Ada-Borup-West Public Schools

Head Start

Services and programs that prepare low-income families with preschool children (ages 3 - 5) for their transition to public school kindergarten and to support child development, parenting skills and self-sufficiency

Description

Head Start helps families with young children prepare to succeed in life and school. Programs promote children's development through services that support early learning, health, and family well-being. The program helps with early learning, health, nutrition and social services while being responsive to ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds.

Services may vary in each local community.

Services may include:

• Center based classroom or Family Child Care experiences for children and their families
• Home-based services provided to individual families
• Socialization experiences
• Leadership, advocacy, and training supports for families
• Coordination with public schools and Early Childhood Special Education

The goal is to deliver services to children and families in core areas of early learning, health, and family well-being while engaging parents as partners as their child's primary teacher.

Local Head Start services are delivered by public and private nonprofit and for-profit agencies supported by local, state, and federal funding.

Features

• Payment
  • Free / no cost to eligible clients

• Specialization
  • People with low income

Eligibility

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Poverty Guidelines are used to determine income eligibility for participation in Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

• Children age 3 - 5 who are from families with incomes below the poverty guidelines
• Children in families who are experiencing homelessness
• Families receiving public assistance such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Foster children are eligible regardless of their foster family's income

Local programs may determine additional selection criteria to be responsive to community needs.

Fee

No cost to participating families