Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) is sponsored by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Education (ED). The PDG B-5 program is a federal grant designed to improve states' early childhood systems by building on existing federal, state, and local early care and learning investments.

Preschool Development Grant - Birth through Five | U.S. Department of Education Preschool Development Grant - Birth through Five Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) State Educational Agencies (SEAs) Frequently Asked Questions Legislation, Regulations and Guidance Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families: ACF-1042165 The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) program is a $250 million competitive federal grant designed to improve states' early childhood systems by building upon existing federal, state, and local early care and learning investments.

PDG B-5 was established in 2015 through the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). While funding for these programs is appropriated to the Department of Health and Human services (HHS), these programs are jointly administered by HHS and the U. S Department of Education (ED).

The PDG B-5 grant seeks to empower state governments to better leverage federal, state and local early care and education investments.

States are not to create another early childhood program, but rather help coordinate early childhood programs and services that already exist in the state according to the identified needs of the state Eligible applicants include states that did not receive an award under funding opportunity number HHS-2018-ACF-OCC-TP-1379.

Those States are as follows: Idaho, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, the Territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. With the exception of Tennessee, these states are only eligible to receive this Initial Grant award under the FY 2019 PDG B-5 FOA.

Tennessee, a state that previously received a Preschool Development Grant under the program that existed from 2014-2018, must choose whether it will apply to this PDG B-5 Initial Grant announcement or to the PDG B-5 Renewal Grant FOA (HHS-2019-ACF-OCC-TP-1567).

Applicants must submit a letter on official letterhead, signed by the governor or an authorized representative, designating the state entity that will have responsibility for execution of this 12 of 57 grant.

This letter must include a description of why the state entity chosen is best suited to manage the grant, leading to the improvement of an early childhood care and education mixed delivery system serving children from birth through age five. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

PDG B-5 TA Contractor's Webpage (HHS) National Technical Assistance Center for Preschool Development Grants Birth Through Five (PDG B-5 TA) | Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance System (hhs.

gov) Early Learning Newsletter Early Childhood Policy Matters Podcast This podcast is geared towards early childhood professionals and strategic partners, hoping to use research to inform policy and better serve children, families, and their communities.

This series features state leaders and national experts who discuss early childhood policy and efforts supporting the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five initiatives happening across the country. Each episode focuses on topics including the development of strategic partnerships, establishing financing models for mixed delivery and coordinating eligibility and enrollment processes across agencies and across states.

Tune in for an informative and engaging look at early childhood policy initiatives and learn from the nation's top early childhood professionals and leaders. Early Care and Education(ECE) Workforce, resources to address the ECE workforce shortage The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act includes funding for states, Head Start programs, and other ECE programs to invest in recruiting, supporting and retaining staff.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published guidance for Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) administrators and Head Start programs that strongly encourages these entities to use ARP funds to increase payments and compensation and benefits for the ECE workforce. Strategy Resources to Address the Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Shortage | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.

gov) The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) has published Understanding Cross-Systems Transitions from Head Start to Kindergarten: A Review of the Knowledge Base and a Theory of Change .

To promote ongoing learning and build upon early successes fostered by Head Start, both early care and education providers and K-12 local education agencies must consider each other's roles and coordinate their efforts through alignment of transition goals, approaches, and practices.

The new report summarizes a review of the literature, highlights key informant perspectives, and presents a theory of change for transition strategies and coordinated transition practices intended to support teachers, families, and children moving between systems.

A new report , Head Start to Kindergarten Transitions: Research Summary was developed by researchers from NORC at the University of Chicago, the National P-3 Center, Child Trends, and Dr. Kyle DeMeo Cook.

The report summarizes research on the transition from Head Start to kindergarten and offers a theory of change to show how systems can work together to improve the experiences children and families have when moving between the Head Start and K-12 systems.

New ASPE Brief - Child and Adolescent Mental Health During COVID-19 This brief highlights the need for schools and ECE providers to use available resources, including funding from ARP, to meet the mental health needs of children who have returned to in-person school.

The analysis finds high likelihood of mental health conditions which suggests underlying population occurrence, potentially exacerbated by social isolation, quarantine, and overall stress and adversity related to the pandemic rather than the COVID-19 diagnosis itself.

The brief reviews the rates of individual mental health conditions (anxiety, depression, trauma and stressor related disorders, ADHD, behavior/conduct disorders) by age and the practical application for school mental health and early childhood providers in identifying and referring children appropriately for services.

Transition to Kindergarten-A Brief: Why It Matters and How to Promote Success The National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning has released Transition to Kindergarten-A Brief: Why It Matters and How to Promote Success . This brief provides an overview of the "what, why, and how" of successful kindergarten transitions, including the key practices that foster collaboration, engagement, and successful outcomes.

