State Systems Building Through Governance
This resource is the first chapter of BUILD's E-Book - Rising to the Challenge: Building Effective Systems for Young Children and Families. The E-Book shares learnings from the initial implementation of the Early Learning Challenge, the major federal funding initiative, launched in 2011, supporting states in developing high quality early childhood systems, especially targeted to children with high needs. This chapter explores state governance in the context of the Early Learning Challenges mission to improve school readiness supports and outcomes for young children.
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Five Things to Know Before You Submit Your PDG B-5 SMART Grant Application
Blog November 3, 2026
This year's PDG B-5 isn't a planning grant or an implementation grant. It's a 12-month data, technology, and analytics grant. Prior planning is the price of entry.
Held and Housed Webinar: PPT Deck
Archived Webinar November 3, 2026
This September 2026 webinar gave participants an in-depth look at the human toll homelessness takes on maternal and child health and how, with the right support, families can flourish.
PDG B-5 SMART Grant: Resource Guide
Planning Tool October 28, 2026
This guide is for states applying for the 2026 PDG B-5 SMART Grant. It gathers vetted, mostly federal resources and organizes them by section of the application. The guide covers data infrastructure and data-sharing agreements, and each of the four cross-system scoring areas: Head Start integration, program integrity, unduplicated counts, and child welfare coordination. It also covers building a project performance evaluation plan. The October 2026 webinar recording and slides are included. The guide was compiled by the National TA Collaborative to Maximize Federal Early Childhood Investments.