Preschool Development Grant – Birth through Five

The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) program is a $250 million competitive federal grant designed to improve states’ early childhood systems by building upon existing federal, state, and local early care and learning investments. PDG B-5 was established in 2015 through the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). While funding for these programs is appropriated to the Department of Health and Human services (HHS), these programs are jointly administered by HHS and the U.S Department of Education (ED).

The PDG B-5 grant seeks to empower state governments to better leverage federal, state and local early care and education investments. States are not to create another early childhood program, but rather help coordinate early childhood programs and services that already exist in the state according to the identified needs of the state