In-Kind

POLICY:

NOCAC Head Start is required by the Grant that 20 percent of the total grantee budget be submitted as non-federal share. This means that 20% of the total HS Budget must come from donations made by the families and communities that NOCAC Head Start serves.

PROCEDURES:

1. NOCAC values contributed services and property that are to be used to meet a cost sharing or matching requirement at their fair market values at the time of contribution, unless award documents or federal agency regulations identify specific values to be used.
2. NOCAC Staff will follow the Non-Federal Share (in-Kind) Procedure in the Fiscal Handbook.
3. Guidance for families about In-Kind is found in the NOCAC Family Handbook and Calendar and Staff Calendar. NOCAC staff will review this with each family during the 1st Home Visit.
4. Checklist for Quality Improvement in In-Kind Report
   1. Your signature makes you accountable for the In-Kind.
   2. Make sure families know that they do not produce In-Kind simply to meet a program requirement, but that it is a way for them to learn how to observe and assess their child’s progress.
   3. Give examples of acceptable/unacceptable activity. Is the family in control of activity?
   4. Stress the need for consistent high volume In-Kind (average of an hour a day is desired)
   5. Stress that In-Kind should be completed weekly. One week per sheet.
   6. Get proper signatures from all adults who worked with the child. (Anyone listed as working with the child must also sign the form, cannot be signed “Grandpa” or “Dad”, etc, must be legal first and last name signatures)
5. NOCAC Staff will hand in completed In-Kinds to the Data System Specialists at the Central Office no later than the 10th of each month.
   1. Previous year’s In-Kind can be sent in until January 10th.
   2. When a child withdraws, send in In-Kinds with the rest of the month on the 10th.

6. Only 1 In-Kind per family/household. If there are siblings enrolled, it counts as one.
7. Before sending In-Kinds to the Central Office, NOCAC Staff will:
   1. Print the parent/guardian’s name on the In-Kind.
   2. Make sure the parent/guardian’s signature is on the In-Kind.
   3. Add the hours from the activity side and write the total on the side with the signatures.
   4. Add all of the In-Kind for one parent; write that total in the upper right corner of the signed side. Staple In-Kind for each parent together on the upper left corner of this side.
   5. NOCAC staff must sign each In-Kind.
   6. Alphabetize them according to parent last name.
8. Why we encourage Family Engagement
   1. It is important to remember to have the best interest of the child always in view. It is NOCAC’s belief, and has been substantiated by research, that Family Engagement is essential and directly correlates to how well a child does in their educational growth.
   2. The Parent is the child’s first and most important teacher. They can help their child develop more fully by paying close attention to signs of development and responding in a way that will support and challenge their child.
   3. Completing In-Kind and working on the bag tags should give the parents a feeling of competence as a teacher for their child. It should also help increase the parents’ knowledge of child development. It should provide opportunities to observe their child and apply knowledge.

Forms and Additional Guidance: