Head Start & Early Head Start

While all Head Start programs must provide a continuum of high-quality early learning, health, nutrition, family engagement and support services and meet common quality standards outlined in the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), programs also have flexibility to customize services and program models based on the needs of families in specific local communities. This approach also allows many programs to combine Head Start funding with other federal and state funds for preschool, child care or other early care and education services to maximize the impact of public funds.

Decades of research shows that participation in Head Start has both short- and long-term positive effects for Head Start children and their families. Children who attend Head Start demonstrate marked academic and social progress, and are more likely to enter kindergarten ready to learn. Additionally, adults who attended Head Start as children are more likely to graduate high school and are better prepared to be parents to their own children. Head Start also increases parents’ engagement in their children’s learning, and parents whose children attend Head Start are more likely to advance their own education than other parents of young children from under-resourced communities.

Research also shows that Head Start program quality has improved dramatically over the past 10 years. This is due, in large part, to Congress passing bipartisan Head Start legislation in 2007 that included policies designed to strengthen teaching in Head Start programs and improve coordination between Head Start and other early childhood programs. Additionally, in 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services revised the HSPPS to further support high-quality early learning and comprehensive services by emphasizing performance and ongoing improvement rather than compliance and incorporating recent research on effective early learning, child development and family engagement.

Despite these benefits, current Head Start funding levels are insufficient to provide access to all eligible children. Prior to the pandemic, only 36% of eligible 3- to 5-year-olds had access to Head Start, and the pandemic further restricted access to the program’s comprehensive services for children and families, while also growing the number of children and families experiencing poverty. Meeting the requirements of the new HSPPS and expanding access to full-day Head Start programs will also require additional resources.

FFYF supports increased funding to help address the needs of young children from low-income families and is committed to identifying opportunities that will result in more children accessing high-quality learning opportunities.

Early Head Start programs promote children’s development, support parents in their role as children’s first teachers and primary caregivers, and help families make progress toward self-sufficiency. They do so through a variety of services, including home visiting; parent engagement and support; high-quality child care; and nutrition, health, and behavioral health services — all of which are customized to local and family needs. Research shows that participation in Early Head Start benefits both children and families. Early Head Start children make gains in social-emotional, language, and cognitive development, compared to non-participants; those who continue to Head Start are more ready for kindergarten; and positive impacts on social-emotional development are sustained through at least fifth grade. Parents’ participation in Early Head Start also improves their parenting skills, including father engagement.

Despite its success, however, Early Head Start serves only a small percentage of eligible children. Prior to the pandemic, Early Head Start programs served just 11% of eligible children and pregnant women annually. To help address this, Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services created the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships program, which helps extend the high-quality, comprehensive services of Early Head Start to children in community-based child care settings. Despite this, the need far outweighs the supply, and many infants, toddlers, and low-income families lack access to high-quality child care and comprehensive development supports.

Putting all children, particularly children from low-income families, on track for success in school and life will require increasing investments in high-quality early care, education, and comprehensive development supports for infants and toddlers. FFYF has a plan to leverage public support for early childhood education and care, so that more infants, toddlers, pregnant women, and parents of young children get the support they need to foster children’s healthy development and learning in the earliest years of life.