Head Start: A Child Development Program
from a brochure published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children,
Youth and Families, Head Start Bureau
Topics
A Comprehensive Child Development Program
Each year, almost one million children from low-income families enter school
for the first time. While their more fortunate classmates may face the
new challenge with assurance, may children from low-income homes begin
school with health problems and a lack of self-confidence. Without the
will to move ahead, these children often fall behind in their first years
of school and find their troubles compounded in later years. Research has
shown that it is possible to strengthen the ability of a disadvantaged
child to cope with school and the child's total environment, thus helping
thousands of children look forward to a brighter future.
To achieve this goal, in 1964, the Federal Government asked a panel
of child development experts to draw up a program to help communities overcome
the handicaps of disadvantaged preschool children. The panel reports became
the blueprint for Project Head Start.
Project Head Start, launched as an eight-week summer program of the
Office of Economic Opportunity in 1965, was designed to help break the
cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income families
with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional,
and psychological needs. Recruiting children age three to school entry
age, Head Start was enthusiastically received by educators, child development
specialists, community leaders, and parents across the Nation. Head Start
now serves approximately 721,000 children and their families each year
in urban and rural areas in all 50 States, the District of Columbia and
the U.S. Territories - including many America Indian and migrant children.
In 1969, Head Start was transferred from the Office of Economic Opportunity
to the Office of Child Development in the U.S. Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare, and has now become a program within the Administration of
Children, Youth and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services.
A well-established, though still an innovative program, Head Start has
had a strong impact on communities and early childhood programs across
the country. Since 1965, Head Start has served over 13.1 million children
and their families.
From the start, Head Start received strong support from the Federal
Government. The Congressional appropriation increased from $96.4 million
in fiscal year 1965 to $2.8 billion in fiscal year 1993.
The program is locally administered by approximately 1,400 community-based
non-profit organizations and school systems. Grants are awarded by the
Department of Health and Human Services Regional Offices, except for the
American Indian and Migrant programs, which are administered in Washington,
D.C. The Head Start legislation states that the Federal grant to operate
a local Head Start program shall not exceed 80 percent of the approved
costs of the program. Twenty percent must be contributed by the community.
The non- Federal share (the 20 percent) may be in cash or contributed services.
Head Start experience has show the need of the children vary considerably
from community to community and that, to serve the need most effectively,
programs should be individualized. In addition, experience to data suggests
that, when Head Start programs are designed in ways that take into account
community resources an the capabilities of the local staff, a program can
often be mounted that will improve service for children within present
funding levels. Therefore, Head Start permits local Head Start sponsors
to provide children with classroom-based or home- based developmental programs.
The Major Components of Head Start
There are four major components in Head Start. In 1975, performance standards
were adopted to ensure that every Head Start program provide the services
necessary to meet the goals of each of these components:
Education
Head Start's educational program is designed to meet each child's individual
needs. It also aims to meet the need of the community served and its ethnic
and cultural characteristics. If programs have a majority of bilingual
children, for example, at least on teacher or aide must speak their native
language.
Every child receives a variety of learning experiences to foster intellectual,
social, and emotional growth. Children participate in indoor and outdoor
play and are introduced to the concepts of words and numbers. They are
encouraged to express their feelings and to develop self-confidence and
the ability to get along with others.
Head Start programs have low child-staff ratio. Staff members received
training in child development and early childhood education. They learn
how to work with disabled children who now account for 13.4 percent of
Head Start's total enrollment.
Health
Head Start emphasizes the importance of early identification of health
problems. Since many preschool children of low-income families have never
seen a doctor or dentist, Head Start arranges for every child to receive,
if needed, comprehensive health care, including medical, dental, mental
health, and nutrition services.
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Medical and Dental - Children receive a complete examination, including
vision and hearing tests, identification of disabling conditions, immunizations,
and a dental exam. Follow-up is provided for identified problems.
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Nutrition - Many children entering Head Start do not receive good,
nourishing meals at home. In the program, children are served a minimum
of one hot meal, and snack each day in order to meet a least one third
of their daily nutritional needs. A trained nutritionist supervises the
nutrition activities of each Head Start program and helps the staff identify
the nutritional program to teach parents how to select healthy food and
prepare well-balanced meals, and how to obtain food stamps and other community
assistance when needed.
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Mental Health - Head Start recognizes the importance of providing
mental health and psychological services to children of low-income families
in order to encourage their emotional and social development. A mental
health professional must be available to every Head Start program to provide
mental health training to staff and parents and to make them aware of the
need for early attention to the special problems of children.
Parent Involvement
Parents are the most important influence on a child's development. An essential
part of every Head Start program is the involvement of parents in parent
education, program planning, and operating activities. Many serve as members
of their local program's Policy Councils and Committees and have a voice
in the administrative and managerial decisions.
Through participation in classes and workshops on child development
and through staff visits to the home, parents learn about the needs of
their children and about educational activities that can be carried out
at home. Many parents also serve in Head Start on a volunteer basis or
as aides to teachers, cooks, storytellers, and supervisors of play activities.
They receive preference for employment in Head Start jobs which are non-professional.
Social Services
The social services component of Head Start represents an organized method
of assisting families to assess their needs, and the providing those services
that will build upon the individual strengths of families to meet their
own needs. Some of the activities that the social services staff use to
assist families to meet the needs are: community outreach, referrals, family
need assessments, providing information about available community resources
and how to obtain and use them, recruitment and enrollment of children,
and emergency assistance and/or crisis intervention.
