| Getting a Head Start in the World |
By: Mary Lee Shalvoy, Education Columnist
On 2/1/06
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson waged a war on poverty. In the effort to combat that war, the Federal Government gathered a group of child development experts to create a program to help communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children. The initiative launched Head Start.
| "Even if you don’t have children in pre-school, you can get involved in the exciting and enriching activities happening in the Head Start community." |
More than 40 years later, the Head Start program still serves the developmental needs of children from birth through age five and their low-income families. More than 25 million pre-school aged children, as well as countless family members, have benefited from Head Start since its inception.
Acting as a program within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start is a $6 billion non-profit organization. The program currently boasts more than 1 million children, 200,000 staff and 2,700 programs in urban and rural areas in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Territories, including many American Indians and migrant children. California has the highest number of Head Start students by far, with 98,000 students enrolled during the most recent fiscal year.
The intention behind Head Start was to help break the cycle of poverty by providing pre-school children of low-income families with a wide-range of services to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. Head Start has become the most successful, longest-running, national school readiness program in the United States. In its mission, the program touches the lives of everyone involved.
“Head Start is not just a preschool,” says Mark Ferguson, spokesperson for the National Head Start Association (NHSA), a non-profit that supports Head Start programs by providing information and training, as well as advocating for policies on Capitol Hill. “Head Start offers a comprehensive approach to helping families get on their feet. The program teaches nutrition and healthy lifestyles as well as academic and physical development.”
While most of the parents tend to be teen mothers, grandmothers and other family caregivers become involved too. Ferguson added that many success stories have resulted from young mothers enrolling their children in Head Start. “They see what’s going on and get involved,” said Ferguson. “They also get support in areas they may never have experienced before. For many, it’s the first time they see possibilities for themselves and for a good future.”
The NHSA Web site posts a new success story each month. “Each story is truly inspirational,” Ferguson noted. (Visit www.nhsa.org to read the most recent success story.)
Traditionally, it is the mothers, grandmothers and other women who are actively involved in running Head Start programs. Head Start has recently started programs that involve the father into the lives of their children. Some of the other initiatives taking place now include early literacy training for every Head Start classroom to promote reading, vocabulary and language skills. It is not necessarily a government-run program, as community and faith-based agencies can operate Head Start programs. Many grant opportunities exist for these groups to operate programs in local areas.
Corporations can get involved, too. Ferguson cited a recent program sponsored by sports equipment giant, Nike, called NikeGO Head Start, which offers a physical education curriculum for Head Start students and their families. Nike, currently the largest private funder of NHSA, has plans in place to issue a series of one-year grants, with specific performance requirements, totaling $2.5 million over five years. Gold medal-winning soccer star Mia Hamm and U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona kicked off the program last year. Head Start sites will receive Nike donated equipment necessary to implement the program - including parachutes, easy-to-catch balls, beanbags and balance beams.
To counter the alarming trend that more than 10 % of American children ages 2 to 5 are overweight, NikeGO Head Start provides the customized curriculum, training and equipment kits, as well as individual family lesson components to teach lifelong skills for physical activity and health lifestyle choices for families.
Children from families receiving public assistance (TANF or SSI) are eligible for Head Start and Early Head Start services regardless of income. Children in foster care are Head Start eligible, again regardless of family income. Children with disabilities comprise 10% of Head Start enrollments. Children from families with slightly higher income may be able to participate in Head Start if space is available.
Even if you don’t have children in pre-school, you can get involved in the exciting and enriching activities happening in the Head Start community. Close to 1.5 million people volunteer at Head Start programs each year, filling in numerous roles from assisting in the classroom, to medical and other health-related services, to working with donations (figuring out needs and then asking for goods), to helping train future teachers and enabling parents and other low-income community volunteers gain the skills and experience needed to qualify for employment.
To find a local Head Start or Early Head Start program to contact in your area, use the on-line national Head Start Program Search Tool at: www.acf.hhs.gov.
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