Description Iowa Early Head Start State Grant
Purpose The purpose of the Iowa Early Head Start (EHS) State Grant is to increase the capacity of providers of Infant/Toddler services to successfully maintain adherence to requirements of the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) through collaborative partnerships within Early Head Start programs. The focus of this grant serves to increase collaboration through birth-five partnerships as an infrastructure underpinning to leverage federal funding opportunities specific to EHS grants.
Impact :
Increase and influence success of partnership and collaboration between Child Care and Head Start; Expand the number of children, families, staff, administration and systems Iowa EHS State allocation funds influence; Increase efforts in focus areas of coaching and mentoring to increase staff education, instructional practices, family support, business practices and infrastructure through systems work and collaboration with EHS.
Eligibility The grantee must be either a current EHS recipient seeking to expand their current EHS collaboration/s to include child care partnerships or a current HS recipient who does not currently have an EHS program, (defined by the Code of Federal Regulations, 45 CFR § 1301.2).
Program Period: Grants will be awarded for one year with a renewal option for up to five years provided grantees meet program requirements. All funding is contingent on annual legislative appropriations and adherence to reporting requirements . The funding period for Year One - FY25 is July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. Renewal years include:
Year Two - FY26: July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 Year Three - FY27: July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027 Year Four - FY28: July 1, 2027 - June 30, 2028 Year Five - FY29: July 1, 2028 - June 30, 2029
Dates
Grant Application Distributed March 28, 2024
Grant Questions and Additional Information Period Closure April 5, 2024
Informational meetings held via ZOOM
March 29, 2024 10:00-11:00am
April 1, 2024 3:00-4:00pm
April 4, 2024 9:00-10:00am
Applications Due April 26, 2024
Awards Announced May 15, 2024
Project Begins July 1, 2024
Outcomes:
Foster community grassroots partnerships to leverage services and resources for private/public partnership; Increase number of children and families impacted by quality early childhood services through innovative collaboration; Extend capacity to provide coaching and mentoring to child care staff and administration; Increase efforts to further staff education and professionalize partnerships within early childhood; Expand professional development and/or training efforts to create systemic procedures to impact instructional practices including curriculum, assessment and Part C services; Increase collaboration efforts between Head Start, Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) and local support entities working with Early Childhood; Expand capacity to provide family support strategies through partnership with EHS; Increase focus of systems work to inform sustainability and stability of early childhood programming through partnerships and collaboration; Increase Quality Rating Improvement Systems (QRIS-IQ4K) ratings through collaboration focused on systems work to create sustainability in practices achieving long lasting and consistently higher IQ4K ratings; Increase child care programs ability to achieve quality at or above HSPPS and foster expanded collaborations in the process (i.e. Department of Health and Human Services- child care, nurse consultants, public health, etc.) Increase partnerships between Head Start and child care; Increase awareness of partnerships and collaboration between Head Start and child care.
Expectations The following table indicates the expectations of the grantee and the Head Start State Collaboration Office (HSSCO) in the implementation of the Iowa EHS State Grant:
Grantee Commitment HSSCO Commitment
Hiring
Fiscal agent responsible for the hiring and evaluation of the dedicated Full-time Equivalency (FTE) program staff.
Lend feedback based on the recipient's request for guidance.
Training
Train on agency procedures and processes; Explore and support opportunities for personnel to attend training to enhance the grant and work; Fiscal agent for expenses incurred to receive training.
Support exploration of training opportunities to enhance the grant and work; Provide on-going coaching; Provide technical support to:
Set up grant model, communication systems and collaboration support/s necessary to connect with child care, CCR&R or like entities, grassroots efforts, etc.; Support on-going cyclical nature of needs responsive to the model, communication systems and collaborative support/s; Explore and support national models and partnerships to enhance the model, communication and collaborative support/s.
Staff Support
Evaluation; Support as part of the team to foster possibilities of partnership and collaboration within the agency to enhance the grant and work; Provide agency tools to gain necessary materials needed to be successful in the position (e.g. technology, ordering capacity, access to professional library); Ability to attend meetings and interact with partnerships involved in the grant and work to foster relationships, inform stakeholders of efforts and increase awareness; Access to HSSCO to meet, at minimum quarterly, and support the position and agency as needed to meet outcomes of the grant model; Availability to fulfill roles with the HSSCO to present needs, challenges, successes and data representations with stakeholders, State partners, in Federal forums and participate in possible presentations on the model.
