Program Instructions (PIs)—2006

Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Head Start Funding (ACYF–PI–HS–06–02)

PROGRAM INSTRUCTION:

TO: Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies

SUBJECT: Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Head Start Funding

INSTRUCTION:

Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Head Start Funding (ACYF-PI-HS-06-02)

On December 30, 2005, the President signed the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law (P.L.) 109–149), which includes FY 2006 funding for Head Start at the same level as appropriated for FY 2005. On the same day, the President signed the Defense Appropriations Act (P.L. 109–148), which has two provisions affecting Head Start’s FY 2006 funding level.

The first provision in the Defense Appropriations Act affecting Head Start is an across-the-board reduction of one percent in the FY 2006 funding level of virtually all discretionary programs. This reduction will result in all Head Start grantees having their FY 2006 funding allocation reduced by one percent. Your Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Regional Office will advise you of your new FY 2006 allocation. Any grantee that has already been fully funded in FY 2006 will be issued a new grant award reflecting its reduced amount. The one percent reduction will be implemented in CANS 4122 and 4125. Grantee Training and/or Technical Assistance (T/TA) allocations will not be reduced as the required T/TA reductions will be taken in Head Start Bureau sponsored T/TA projects. Please direct any questions on this matter to your responsible ACF Regional Office.

The second provision in this Act provides Head Start with $90 million for one-time hurricane relief funding. This emergency funding will be used to serve children displaced by this summer's Gulf of Mexico hurricanes (Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita) and to renovate facilities that were damaged by these hurricanes to the extent reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and insurance companies do not fully cover such costs.

Grantees that are serving displaced children and families may request funding to cover the costs of serving these families for the time period from January 1, 2006, through the end of your current program year. (Funding to serve evacuee children prior to January 1, 2006, was discussed in ACF’s September 7, 2005, Information Memorandum (IM-HS-05-04), which announced the availability of $15 million to serve evacuee children and families.) Please submit any such funding request to your ACF Regional Office as soon as possible, with appropriate detail to help the Region fully understand the nature of your request.

Grantees that were serving children in facilities that were damaged or destroyed by one of these hurricanes may request funds from their Regional Office to repair or replace these facilities. Such requests should include information on the type of facility that the grantee had been using (e.g., number of classrooms, square footage, etc.) and whether or not the facility was grantee owned or leased, information on what funds have been made available from FEMA or insurance companies, what specifically you are requesting (e.g., repair/new construction) the nature of the new facility (e.g., again, the number of proposed classrooms, square footage, etc.) and any other information required by 45 CFR Part 1309 or requested by your Regional Office. Please include in your request a full discussion of when you anticipate displaced Head Start families moving back into your area. Please also include in this discussion what information you are using to make this determination and, if you anticipate fewer Head Start eligible families living in your service area than before the hurricanes, how these population changes will affect your program.

Funds awarded to grantees for either of the above two purposes will be issued as separate grants. The Head Start Bureau will waive non-Federal share requirements for these disbursements.

Please direct any questions on this to your ACF Regional Office.

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