How Head Start Funding Is Awarded
Head Start grants are competitive awards made directly by the Office of Head Start (OHS) to grantee organizations. Unlike formula-based programs such as CSBG where funding flows automatically through states, Head Start applicants must submit proposals through Grants.gov and be evaluated against objective criteria. Grants are awarded for 5-year project periods, with annual continuation funding based on satisfactory performance and congressional appropriation.
There are two primary pathways to a Head Start grant: new or expansion competitions (when OHS makes new slots available) and Designation Renewal System (DRS) recompetitions (when an existing grantee's performance triggers open competition for its service area). Understanding both pathways is critical because they use different Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) and evaluation criteria, even though the application mechanics are similar.
The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
Every Head Start competition begins with OHS publishing a NOFO on Grants.gov. The NOFO specifies the service area, funded enrollment slots, available funding amount, program options (center-based, home-based, family child care, or combination), application requirements, evaluation criteria and point values, and submission deadlines. NOFOs for Head Start are highly detailed — typically 50 to 80 pages — and must be read thoroughly before beginning your application.
Key elements you will find in every Head Start NOFO:
- Eligible applicants: Public or private nonprofit organizations, including Community Action Agencies, school districts, tribal governments, and other entities with demonstrated capacity to deliver comprehensive early childhood services
- Service area definition: The specific geographic area the grant will serve, including county or census tract boundaries. For DRS recompetitions, this is typically the same area served by the previous grantee.
- Funded enrollment and program options: The number of children and families to be served and which program options OHS is seeking for the service area
- Evaluation criteria: The specific factors and point values used to score applications, which vary by NOFO but typically include community need, program design, management capacity, budget adequacy, and past performance
The Grants.gov Submission Process
Head Start applications are submitted through Grants.gov, the federal grants portal. Before you can submit, your organization must have:
- An active SAM.gov registration with a current Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) — allow 4–6 weeks for new registrations
- A Grants.gov registration linked to your SAM.gov UEI, with an authorized organizational representative (AOR) who can submit on the organization's behalf
- Completed SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance) and all required standard forms specified in the NOFO
Critical timing note: Grants.gov submission deadlines are absolute. Late submissions are not accepted under any circumstances. Build in at least 48 hours of buffer before the deadline to account for system issues, file upload problems, and validation errors. Many experienced applicants submit 3–5 days early.
The Community Assessment
The community assessment is the foundation of your Head Start application. It demonstrates your understanding of the service area's needs and your plan to address them. Unlike a general community needs assessment, the Head Start community assessment has specific required elements defined in the HSPPS at 45 CFR 1302.11:
- Demographic data: Number of income-eligible children by age group (0–3 and 3–5), race/ethnicity breakdown, languages spoken, children with disabilities, homeless children, and foster children in the service area
- Existing early childhood resources: Inventory of other early childhood programs in the service area, including state pre-K, childcare providers, Early Intervention services, and their capacity relative to demand
- Needs and resources analysis: Gap between the number of eligible children needing services and the available capacity, including analysis of unmet need by geographic subarea and population group
- Community strengths and challenges: Health access, food security, housing stability, employment conditions, and other factors affecting children and families in the service area
The community assessment must be updated annually and comprehensively reviewed at least every 5 years. For new applications, the assessment should draw on the most current data available and demonstrate that your proposed program design directly addresses identified needs.
The Project Narrative
The project narrative is the core of your competitive application. It describes what you will do, how you will do it, and why your organization is the best choice to deliver Head Start services in the service area. The NOFO will specify exact page limits and section requirements, but most Head Start project narratives include:
Program Design and Approach
This section describes your proposed service delivery model — which program options you will operate (center-based, home-based, family child care, combination), how many children will be served in each option, the daily schedule, curriculum selection, and how your design addresses the specific needs identified in the community assessment. Reviewers are looking for a clear, logical connection between what the data says about the community and how your program is designed to respond.
Education and Child Development Services
Detail your approach to curriculum implementation, school readiness goals, individualized learning, screening and assessment, and transition planning. Name your chosen curriculum (common choices include Creative Curriculum, HighScope, and Frog Street) and explain how it aligns with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF). Describe your approach to ongoing child assessment and how assessment data will inform individualization.
Health, Nutrition, and Mental Health Services
Describe how you will meet the 45-day and 90-day health screening requirements, your partnerships with health care providers, your approach to dental services, mental health consultation, nutrition services, and family health education. Identify specific community health resources you will leverage and explain your protocols for tracking and following up on health referrals.
Family and Community Engagement
Describe your family engagement approach, including family partnership agreements, parent education programs, home visiting for center-based families, family literacy, and how you will support parents as their children's first and most important teachers. Explain your community partnership strategy and how you will connect families with resources including housing, employment, education, and other support services.
Management and Organizational Capacity
Demonstrate your organization's capacity to manage a Head Start grant. This includes organizational structure, key personnel qualifications, financial management systems, governance structure (governing body and policy council), facilities, transportation, and your quality improvement approach. If you are a current Head Start grantee applying for a different service area, your track record with your existing grant is highly relevant. If you are a new applicant, emphasize related experience managing federal funds and delivering early childhood or social services.
