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Big news! The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Education announced that 45 states and territories have been awarded funding through the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5), a $250 million competitive federal grant designed to improve states’ existing early childhood landscape by building upon existing federal, state, and local early care and learning investments. Though an OCC Announcement made the grant awards public today, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has been working with states for weeks to approve applications and negotiate awards prior to the December 31 deadline. The one-year PDG B-5 planning grants will run through December 30, 2019.
When the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) became law in December of 2015, it authorized the creation of a new Preschool Development Grant program, demonstrating a deliberate effort to foster connections across early learning programs and between the early learning and K-12 systems within states.
Earlier this year, HHS unveiled a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for PDG B-5, officially beginning the implementation process for the bipartisan program authorized by Congress through ESSA. The FOA indicated an expected 40 grants would be awarded, ranging in size between $500,000 and $15 million. Remarkably, 47 jurisdictions submitted applications for grants; previously, 36 states had applied for grants through an earlier iteration of the PDG program, now referred to as Legacy PDG, which was focused on expanding states’ preschool opportunities for four-year-olds. Given the significant interest in the program, a greater number of grants were ultimately awarded ranging between $538,000 and $10.6 million.
The first year of the PDG B-5 will fund state-level needs assessments and strategic planning to optimize existing early childhood education (ECE) resources. The grants focus on three major activities: maximizing parental choice, improving transitions within early care and learning programs and with elementary schools; and improving overall quality of ECE programs. This funding offers a unique opportunity for states to consider the full range of programs, services, and funding streams that support children birth through age five and their families.
7 states awarded PDG B-5 grants had not previously applied for the Early Learning Challenge (ELC) or Legacy PDG. 5 states had applied for one of these two grant opportunities but were not awarded funding through either program.
The table below lists the recipients and the amount of the award granted. Note: As we review the grant announcements, FFYF will update this post to include more details about each state’s plans for using the PDG B-5 funds.
Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education $10,620,000
2. *Alaska Department of Education and Early Development $2,617,353
3. Arizona Department of Education $1,396,806
4. Arkansas Department of Human Services $3,506,749
5. California Department of Education $10,620,000
6. Colorado Department of Human Services $5,801,793
7. Connecticut Office of Early Childhood $8,591,087
8. Delaware Department of Education $4,236,837
9. District of Columbia Education Office $10,620,000
10. *Florida Department of Education $8,520,000
11. Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning $2,961,044
12. Hawaii Department of Human Services $965,530
13. Illinois Office of the Governor $3,702,937
14. ^Indiana Family and Social Services Administration $6,895,336
15. ^Iowa Department of Management $2,190,119
16. *Kansas Department of Education $4,482,305
17. Commonwealth of Kentucky $10,620,000
18. Louisiana Department of Education $7,100,000
19. Maine Department of Education $1,011,080
20. Maryland Department of Education $10,618,584
21. Massachusetts Executive Office of Education $1,801,346
22. Michigan Department of Education $5,058,813
23. Minnesota Department of Education $4,705,603
24. Mississippi Community College Board $10,620,000
25. Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services $4,208,250
26. *Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services $4,141,560
27. Nevada Department of Education $606,515
28. ^University of New Hampshire $3,843,557
29. New Jersey Department of Children and Families $10,620,000
30. New Mexico Department of Children Youth and Families $5,374,596
31. New York Office of Children and Family Services $8,732,006
32. North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services $4,486,842
33. *North Dakota Department of Public Instruction $2,275,771
34. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services $10,486,896
35. *Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Foundation, Inc. $3,116,729
36. Oregon Department of Education $4,257,418
37. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania $10,553,711
38 Rhode Island Department of Human Services $4,194,057
39. ^South Carolina Department of Social Services $3,453,679
40. ^Texas Education Agency $1,789,455
41. U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Human Services $725,112
42. *Utah Department of Workforce Services $538,000
43. State of Vermont $3,363,695
44. Virginia Department of Education $9,900,948
45. Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families $5,270,656
(NOTE: Recipients marked with an * have not previously applied for the Early Learning Challenge or Legacy PDG; recipients marked with an ^ have applied for one of these two but were not awarded funding through either program.)
You can see the official announcement at: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/resource/pdg-b-5-initiative
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