Children with Disabilities
A disabled child can often learn more readily in a group with other children
than in a separate group for the disabled. Head Start has successfully
carried out a 1972 Congressional mandate requiring that at least 10 percent
of its enrollment be available for disabled children.
Disable children and their families receive the full range of Head Start
developmental services. In addition, Head Start staff members work closely
with community agencies to provide services to meet the special needs of
the disabled child.
Parent and Child Centers
Parent and Child Centers were initially launched in 1967 to provide comprehensive
services to low income families with children up to three years of age.
There are 106 Centers currently in operation around the county. The primary
objective of the Head Start Parent and Child Center programs is the improvement
of the overall developmental progress of the child, with emphasis on the
prevention of a variety of developmental deficits, increasing the parents'
knowledge of their own children, as well as their own knowledge of parenting,
and strengthening the family unit. These objectives are accomplished through
services that include infant- toddler development activities, comprehensive
health care of young children and their families, nutrition education,
social services for the entire family, parent involvement in the program,
and assistance to parents in overcoming economic and personal problems.
Staff Development and Training
The Head Start Program provide staff at all levels and in all program areas
with training to improve job performance and opportunities for career advancement
within the program.
The Child Development Associate (CDA) Program gives professional and
non-professional employees the opportunity to study child development and
related subjects at colleges and universities in courses which can lead
to academic degrees or to certification in the field of early childhood
education. A majority of these men and women are receiving CDA training
which will provide them with credentials to work as professionals in the
child care field.
The national program to assess and certify child caregivers is administered
by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
through its Council for Early Childhood Recognition in cooperation with
the Administration on Children, Youth and Families.
Demonstration Projects
Because Head Start families are dispersed across the county, Head Start
is faced with the same problems that affect the population at large and
especially the low-income populations - increases in single parent families,
teenage pregnancies, illiteracy, homelessness, substance abuse, child abuse
and neglect. Head Start continues to look for effective methods of dealing
with these issues and delivering needed services to the target population.
Current demonstration projects include:
Comprehensive Child Development Program
Head Start has the responsibility for administering the 1988 Comprehensive
Child Development Act (P.L. 100-297). This is a five year demonstration
program that provides intensive comprehensive support services to children
from birth to entrance into elementary school. The Act also provides support
to parents and other household members in locating training and employment
opportunities, in securing adequate health care, nutrition assistance,
and housing. Thirty-four community based organizations have grants to conduct
these demonstration projects.
Family Service Centers
Grants have been awarded to 66 Head Start grantees for the purpose of demonstrating
ways that Head Start programs can work with other community agencies and
organizations to effectively deal with the programs of substance abuse,
illiteracy and unemployment among Head Start families. The projects will
encourage families to participate in activities designed to:
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Reduce and prevent the incidence of substance abuse in Head Start families,
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Improve the literacy of parents and other adults in Head Start families,
and,
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Increase the employability of Head Start parents.
Head Start/Public School Early Childhood Transition Projects
Thirty-two community-based consortia will demonstrate effective strategies
for supporting children and families as they make the transition from the
Head Start programs through kindergarten and the first three grades of
public school. The consortia include Head Start grantees and public school
systems. These projects are testing whether providing continuous comprehensive
services to Head Start children will maintain and enhance the early benefits
attained by the children and their families. There will also be an effort
to determine the effect on children and families when comprehensive services
which resemble Head Start services, are delivered for a period of time
after the child has entered elementary school. The projects will continue
for three years.
The Impact of Head Start
Head Start has played a major role in focusing the attention of the Nation
on the importance of early childhood development, especially in the first
five years of life. In many ways, the program has had a dramatic impact
on child development and day care services; on the expansion of State and
local activities for children; on the range and quality of services offered
to young children and their families; and on the design of training program
for those who staff such programs.
The program has led in efforts to improve the cognitive abilities of
young children. Studies have indicated that Head Start children score higher
than comparable non-Head Start children in preschool achievements tests
that measure these abilities. The studies also show that Head Start children
perform equal to or better than their peers when they enter regular school,
and there are fewer grade retentions and special class placements. The
outreach and training efforts of Head start programs have helped provide
low-income parents with the knowledge and service they need to build a
better life for their children. Direct involvement of parent in Head Start
planning and policy-making has given families a great role in the development
of their children. This participation has influenced school systems across
the county to do likewise.
Head Start has had a special impact on community efforts for low- income
families. A study of 58 communities with full-year Head Start programs
showed that the programs had influenced local educational and health institutions
to become more responsive to the needs of low-income families. As a result
of Head Start activities, for the first time many school districts revised
curricula to place more emphasis on the needs of minorities; health institutions
changed services and schedules to serve the low-income more effectively;
there was increased participation by low-income individuals in policy-making
decisions; and employment of local people in para-professional jobs was
stepped up. All of these are major Head Start goals.
Organizations and Volunteers Help Head Start
Over the years, volunteers have been an important part of all Head Start
programs. High school and college students, homemakers, parents of Head
Start children, retired senior citizens - all kinds of people have offered
their much needed help to local Head Start programs. Volunteers assist
with classroom activities; drive or escort children to and from centers
to medical appointments; take small groups of children on outings and visits
to the community; assist in parent education help renovate and decorate
Head Start centers; and recruit and instruct other volunteers.
Community organizations provide a wide array of services to Head Start
including the donation of classroom space, educational materials, eyeglasses
for children, special equipment for disabled children, and medical and
dental examinations. These services and the time spent by volunteers count
toward the 20 percent non- Federal share of the local Head Start budget.