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It’s been two months since the Office of Head Start announced the full enrollment initiative, detailing its plans to reach a goal of 100% enrollment nationally throughout the program. Since then, it’s been top of mind for everyone attending our on-site trainings and conference workshops. We’d like to share some of the concerns we’re hearing…

The sixth relationship based competency is family access to community resources. Know what Resources are Available For a program to be successful in connecting families to local resources, they first have to know what resources their community offers. Head Start and Early Head Start (HS/EHS) staff need to have extensive knowledge of social services programs,…

Children in temporary housing (often combined into one group using the catch-all term “homeless”) are one of the most difficult to serve populations for early childhood education programs.  According to a document by the New York State Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students (NYS-TEACHS), children in temporary housing are half as likely to…

This is the fifth blog in our series about the nine Relationship-Based Competencies. The connections that our families make on their journey to self-sufficiency are oftentimes the ones that they take with them for the rest of their lives. The role of Head Start and Early Head Start programs is to facilitate support networks and…

We recently received an email from the National Head Start Association (NHSA), detailing the “latest threats to Head Start that are coming out of D.C.” For those of us who have served Head Start for many years, we are probably thinking, “Well, here we go again.” This is hardly the first time Head Start has…

Last week, Office of Head Start (OHS) issued a program instruction on its website called the “Full Enrollment Initiative.” In it, OHS details its plans to ensure that each Head Start designee “enroll 100 percent of its funded enrollment and maintain active waiting lists at all times with ongoing outreach to the community and activities…

We recently received a lovely letter from the Social Service Manager of Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services in Brooklyn, NY. We were there recently administering a training on Policy Council. We’d like to thank Catholic Charities for their business! Take a look at the letter below. April 30, 2018 I have had the pleasure of having…

Our next blog is about Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Learners, the fourth in our series about the 9 Relationship-Based Competencies. Nothing is more important than the relationships that are built between parent and child. In creating these relationships, there is a tremendous amount of important learning that is happening. Our roles as Head…

This is the third blog post in our series about the 9 Relationship-based Competencies: Family Well-Being and Families as Learners. As educators, we are continuously learning new information as we advance in our careers and lives. It’s the same for families. Looking after the well-being of the families we serve, and guiding them in the…

We recently had another submission for our ongoing initiative: Share Your Head Start Story. This story submitted by Katrina from Alaska is a familiar one. A child who grew up in Head Start and had a great experience, grows up to become an employee of a Head Start program to share that experience with others.…