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Head Start began in 1965 as an eight-week summer project, a key initiative in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. From its inception, the program recognized that supporting children from low-income families required more than just early education.
It aimed to break the cycle of poverty by providing comprehensive services – addressing health, nutrition, social, and emotional needs alongside education. Crucially, Head Start was founded on the principle that families and communities must be invested partners in the program’s success, contributing through volunteer time and other means.
This dual focus on preparing children for school and empowering their families remains central to Head Start’s mission today.
This article provides a thorough overview of how parents and families partner with Head Start programs across the United States. It explores the meaning of “parent involvement” and “family engagement” within Head Start, examines why this partnership is vital for both children and families, details the various ways parents can participate, discusses how programs address common challenges to engagement, and points towards helpful resources.
What is Parent and Family Engagement in Head Start?
Understanding how families partner with Head Start involves looking at how the concept of participation has grown and the specific frameworks and definitions the program uses today.
From “Involvement” to “Engagement”
Parent participation has been a cornerstone of Head Start since 1965. However, the understanding and approach to this participation have evolved significantly over time.
Early concepts often centered on “parent involvement,” which could sometimes imply parents participating in activities planned by the program, perhaps in a more passive role. Today, Head Start emphasizes “family engagement,” signifying a deeper, more dynamic, and collaborative partnership.
This shift in terminology reflects a fundamental change in philosophy. It moves away from a model where the program might “do for” families towards one of “doing with” families.
Engagement recognizes parents as experts on their own children and as equal partners in their child’s development and learning journey. It acknowledges the strengths families bring and aims for a respectful, equitable relationship between families and program staff, moving beyond simple participation in program-dictated activities.
This evolution underscores a commitment to empowering families, not just serving them.
Defining Family Engagement
Within the Head Start context, family engagement is officially defined as an interactive, collaborative, and strengths-based process. Through this process, early childhood professionals, families, and children build positive and goal-oriented relationships.
It is understood as a shared responsibility between families and staff at all levels, demanding mutual respect for the unique roles and strengths each party contributes.
This engagement approach specifically focuses on building relationships with key family members in a child’s life – including mothers, fathers, grandparents, pregnant individuals, and other adult caregivers – in ways that are culturally and linguistically responsive.
It involves a commitment to creating and sustaining ongoing partnerships that support overall family well-being. Critically, family engagement honors and supports the parent-child relationship, recognizing it as central to a child’s healthy development, school readiness, and overall well-being.
A core tenet is recognizing parents as their child’s first and most important teachers.
The Head Start PFCE Framework
To guide programs in implementing effective family engagement, the Office of Head Start (OHS) developed the Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework.
This framework serves as an official, research-based roadmap for programs. It outlines how various program elements should work together systemically and integrate activities to achieve positive, enduring outcomes for both children and families.
The PFCE Framework is built on the understanding that successful family engagement is not an isolated activity or the responsibility of a single staff member, like a Family Advocate. Instead, it requires a whole-program approach, embedded within the program’s leadership structure, continuous improvement efforts, and professional development for all staff.
Directors, managers, teachers, home visitors, health staff, and family service staff all have roles to play in fostering these crucial partnerships.
The Framework organizes program efforts into three interconnected components:
Program Foundations: These are the essential organizational supports that make effective engagement possible. They include:
- Program Leadership: Clear vision and goals for PFCE set by directors, governing bodies, and policy councils, ensuring systems support engagement.
- Continuous Program Improvement: Using data from surveys, assessments, and family feedback to monitor progress, make decisions, and refine engagement strategies.
- Professional Development: Ongoing training and support for all staff involved in engaging families, tailored to their roles.
Program Impact Areas: These are the domains where programs actively implement engagement strategies in partnership with families and the community. They include:
- Program Environment: Creating a welcoming, respectful atmosphere where families feel valued and communication is culturally responsive.
- Family Partnerships: Building ongoing, goal-oriented relationships where staff and families work together to identify and achieve family aspirations.
- Teaching and Learning: Partnering with families as equals in supporting children’s learning, sharing information, and setting goals together.
- Community Partnerships: Collaborating with community agencies to link families to resources, support transitions, and build networks.
Family Engagement Outcomes: These are the desired results for families that are achieved when the foundations are strong and engagement activities are well-implemented across the impact areas. Achieving these outcomes contributes significantly to children’s school readiness and long-term success.
