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Content provided by the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
93.577 Early
Learning Fund
FEDERAL AGENCY:
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
AUTHORIZATION:
Public Law 106-554; Early Learning Opportunities Act of
2001, Title VIII, Section 801.
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OBJECTIVES:
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To increase the availability of voluntary programs,
services, and activities that support early childhood development, increase
parent effectiveness, and promote the learning readiness of young children to
enter school ready to learn. To support parents, child care providers, and
caregivers wanting to incorporate early learning activities into the daily
lives of young children. To remove barriers to the provision of an accessible
system of early childhood learning programs in communities throughout the
United States. To increase the availability and affordability of professional
development activities and compensation for caregivers and child care
providers. To facilitate the development of community-based systems of
collaborative service delivery models characterized by resource sharing and
linkages among the appropriate support groups and services for local planning.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Project Grants.
Place Cursor Here for Definition
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USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Grant funds under this program will be used to pay for early learning programs
that are likely to produce sustained gains in early learning. Local councils
will ensure that funds made available under this program are used for three or
more of the following activities: (1) Helping parents, caregivers, child care
providers, and educators increase their capacity to facilitate the development
of cognitive, language comprehension, expressive language, social-emotional,
and motor skills, and promote learning readiness; (2) promoting effective
parenting; (3) enhancing early childhood literacy; (4) developing linkages
among early learning programs within a community and between early learning
programs and health care services for young children; (5) increasing access to
early learning opportunities for young children with special needs, including
developmental delays, by facilitating coordination with other programs serving
such young children; (6) increasing access to existing early learning programs
by expanding the days or times that the young children are served, by
expanding the number of young children served, or by improving the
affordability of the programs for low-income families; (7) improving the
quality of early learning through professional development and training
activities, increased compensation, and recruitment and retention incentives,
for early learning providers; and (8) removing barriers to early learning,
including transportation difficulties and absence of programs during
nontraditional work times. In the case of a collaborative activity funded
under the Early Learning Opportunities Act (ELOA) and another provision of law
providing for Federal child care or early learning programs, the use of
equipment and non-consumable supplies will not be restricted to children
enrolled or otherwise participating in the program carried out under this
program or other provision during a period in which the activity is
predominately funded under ELOA or other provision. No person, including a
parent will be required to participate in any program of early childhood
education, early learning, parent education, or developmental screening
pursuant to the provisions of the program. Nothing in this program will be
construed to affect the rights of parents otherwise established in Federal,
State, or local law. No entity that receives funds under this program will be
required to provide services through a particular instructional method or in a
particular instructional setting to comply with the program. No funds provided
under this program will be used to carry out an activity funded under another
provision of law providing for Federal child care or early learning programs,
unless an expansion of such activity is identified in the local needs
assessment and performance goals under the program. Amounts received under
this program will be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State,
and local public funds expended to promote early learning.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility: When Congress appropriates at
least $150 million to carry-out activities under the ELOA, grants will be
provided on a formula-basis to States. States will fund local councils that
have been designated by an entity of local government. Indian Tribes, regional
corporations, and Native Hawaiian entities will be eligible to compete for
reserved funds as specified in the Act. At appropriation levels below $150
million in a fiscal year, HHS is directed to award grants directly to local
councils, on a competitive basis. Eligible local councils must be designated
by an entity of local government (or Indian Tribe, Alaska Regional
Corporation, or Native Hawaiian entity). "State" means each of the
several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Beneficiary Eligibility: The ultimate
beneficiaries under ELOA are young children from birth to age of mandatory
school attendance. Toward improving the learning readiness of young children,
local councils will fund collaborative projects that provide continuity of
services for young children and help parents and other caregivers promote
early learning. Projects must address three or more of the eight activities
specified in the Act.
Credentials/Documentation: The application must
include a letter from an entity of local government (or Indian Tribe, regional
corporation, or Native Hawaiian entity) designating the applicant as a
"local council" to serve one or more localities. Local government
means a local unit of government, including specifically a county,
municipality, city, town, township, borough, local public authority, council
of governments (whether or not incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under
State law), and any other regional or interstate entity. Membership of the
government body of a Local Council must include representatives as follows:
(1) Local agencies that will be directly affected by early learning programs
assisted under ELOA and the program announcement; (2) parents; (3) other
individuals concerned with early learning issues in the locality, such as
representatives of entities providing elementary education, child care
resource and referral services, early learning opportunities, child care, and
health services; and (4) other key community leaders. Local councils are
required to submit a current needs and resource assessment, documenting the
needs of the young children and families in their locality, as well as a plan
that addresses the most significant needs. Nonprofit organizations submitting
an application must submit proof of their nonprofit status at the time of
their submission. This can be accomplished by providing a copy of the
applicant's listing in the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) most recent list
of tax-exempt organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code or
by providing a copy of the currently valid IRS tax exemption certificate, or
by providing a copy of the articles of incorporation bearing the seal of the
State.
APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS:
Pre-application Coordination: When the funds
available for ELOA are less than $150 million in a fiscal year, HHS will
announce the availability of the funds through an announcement in the Federal
Register. The Federal Register will detail the application requirements and
processes. Application forms as furnished by HHS must be used for this
program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure: Applications will be
submitted to ACYF or its designee as described in the Federal Register
Announcement. Applications will be reviewed for conformance by Federal staff.
Those applications that are in compliance with the Act and the requirements
outlined in the announcement will undergo competitive review.
Award Procedure: Each of the applications will
undergo an eligibility and conformance review by Federal staff at the Child
Care Bureau. Applications that pass the eligibility and conformance review
will be assigned to members of a review panel to review them based on the
evaluation criteria listed in the application guidance. The Child Care Bureau
will conduct an administrative review of the applications and the results of
the competitive review panels and make recommendations for funding to the ACYF
Commissioner. The Commissioner will make the final selection of the
applications to be funded.
Deadlines: Applications will be due 60 days from
the date of publication in the Federal Register.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time: The time
required for the application to be approved or disapproved will be
approximately 120 days. Grant awards will be announced during the fourth
quarter of the fiscal year.
Appeals: There is no appeal for the denial of a
new grant.
Renewals: None are anticipated.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements: If the funds
appropriated to carry out this program are less than $150,000,000 for any
fiscal year, HHS shall award grants for the fiscal year directly to local
councils, on a competitive basis, to pay the Federal share of the cost of
carrying out early learning programs in the locality served by the local
council. In any fiscal year, one percent of the total amount appropriated will
be reserved to be allotted to Indian Tribes, regional corporations, and Native
Hawaiian entities of which, 0.5 percent shall be available to Indian Tribes,
and 0.5 percent shall be available to Regional corporations and Native
Hawaiian entities. If the funds appropriated are $150,000,000 or more, after
reserving one percent for Indian Tribes, Regional Corporations, and Native
Hawaiian entities, HHS shall allot to each State the sum of: 1) An amount that
bears the same ratio to 50 percent of such funds as the number of children 4
years of age and younger living in families with incomes below the poverty
line in the State to the number of such children in all States; and 2) an
amount that bears the same ratio to 50 percent of such funds as the number of
children 4 years of age and younger living in families with incomes below the
poverty line in the States bears to the number of children in all States. No
State shall receive an allotment for a fiscal year that is less than 40
percent of the total amount appropriated for the fiscal year under ELOA. The
Federal share of costs will be 85 percent for the first and second years of
the grant, 80 percent for the third and fourth years of the grant, and 75
percent for the fifth and subsequent years of the grant.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance: Generally,
grants will be awarded annually in September. Awards to local councils will be
made on a competitive basis for a 17-month project period.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: Semi-annual financial reports, semi-annual
progress reports, and final financial and final summary progress reports.
Audits: Audits will be conducted in accordance
with guidelines established in the revised OMB Circular No. A-123,
"Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations,"
and implemented in 7 CFR Part 3052. In accordance with the provisions of OMB
Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 24, 1997), Audits of States, Local
Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations, nonfederal entities that expend
financial assistance of $300,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single
or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that
expend less than $300,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal
audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular A-133.
Additional audits may be necessary.
Records: Grantees must maintain separate records
for each grant to ensure that funds are used for the purpose the grant was
made. All matching contributions must be verifiable in the grantee
organization's records. Records are subject to inspection during the life of
the grant and for 3 years thereafter.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification: 75-1536-0-1-506.
Obligations: (Grants) FY 01 $19,400,000; FY 02
est $24,997,000; and FY 03 est $0.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance:
$250,000 to $1,000,000; Average: $776,000.
PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
In fiscal year 2001, 26 grants were awarded. It is estimated that between 25
and 35 awards will be made in fiscal year 2002, and no awards will be made in
fiscal year 2003.
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
45 CFR Parts 74 and 92.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office: Regional Administrator,
Administration for Children and Families. (See Appendix IV of the Catalog for
list of addresses of Regional Offices.)
Headquarters Office:
THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED*
Web Site Address:
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ccb/
EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
ACF awarded 26 Early Learning Opportunity Act (ELOA) grants in FY 2001,
through a competitive process. These grants were provided to communities in 18
States, including one federally-recognized Tribe and one Alaskan Native
Corporation. Most of the projects include strategies to improve early learning
through parent education, provider training and professional development, and
better linkages among service providers within local communities. Several
grantees are establishing better connections between health and child care
programs, while others are expanding the availability of care for special
populations including infants and toddlers, children with special needs, and
families that require non-standard-hour care.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
Local council applicants will be selected competitively based on the extent to
which they successfully specify goals and objectives, results and benefits
expected, approach including a work plan, geographic location, staff and
organizational capacity, and budget justification.
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