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.
Review grant recipient reporting requirements concerning certain conditions, such as license revocation, bankruptcy filing, and debarment from receiving federal or state funds.
The purpose of this part is to set forth policies and procedures for the designation renewal of Head Start programs. It is intended that these programs be administered effectively and responsibly.
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.
Awardees Resulting from Designation Renewal System (DRS) Cohort 4
Awards Made for DRS Cohort 4 Service Areas
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.