Head Start

How It Works

Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the cognitive and social development of low-income children. It provides comprehensive educational, health, nutritional, and social services to enrolled children and families. Created in 1965, the program is managed under the United States Department of Health and Human Services. More than 22 million preschool aged children have participated since its inception, with services provided in nearly 50,000 classrooms across every state. Each classroom works toward national standards of educational performance. Health is considered a vital factor in allowing children to develop and thrive. The program therefore provides routine screenings and ensures regular check-ups including dental care. Children are taught good oral health, hygiene, nutrition, and safety practices.

Head Start actually consists of two programs, Head Start and Early Head Start. Head Start offers wide ranging services to preschool-age children and their families. Early Head Start was established during the 1994 reauthorization of Head Start and serves children from birth to age three, pregnant women, and families. It fosters good prenatal outcomes, strengthens newborns’ development, and supports healthy family functioning.

Head Start has approximately 217,000 paid staff but boasts an enthusiastic group of volunteers nearly six times as large. Of those volunteers, over 900,000 are former or current Head Start parents. Parental involvement is a cornerstone of the program. Parents receive assistance in creating a home environment that promotes learning. Many get help obtaining a GED, and others are offered career counseling.

Eligibility for Head Start is primarily income based, beginning at 100% of the federal poverty level. However, up to 10% of any program’s enrollment can include over-income families. All programs provide complete services to children with disabilities. Funding flows directly from the federal government to local grantees, and programs are administered at the local level by non-profit organizations and school systems. The federal government covers 80 percent of yearly operating costs, while the remaining 20 percent must come from a local match or donations of goods, services, or volunteer hours. In 2006, Head Start was allocated approximately $6.8 billion, with an average cost per child of $7,296. Head Start is extremely cost effective; a study of more than 600 Head Start graduates in San Bernardino County, California showed that society receives nearly $9 in benefits for every $1 spent on Head Start. Benefits included increased earnings, decreased welfare dependency, decreased crime costs, less grade repetition, and smaller special education expenditures.

The long term effectiveness of Head Start has been studied extensively. In 2005, Congress released the first year findings of the Head Start Impact Study. The study followed a group of 5,000 three and four year old children assigned either to the Head Start program or to other parent-selected community resources. The results showed reliable small to moderate advantages to children participating in Head Start, particularly in the areas of pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary, and health status. However, there was also a small but statistically significant increase in problem behaviors for children who entered Head Start as three-year-olds. Recent Head Start Family and Children Experience Survey (FACES) data shows that Head Start graduates, by the spring of their kindergarten year, were essentially at national norms in early reading and writing, and were near national norms in early math and vocabulary knowledge. Parents who participate in Head Start are found to have greater life satisfaction, increased confidence in coping skills, and decreased feelings of anxiety, depression, and sickness. Head Start children are eight percent more likely to have had their immunizations than those who did not attend preschool.

History

Head Start was created as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty.

1964: Economic Opportunity Act authorizes programs to help meet the needs of underprivileged preschool children

1965: Office of Economic Opportunity launches Head Start as an eight week summer program designed to meet emotional, social, health, and nutritional needs of children from low income families. American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs begin with grantees in 14 states

1966: Economic Opportunity Act amended, requiring the Office of Economic Opportunity to operate a Head Start Program.

1968: Head Start begins funding a television program which was eventually called Sesame Street

1969: Control of Head Start transferred to the Office of Child Development in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (later title the Department of Health and Human Services) by the Nixon administration.

1972: Economic Opportunity Act amended. Expanded Head Start opportunities for children with disabilities. Mandated that 10 percent of national enrollment consist of handicapped children.

1975: Head Start Program Performance Standards issued

1977: Bilingual Head Start Migrant programs serve children in 21 states

1981: Major expansion of Head Start, adding 43,000 children and families between 1977 and 1981 under President Jimmy Carter.

1984: Head Start budget exceeds the one billion mark

1992: Head Start funding increased by $600 million under President George Bush, extending services to an additional 180,000 children and families.

1995: First Early Head Start grants awarded to provide services for children from birth to age three as well as to pregnant women

1998: Head Start Reauthorization Act includes mandate to expand full-day, year-round services

Policy Update

Legislation is currently going through the House and Senate to reauthorize Head Start. The last reauthorization, enacted in 1998, expired in 2003. The new bill would renew Head Start through 2012 and includes several provisions the Bush administration sought to remove. The bill would eliminate the system of standardized testing for 4- and 5-year old children, raise the maximum income level requirement from 100% to 130% of the federal poverty level (FPL), require that half the teachers in the program nationwide have a bachelor's degree by 2013 and increase funding by approximately $450 million. The National Head Start Association (NHSA) does warn that $750 million in new funding is needed to offset a crippling 13 percent effective cut in federal support since 1992. The bill also lacks language sought by the White House to allow faith-based Head Start providers to base hiring decisions on religious preference. (Last Update: 11/15/07)

Links

National Head Start Association

HHS - Head Start

Save Head Start!

References

Head Start Impact Study (2005). Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov

Office of Head Start, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb/

Parker, F., Piotrkowski, C., and Peay, L. (1987). Head Start as a Social Support for Mothers: The Psychological Benefits of Involvement. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 57, 2: 220-233.