Budget Justification
The budget justification is more than a financial form — it tells the story of how you will use federal funds effectively. Head Start budgets must demonstrate:
- Adequate staffing: Sufficient teaching staff to maintain required ratios (1:10 for 4–5 year olds, 1:8 for 3-year-olds, 1:4 for infants/toddlers), plus coordinators for education, health, family services, and disabilities
- Administrative cost compliance: Total administrative costs cannot exceed 15% of the total approved budget. See the Budget & Financial Management guide for details on this cap
- T/TA set-aside: A minimum of 2% of the total budget must be set aside for training and technical assistance activities
- Non-federal match: Documentation of how you will meet the 20% non-federal share requirement through cash contributions, in-kind donations, or both
- Cost reasonableness: All costs must be reasonable, allowable, and allocable under 2 CFR 200 cost principles
The DRS Recompetition Process
When an existing Head Start grantee triggers one or more of the 7 Designation Renewal System conditions (detailed in the Compliance & Monitoring guide), OHS initiates an open competition for that service area. The recompetition process follows this timeline:
| Phase | Timeline | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| DRS determination | Ongoing | OHS determines a grantee has met one or more DRS conditions. The grantee is notified and may appeal. |
| NOFO publication | Varies | OHS publishes a NOFO for the service area on Grants.gov. The incumbent grantee may apply alongside other organizations. |
| Application period | 60–90 days typical | All eligible applicants prepare and submit proposals through Grants.gov. |
| Review and scoring | 3–6 months | Independent review panels evaluate applications using NOFO criteria. OHS program staff provide additional analysis. |
| Award decision | Varies | OHS selects the applicant that best demonstrates capacity to deliver high-quality services. Award notifications are posted on Grants.gov. |
| Transition period | Up to 12 months | If a new grantee is selected, OHS facilitates transition to minimize service disruption for children and families. The outgoing grantee may receive a bridge award during transition. |
Incumbent vs. New Applicant Considerations
In a DRS recompetition, the incumbent grantee that triggered the competition can and often does apply. Being the incumbent has both advantages and disadvantages:
- Advantages: Deep knowledge of the community, existing relationships with families and partners, established facilities and staff, and the ability to demonstrate corrective action taken since the DRS finding
- Disadvantages: The DRS conditions that triggered recompetition are part of the public record. Reviewers will scrutinize how the incumbent addresses past performance problems, and a weak response can be disqualifying.
Data from OHS shows that incumbent grantees win the majority of DRS recompetitions, but not all. New applicants do succeed, particularly when the incumbent's performance issues were severe or when a strong alternative organization with relevant experience (such as a Community Action Agency already operating other federal programs) presents a compelling proposal.
Application Evaluation Criteria
While specific point allocations vary by NOFO, Head Start applications are typically evaluated across these core areas:
| Evaluation Area | Typical Weight | What Reviewers Look For |
|---|---|---|
| Need for project | 20–25% | Quality of community assessment data, clear identification of unmet need, understanding of the target population |
| Program design | 25–30% | Comprehensive service plan, alignment with community assessment, evidence-based curriculum, family engagement strategy, transition planning |
| Organizational capacity | 20–25% | Management structure, key personnel, fiscal systems, governance, facilities, past performance managing federal awards |
| Budget and cost effectiveness | 15–20% | Cost per child, cost reasonableness, non-federal match plan, administrative cost cap compliance, T/TA set-aside |
| Past performance | 10–15% | Track record with similar programs, audit history, monitoring results, corrective action responsiveness |
Key Application Strategies
Based on patterns from successful Head Start applications, these strategies can strengthen your proposal:
- Ground everything in data: Every claim in your narrative should be supported by community assessment data. If you say there is an unmet need for infant-toddler care, show the numbers — how many eligible children under three, how many existing slots, what is the gap.
- Be specific about implementation: Vague statements like "we will provide comprehensive services" score poorly. Instead, describe exactly how — which curriculum, which screening tools, which community partners, what referral protocols, what timelines.
- Address staffing realistically: Describe your recruitment strategy for qualified teaching staff (a nationwide challenge in early childhood), your compensation structure, and your professional development plan. Reviewers know that staff retention is a major issue and want to see that you have a realistic plan.
- Demonstrate governance readiness: Describe your governing body and policy council structures, how you will establish them if they do not exist, and how governance will function in practice. Governance failures are a DRS trigger, so reviewers pay close attention.
- Show CLASS awareness: Even in the application, demonstrate that you understand CLASS and have a plan for maintaining high-quality teacher-child interactions. Describe your approach to CLASS-aligned professional development, coaching, and ongoing observation.
Post-Award Requirements
Winning the grant is the beginning, not the end. New grantees face an intensive start-up period with strict timelines:
- Governance establishment: Governing body and policy council must be operational before programs begin serving children
- Staff hiring and credentialing: All teaching staff must meet HSPPS qualification requirements, including degree requirements for lead teachers and assistant teachers
- Facility licensing: All centers must be licensed by the applicable state or local licensing authority before children can be served
- Financial systems: Accounting, payroll, procurement, and reporting systems must be operational and compliant with 2 CFR 200 before drawdown of funds begins
- Enrollment: Programs must demonstrate active recruitment and reach funded enrollment targets within the first program year
New grantees receive enhanced technical assistance from OHS during the first two years, including more frequent communication with their regional program specialist and access to targeted T/TA resources. However, new grantees are also subject to early monitoring — typically within the first two years — to verify that the program described in the application is being implemented as proposed.