Head Start State Collaboration grants to be redesigned and reissued nationwide

The Office of Head Start (OHS), part of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services, is proposing a redesigned information collection for the Head Start State Collaboration Office (HSCO) Grant Application, published as a request for public comments in the Federal Register of Monday, August 31, 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 167, Notices section, p. 55855; FR Doc. 2026-17745). The agency plans to issue new five-year grant awards to all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories, extending existing grants through February 28, 2027 to allow time for approval and transition.

A redesigned application for state collaboration

HSCO grants are authorized under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.) and support coordination between Head Start agencies and the state systems that serve young children and families. OHS has developed new application instructions to align Collaboration Office activities with updated federal and state priorities, including improving outcomes in child welfare, strengthening family formation, supporting effective service delivery and enhancing early childhood education.

The proposed application will consist of brief narrative and structured responses describing state plans for coordination, systems integration and program implementation. According to the notice, the request will ensure consistent documentation of proposed activities and enable ACF/OHS to effectively administer and oversee the grants.

Who responds and what it costs

The information collection targets state governments receiving HSCO grants, which are non-competing and statutorily required. The annual burden estimates published in the notice are:

• 52 respondents (the 50 states, the District of Columbia and territories)
• 1 response per respondent per year
• 10.4 burden hours per response
• 540.8 total annual burden hours

Following approval, OHS will issue new application instructions and states will be given a defined application window to submit materials in advance of the new five-year grant awards.

How to comment

Comments on the proposed information collection are due by September 30, 2026. The public may view and comment on the request at the RegInfo.gov portal (reference number 202608-0970-009), and copies of the proposed collection can be obtained by emailing infocollection@acf.hhs.gov, identifying the request by its title. The certifying officer for the collection is Mary C. Jones, ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.

The redesign matters for state early-childhood systems because it shifts the HSCO grant toward a more structured, documented planning process, tying federal funding to explicit state commitments on coordination and systems integration. For the roughly five dozen state and territorial governments that hold these grants, the new application window and the February 2027 extension set a clear timetable for aligning their Head Start collaboration work with federal priorities.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 167, Monday, August 31, 2026, Notices, p. 55855 (official reference: FR Doc. 2026-17745).