Why haven’t the Head Start designation renewal grants posted?

Currently, the grants.gov website indicates that there are several service areas that will be open for recompetition across the country with an estimated post date of September 8th. You read that right and yes, they have not been posted. It is not uncommon for the post date for grant applications to be delayed for several reasons. For example, the federal budget has not passed so funding is technically uncertain for the program. This does not mean much as we are all aware that the budget issues facing congress will be resolved, however, OHS must utilize funds from the new fiscal year to pay for grant reviewers and to estimate start-up funds or to plan for EHS expansion, all issues that impact the recompetition process. Other reasons they may be delayed include that OHS is still making recompetition decisions based on training and technical assistance progress from grantees or they are reviewing the expected number of awards for certain areas. It also may be a scheduling issue based on other projects impacting the recompetition team. One important thing to know is that if the grants do not post the deadline will be pushed back, so at this point, grantees should view the lack of posting as a “gift of time” and continue working towards making the decisions that will support a high-quality grant application.