Head Start and Early Head Start

Description

Head Start is a national program which provides comprehensive developmental services for low-income, preschool children from ages three to five years and social services for their families. Head Start promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families.

Head Start grantees work in partnership with State and local agencies in understanding changes to support low-income families in their effort toward economic self-sufficiency.

Early Head Start is a national program which provides early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services on a year-round basis to low-income families with children under age three and pregnant women. Early Head Start was established by the Congress with reauthorization of the Head Start Act in 1994.

For additional information, please visit the Office of Head Start website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/.

To locate a Head Start/Early Head Start center, view the current OHS Monitoring Protocol, access policy clarifications and grantee instructions, and find additional resources, please visit the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) website at http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc.