Revised Head Start Programs Performance Standards on the DRS
Effective November 9, 2020, the Head Start Program Performance Standards at 45 CFR § 1304 Subpart B will read as shown in the PDF.
Designation Renewal System
The Designation Renewal System (DRS) holds Head Start agencies accountable for delivering high-quality and comprehensive services to the children and families they serve, and meeting program and financial requirements. The DRS establishes seven conditions to determine whether programs qualify for continued Head Start funding for five years without competing for those funds with other local agencies. Open competitions are held in communities in which a program meets one or more specified conditions. In this case, interested agencies may apply to provide Head Start services in that area through a funding opportunity announcement (FOA). Any agencies that do not meet one of the seven DRS conditions become eligible to receive a new five-year grant noncompetitively. The DRS was established in 2011 and revised in 2020.
Preamble to the Final Rule on DRS Changes
The preamble discusses the comments received in response to the notice of proposed rule-making and of the various impacts anticipate by the issuance of this rule.
DRS by the Numbers (2011-2016)
Learn more about DRS. This report provides extensive data, including characteristics of the programs required to compete and the competition outcomes across all four cohorts of DRS implementation. Learn more about past findings by grant size, geography, and grant type, including Tribal grants.
Report on Head Start Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) Data
Explore this report based on data from the fiscal years 2012-2015 regarding the use of the CLASS Pre-K® instrument during monitoring reviews of Head Start grantees.