News You Can Use Week of May 11, 2012
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| Happy Mother’s Day By now your children are probably busily making cards and hand-prints that will be treasured forever - don’t forget to make sure to protect Head Start for all the future children! Find out about our Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Graduation themed advocacy activities now. Also, our shout-out goes to programs in California, Washington and Connecticut for contributing the most new stories per state to our 27 Million Windows campaign this month! 3 Reasons you Should Register for the NHSA Manager and Directors Academy Today!
2012-2013 NHSA Scholarships and Awards
Each year NHSA recognizes Head Start parents, alumni, staff members and programs for their extraordinary accomplishments! Scholarship and award applications are currently being accepted for the 2012-2013 cycle. Find details and application information here. Head Start Programs Recognized for Obesity Prevention Efforts Congratulations to Hillsborough County Head Start in Florida, Neighborhood House Association Head Start in California and Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start in Utah for being recognized for their work with Let's Move Child Care! If your program isn’t already involved, you can learn more about becoming part of the First Lady’s obesity prevention efforts at http://healthykidshealthyfuture.org/welcome.html. Sesame Workshop Parent Survey About Technology Access and Use Are you the parent or guardian of a child between 2 and 6 years of age? If so, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop invites you to take a survey about reading with your child. Parents who complete the survey will have a chance to win a $50 gift card to Amazon.com! For more information about the survey and to get started, click here. OHS Launches Applicant Support Toolkit Last month OHS unveiled a section of their website designed to support applicants for Head Start grants. Check it out at http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/grants NHSA Affiliate Relations Monthly Water Cooler All Regional and State Head Start Association board members and staff are welcome to join our monthly Water Cooler calls. On these calls, leaders of affiliate associations are briefed by advocacy, communications, and membership staff from NHSA on emerging issues. In addition, calls feature guests from organizations who share our collective mission. The next Affiliate Water Cooler is scheduled for Thursday, May 31st at 3 pm EST. Contact Ed Condon, econdon@nhsa.org, for call-in information. Teachable Moment: Recycle Your Shoes! The Nike Group Shoe Recycling program helps schools, community organizations and individuals organize shoe drives. The recycled shoes are then used to make playground and sports surfaces! Learn more at http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/where-it-goes/recycling-process. Upcoming Regional and State Head Start Association Events:
Get Free PBS Apps PBS KIDS®, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the National Head Start Association just launched a new program to offer developmentally appropriate mobile apps to children in Head Start programs at no cost. Each Head Start program that signs up for the program will have the opportunity to request, receive and distribute free codes for the following two new Dinosaur Train® apps, based on the beloved PBS KIDS series produced by The Jim Henson Company. These apps are to be downloaded onto iPhones or iPads that are available to the children your program serves – either in your centers or in their homes.
Upcoming Head Start Legal Advisory Service Webinars Wednesday, May 16th from 3-5 pm EST In Head Start and Early Head Start, many children and families are served by delegate agencies (known as "sub-recipients" in the federal grants arena). When one primary organization (the "grantee") holds a Head Start grant and provides some of the grant funds to another organization to fully serve part of a service area (the "delegate"), challenges can result. During this webinar, we'll discuss:
Who Should Attend: Executive Directors, Head Start Directors, and Leadership Team Staff of both Grantees and Delegates, but all are welcome. Wednesday, May 30th from 3-5 pm EST Many Head Start and Early Head Start programs have numerous funding streams, such as federal Head Start funds, Recovery Act dollars, and state funding, to name but a few. With the myriad funding sources that programs juggle, following the federal rules for cost allocation carefully and appropriately has never been more important. If your program fails to follow these rules correctly, monitoring findings, cost disallowances, and additional penalties can result. In addition, charging the costs of employee time to specific federal grants can be onerous. But doing it right - that is, following proper requirements and ensuring proper oversight - is critical. Unfortunately, this continues to be an area in which we see a lot of findings, both from ACF Head Start monitoring, as well as OIG audits. Use this training to double check your practices and as a guide to help you avoid significant cost disallowances. Join us to learn:
We'll also include a sample timesheet that we recommend using. Who Should Attend: Executive Directors, Head Start Program Directors, CFOs, and others involved in planning or accounting activities, but all are welcome to attend.
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