The PFCE Framework identifies seven key Family Engagement Outcomes that programs strive to achieve in partnership with families:
| Head Start’s Goals for Family Engagement (PFCE Outcomes) | Description |
|---|---|
| Family Well-being | Parents and families are safe, healthy, and have increased financial security. |
| Positive Parent-Child Relationships | Parents and families develop warm, nurturing relationships that support their child’s learning and development, starting from pregnancy and early childhood. |
| Families as Lifelong Educators | Parents and families observe, guide, promote, and participate in their children’s everyday learning at home, school, and in the community. |
| Families as Learners | Parents and families pursue their own educational and training interests to support their parenting, career advancement, and life goals. |
| Family Engagement in Transitions | Parents and families support and advocate for their child’s learning as they move to new learning environments (e.g., Early Head Start to Head Start, Head Start to kindergarten). |
| Family Connections to Peers and Community | Parents and families build supportive social networks with peers and mentors, enhancing social well-being and community life. |
| Families as Advocates and Leaders | Parents and families participate in leadership development, program decision-making, policy development, or community organizing to improve children’s learning experiences. |
(Source: Based on Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework)
This framework provides a comprehensive structure ensuring that family engagement is deeply integrated into every aspect of the Head Start program, moving beyond surface-level activities to foster meaningful partnerships that benefit the entire family.
Why Parent Engagement Matters
The strong emphasis Head Start places on family engagement stems from extensive evidence demonstrating its profound impact on both children’s development and family stability.
Boosting Children’s Readiness for School and Life
A central aim of Head Start is to promote school readiness, ensuring children enter kindergarten prepared to succeed. Research consistently shows that parent and family engagement is a critical factor in achieving this goal.
When families are actively engaged, children tend to show greater progress in crucial developmental areas.
Studies link strong family engagement in programs like Head Start to better cognitive outcomes for children, including improvements in language, literacy (such as letter-word knowledge), and math skills.
Positive effects are also seen in social-emotional development, with engaged families’ children often exhibiting better social skills, greater impulse control, improved approaches to learning, and fewer behavioral problems like aggression or hyperactivity.
This aligns with Head Start’s “whole child” approach, which recognizes that development across all domains – cognitive, social, emotional, and physical – is interconnected and essential for school success. Partnering with parents is fundamental to nurturing this holistic development.
Strengthening the Whole Family
Head Start operates on a two-generation model, understanding that supporting parents’ well-being and capabilities directly benefits their children. Family engagement is the key mechanism for delivering this dual support.
Participation in Head Start and its engagement opportunities offers numerous benefits to parents and caregivers. Research indicates that involved parents experience improvements in their own skills, a reduction in parental stress, and enhanced overall family stability and self-sufficiency.
Head Start parents often show steeper increases in their own educational attainment compared to other parents facing similar circumstances. Programs provide parents with valuable information about child development milestones and strategies for creating encouraging home learning environments.
Specific positive changes observed in families include parents investing more time in learning activities with their children, using less physical punishment, and experiencing fewer family conflicts. These improvements in the home environment and parenting practices create a stronger foundation for children’s development and learning.
Lasting Advantages: Evidence of Long-Term Impact
Evaluating the long-term impact of Head Start is complex. The large-scale Head Start Impact Study (HSIS), a randomized controlled trial, found that while Head Start produced positive initial gains in areas like cognitive skills, these advantages often “faded out” relative to control group children by the end of first or third grade for the average participant.
This “fade-out” phenomenon, where initial test score gaps narrow over time, has fueled debate about the program’s lasting effectiveness.
However, focusing solely on the fade-out of early cognitive test scores provides an incomplete picture of Head Start’s impact. Several factors might contribute to this pattern, including improvements in the quality of K-12 schools, control group children accessing other preschool services, or the possibility that Head Start’s benefits shift towards harder-to-measure skills like social-emotional regulation or executive function as children age.
Furthermore, re-analyses of the HSIS data suggest that when comparing Head Start participants to children who would have otherwise received only home-based care (rather than another preschool program), Head Start does produce significant and positive cognitive effects.
Crucially, numerous other studies using different methodologies (like comparing siblings or analyzing large datasets linking childhood program access to adult outcomes) find significant, positive long-term benefits associated with Head Start participation, even acknowledging the test score fade-out. These long-term advantages span multiple domains:
- Educational Attainment: Increased likelihood of high school graduation and attending/completing some form of post-secondary education or certification.
