Head start and early head start

The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families awarded $15.678 million to Community Action Partnership Of Lancaster & Saunders Counties on February 1, 2026, under the Head Start program (CFDA 93.600) to deliver comprehensive early childhood education and family support services promoting school readiness.

Community Action Partnership Of Lancaster & Saunders Counties, a Nebraska-based nonprofit headquartered in Lincoln, will provide educational, health, nutritional, social, and family support services to enrollees in Head Start and Early Head Start programming, serving children ages birth through four and pregnant women in Lancaster and Saunders Counties. The award obligates $15.678 million over a five-year period of performance from February 1, 2026, through January 31, 2031. Performance occurs in Nebraska.

Head Start promotes cognitive, physical, behavioral, and social-emotional development of vulnerable young children while engaging parents as partners. The program encompasses local Head Start Preschool programs serving primarily 3- and 4-year-old children and Early Head Start programs serving infants, toddlers, and pregnant women. Recipients are evaluated on satisfactory progress and compliance with terms and conditions; non-competing continuations are issued based on availability of appropriation and a determination that continuation funding serves the federal government's best interests. Awards are made for five-year periods; recipients meeting renewal criteria become eligible for new five-year awards, while those not meeting criteria return service areas and funding to competition.