Program Planning and Service System Design
Program Planning and Service System Design support the program planning function, which guides all programs in their five-year grant. Planning systems occur in a continuous cycle, and involve key members of the Head Start community. The outcome of this cycle is the creation of achievable goals and short-term program and fiscal objectives.
Head Start Policy and Regulations
Program Planning
- Brainstorming
- Data in Head Start and Early Head Start – Voices from the Field: Plan to Succeed
- Developing an Action Plan
- Foundations for Excellence: Planning in Head Start
- Management Matters: The Head Start Program Planning Cycle
- Program Performance Measures For Head Start Programs Serving Infants and Toddlers
- The Program Planning Cycle: Program Planning in Head Start [PDF, 277KB]
Using Data
Strategic Planning
- Checklist for Achieving 'VMOSA'
- An Example of VMOSA: The Reducing the Risks (RTR) Coalition
- Tool No. 1: An Example Outline Using Two Half-Day Working Sessions
- A Tool for Performing a SWOT Analysis
- Checklist for Conducting a SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
- Checklist for Developing and Using a SWOT Analysis
- SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
Community Assessment
- Child Care: What You Can Do
- Conducting a Public Forum: Developing a Plan for Identifying Local Needs and Resources
- Developing a Plan for Identifying Local Needs and Resources: Assessing Community Needs and Resources
- Five Steps to Community Assessment: A Workbook for Head Start and Early Head Start Programs Serving Hispanic and Other Emerging Populations
- How to Conduct a Needs Assessment Survey
- Outline for Assessing Community Needs and Resources
- Tool No. 2: Asset Mapping
- Community Assessment Matrix
- State Fact Sheets on Child Welfare Funding
- U.S. Census Bureau American FactFinder
- Checklist: Obtaining Feedback from Constituents: What Changes Are Important and Feasible?
- Integrating Refugees into the Head Start Community
- Block Two: Understanding the Hispanic Community in Your Area ES
Developing Partnerships
Understanding the Partnership Process
- Stages of Partnerships [PDF, 196KB]
- Collaboration Pyramid [PDF, 277KB]
- Shaping the Partnership: Key Steps [PDF, 167KB]
Establishing Partnerships
- Shaping the Partnership: Key Steps [PDF, 167KB]
- Partnership Basics: Strategies for Creating Successful Partnerships [PDF, 203KB]
- Shaping a Partnership: A Checklist for Developing Partnerships
- Shaping the Partnership: An Assessment Checklist [PDF, 167KB]
- A Checklist for Developing a Partnership Agreement or Contract [PDF, 233KB]
- Negotiating A Partnership Agreement: Wisdom from the Field [PDF, 220KB]
Leading and Managing Partnerships
- Partnership Elements Worksheet [PDF, 296KB]
- Shaping the Partnership: An Assessment Checklist [PDF, 167KB]
- A Fiscal Management Checklist for Partnerships [PDF, 312KB]
- A Self-Assessment Tool for Partnerships
- Guidelines for Communicating the Head Start Vision – Module 3: Positioning Head Start for the Future
Head Start and Child Care Partnerships
Last Reviewed: January 2017
Last Updated: January 13, 2017