- Economic Outcomes: Reduced likelihood of being unemployed and not in school as young adults, lower rates of poverty and public assistance receipt in adulthood.
- Health: Better adult health status, lower rates of smoking. Some studies even link participation to lower mortality rates in later childhood.
- Social/Behavioral: Reductions in criminal charges/convictions for certain groups in some studies, improved self-control and self-esteem in adulthood.
- Intergenerational Effects: Head Start graduates report investing more time in positive parenting practices (like reading, teaching, praising) with their own children, and their children, in turn, show better educational and social outcomes.
This body of evidence suggests that while early academic test score advantages may diminish relative to peers over time, Head Start’s comprehensive approach, deeply intertwined with family engagement, builds a foundation of health, skills, and parental capacity that yields significant, positive returns later in life and even into the next generation. The short-term test scores simply do not capture the full scope of the program’s impact.
How Head Start Programs Support Family Engagement
Head Start programs don’t just hope for family engagement; they are required to actively foster it through specific structures, services, and approaches mandated by federal regulations.
Creating a Welcoming Partnership
The Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), the regulations governing all Head Start programs, explicitly require programs to integrate parent and family engagement strategies into all systems and services. The goal is to support family well-being and promote children’s learning and development.
Key requirements outlined in HSPPS section 1302.50 mandate that programs must:
- Recognize parents as their children’s primary teachers and nurturers, implementing intentional strategies (including specific outreach for father engagement) to involve them in their child’s learning and support parent-child relationships.
- Develop trusting relationships through respectful, ongoing, two-way communication between staff and parents.
- Create welcoming program environments that incorporate and respect the unique cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds of the families served. This includes conducting family engagement services in the family’s preferred language, or through an interpreter, whenever possible.
- Ensure families feel safe sharing personal information.
- Offer opportunities for parents to participate in the program as employees or volunteers.
- Implement procedures for staff (teachers, home visitors, family support staff) to share relevant information appropriately to ensure coordinated family engagement strategies across settings.
These standards establish a baseline expectation that programs actively build partnerships with families based on trust, respect, and mutual communication.
Supporting Your Child’s Learning Journey
Programs are required to structure their education services to recognize parents’ roles as lifelong educators and actively encourage their engagement in their child’s education. Specific practices include:
- Ensuring program centers are open to parents during all operating hours.
- Facilitating regular communication between teachers and parents about the child’s routines, activities, and progress.
- Holding parent-teacher conferences at least twice per program year to discuss the child’s development and educational progress.
- Offering home visits, which are a primary service delivery method in the home-based option and often utilized in center-based programs as well, to connect with families in their own environment.
- Providing opportunities for parents to participate in research-based parenting curricula. These curricula are designed to build on parents’ existing knowledge and offer chances to practice parenting skills that promote children’s learning and development.
The Family Partnership Agreement
A cornerstone of Head Start’s family engagement approach is the Family Partnership Agreement (FPA) process, mandated by HSPPS 1302.52. This is not a contract imposed on families, but rather a collaborative process undertaken with families.
Led by staff members such as Family Advocates, the FPA process involves:
- Identifying Strengths and Needs: Working with the family to identify their strengths, interests, needs, and aspirations. This assessment is guided by the family engagement outcomes outlined in the PFCE Framework (e.g., family well-being, positive parent-child relationships, families as learners).
- Setting Goals: Collaboratively establishing individualized family goals based on the identified needs and aspirations.
- Developing Strategies: Jointly creating a plan with action steps and identifying services and resources (within Head Start or the community) to help the family achieve their goals.
- Ongoing Review: Regularly reviewing progress towards goals with the family, evaluating what’s working, revising goals or strategies as needed, and tracking outcomes.
This process begins early in the program year and continues as long as the family participates, adapting to their evolving needs and interests.
Connecting Families with Resources
Head Start’s commitment to comprehensive services means that family engagement is tightly linked with connecting families to resources that support their overall well-being. The FPA process often serves as the mechanism for identifying needs and facilitating these connections.
Programs actively work to link families with a wide range of supports, either directly or through referrals to community partners. These supports address areas crucial for family stability and child development, including:
- Health: Medical, dental, and mental health services; health and developmental screenings; nutrition assistance; support during pregnancy.
- Economic Stability: Assistance with housing stability, continued education for parents, financial literacy and security resources, employment training and support.
- Safety and Crisis Support: Help with family safety issues and emergency or crisis intervention services.
