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Office of Head Start skip to primary page contentActing Director Patricia Brown

Information Memorandums (IMs) - 2003

Head Start Supplemental Funding (ACYF-IM-HS-03-01)

ACYF
Administration on Children, Youth, and Families		 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
1. Log No. ACYF-IM-HS-03-01 2. Issuance Date: 03/14/2003
3. Originating Office: Head Start Bureau
4. Key Word: Funding guidance; Supplemental funding

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM:

TO: Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies

SUBJECT: Head Start Supplemental Funding

INFORMATION:

This memorandum explains how Head Start grantees can apply for supplemental funds to support their staff's participation in Head Start early literacy training events.

In the summer of 2002, the Head Start Bureau launched Project STEP (Strategic Teacher Education Program). This training reached nearly 3,000 early literacy specialists and offered baseline knowledge about teacher strategies, materials and instructional activities needed in every classroom to promote rich language and literacy development.

In FY 2003 the Head Start Bureau will build upon this initial training by offering a series of training events that address the goals set forth in the President's early language and literacy initiative, Good Start, Grow Smart. These events are as follows:

  • Head Start STEP Mentor Coach Conference: This STEP II event was held in Washington, DC, November 17-19, 2002 for mentor-coaches. The sessions were designed to enhance effective mentor-coaching in early language and literacy, identify and develop optimal learning environments in Head Start settings, utilize effective practices, incorporate appropriate practices in the continuous improvement of teacher practices and to expand understanding of the relationship of social-emotional development to literacy and all early learning.
  • Cluster Training: These multi-day training events will be held in various locations in the spring of 2003. They will cover the social emotional foundations of early learning and provide updated materials and strategies for local, family literacy efforts. Your Quality Improvement Center (QIC) will schedule and be lead for the training in your area. The QICs will be assisted by the National Center on Social Emotional Foundations of Early Learning and The National Center for Family Literacy. The QICs will send more information to you about this.

In order to assure that financial constraints do not preclude grantees from attending these important training events, ACF will make available one-time funds that are intended to substantially cover grantee participation costs. Grantees wishing to apply for these funds should submit a single application that incorporates requests for the events they will attend, using guidelines below.

These one-time funds are not calculated to be an exact reimbursement of each grantee's cost related to participating in these training events. The funds are instead a reasonable supplement to those grantees wishing to attend these events. If some portion of the supplemental funds is not needed to pay direct costs of the events, it should be used for related early literacy activities. Similarly, grantees may use already awarded funds from their on-going grant to cover any additional costs of the training events.

Grantees should submit a funding request using the following methodology:

  • Mentor Coach Conference - Grantees may request $1,500 per attendee not to exceed $3,000 in total. This will cover the approximate cost of two staff.
  • Cluster Training - Grantees may request $800 per attendee. Grantees with enrollment levels of less the 400 may send up to four staff; grantees with enrollment levels between 400-1200 may send up to eight staff; grantees with enrollment levels above 1,200 may send up to twelve staff.

Grantees are not precluded from sending more staff than the above numbers would allow but would need to use on-going grant funds to cover any additional costs. Grantees are asked to submit all funding requests to their responsible Regional Office no later than March 31, 2003. Please direct any questions to your ACF Regional Office.

/ Windy M. Hill /
Windy M. Hill
Associate Commissioner
Head Start Bureau

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