HHS Announces New PDG B-5 SMART Grant Funding Opportunity

The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B–5) program is a competitive grant program that helps states build stronger, more coordinated early childhood systems. Over the years, states have used PDG B–5 funding to expand access to child care and early learning, improve quality, strengthen coordination across programs, and better meet the needs of children and families.

What’s New?

This week, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for a round of PDG B–5 SMART Grants: Strategic Measurement, Analytics, and Results using Technology. These new, one-year grants are intended to help states and territories use technology and data more effectively to address their early childhood priorities. 

This new round of SMART Grants aim to strengthen technology infrastructure, data systems, analytics, and innovation in early care and education systems. The goal is to help states use high-quality, integrated data to address challenges, expand access to quality programs in a mixed-delivery system, improve program quality and parental choice, and strengthen school readiness. 

The Details

When: Applications are due on Friday, November 20, 2026, and grants must be awarded before the end of the calendar year. ACF plans to hold a webinar with more information on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.  

Who: All states and territories are eligible to apply, with the exception of the 10 states and Washington, D.C. that are still completing the third year of the PDG B-5 Renewal Grants awarded in 2024. ACF expects to award approximately 25 grants to states, ranging from $500,000 to $15 million. 

Why: The announcement specifies investments should build on existing state planning and data-informed priorities as opposed to funding new strategic planning. Funding can support efforts to increase the supply of services, build capacity, improve efficiency, strengthen linkages among programs and systems, and address access and affordability.

The Options 

PDG B-5 SMART offers two distinct “investment options” depending on states’ technology and analytic capacity:

• Option 1: Technology infrastructure investment
  This option helps states build the technology and data capacity they need to advance a defined, data-informed goal. It is designed for states that have identified an early care and education priority but need to strengthen the technology or data infrastructure necessary to address it. Funding could support improvements to statewide data or operational systems, data linkages, dashboards, reporting and analytic tools, or interoperability.
  
• Option 2: Innovation testing investment
  This option helps states use existing technology infrastructure and analytic capacity to advance one defined, data-informed goal. It is designed for states that already have strong systems in place and are ready to test a specific early care and education strategy or innovation. States can use their existing data systems to track implementation, participation, and short-term outcomes and determine whether the strategy is achieving its intended results.

Both types of investments must support the state’s ability to integrate Head Start with other early learning programs, strengthen program integrity, understand how children and families are served in the mixed-delivery system, and address the needs of children involved in child welfare and foster care systems. Applicants would be required to provide a state match and would receive additional points for coordination with the Governor’s office. 

Our Take

We applaud Congress for continuing to fund this important program and ACF for offering states and territories a timely opportunity to strengthen their data, technology, and infrastructure. Due to limited budgets and capacity, states struggle to support these important activities, which help ensure child care and early learning programs can operate effectively and efficiently. PDG B-5, with its strong history of bipartisan support and broad participation, helps address these challenges.  

For more details on  PDG B-5 awards over time, take a look at our national map.