head Start under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will be used. To read this news release, please visit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website.

    In addition, synopses of both the Head Start expansion and the Early Head Start expansion announcements were posted yesterday on grants.gov. If you are interested in reading the synopses, please visit the grants.gov website, select “new opportunities this week,” sort by agency, and both synopses (HHS-2009-ACF-OHS-SH-0087 and HHS-2009-ACF-OHS-SH-0089) will be available to you.

     

  • 04/02/09

    Program Instruction

    Head Start Funding Increase - (ACF-PI-HS-09-06)
     

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March 2009

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February 2009

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January 2009

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