Coaching; Build and support staff’s ability to provide training and implement adult learning strategies; Support staff in meeting the requirements and needs of this grant to its fruition; Support staff in ‘molding’ this grant from theory to application; Support fostering of external connections to support the grant and the work.
Data
Access to community assessment data and relevant data [e.g. Program Information Report (PIR)]; Data system input in modules to track data specific to this grant (e.g. Child Plus); Completion of reporting to State and HSSCO as necessary and applicable.
Support determination of baseline data; Support for ongoing data collection and analysis including synthesis into usable data to inform the efforts/impacts of the grant and the work; Support to gain wider community assessments of where a community’s collaborations are located in (e.g. area wages, area fees); Dissemination of data to stakeholders.
Community
Access to community partnerships to meet and foster areas to support efforts and sustainability of this grant (e.g. Chamber of Commerce, Early Childhood Iowa, Community College, T.E.A.C.H. Iowa, etc.).
Support community connections, partnerships, etc.; Foster possibilities of grassroots efforts to support the outcomes of the grant and the work; State connections to applicable areas of the grant and the work; National connections to applicable areas of the work.
Grant Assurances Personnel Assurances: Recipient utilizes Iowa EHS State Grant monies to fund dedicated Program Staff who:
Use intimate knowledge of Early Head Start (EHS) and child care to build relationships, open communication and bridge connections between the Iowa EHS State Grantee and child care programs; Work collaboratively with Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) or like training entities to expand supports/capacity for child care infant/toddler programs; Work with child care staff and administration to learn and achieve quality at or above the HSPPS;
Onboarding systems for staff and families (i.e. training system, intake processes, screening/curriculum/assessment, health and safety, transitions, QRIS (IQ4K)); Fidelity of implementation of standards; Systems supports including Part C; Teaming; Coaching; Continued education.
Work with administration of child care programs to:
Utilize the Program Administration Scale (PAS) for action planning around business practices (i.e. wait lists, staff patterning, systems analysis); Use and analyze business practices and systems (i.e. Profit and Loss, grants, local services, internal systems such as ProCare/Brightwheel/Playground, Kindertrack and staff/child patterning); Increase IQ4K ratings through sustainable systems work to achieve higher reimbursement rates supporting sustainability in business practices; Increase education opportunities to include Child Development Associate (CDA) certification.
Data collection including:
Baseline data, growth and opportunity areas to display impacts of collaborations; Informing community assessment information (i.e. workforce, staff education, family engagement, local partnership, stakeholder connections, etc.); On-going analysis to inform the work; Longitudinal data to inform work and policies; Dissemination of data to appropriate stakeholders.
Engage community stakeholders to increase visibility of collaboration and partnership efforts:
Work with local grassroots efforts and foster community connections to increase supports and resources for child care infant/toddler programs (i.e. Development Corporations, Early Childhood Iowa, Chamber of Commerce, etc.);
Attend applicable meetings in the community, at the state and nationally as advised to foster attention needed to leverage future or existing resources to sustain this grant; Engage with and work alongside the Iowa Head Start State Collaboration Office (HSSCO) meeting, at minimum, quarterly; Build out staffing structure to include a dedicated FTE Program Staff, Instructional Coach for classrooms and Family Engagement personnel over time. One dedicated FTE will be required at all times but other positions can be part-time.
Fiscal and Deliverables Assurances
Continuation of grant awards within the five-year grant project are contingent upon annual appropriations by the Iowa Legislature. This grant is also dependent on reported performance, results described in quarterly meetings with the HSSCO, in reports (semi-annual and year-end) submitted to the HSSCO.
Dedicated FTE Program Staff will meet regularly with the HSSCO reporting progress, gain training and support/s to implement the Iowa EHS State Grant including reporting formal data findings regularly. Year-end reports from the project are due to the HSSCO within 30 days from the end of the grant year or by a later date determined by the HSSCO. Failure to submit reports by the due date shall result in suspension of financial payments until the time that the report is received. No new awards shall be made where there are delinquent reports.
