On October 7, 2004, Booz Allen Hamilton was named an Outstanding Contractor by the Administration for Children and Families for its work with the Head Start program to develop and roll out the national Head Start Funds Planning System. Booz Allen Vice President Molly Finn accepted the award on behalf of the firm at the ACF Assistant Secretary's 2004 Honor Awards ceremony.

Booz Allen consultants with expertise in financial systems, IT systems development, and grants management designed and developed the centralized database that the Administration for Children and Families' 12 regional offices now use to collect and track Head Start grantee funding data. In the past, each regional office had a slightly different way of handling and tracking their Head Start funding data. Now there is a standard business process that has been applied across the regions.

"The biggest challenge for Booz Allen was not only to understand and collect the disparate funding data but also to coordinate requirements gathering across all 12 regional offices and conduct focus groups to create a system that was going to be utilized and implemented at the regional level," said Booz Allen Senior Associate Lee Karas.

Making an Impact

"The Funds Planning System provides everyone from line managers to senior executives access to real-time data and allows them to more rapidly and efficiently deploy Head Start funding to various programs and initiatives," explains Booz Allen Principal Troy Kofroth. "This application enables the Administration for Children and Families to increase Head Start enrollment and the services offered to the low-income children who need them the most."

story posted December 2, 2004