Posts by Mel Gravely
Enhancing Safe Practices in Your Head Start Program
In September 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG), released the following report: ACF Should Improve Oversight of Head Start to Better Protect Children’s Safety. In this 40-page report, the Inspector General found that nearly one in four Head Start grantees received an adverse finding from the Administration…
Read MoreKickstart your Head Start Program’s Diversity Initiatives with Dual Training in Multicultural Principles and DEI&B
At The Gravely Group, we believe that the Multicultural Principles for Early Childhood Leaders and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEI&B) are two sides of the same coin, ying and yang, night and day. They just go together, like Thelma and Louise or peanut butter and pickles (no, seriously, it’s a thing). Some of the…
Read MoreA New Service from The Gravely Group: Enrollment Reduction/Conversion Application Proposals
The Gravely Group is now offering training on how to write and submit an enrollment reduction/conversion application. Contact us for more information. Since the start of the 2021-2022 program year, Head Start has required that grantees return to full enrollment. In a blog we wrote at the time, we posed the question, “does your program…
Read MoreHead Start’s Commitment to School Readiness
It’s that time of year again. Like baby birds leaving the nest, approximately 320,000 Head Start preschoolers will fly away to start the next chapter in their young lives. As Head Start teachers and administrators, we can’t help but ask, “Are they ready?” “Did we do everything we could to prepare them?” “Is the school…
Read MoreWhat are the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Requirements for Head Start Programs?
In a recent blog this past January, we posed the question: What’s the big deal about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in Head Start programs? While you have likely heard about DEIB before, you might think that it’s only something done by corporations with sprawling HR departments or government agencies in large marble buildings.…
Read MoreFederal Government Steps Up Efforts to Increase Wages for Early Childhood Education Workforce
We cannot continue to expect early educators to remain in these critical roles only to earn poverty wages. Those are the words of January Contreras, Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in a recent announcement for the new National Early Care and Education Workforce Center (more on that later). We appreciate…
Read MoreWhat is Head Start’s New “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging” Initiative?
Mel Gravely, M.S. and Dr. Desiree Del-Zio, Ed.D, researched the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEI&B) initiative and monitored hundreds of program practices meant to achieve the D.E.I.&B federal expectations. The Gravely Group is now offering a day-long, in-depth and immersive learning experience to understand these federal expectations better. In this training, Head Start leaders…
Read MoreThe Gravely Group 2022 Year in Review
If you only read one of The Gravely Group’s blogs each year, our annual Year in Review should be it. Each year, we do a recap of all the articles we put out throughout the year, as well as give a few other highlights from our trainings and travels. After nearly three years of uncertainty,…
Read MoreWhat are the Focus Area One and Focus Area Two Monitoring Reviews?
The Head Start Act section 641A outlines that the Secretary of Health and Human Services is responsible for promoting a comprehensive federal monitoring and oversight system. The system must assess program compliance with regulations applicable to Head Start programs. These regulations include regulatory requirements documented in the Head Start Program Performance Standards, the Head Start…
Read MoreSupporting the Mental Health of Head Start Staff
Earlier this past summer, the National Head Start Association (NHSA) announced a new initiative for supporting the mental health of the staff within its member programs. In a press release at the time, NHSA explained that the initiative is meant to address the “unique set of difficult and challenging stressors” that Head Start staff face.…
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