Kindergarten Readiness
Quality Subgrants

The abstract is the only section that has a word limit. The word limit exists for consistency across applications because that information may be pulled for other front facing information.

Qualitative success measures describe a change that has occurred using words or feelings more than numbers. Possible methods for tracking a qualitative measure include parent, staff or partner surveys or testimonials. These indicators should be more detailed than “satisfied families” or “more communication between staff and families.”  Consider what tools you currently have in place for tracking measures, and what may be useful in the future.

Example: “Staff reported feeling more confident in their ability to safely deescalate a situation following their completion of a training program. This information was collected during our weekly team meeting.”

A quantitative measure describes changes that have occurred using numbers. Possible methods for tracking a quantitative measure include staff time logs, family intake forms, etc. These indicators should be measurable and should be more detailed than “increased participation” or “higher engagement”. Consider what tools you have in place for tracking measures, and what may be useful in the future.

Examples: “We hope to achieve a 15 percent increase in staffing hours. This will be reported using staff time logs, and if applicable, information about new hires.” 

“We will use our family intake forms and service logs to show that 10 new families were served during the grant period.”

A strategy is a way – a plan of action – for how to make a change. Activities are the “to do” part of your strategy action plan.  Begin with the end of the grant period in mind – what will look different if your plan works? What do you hope to accomplish? Once you write down the result you expect, list and describe the actions you will take to make that happen. Be sure to write down who will be responsible for doing what activities, and when they will need to do this work.

Examples:

“Provider XYZ operates in Anytown, KS, which is a very rural community. We have struggled to maintain our staff of child care providers. Our strategy is to increase our workforce to serve more families. Staff recruitment efforts will be the main activity to achieve this goal. We plan to post information about recruitment through social media, local job boards, through the local community college, school district and local faith communities. We will provide digital and hard copy flyers about job opportunities, and make them available in English and Spanish, as we hope to increase our number of bilingual staff. It is difficult for us to pay above market rate for our providers, so we want to find creative ways to attract new staff. One way we plan to do this is by including short stories from our current staff and a family we serve about the importance of child care services, and how rewarding this work is. We will offer job interviews virtually, as well as in person at our site. We will do this after hours with social distancing protocols. Lastly, we want to increase training opportunities for current and new staff and will require that all staff complete Evidence Based Training 123 within the first three months of the grant period. This training will help us show our investment in our staff and help us better support the diverse children we serve.”

“We know there are several children with special health care needs who need services in our community, and we are not currently set up to serve them. Our strategy is to be able to begin serving these children within six months. We will achieve this by purchasing sensory friendly equipment and activities, offering trainings about behavioral interventions and de-escalation techniques to our staff and ensuring our current program vehicle is safe and accessible for all children. All of these activities will be completed within the first four months of the grant. We will partner with a local school district to conduct outreach to families that may be interested in joining our program.”

Write this in terms of your community’s need, and the needs of the children you currently or will serve. Although COVID-19 has affected most providers, this grant is not intended to fund COVID-19 related expenses.  Focus on ways you can increase access to child care for families and improve the quality of your facility and services (e.g., offering care at non-traditional hours, adding learning materials that show cultural and racial diversity, upgrading play equipment). Although your needs may be related to your business, this statement should focus on the needs of those you serve.

Example: “My community has only two home-based child care providers within 50 miles.  I maintain full enrollment of 10 children and have a waiting list of 15 additional families. Many families in our community need services outside of 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Monday-Friday due to their jobs, and neither provider currently offers that. To meet those needs, we will extend our hours to 7:30 pm on weekdays and be open Saturdays from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm.”

Identify the community you are serving, its population and important demographic data. Census QuickFacts is one source to help you find this information.  https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219

 Example: “My child care center serves the entire town of Anytown, KS, which has a population of 5,700, with 20 percent who are Hispanic or Latinx.”

Describe how you will let families and others in the community know about what you will be offering.

Example: “I plan to post about our new hours on our Facebook page, put up flyers at the library and let the Chamber of Commerce know we have evening and weekend child care so they can post it on their website.”

Equity helps everyone get a fair opportunity. Think about who in your community may not have the same opportunities as others and why. Talk about how your project will increase equity for families in your community.

 Example: “Our literacy program, in partnership with the local library, will actively recruit children and families whose primary language is not English.”

List anything that will make it more difficult to complete your project and how you plan to address them.

 Example: “New families coming to our community are difficult to reach, often because of issues of trust or fear.  We plan to partner with several churches to help us connect with these families, many of whom have a relationship with church leadership.”

Talk about when you expect to complete your project, and key steps along the way, including any potential delays or changes in the timeline.

Example: “The new playground equipment will be in place by March 1, 2021.  The equipment will be ordered by mid-November 2020, with input from the parents whose children have special health care needs, and it will be installed by mid-January 2021.  I will work with the supplier to learn how to use and care for the equipment, as well as how to guide the children in using it.”

The budget should be as detailed as possible. Consider how you might be able to find estimates for costs. For example, if you are interested in purchasing printed materials or equipment, shop online for an estimate. Be sure to break out expenses by budget category. For example, the Personnel category should include position, pay rate, percent of position grant funds would support (25 percent of a Full Time Employee equals 10 hours per week), etc. If you plan to purchase items such as supplies, break them out into categories (i.e. art supplies, reading materials, etc.), with an estimate of costs. If the items are larger, you may want to include possible vendor information. The budget narrative section is where you can add more detail about how you have determined these costs.

 To discuss questions specific to your project, please utilize the Kindergarten Readiness Quality Subrants Technical Assistance Request Form.

Family engagement looks different for different programs and needs. For this application, family engagement means ensuring ways for families to actively participate in the project. Applicants should explain the role of families as part of the planning process for the project, as well as how families will be engaged through the Strategies and Key Activities. It may be helpful to consider the following questions when responding:

• How have families been engaged in the past? What has worked well and what were the challenges?
• How can the project ensure representation across family needs? If there are voices and perspectives missing, what are the barriers?
• How can families be included throughout the kindergarten transition?
• What strategies and activities may help families be more involved early in the transition planning, even if they do not yet have a relationship with the school district?

Example: “Many children in our community do not attend preschool prior to transitioning into kindergarten. Last year we hosted a meeting with community partners and providers to better understand the needs of these families, and how we can better support all families. Parents and caregivers were also invited to attend and share their experiences and concerns about their upcoming transition. To increase support for these children and their families, our partners will host sessions throughout the summer for families to get to know each other as well as our teachers. This provides a small group opportunity for everyone to ask questions, determine if any additional supports are needed and how communication will be managed throughout the school year to address any concerns. These sessions will be open to all families in the community. We will work with local child care providers, partners, and employers to help promote the opportunity broadly.”

Though not a requirement, innovation and exploration of new ideas and approaches are encouraged. For this application, innovation means testing new models, collaborations, ideas, etc. related to kindergarten transition. This could be based on an approach that has been successful in another program or area, or something that is a new idea. Applications should provide detail about how strategies and key activities will bring these ideas to life.  It may be helpful to consider the following questions when responding:

• What are the shared goals of our community team? How will the proposed project help achieve these goals?
• How can the proposed project help address existing and future community needs?
• How have current conditions influenced the approach? How might current conditions influence future needs? (i.e. the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, gaps in services, changes in community growth)
• How can we position our community and partners better moving forward to address the needs of local families and stakeholders?