- Other Needs: Parenting support, substance use treatment referrals, help navigating transitions (like entering kindergarten), and connecting families to peer support groups.
This integration is fundamental: building trusting relationships and engaging families through processes like the FPA allows programs to understand families’ holistic needs and connect them effectively to the comprehensive services designed to meet those needs, ultimately creating a more stable environment for children’s growth and learning.
Parents as Leaders: Your Role in Shaping Head Start
A defining feature of Head Start is its formal structure for “shared governance,” which empowers parents to participate directly in program decision-making and direction. This commitment goes beyond informal input and provides parents with official roles in overseeing the program.
Parent Committees: Having a Say at Your Center
Every Head Start center (or the local program level for home-based and family child care options) is required by the HSPPS (section 1301.4) to establish a Parent Committee as early in the program year as possible. These committees are composed exclusively of parents of children currently enrolled in that specific center or program option.
Parent Committees have several key responsibilities:
- Advising Staff: Providing input to program staff on the development and implementation of local program policies, activities, and services to ensure they meet the needs of children and families.
- Communication Link: Establishing and maintaining a process for communication with the agency-level Policy Council.
- Staff Recruitment/Screening: Participating (within guidelines set by the governing body and policy council) in the recruitment and screening of Head Start employees who will work at their center.
Beyond these mandated roles, Parent Committees often plan activities for parents and children, help share information from the Policy Council back to other parents at the center, assist with recruitment efforts, and advocate for family and community needs. Programs must ensure parents understand how members are elected from the Parent Committee to serve on the Policy Council.
Policy Councils: Influencing Program Direction
Operating at the overall agency level (the organization receiving the Head Start grant), the Policy Council is a formal body responsible for the direction of the Head Start program. It works in partnership with the agency’s governing body (e.g., a Board of Directors for a non-profit agency, or a relevant city/county department for a public agency) in a system of shared governance.
The composition of the Policy Council is strictly defined:
- At least 51% of the members must be parents of children currently enrolled in the agency’s Head Start or Early Head Start programs.
- Parent members must be elected by the parents in the program (often via the Parent Committees) and should proportionally represent the different program options offered (e.g., Head Start preschool, Early Head Start, home-based).
- The remaining members are representatives from the local community.
- Agency staff members (or members of their immediate families) are generally prohibited from serving on the Policy Council, with very limited exceptions (like parents who occasionally substitute teach or certain staff in tribal programs) to avoid conflicts of interest.
The Policy Council holds significant authority and responsibility, as outlined in HSPPS 1301.3 and the Head Start Act (Section 642(c)(2)(D)). It must approve and submit (or approve/disapprove, depending on the specific item and agency structure) decisions related to:
- Program planning and major policies
- Procedures and criteria for the recruitment, selection, and enrollment of children
- All funding applications and amendments before they are submitted
- Budget planning and expenditures, including policies for parent reimbursement
- Personnel policies, including standards of conduct for program staff, and decisions about hiring or terminating key staff like the Head Start Director
- Proposals for delegate agencies (partner organizations running parts of the program)
Policy Councils are required to use data from ongoing program monitoring, reports on child outcomes (school readiness goals), the annual program self-assessment, community assessment data, and financial audits to inform their decisions and oversight activities.
Members typically serve one-year terms and must stand for re-election to serve additional terms (usually limited to a maximum of five terms, as defined in the council’s bylaws). To ensure equitable participation, programs must provide necessary support, such as reimbursement for reasonable expenses like transportation and childcare, to enable low-income members to fully participate in their Policy Council duties.
This structure of parent-majority Policy Councils with defined powers is a distinctive aspect of Head Start, ensuring that parent voice is formally integrated into program governance and decision-making at the highest levels, aiming to keep programs responsive to the families and communities they serve.
Opportunities for Leadership and Advocacy
Beyond the formal structures of Parent Committees and Policy Councils, Head Start actively encourages parents to develop leadership and advocacy skills. This aligns directly with the PFCE Framework outcome of “Families as Advocates and Leaders”.
Programs offer various avenues for parents to grow and contribute:
- Volunteering: Assisting in classrooms or with program activities.
- Parent Education & Training: Participating in workshops on child development, parenting skills, literacy, health, financial management, or other topics of interest.
- Sharing Experiences: Connecting with other parents for mutual support and learning, potentially serving as mentors.
- Advocacy: Speaking up for the needs of their children, families, and community, potentially participating in local or state advocacy events.
