An Evolving Portrait of Head Start Families
Robert W. O’Brien, Ph.D., Mary Ann D’Elio, M.S.,
Michael J. Keane, Dr.P.H.;The CDM Group, Inc.
Introduction
There has been a great degree of societal change brought
on by events of recent years, such as welfare reform and the diversification
of the population served by Head Start. This has been reflected in the
changing population that is taking advantage of Federal services for families.
With these changes has come increased scrutiny of Federal programs providing
services, including those designed for low-income families. If the programs
that serve low-income children and their families are to be responsive
to the evolving portrait of the people they serve, new data are needed
on a regular basis. One goal of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences
Survey (FACES) is to follow a national sample of Head Start families,
to learn about the characteristics of these families, and to understand
the challenges they face. The value of this information is in helping
Head Start adapt policies and procedures to better fulfill its mission
of assisting families in their own development as the primary nurturers
of their children.
The Respondents
- All respondents reported that they were a primary caregiver -- responsible
for the daily care of the child
- 87.8% were the mother of the Head Start child
- 5.1% were the father of the Head Start child
- 4.2% were the grandmother of the Head Start child
- 2.9% were other relatives or foster parents
The Interview
- Face-to-Face, individual interviews were completed with 3,156 families
in the fall of 1997; 2,688 follow-up interviews were completed in the
spring of 1998. Findings presented here are from the fall 1997 data,
unless otherwise noted.
- Most interviews were completed at the local Head Start centers (79.6%)
or the child's home (14.4%); 16.9% of the families were interviewed
in Spanish, and 0.5% in some other language.
- Most interviews lasted about one hour; respondents received $15.00
upon completion of the interview.
The Instrument
The FACES Parent Interview was designed to collect basic,
descriptive information about the respondent, the child, and each child's
household. In addition to demographics, information was collected on the
following topics:
Satisfaction and Activities With Head Start
Family Activities With the Child
Disabilities The Primary Caregiver's Assessment of Child Skills and Social
Behavior
Household Rules
Employment, Income, and Housing
Use of Community Services
Child Care
Family Health Care
Home Safety Practices
Home and Neighborhood Characteristics
Ratings of Social Support
Feelings of the Primary Caregiver About Herself/Himself
Figure 1: Most Primary Caregivers Were Between
20 and 30 Years of Age
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Figure 2: Most Primary Caregivers Had at Least
a High School Diploma or a GED
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- 30.6% of the Primary Caregivers reported receiving
TANF in fall 1997; 25.5% reported receiving TANF in spring 1998
Figure 6: Over 30% of Primary Caregivers had
Some Exposure to Violence During the Past Year
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One-Fifth of Head Start Children Have Been Exposed to
Violence
- Children as witnesses to violent crime or domestic violence
- In fall 1997, 17.4% of the children were reported to have witnessed
a violent crime or domestic violence in their life.
- In spring 1998, 6.8% were reported to have witnessed domestic
violence in the past year
- In spring 1998, 3.7% were reported to have witnessed violent crime
in the past year
- Children as victims of violent crime or domestic violence
- In fall 1997, 2.9% of the children were reported to have been
the victims of a violent crime or domestic violence in their life
- In spring 1998, 0.8% were reported to have been the victims of
domestic violence in the past year
- In spring 1998, 0.6% were reported to have been the victims of
violent crime in the past year
Disabilities and Health Problems Were Reported
for Less Than 20% of Head Start Children
Disability |
FACES Primary Caregiver
Reports (Spring 1998) N=2688 |
National Head Start Program
Reports N=860,226 |
Speech or
Language Impairments |
12.35% |
7.70% |
Non-Categorical/
Developmental Delay |
0.60% |
1.98% |
Health Impairment |
1.19% |
0.81% |
Emotional/
Behavioral Disorder |
2.42% |
0.51% |
Learning
Disabilities |
1.15% |
0.22% |
Orthopedic
Impairment |
0.37% |
0.19% |
Mental Retardation |
0.26% |
0.16% |
Hearing
Impairment (including Deafness) |
1.19% |
0.11% |
Visual Impairment
(including Blindness) |
0.60% |
0.10% |
Note: Disability categories are from the Head Start
Program Information Report. Autism and Traumatic Brain Injury were
less than 0.1% for both the FACES reports and the national reports.
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More Than a Quarter of the Primary Caregivers Reported
That the Child Was in Child Care in Addition to Head Start
- 49.3% of the children were in child care (defined as 10 or more hours
a week) prior to Head Start enrollment
- 68.7% were in settings where they are cared for by a friend or
relative
- 13.9% were in a child care center
- 8.5% were in family day care
- 8.0% received child care at Head Start, separate from the regular
classes
- 28.1% of the children were in child care in addition to attending
Head Start
- 84.8% of the respondents who reported a need for child care were employed
- These Head Start children were in child care for a mean of 19.2 hours
per week
Figure 8: Most Activities with the Children
Were Undertaken by the Mother
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Past
Week Activities:
Telling a story; Teaching letters, words, or
numbers; Teaching songs or music; Arts and crafts; Playing
games (indoors or outdoors); Household chores; Doing errands
Past Month Activities:
Visiting a library; Going to a live show; Going
to an art gallery or museum; Discussing family heritage; Visiting
a zoo or aquarium; Attending a community, ethnic, or religious
event; Attending a sporting event |
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Figure 10: Most Primary Caregivers Were Very
Active Within Head Start
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Figure 11: In Spring '98, Primary Caregivers
Reported That Head Start Was Important As a Source of Support for Raising
Their Child
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Summary
In addressing Head Start’s need for information on
children and their families, in depth data have been collected in a number
of areas from a large, nationally representative sample of enrolled families.
Project reports and papers will contain more detailed descriptions of
these families.
Descriptive findings on these families are very valuable
for local Head Start programs and the Head Start Bureau in determining
the distribution of program resources. For example, understanding the
challenges families face will help Head Start staff, particularly teachers
and family advocates, know where to target resources, to be better trained
to help needy families get required services, help families move towards
self-sufficiency, and strengthen parents’ behavior in their role
as primary nurturers of their children.
Subsequent data collections and analyses will focus on the
changes that families present over time. Family change may be due to societal
factors (e.g. welfare reform), typical family maturation (e.g., experience),
or more extraordinary family circumstances (e.g., divorce, a parent completing
school or a training program). It is also possible that family or individual
change is due to the efforts of Head Start. It will be our challenge to
find where change can be attributed to the efforts of Head Start staff
to serve these families.