IHS Pre-Award & Start-Up Funding
Starting a new Tribal health program takes vision. Getting it funded takes a different kind of work entirely. Pre-award and start-up funding exists to bridge that gap, but the process is administratively intensive and most programs that qualify do not access it. Face Rock manages it from eligibility through executed award.
Talk to Face RockWhat pre-award and start-up funding covers
Starting a Tribal health program should not require a Tribe to absorb all of the planning costs before a single dollar of funding arrives. Under ISDEAA, Tribes entering or expanding an IHS self-determination contract or compact can access pre-award funding to cover planning, staffing, and infrastructure required before the program formally begins. Start-up funding covers one-time costs of beginning operations. Both exist to remove the financial barrier to Tribes building health programs of their own.
The IHS process is administratively intensive. It requires scoped documentation, budget development, and Area Office negotiation framed correctly within the ISDEAA contracting structure. Programs that do not navigate it correctly often leave funding unclaimed or lose it at the documentation stage. Face Rock manages it end-to-end.
What Pre-Award Covers
Planning costs before a program formally begins, including staffing, facility assessments, program design, and operational infrastructure. Intended to remove the financial barrier to tribes taking over programs from IHS.
Who Can Access It
Tribal programs entering or expanding an IHS self-determination contract or compact. Start-up funding is a separate but related category covering one-time costs of beginning operations.
Most programs that qualify do not access these funds. The process is administratively intensive by design. Face Rock manages it so your staff does not have to.
How Face Rock manages your pre-award process
Eligibility and scope assessment. We determine whether your program qualifies and define the scope of costs that can be properly documented in the funding request, before any paperwork is filed.
Budget development. Face Rock develops the pre-award budget, a detailed accounting of allowable costs that forms the basis of the IHS funding request. Its structure directly determines what gets approved.
IHS negotiation. We manage the Area Office negotiation, including information requests, scope questions, and the review process, through to an executed award. Tribal program staff do not touch that correspondence.
Documentation and compliance. Once awarded, costs must be documented against the approved budget. Face Rock maintains that posture so the award remains defensible through any IHS review or audit.
Contract integration. Pre-award and start-up costs must be integrated into the formal ISDEAA contract or compact structure, including any supplemental agreement requirements. We manage that integration.
Face Rock's pre-award process
Eligibility & Scope
We determine whether your program qualifies and define what costs can be properly documented and included in the funding request. No cost to assess.
Budget Development
We build the pre-award budget: a detailed accounting of allowable costs. The structure of this document directly determines what IHS approves.
IHS Negotiation
We manage the Area Office negotiation, including information requests, scope questions, and the review process, through to an executed award.
Award Compliance
Awarded funds must be documented against the approved budget. Face Rock maintains that posture so the award is defensible through any IHS audit.
Contract Integration
Pre-award costs integrate into the formal ISDEAA structure. We manage any supplemental agreement requirements that come with that.
Assess your pre-award eligibility
Face Rock conducts a no-cost assessment to determine whether your program qualifies for pre-award or start-up funding and what the realistic scope of that funding looks like.