- Program Improvement: Contributing to the annual program self-assessment process.
- Broader Networks: Potentially connecting with regional or national Head Start parent organizations or advocacy groups.
These diverse opportunities recognize that leadership can take many forms and allow parents to engage in ways that align with their interests, skills, and availability.
| Ways Parents Can Lead and Participate in Head Start | Description |
|---|---|
| Classroom Volunteer | Assisting teachers with activities, reading to children, helping on field trips. |
| Parent Committee Member | Representing parents at a specific center/program, advising staff on local activities and policies, communicating with Policy Council. |
| Policy Council Representative | Serving on the agency-level council, participating in decisions about program planning, budget, policies, and funding. |
| Workshop/Training Participant | Attending sessions on parenting, child development, health, financial literacy, or other topics to build skills and knowledge. |
| Program Event Helper | Assisting with planning or running family events, cultural celebrations, or recruitment fairs. |
| Community Advocate | Speaking up about the needs of Head Start families at community meetings or advocacy events. |
| Peer Mentor | Sharing experiences and offering support to other Head Start parents. |
| Self-Assessment Contributor | Providing input and feedback as part of the program’s annual self-evaluation process. |
| Recruitment/Screening Panelist | Participating (within guidelines) on panels to interview and select new Head Start staff. |
(Source: Based on HSPPS and various program descriptions)
Making Engagement Work: Overcoming Challenges Together
While the benefits and structures for parent engagement in Head Start are clear, achieving meaningful partnership requires acknowledging and addressing the real-world challenges that families and programs often face.
Recognizing Common Hurdles
Effective engagement can be hindered by a variety of barriers. Research and program experience highlight several common obstacles:
Practical Barriers: Many Head Start families face significant logistical challenges. Lack of time due to demanding work schedules (often involving multiple jobs or non-traditional hours), difficulties arranging transportation to program events, and the need for childcare for other siblings can make participation difficult. Financial constraints can also be a factor if participation involves any cost, perceived or real.
Communication Barriers: Families may not receive information about opportunities in a timely manner, or the information might not be clear or easily understandable. Language differences between home and school present a significant barrier if translation and interpretation are not readily available or effectively used. Communication can also feel one-way, with parents primarily contacted only when problems arise.
Psychological and Social Barriers: Some parents may feel unwelcome, intimidated, or judged in the school environment, perhaps due to their own negative past experiences with education or feelings of inadequacy. Cultural misunderstandings or differences in expectations between home and school can create discomfort. A lack of confidence in their ability to help their child (low self-efficacy) can also deter involvement.
Programmatic Barriers: Sometimes the program structure itself can be a barrier. Meetings or events might be scheduled at inconvenient times, or the types of activities offered may not align with parents’ interests, needs, or preferred ways of participating. A perceived lack of opportunity for genuine input into program design can also be discouraging.
Successful Strategies Used by Programs and Families
Overcoming these barriers requires proactive, intentional, and flexible strategies from Head Start programs, focusing on building strong relationships as the foundation. Successful approaches often include:
Prioritizing Relationship-Building: Focusing first on establishing positive, trusting relationships with families is key. The recruitment and enrollment period is a critical time to begin building this rapport and explaining the scope of family support services available. Family support workers often go above and beyond to connect with families.
Addressing Practical Barriers: Offering meetings and events at various times (including evenings or weekends) to accommodate work schedules. Providing transportation assistance or helping parents organize carpools. Offering childcare during parent activities. Clearly communicating that program participation is free. Considering fewer, more impactful events rather than frequent meetings that may be hard to attend.
Enhancing Communication: Using multiple communication methods (phone calls, texts, emails, flyers, communication apps like Talking Points) to ensure messages reach families. Providing information well in advance of events. Ensuring materials and communication are available in families’ preferred languages through translation and interpretation services. Fostering genuine two-way communication where parents feel heard. Utilizing technology, such as texting, which has shown promise in improving participation rates in some interventions.
Overcoming Psychological Barriers: Creating a genuinely welcoming, non-threatening, and nurturing program environment. Training staff on cultural responsiveness and building positive relationships. Actively involving parents in program design and decision-making so they feel ownership. Offering interactive, hands-on activities rather than lecture-style meetings. Sometimes holding events in familiar community settings rather than solely at the school/center can increase comfort levels.