Rural Communities-Access to Services Webinar — Published July 8, 2021 This webinar focuses on state capacity to quantify access to early childhood programs in rural communities. It highlights states' compilation of data, analyses of early childhood services in rural communities and their utilization, and assessment of strengths and gaps.

Strategies for Approaching the Use of New Federal Funds to Sustain a Mixed Delivery System -Published July 8, 2021 This webinar focuses on strategies to use new federal funds to sustain a mixed delivery system. Elizabeth Gaines, executive director of the Children's Funding Project gives an overview of federal funding.

This webinar provides recommendations on processes and strategies to take regarding federal funds and features a panel of state leaders who discuss their strategies and experiences. Note: The following resources are from a previous iteration of the PDG program. We hope that you may find them useful, but this program is no longer current.

Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Annual Progress Update Reports The annual progress reports provide a summary of the 18 Preschool Development Grants (PDG), to include annual performance report, PDG program impact, demographics, and annual improvements.

To learn more, click here: Starting Strong: Increasing Preschool Quality and Access , The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Program Summary Report This summary report highlights the successes, accomplishments, promising practices and lessons learned that emerged from the 18 State Preschool Development Grantees and their work toward creating quality preschool opportunities for four-year-old children.

Collaboration with Head Start , The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Program, Product Suite #1 To help States and districts build consistent and aligned delivery systems, strengthen early childhood systems locally and statewide, and to expand families' access to high-quality preschool, the Preschool Development Grant Technical Assistance Network, created a suite of products designed to explore the benefits and components of successful partnerships between Head Start and State preschool programs.

These partnerships. There are three resources that explore promising practices and lessons learned from the PDG State Grantees.

To learn more click here: Preschool Head Start Partnerships Promising for Preschool Partnerships Promising Birth-3 rd Grade State Level Strategies , The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Program, Product Suite #2 To help States meet the challenges of an aligned and integrated birth to 3 rd grade system and identify strategies for easing transitions for children and their families.

To learn more click here: Birth to 3rd grade State Level Strategy Promising Practices in Program Evaluation, The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Program, Product Suite #3 To help preschool development program leaders and staff design, implement and oversee early learning evaluation activities. This product suite offers promising practices for program evaluation, and continuous improvement and decision making.

To learn more click here: Program Evaluation Promising Practices (PDG-B5 Matching Funds) FAQ (September 25,2018) PDF (398 KB) PDG B-5 Initial and Renewal Grant Awardees: This grant is authorized by Section 9212(c)(1) of Every Student Succeeds Act, Pub. L. 114-95 (Dec.

10, 2015), codified at Note to 42 U.S.C. 9831. S.

1177 - Every Student Succeeds Act Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families: ACF-1042165 The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) program is a $250 million competitive federal grant designed to improve states' early childhood systems by building upon existing federal, state, and local early care and learning investments.

PDG B-5 was established in 2015 through the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). While funding for these programs is appropriated to the Department of Health and Human services (HHS), these programs are jointly administered by HHS and the U. S Department of Education (ED).

The PDG B-5 grant seeks to empower state governments to better leverage federal, state and local early care and education investments.

States are not to create another early childhood program, but rather help coordinate early childhood programs and services that already exist in the state according to the identified needs of the state Eligible applicants include states that did not receive an award under funding opportunity number HHS-2018-ACF-OCC-TP-1379.

Those States are as follows: Idaho, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, the Territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. With the exception of Tennessee, these states are only eligible to receive this Initial Grant award under the FY 2019 PDG B-5 FOA.

Tennessee, a state that previously received a Preschool Development Grant under the program that existed from 2014-2018, must choose whether it will apply to this PDG B-5 Initial Grant announcement or to the PDG B-5 Renewal Grant FOA (HHS-2019-ACF-OCC-TP-1567).

Applicants must submit a letter on official letterhead, signed by the governor or an authorized representative, designating the state entity that will have responsibility for execution of this 12 of 57 grant.

This letter must include a description of why the state entity chosen is best suited to manage the grant, leading to the improvement of an early childhood care and education mixed delivery system serving children from birth through age five. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

PDG B-5 TA Contractor's Webpage (HHS) National Technical Assistance Center for Preschool Development Grants Birth Through Five (PDG B-5 TA) | Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance System (hhs.

gov) Early Learning Newsletter Early Childhood Policy Matters Podcast This podcast is geared towards early childhood professionals and strategic partners, hoping to use research to inform policy and better serve children, families, and their communities.

This series features state leaders and national experts who discuss early childhood policy and efforts supporting the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five initiatives happening across the country. Each episode focuses on topics including the development of strategic partnerships, establishing financing models for mixed delivery and coordinating eligibility and enrollment processes across agencies and across states.

