Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships Funding Opportunity

Use the resources below to begin the application process.  

Find the application on the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) website.

• Applications are due no later than September 21st

Key weblinks in the EHS-CCP application

• The Office of Head Start (OHS) encourages applicants interested in applying for this funding opportunity to visit ACF’s How to Apply for a Grant page and review questions to decide whether to apply.
• You can also find Head Start program performance standards (HSPPS) in 45 CFR Parts 1301-1305. 
• If you have any questions about the application, you can contact OHS by email at OHSTech@reviewops.org.
• For more information about federally designated Qualified Opportunity Zones, visit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Opportunity Zones FAQs and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund Opportunity Zones Resources.
• For ACF property-related policy and guidance, refer to the ACF’s Property Guidance page.

Round 4 Application Component Summary (PDF)

• This quick reference table summarizes application information and requirements by application sections and page numbers.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Find answers to questions submitted to Home Grown. To submit a question, use the form at the bottom of this page. 

EHS-CCP Consultants/Grant Writers contact list (PDF)

• This contact list includes individuals and organizations with experience supporting organizations to develop quality Early Head Start grant applications, including grant writing and/or grant coaching during the proposal development process. You can use this list to contact consultants directly.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive and is not meant to serve as an endorsement by Home Grown.

Head Start A-Z

• Head Start A-Z is a collection of sessions and resources developed by the National Center on Program Management and Fiscal Operations to address the unique needs of new Early Head Start leaders. New directors, managers, and other leaders can use these materials for individual and staff professional development

Qualified Opportunity Zones 

• See this blog post from Foundations for Families for information on Qualified Opportunity Zones, which may be prioritized for funding under the current funding opportunity. 

Recruiting and Developing Partners

The application requires EHS-CCP applicants to identify specific local family child care programs and collaborative relationships and partnerships with community organizations at many levels to provide comprehensive, high-quality services to eligible infants and toddlers and their families that meet the Head Start Program Performance Standards. Use the resources below to recruit partners and establish agreements with providers and organizations in the communities you propose to serve.

Foundations for Fostering Partnerships in Head Start and Early Head Start

• Use this report and checklist tool created by the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center to help you design, plan, and deepen your understanding of the core issues that impact partnerships in the context of Early Head Start. Key Planning Steps are addressed on P. 10 to 12. Completing the Partner Development Checklist on P. 20 to 26 can help you address many of the components required in the EHS-CCP application

Resources from the Early Head Start for Family Child Care Demonstration Project

• This 2010 demonstration project informed the establishment of the EHS-CCP program in 2014. The Provider & Administrator tip sheets could be adapted to recruit family child care partners.

Resources for Developing Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Agreements

• Use these toolkit resources created by Child Trends to develop partnership agreements with child care partners
  • Part 1: Building Strong Agreements: Key Considerations
  • Part 2: Developing Partnership Agreements: An Annotated Resource List
  • Part 3: Sample EHS-CCP partnership agreement

Sample Third-Party Agreements (PDFs)

• Review the sample guidance and MOUs below to assist you in developing these third-party agreements with your partners. The application requires you to submit third-party agreements, which include Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) and/or Letters of Commitment, which clearly describe the roles and responsibilities for project activities, the support and/or resources that the third-party (i.e., subrecipient, contractor, or other cooperating entity) is committing, and detailed work schedules and estimated remuneration.
• • Guidance for Developing MOUs for EHS-CCP & MOU Template 
  • All Our Kin EHS Family Child Care Provider Contract 

The resources, tools, and tips in this section are offered to support you to develop a high-quality EHS-CCP application.

Round 4 Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships Grant Writing Check List (PDF)

• Use this grant writing checklist to confirm that your proposal narrative addresses all the application components grant reviewers will assess.

Register now to apply for ACF funds

• Go to this site to register and get ready to apply for ACF funds.

Find Head Start grantees in the communities you propose to serve

• Go to Head Start Center Locator.

Application Tips

• Use these application tips, which were gathered from individuals who review Head Start grants as members of official review panels, as you design your proposed program and write your grant application.

Resources aligned to application review criteria 

• The six sections in this document summarize the Application Review Criteria on P. 55 to 59 and offer resources to assist you in completing each section of the application.

The resources here are organized into Program Model profiles. Use them to spark ideas for designing your partnership program approach to leverage the benefits and address common challenges across EHS-CCP programs.

Program Models

• Download Bipartisan Policy Center’s report—Early Head Start–Child Care Partnerships: Spotlighting Early Successes Across America. Review the Introduction and the Alabama, Colorado, and Georgia EHS-CCP program profiles that focus on family child care networks.
  • Alabama EHS-CCP Grantee profile – p.11
  • Colorado EHS-CCP Grantee profile – p.16
  • Georgia EHS-CCP Grantee profile – p. 29
• Profiles of state EHS-CCP grantees supporting family child care networks
  • Alabama
  • Georgia
  • California

     

• Impact of COVID-19
  • Eight-article series, A Path to High-Quality Child Care Through Partnerships, about the impacts of COVID-19 on EHS-CCP grantees that are members of the Educare Learning Network, includes an article about and profiles of EHS-CCP programs in central Maine and Tulsa, Oklahoma that support family child care providers.
• Keys to Success and Common Challenges
  • Lessons from the Evaluation of Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships Across the Educare Network describes keys to success and common challenges in EHS-CCP programs operated by Educare organizations.

