2026-2027 Coordinated Funding Request
2026-2027 Coordinated Funding Request
Overview
The NOEEN Steering Committee approved a two-phase coordinated funding request (CFR) process for the 2026-2027 program year:
- Notice of Intent: Providers notified NOEEN of their interest in offering contracted seats in the 2026-2027 program year through a formal Notice of Intent (NOI) by October 3, 2025. Each NOI was evaluated to confirm the applicant’s eligibility to participate in City Seats, ECEF, NSECD, or LA4, based on program type, ages served, performance profile rating, days and hours of operation, and licensing compliance. The NOI process allowed providers to confirm their eligibility before completing a lengthy application.
- 2026-2027 CFR Seat Application: All programs that were identified as eligible through the NOI process were invited to complete a full CFR application by October 31, 2026.
The 2026-2027 CFR Seat Application included the following criteria to assess and score applications:
- Program Operations
- Program Safety
- ECE Workforce
- Child Experience
- Family Experience
SCORING
Every application submitted prior to the deadline was evaluated using the CFR Seat Application Scoring Rubric.
Timeline
The timeline for the 2026-2027 CFR Application process is below.
| February 18, 2025 | CFR Listening Session to Collect Feedback on the 2025-2026 CFR Process |
| March 24, 2025 – June 9, 2025 | CFR Working Group Meets Four Times to Develop Recommendations for the 2026-2027 CFR Process |
| September 22, 2025 | 2026-2027 CFR Notice of Intent Window Opens |
| October 3, 2025 | 2026-2027 CFR Notice of Intent Window Closes at 5:00 p.m. Interested providers were required to complete the Notice of Intent prior to 5:00 p.m. Notices submitted or Notices that are incomplete after 5:00 p.m. were not accepted. |
| October 6-10, 2025 | 2026-2027 CFR Notice of Intent Review Period The CFR Review Team reviewed all complete 2026-2027 CFR Notice of Intents submitted prior to 5:00 p.m. on October 3, 2025. |
| October 13, 2025 | 2026-2027 CFR Notice of Intent Results Released Providers who submitted a complete 2026-2027 CFR Notice of Intent prior to 5:00 p.m. on October 3, 2025 received an email from CFR@noeen.org with the results of the Notice of Intent Scoring on October 13, 2025. |
| October 13, 2025 | 2026-2027 CFR Seat Application Window Opens Providers that received a “pass” rating as their Notice of Intent score were invited to complete the 2026-2027 CFR Seat Application. |
| October 31, 2025 | CFR Seat Application Closed |
| November 3 – December 5, 2025 | CFR Seat Application Review Period |
| December 2, 2025 | The NOEEN Coordinated Enrollment Sub-Committee approved allocation priorities for 2026-2027 to guide decision-making in three scenarios: a funding reduction, stable funding, and an increase in funding. |
| December 8, 2025 | CFR Seat Application Scoring Results Released to All LA4 and NSECD Applicants, As Well As All Returning City Seats and ECEF Providers |
| December 10, 2025 | NOEEN December Steering Committee Meeting Steering Committee approved recommendations of sites and allocations for LA4 and NSECD to the Louisiana Department of Education via the SuperApp. It also voted on which sites to include in the NOLA-PS enrollment application. The recommendations are included in the presentations and the votes are recorded in the minutes. |
| December 12, 2025 | Appeal Form Submission Due Date for Returning Providers |
| December 15 – 19, 2025 and January 5-9, 2026 | Appeal Review Period |
| January 12, 2026 | Appeal Results Released to Returning Providers |
| January 13-30, 2026 | Provider Scoring Review Meetings by Appointment |
| Week of February 23, 2026 | The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) Sent 2026-2027 Preliminary Notices of Award Letter to LA4 and NSECD Programs |
| February 2026 | CFR Seat Application Scoring Results Released to New Providers (sites that are not receiving publicly-funded (City Seats, ECEF, LA4, NSECD) and Appeals Process Opened |
| March 23, 2026 | Appeal Results Released to New Providers |
| March 30 – April 10 | Feedback and Provider Scoring Review Meetings by Appointment |
| June 2026 | The Total Amount of Funding Available for City Seats and ECEF Seats is Confirmed After: 1. The Louisiana legislature appropriated funding for the Early Childhood Education Fund as part of HB1. 2. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted on and approved the allocation to NOEEN for the 2026-2027 program year. Combined revenue from the Early Childhood Education Millage and ECEF comes in $3.6 million below the prior year’s total ($2,146,280 from the City millage, $1,500,000 from the state ECEF match). |
| July 2026 | City Seats and ECEF Seats were Allocated using Priorities Approved by the NOEEN Coordinated Enrollment Sub-Committee and NOEEN Steering Committee. All 47 qualified returning City Seats/ECEF sites were approved by the NOEEN Steering Committee for continuity of program and re-enrollment for 2026-2027 |
*Please note: “Returning providers” are those providers with sites that are currently receiving publicly-funded seats (ECEF or City Seats); “New providers” are those providers with sites that are not receiving publicly-funded (City Seats, ECEF, LA4, NSECD) or returning providers with new sites.
Support
Providers can email CFR@noeen.org to request support.
