The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start (OHS) announces the availability of $350,000 to be competitively awarded for the purpose of operating a Region XI American Indian Alaska Native (AIAN) Collaboration Office.
Donor Name: Administration for Children and Families
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/21/2025
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 5 Years
Details:
The goal of the Region XI AIAN Collaboration Office is to facilitate coordination and collaboration between the Region XI AIAN Office, Region XI AIAN recipients, providers of early care and education, and other stakeholders that provide services related to the development and learning of AIAN children, families, and the staff who work with them. This will include promoting partnerships with national organizations; analyzing data routinely collected from Region XI AIAN recipients to identify trends and priorities; supporting the expansion of and access to, high-quality workforce and career development opportunities for staff; and working with school systems to support services for children with disabilities and to ensure effective transitions from Head Start into school systems.
To meet this goal, the recipient is expected to conduct the following activities:
- Activity One: Conduct a Needs Assessment and Update it Annually
- Data must be gathered to identify the needs of the communities and recipients of the AIAN program to develop a strategic plan that will guide the ongoing work of the Region XI AIAN Collaboration Office. The process for conducting a needs assessment should involve key stakeholders that are impacted by the AIAN program, including families and providers. The assessment of needs should include data routinely collected from Region XI AIAN agencies and requests from the National Indian HS Directors Association as well as results from program information reports, school readiness goals, federal monitoring reviews, Classroom Assessment Scoring System observations, and training and technical assistance (T/TA) activity reports. All data is stored on the Head Start Enterprise System website. This assessment must be conducted no later than 1 year after the Notice of Award (NOA) is issued and updated annually.
- Activity Two: Develop a Strategic Plan
- Develop a strategic plan based on, at a minimum, current and emerging OHS initiatives and priorities and results of the needs assessment. The plan should include strategies to facilitate the collaboration and coordination of HS services with other entities that provide child care, health care, mental health, family literacy, and reading readiness services.
- Activity Three: Establish and Convene an Advisory Council
- The goal of the Advisory Council is to inform the work of the Region XI AIAN Collaboration Office and, to meet this goal, the Collaboration Director is expected to work in partnership with the Region XI AIAN Collaboration Office to create and convene an advisory council that is of sufficient size and diversity (e.g., six to eight members) who have direct knowledge about the needs of AIAN children and families and should include families of enrolled children. The Advisory Council is expected to meet with sufficient regularity to provide the Region XI AIAN Collaboration Office with ongoing information and advice, for example, twice annually virtually or in the Washington, DC area.
- Activity Four: Establish, Promote and Support Ongoing Collaborative Partnerships
- The recipient is expected to establish, promote, and maintain collaborative relationships among AIAN agencies and national organizations that promote health, mental health, and family services, or other services relevant to AIAN children and families, such as the Bureau of Indian Education, Indian Health Services, Office of Child Care, the Health Resource and Services Administration. For example, given importance of having qualified staff members to serve AIAN children and families, the Region XI AIAN Collaboration Office can connect AIAN agencies with colleges and universities that provide infant/toddler and preschool coursework, degrees, and/or certificates, and can partner with colleges and universities to support and/or help develop opportunities for coursework and opportunities for distance learning.
Grant Period
60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods.
Eligibility Criteria
- City or township governments
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Independent school districts
- Special district governments
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- State governments
- For profit organizations other than small businesses
- County governments
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