• Download the Early Learning Ventures shared service model one-page overview. 

The resources here are organized into recent EHS-CCP reports and articles. Use them to spark ideas for designing your partnership program approach to leverage the benefits and address common challenges across EHS-CCP programs.

Reports and Articles

• All Our Kin’s Staffed Family Child Care Networks: A Path Towards a Stronger, More Sustainable Child Care System (July 2020) outlines essential elements for EHS-CCP partnerships with family child care providers, as well as for other types of network/hub support.
• All Our Kin’s Everybody Benefits: Family Child Care Providers’ Perspectives on Partnering with Early Head Start (June 2018) report offers perspectives from family child care home providers offer Early Head Start services to the greater New Haven, Connecticut community.
• The following reports and tools released in May 2020 by Child Trends as the result of their Comprehensive Services Project describe and share effective implementation practices for comprehensive services provided to infants and toddlers and their families through EHS-CCPs.
  • Resources for Developing Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Agreements
  • Addressing Adversity and Supporting Families and Staff for Success in Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships
  • Approaches to Providing Comprehensive Services in Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships
  • Common Facilitators and Barriers to Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Implementation

• The ACF Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation’s report conducted by Mathematica, Working Together for Children and Families: Findings from the National Descriptive Study of Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships, presents findings from a national descriptive study of EHS-CCP. The report describes characteristics of partnerships, strategies for implementing partnerships in both center-based child care and family child care homes, and lessons learned to inform ongoing and future partnerships and training and technical assistance efforts.
• The Ounce of Prevention’s state profiles and the paper Expanding High-Quality Child Care for Infants & Toddlers: Lessons from Implementation of Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships in States, describe the broader impacts EHS-CCP have had on child care policies and systems in seven states.
• The Ounce of Prevention’s 2-page EHS-CCP Overview and Resource Guide offers links to reports and videos of EHS-CCP programs in Maine and Miami, Florida.
• Zero To Three’s Staffed Family Child Care Networks paper (2012) defines staffed FCC networks and examines how they are uniquely positioned to improve the quality of care that infants and toddlers receive in FCC settings.
• The Build Initiative has a Early Head Start & Child Care Partnerships Resource List organized by topic. 

The National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (ECQA Center) has three key resources on staffed FCC networks that CCDF administrators can access now to begin creating or expanding their own system of supports for FCC providers.

• Staffed Family Child Care Networks: A Research-Informed Strategy for Supporting High-Quality Family Child Care (September 2017)
  This brief includes a description of FCC networks and addresses the support a staffed FCC network can provide, particularly to special populations: family, friend, and neighbor care providers; license-exempt providers; English-language learners; and dual-language learners. It also describes the essential elements of an effective network and the value networks bring to the FCC profession.
• Developing a Staffed Family Child Care Network: A Technical Assistance Manual (September 2017)
  This manual is for leaders and stakeholders at the state, regional, and local levels who are planning to support the FCC provider community through staffed FCC networks. It provides key considerations and questions necessary to effectively implement networks.
• Staffed Family Child Care Network Cost Estimation Tool and User’s Guide (September 2017)
  The Family Child Care Network Cost Estimation Tool (CET) helps state, regional, and local organizations better understand the costs of operating a staffed FCC network. The CET can be used to estimate the operating costs for services offered by a staffed FCC network. This document is a user’s guide that provides instructions for the CET. The calculator tool, which is a Microsoft Excel file, is available from the ECQA Center by emailing QualityAssuranceCenter@ecetta.info.

Use these tools to spark ideas for designing your partnership program approach to leverage the benefits and address common challenges across EHS-CCP programs.

Tools

• Opportunities Exchange Shared Services Central webpage offers many tools and resources for strengthening business and teaching practices of FCC providers in shared services alliance networks.

Technical Assistance: Budgeting and Program Implementation

View the recording of the September 10th session and access the slides. 

Technical Assistance: Program Management, Planning, and Oversight Systems

View the recording of the September 2nd session. 

Technical Assistance: Program Models

View the recording of the August 25th session. 

Technical Assistance: Partnership Development and Non-Federal Match

View the recording of the August 13th session. 

Webinar for Networks

Watch the August 6th webinar recording for networks to learn about Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships. You can also access the presentation slides here.

Webinar for Grantees

Watch the August 10th webinar recording for grantees. Find the presentation slides here.

Home Grown Technical Assistance Sessions:

Join Home Grown and our partners at the Ounce of Prevention and Early Education Achievement for free technical assistance sessions around the Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships application.  

• September 10th, 2:00-3:00 Eastern: free peer-to-peer learning around budget and program implementation.  Register here. 
• One-on-One Technical Assistance, week of September 14-18: use this form to request one-on-one technical assistance with your application for the Early Head Start- Child Care Partnership program with Family Child Care. 

Additional Events

• From LENA: Thursday, August 27th, 1:00 Eastern: Strategies for a Winning Head Start Application- get an overview of the Head Start funding opportunities from Jeffrey Capizzano, President of The Policy Equity Group. He will also provide participants concrete takeaways for developing a vision and strategy for writing a compelling Head Start application. Register here.