Improving Program Responsiveness: Regularly assessing family needs and preferences through surveys, conversations, and the FPA process, and using this information to tailor program options and engagement opportunities. OHS encourages programs to participate in state/local coordinated enrollment systems and Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) to help families understand their options and to ensure program offerings align with community needs. Leveraging the Policy Council to ensure program designs reflect family preferences is also encouraged.
The success of these strategies hinges on programs moving beyond generic offers of involvement. It requires actively listening to families, understanding their specific circumstances and barriers, and collaboratively developing tailored, flexible, and culturally appropriate solutions built on a foundation of trust and mutual respect.
The Importance of Cultural Responsiveness in Engagement
A critical element in successfully engaging families, particularly in diverse communities served by Head Start, is cultural responsiveness. This means actively respecting and valuing the diverse backgrounds, languages, cultures, beliefs, and practices of all families.
It requires programs to move beyond assumptions and genuinely seek to understand each family’s unique context. It embodies the principle of “doing with,” not “doing to or for,” families.
Cultural responsiveness is crucial because it builds the trust necessary for strong partnerships. When families feel their culture and language are respected and understood, they are more likely to feel welcome, safe, and willing to engage with the program.
It helps overcome specific barriers faced by immigrant, refugee, or linguistically diverse families, such as language differences or unfamiliarity with the U.S. education system.
Concrete examples of culturally responsive practices in Head Start include:
- Actively learning about the cultures, histories, and values of the families served
- Providing high-quality interpretation and translation services for all communications and activities
- Ensuring that classroom materials, books, and the overall program environment reflect the diversity of the children and families
- Being aware of and respecting different communication styles and family structures
- Collaborating with community leaders and organizations that serve specific cultural groups
- Being mindful of cultural or religious holidays when scheduling important events or deadlines
- Training staff on cultural competence and implicit bias
By embedding cultural responsiveness into all aspects of family engagement, Head Start programs can build more authentic, equitable, and ultimately more effective partnerships with the diverse families they serve.
Finding Resources and Getting Involved
For families interested in learning more about Head Start, enrolling their child, or accessing resources, several key starting points are available.
Locating a Head Start Program Near You
The easiest way to find Head Start and Early Head Start programs serving a specific community is to use the official Head Start Locator tool. This online tool allows users to search by address, city, state, or zip code to find contact information for local programs.
The Application Process: What to Expect
Head Start and Early Head Start services are available at no cost to eligible families. Eligibility is primarily based on family income falling at or below the federal poverty guidelines.
Families receiving certain public assistance benefits (like TANF, SSI, or SNAP) are also categorically eligible. Additionally, children experiencing homelessness and children in foster care are eligible regardless of income.
Programs may also be permitted to enroll a small percentage (up to 10%, or potentially more under specific over-income allowances up to 35% for families between 100-130% of poverty if needs of lower-income families are met) of children from families whose incomes exceed the poverty guidelines. Special eligibility rules apply for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) programs.
Because funding typically does not cover all eligible children in a community, programs usually maintain waiting lists based on local selection criteria that prioritize families with the greatest need.
To apply, families should contact the Head Start programs serving their community directly. Each program has its own specific enrollment process. Generally, the process involves an application and an interview with program staff to determine eligibility. Families will need to provide documentation to verify age, income, or other eligibility criteria (like proof of public assistance, foster care status, or homelessness).
Helpful Resources for Head Start Parents
Numerous resources are available online for parents interested in or participating in Head Start:
- Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC): This is the primary website for Head Start information and resources. It includes sections on various topics relevant to parents and professionals.
- ECLKC Parenting Section: Offers specific tips, guides, and resources on positive parenting, supporting children’s learning, preparing for kindergarten transitions, and more.
- Office of Head Start (OHS) Website: Part of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), this site provides official policy documents, program information memoranda, data, reports, and news about Head Start.
- National Head Start Association (NHSA): A non-profit organization supporting and advocating for Head Start programs, staff, parents, and children nationwide. Their website includes resources, parent stories, and advocacy information.
- NHSA Parents Section: Features resources and stories specifically for parents.
- State Resources: Many states have Head Start Collaboration Offices (HSSCOs) that work to coordinate Head Start services with other state systems. State Head Start Associations also exist to support programs and advocate within the state. Searching for these specific state entities can provide localized information.
Office of Head Start Contact Information
For general inquiries, families can contact the Office of Head Start:
- Phone: 1-866-763-6481
- Email: [email protected]
Our articles make government information more accessible. Please consult a qualified professional for financial, legal, or health advice specific to your circumstances.