Head Start & Early Head Start

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 at-risk youngsters. 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 Head Start Performance Standards 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. Only 31% of eligible 3- to 5-year-olds have access to Head Start. Meeting the requirements of the new Performance Standards 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. FFYF has a plan to leverage public support for early childhood education and care, which includes building upon investment in Head Start.

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. Nearly 1,400 Early Head Start programs nationally serve over 150,000 children and pregnant women annually—just 7 percent of those eligible. 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 low-income infants, toddlers, and their 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.