Program Description/Age Requirements
Head Start is a forty year old federally funded program operated by local public and private non-profit and for-profit agencies to provide comprehensive child development services to children at or below the poverty, with a special focus on helping preschoolers from three to school entry develop the early reading and math skills they need to be successful in school. In FY 1995, the Early Head Start program was established to serve pregnant women and children from birth to three years of age in recognition of the mounting evidence that the earliest years matter a great deal to children's growth and development.
Early Childhood Assistance Programs are state-funded, comprehensive child development programs for low-income families with children age four and eligible for kindergarten the following year. These programs follow the Head Start Performance Standards.
Head Start programs promote 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. They engage parents in their children's learning and help them in making progress toward their educational, literacy and employment goals. Significant emphasis is placed on the involvement of parents in the administration of local Head Start programs.
