Head Start and/or Early Head Start Grantee -- The City of Martinsville and Pittsylvania, Henry and Campbell Counties, Virginia

Eligible applicants are limited to local public or private non-profit agencies, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or local for-profit agencies, pursuant to Section 641(a)(1) of the Head Start Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9836(a)(1) in the service area, that can provide Head Start services to children and families residing in the City of Martinsville and Pittsylvania, Henry and Campbell Counties, Virginia. Applicants must demonstrate they meet the statutory requirement for designation as a Head Start and/or Early Head Start agency as defined in the Head Start Act.

For designation as a Head Start agency, ACF will consider all "qualified applicants in such community" as required by Section 641(d) where the applicant demonstrates it has an organizational base within the community to be served. This could be established by virtue of the applicant being a provider of services in the community or having a clear relationship to the community as evidenced, for example, by board representation from the community or by evidence of the support of community leaders, including, but not limited to mayors; city council members; school principals; presidents of local chambers of commerce; county government officials; social service provider organizations; community organizations representing low-income, minority, or other relevant sectors of the community; and childcare providers and organizations.

Entities applying for Early Head Start only:

- Eligible applicants are any public or private non-profit agencies, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies pursuant to Section 645A(d) of the Head Start Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9840A(d).

- Eligibility is limited to public or private non-profit organizations, including faith-based organizations or for-profit organizations in the service area that can provide Early Head Start services to children and families residing in the City of Martinsville and Pittsylvania, Henry and Campbell Counties, Virginia.

- Entities operating Head Start programs are eligible to operate Early Head Start programs.

Eligible Participants:

Head Start serves children when they are at least 3 years old by the date used to determine eligibility for public school in the community where the Head Start program is located. Early Head Start programs enroll pregnant women and infants and toddlers from birth to age 3. Families must either have incomes below the poverty line or be eligible for public assistance in order to be income eligible for Head Start or Early Head Start programs. In addition, homeless children and children in foster care are categorically eligible for services. Children are selected for enrollment based on age and income eligibility and relative level of need with regard to other criteria that are identified within each community (45 CFR § 1302.12(b)(c)).

Head Start regulations permit up to 10 percent of enrolled participants to be from families that do not meet these low-income criteria.

Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

Join the Office of Head Start for a pre-application webinar regarding the recently posted 2019 Funding Opportunity Announcements. Interested organizations have two opportunities to attend. To register, please select the event you would like to join:

- Tuesday, September 24th at 2 pm EDT
- Wednesday, September 25th at 9 am EDT

This webinar will provide potential applicants with an overview of the Head Start program, and the OHS competitive grants process. Joining and participating in this webinar is voluntary.

See the following link for more information: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs/funding

Current Closing Date for Applications: Nov 12, 2019 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date. ACF requires electronic submission of applications at www.Grants.gov.

It is required of all applicants to obtain a DUNS number. Active registration at the Systems Award Management (SAM) website must be maintained throughout the application and project award period. The registration process can take up to four weeks to complete. Therefore, registration should be done in sufficient time to ensure it does not impact your ability to meet required application submission deadlines.

Register with SAM: In addition to having a DUNS number, organizations applying online through Grants.gov must register with the System for Award Management (SAM). All organizations must register with SAM in order to apply online. Failure to register with SAM will prevent your organization from applying through Grants.gov.

Any applicant responding to this FOA will submit one application, whether the applicant is proposing to provide: 1) Head Start services only, 2) Early Head Start services only, or 3) both Head Start and Early Head Start services.

Grantees must, unless a waiver is granted, contribute 20 percent of the total cost of the program from non-federal funds. A waiver may be granted for any of the grounds listed in Section 640(b) of the Head Start Act. (45 CFR § 1303.4)

Applicants will be notified of a disqualification determination by email or by USPS postal mail within 30 federal business days from the closing date of this FOA.

Link to Grants.gov page: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=317782

For a list of application documents, see the Package tab (press Preview) on the Grants.gov page above.

For more information about obtaining a DUNS number: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-1-obtain-duns-number.html

For more information about registering with SAM:
https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-2-register-with-sam.html