Tune in for an informative and engaging look at early childhood policy initiatives and learn from the nation's top early childhood professionals and leaders. Early Care and Education(ECE) Workforce, resources to address the ECE workforce shortage The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act includes funding for states, Head Start programs, and other ECE programs to invest in recruiting, supporting and retaining staff.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published guidance for Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) administrators and Head Start programs that strongly encourages these entities to use ARP funds to increase payments and compensation and benefits for the ECE workforce. Strategy Resources to Address the Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Shortage | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.

gov) The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) has published Understanding Cross-Systems Transitions from Head Start to Kindergarten: A Review of the Knowledge Base and a Theory of Change .

To promote ongoing learning and build upon early successes fostered by Head Start, both early care and education providers and K-12 local education agencies must consider each other's roles and coordinate their efforts through alignment of transition goals, approaches, and practices.

The new report summarizes a review of the literature, highlights key informant perspectives, and presents a theory of change for transition strategies and coordinated transition practices intended to support teachers, families, and children moving between systems.

A new report , Head Start to Kindergarten Transitions: Research Summary was developed by researchers from NORC at the University of Chicago, the National P-3 Center, Child Trends, and Dr. Kyle DeMeo Cook.

The report summarizes research on the transition from Head Start to kindergarten and offers a theory of change to show how systems can work together to improve the experiences children and families have when moving between the Head Start and K-12 systems.

New ASPE Brief - Child and Adolescent Mental Health During COVID-19 This brief highlights the need for schools and ECE providers to use available resources, including funding from ARP, to meet the mental health needs of children who have returned to in-person school.

The analysis finds high likelihood of mental health conditions which suggests underlying population occurrence, potentially exacerbated by social isolation, quarantine, and overall stress and adversity related to the pandemic rather than the COVID-19 diagnosis itself.

The brief reviews the rates of individual mental health conditions (anxiety, depression, trauma and stressor related disorders, ADHD, behavior/conduct disorders) by age and the practical application for school mental health and early childhood providers in identifying and referring children appropriately for services.

Transition to Kindergarten-A Brief: Why It Matters and How to Promote Success The National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning has released Transition to Kindergarten-A Brief: Why It Matters and How to Promote Success . This brief provides an overview of the "what, why, and how" of successful kindergarten transitions, including the key practices that foster collaboration, engagement, and successful outcomes.

Rural Communities-Access to Services Webinar — Published July 8, 2021 This webinar focuses on state capacity to quantify access to early childhood programs in rural communities. It highlights states' compilation of data, analyses of early childhood services in rural communities and their utilization, and assessment of strengths and gaps.

Strategies for Approaching the Use of New Federal Funds to Sustain a Mixed Delivery System -Published July 8, 2021 This webinar focuses on strategies to use new federal funds to sustain a mixed delivery system. Elizabeth Gaines, executive director of the Children's Funding Project gives an overview of federal funding.

This webinar provides recommendations on processes and strategies to take regarding federal funds and features a panel of state leaders who discuss their strategies and experiences. Note: The following resources are from a previous iteration of the PDG program. We hope that you may find them useful, but this program is no longer current.

Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Annual Progress Update Reports The annual progress reports provide a summary of the 18 Preschool Development Grants (PDG), to include annual performance report, PDG program impact, demographics, and annual improvements.

To learn more, click here: Starting Strong: Increasing Preschool Quality and Access , The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Program Summary Report This summary report highlights the successes, accomplishments, promising practices and lessons learned that emerged from the 18 State Preschool Development Grantees and their work toward creating quality preschool opportunities for four-year-old children.

Collaboration with Head Start , The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Program, Product Suite #1 To help States and districts build consistent and aligned delivery systems, strengthen early childhood systems locally and statewide, and to expand families' access to high-quality preschool, the Preschool Development Grant Technical Assistance Network, created a suite of products designed to explore the benefits and components of successful partnerships between Head Start and State preschool programs.

These partnerships. There are three resources that explore promising practices and lessons learned from the PDG State Grantees.

To learn more click here: Preschool Head Start Partnerships Promising for Preschool Partnerships Promising Birth-3 rd Grade State Level Strategies , The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Program, Product Suite #2 To help States meet the challenges of an aligned and integrated birth to 3 rd grade system and identify strategies for easing transitions for children and their families.

To learn more click here: Birth to 3rd grade State Level Strategy Promising Practices in Program Evaluation, The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Program, Product Suite #3 To help preschool development program leaders and staff design, implement and oversee early learning evaluation activities. This product suite offers promising practices for program evaluation, and continuous improvement and decision making.

To learn more click here: Program Evaluation Promising Practices Frequently Asked Questions (PDG-B5 Matching Funds) FAQ (September 25,2018) PDF (398 KB) PDG B-5 Initial and Renewal Grant Awardees: Legislation, Regulations and Guidance This grant is authorized by Section 9212(c)(1) of Every Student Succeeds Act, Pub. L. 114-95 (Dec.

10, 2015), codified at Note to 42 U.S.C. 9831. S.

1177 - Every Student Succeeds Act Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) Page Last Reviewed: August 18, 2025