Payment Provision Assurances
Quarterly payments to be made on or about July 15 (contingent upon approval of the current year’s application/renewal application), October 1 (contingent upon approval of previous year’s final report), January 2, and April 1. All payments are contingent on the state annual appropriation. Any funds not expended by June 30th of the current fiscal year may be carried forward and used the following renewal year for the intended purpose. Grant funds unencumbered or unobligated at the conclusion of the program period will revert to the Iowa Department of Education. The program period concludes at the end of the five-year grant cycle, if an annual renewal grant within the five-year grant cycle is not awarded, or at any time the grant is discontinued during the five-year grant cycle. A warrant for the reversion amount must accompany the year-end report to the Department of Education.
Selection- Competitive Criteria A grantee will receive this grant on a competitive basis based on the below selection criteria. The recipient must implement a program which focuses on building their agency’s capacity to partner with Infant/Toddler child care providers. The Iowa Department of Education will evaluate and score each application based on the following Competitive Criteria.
Required Competitive Criteria
Area Description Total Points = 70
Program Information
Cover Page:
Cover page includes required elements
Experience:
HSSCO verification of federal recipient via Head Start Enterprise System (HSES)
Need:
Application describes the extent to which gaps or weaknesses in current EHS programming are occurring and/or needs within the service area exist for creating or expanding Infant/Toddler (EHS) partnership/collaborations.
5
5
10
Iowa EHS State Grant Plan
Extent to which the plan includes identified:
Opportunities to partner with community child cares within the recipient’s federally identified service area
(NOTE: Existing partnerships are not required to be formed at application. The purpose of this grant is to foster and create partnerships);
Application describes the potential benefits and impacts partnerships will have on the service areas children and families; Application describes the potential benefits and impacts partnerships will have on the service areas potential partner programs.
30
Timeline
Extent to which a reasonable timeline is set to:
Hire full-time equivalency (FTE) staff and create a staff structure (Please see example to consider staff structure of FTE Program Staff, Instructional Coach and Family Engagement Personnel over five-year grant period); Begin partnership identification and conversations; Begin data collection and assessment to meet grant outcomes and assurances.
5
Evaluation of the grant
Extent to which the plan includes:
Identified data and evaluation tools (existing or projected) to inform the grant assurances and outcomes. (Please see examples to consider baseline data, on-going checkpoints, coaching cycles (administration, coaching and families), etc.)
10
Budget
Extent to which the plan includes projected expenses:
Wage and benefit costs; Supplies a partner may not have access to or funds needed to adhere to HSPPS (e.g. materials, training, etc.); Professional development and/or training for the FTE staff within your structure implementing the grant. (Please see examples outlined below to consider partner expenses)
5
Grant Application Components This grant submitted electronically within the IowaGrants Online Application System. 1. Program Information (20 PTS)
Cover Page (5pts)
Grant Name: Iowa Early Head Start Grant Grantee Name; Grantee Business Contact Person: Grantee Business Contact Address; Grantee Business Contact Email; Program Coordinator Name; Program Coordinator Phone Number; Program Coordinator Email.
Experience (5 PTS)
Applicants will be verified by the HSSCO via the Head Start Enterprise System. No attachments or links are required.
Need (10 PTS)
Information provided in this section clearly identifies gaps or weaknesses in current EHS programming and/or needs within the community addressing creation of partnerships to expand services for infants and toddlers. Resources referenced in the application might include community needs assessment, child care desert information, etc.
2. PLAN (30 PTS)
Written plan aligned with the outcomes of this grant to identify:
Opportunities for partnerships- identify and explain any of the following which might apply
current partnerships which could evolve (what partners do you currently have HS PK classrooms in which could extend to I/T partnerships); new partnerships which could be fostered (what partners exist in the community/service area);
Benefits of partnerships and impact to recipient children and families- identify how this grants outcomes and focus of the work could enhance your agency, communities, staff, children and families (opportunities/possibilities); B enefits of partnerships and impact with possible partner program(s)- identify the possibilities/opportunities of this grant to impact and/or enhance a potential or existing partnership, or their site (i.e. administration, staff, children, families, facilities) and the wider community.
3.TIMELINE (5 PTS)
Create an anticipated timeline for this five-year grant.
Identify staff structures to fulfill the grants need as it evolves over the five-year grant term.
One example of a staff structure could be:
Year 1: Initial process to hire a FTE Program Staff as a dedicated staff to start the grant. Responsibilities will include building and fostering partnerships, coaching the classrooms and administration. Year 2: Anticipated projection for hiring an Instructional Coach to focus efforts on the classrooms while the initial FTE Program Staff transitions to oversee the Instructional Coach. Responsibilities will include a focus on coaching at the administration level and continuing to foster partnerships; Year 3: Anticipated projection for hiring a Family Engagement Personnel to support the partner administration with oversight by the FTE Program Staff. Responsibilities will include meetings with administration to support family engagement and to collaboratively build a system for supporting families with varying needs. Year 4-5 Maintain and grow relationships among staff roles and responsibilities to impact the grants outcomes.
Consider the timeline for staff training in regards to HSPPS, agency policy and tools such as Infant/Toddler Environmental Scale (ITERS-R or 3), Infant/Toddler CLASS or QCIT, TIPTOS, Program Administration Scale (PAS), curriculum fidelity checklist, or other similar tools. The goal of this grant is to build and foster partnerships. Identification of possible/potential partners in your service area, intentional contacts and conversations should be a part of the timeline. Partnerships will change throughout the five-year grant, however, building and fostering relationships is an expectation which continues throughout the grant. Consider intake of data for data driven decision making aligned with grant outcomes.
4. EVALUATION OF THE GRANT (10 PTS)
Baseline data will be required once a partnership is formed as well as on-going checkpoints and coaching cycle data. Identify and describe how data and evaluation tools (existing or projected) could be used to inform the grant outcomes. Also, consider how analyzing these data and other sources could be utilized within your agency structure to influence opportunities/possibilities for your agency as a whole.
One example of evaluating the grant could be:
Center systems evaluation
The Program Administration Scale (PAS) will be completed with the center administration; Outcomes of IQ4K data, classroom evaluation data and other data which may evolve from the grant project will be considered to support the program's systems (e.g. Program Wide-PBIS). Coaching goals will be set based upon the aforementioned PAS and other data sources to identify focus areas for support; Regular meetings will be implemented to sustain support and gain center data (e.g. staffing turnover, enrollment, etc); Data will be collected and recorded on an ongoing basis.
Classroom evaluation:
Baseline data is taken once the partnership is established via the Infant/Toddler Environmental Rating System (ITERS), The Pyramid Model Toddler Observation System (TIPTOS) Social Emotional tool, and Infant/Toddler Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS); Coaching goals and cycles will be implemented based upon identified needs within the evaluation tools once per year; A tiered system to inform intensity of coaching will be developed based upon meeting the programs where they are to increase quality as well as considering HSPPS; Coaching goals and cycles will be recorded using a data system [e.g. Child Plus module or PBIS Pyramid Model Implementation Data System (PIDS)]; Data will be collected on an annual basis with observation points integrated into the coaching cycle; Anticipated staff stipends will be developed as the grant project evolves to sustain quality based upon data collection.
Family engagement evaluation:
Baseline data will be collected regarding enrollment and number of families; Ongoing data will include types of services offered aligning with HSPPS (e.g. parent education areas and frequency, family needs, supporting staff education regarding family engagement); Data will be collected and recorded on an ongoing basis.
5. BUDGET (5 PTS)
This section should provide a clear outline of the grantee’s proposed budget and how the requested grant amount will be used. This grant will be renewable at a static amount, therefore, the submitted budget should reflect the full costs after phasing in staff positions and partners. Please reference the plan timeline to develop the budget at full implementation.
Examples of these could be:
Early Head Start costs
Personnel costs match the full staff structure including FTE Program Staff, Instructional Coach and Family Engagement Personnel. Hiring costs (e.g. advertising) Training and travel costs for personnel matching staff structure Supplies matching staff structure (e.g. start-up of offices and on-going supply cost) Other costs
Child Care Partnering costs
Materials to evolve toward meeting HSPPS (e.g. Infant shelving to create developmental areas vs a wide-open-space); Training (e.g. Lunch and learns regarding IMIL) Head Start compliance areas which may not occur within the existing child care requirements (e.g. curriculum implementation mirrored from a plan into the environment); Quality areas to improve health and safety (e.g. slippers purchased to allow for a ‘shoe free zone’ in infant classrooms); Professionalism (e.g. Informational meetings with TEACH to obtain CDA) Quality sustainability (e.g. achieve data level and existing budget for child care cannot sustain increased consumable materials such as paint)
Questions and Additional Guidance All questions should be submitted in writing via email to Monica Garner at Monica.Garner@iowa.gov by the end of day on April 5, 2024. Responses will be posted as an attachment to the funding opportunity in IowaGrants.
