...(citation). To accomplish this, the program proposed major spending to address areas such as medical care, urban and transportation issues, and education. One portion of the education reform was a program designed to assist preschool children, ages 3-5, from economically disadvantaged families with a variety of comprehensive services, such as early education, medical, dental, and nutrition assistance. This program was termed “Head Start.” In the last four decades the program has met its goal of assisting numerous disadvantaged youth, but questions have arisen as to whether or not the program has had any real impact on the children as they have grown up. The Organization Since its inception in 1965, Head Start has assisted more than 25 million preschool children (Frisvold & Lumeng, 2011, p. 376). Children can be eligible for the program’s assistance if they are at least three years old, the family’s total income is either equal to or less than the poverty guideline, or if the child is disabled or in foster care (Office of Head Start, 2007). Currently, the funding and costs of Head Start restrict the program to only allowing about 55% of eligible children, and these restraints require that a selection process be conducted amongst those eligible to determine which children- the most disadvantaged-will be selected (Frisvold & Lumeng, 2011). HEAD START PROGRAM: ADMINISTRATION AND EFFECTIVENESS 3 For those who are both eligible and selected, the program offers a multitude of assistance...
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...JOB STATEMENT: Assures that Head Start/Early Head Start family partnerships are effectively developed and documented by assuming direct responsibility for assigned families and assisting other staff in the two-county program to meet this standard. Additional duties involve motivating and assisting parents to take advantage of opportunities to have a voice in the administrative decisions of Head Start/Early Head Start and to participate in classes and workshops. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: As a FAMILY SERVICES SPECIALIST I provided counseling to with parents or guardians to assist them to identify family strengths and to set specific goals to meet family needs; makes referrals for resources needed to meet goals. As the program specialist for Camp Zama Japan, it was a job within a small community that required versatility and strong awareness individuals’ needs and customs of varied situations in each house. I identified preexisting family plans with other community agencies and assures that those plans are coordinated with the family goals established with Head Start/Early Head Start. I provided follow-up with parents/guardians to determine when goals are met and when new goals need to be developed. I assisted and ensured in the processes of enrollment, transfer, and termination of Head Start/Early Head Start center children, to include obtaining all records for enrollment, sharing information with parents/guardians, recording information about enrollees, performed clerical...
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...There are not many things different from a Home Daycare to a Head Start Program, some of the differences are the teachers in a Head Start program are Chicago Public School employees and can teach up to first grade in an Elementary School. As for the teachers at a Home Daycare they can go to different daycare but if they want to teach in a school they would have to go to school and get a degree in early childhood. A Head Start program is only four hours a day which you can pick the am session or the pm session. Within those four hours they have art where they can play with blocks, paint a picture, write a story, of draw on the tablets and when it is gym time they go outside (if weather permits) and play. The teachers keep the children busy so...
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...There are many social and government programs made to address the poverty in the US. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) develop many programs to address different areas that poverty effects. One program that interested me was the Head Start program. This program is made to address poverty by allowing low income families to send the children under the age of five to school for no cost and thus giving them equal opportunity to prepare them for school. The US Department of Health and Human Services give money to different agencies that set up preschools and child care for low income families. The Office of Head Start (OHS) administers the grant funding and oversight to the agencies that provide Head Start...
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...Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families. They do this by focusing their curriculum on the children’s’ cognitive, social and emotional development. There are more then million children are served by Head Start programs every year. Eligibility is largely income-based, although each local program includes other eligibility criteria, such as disabilities and services needed by other family members. Families may also qualify under a categorical eligibility category if they have receipt of TANF funds, Food Stamps or Homeless. Head Start helps form the future for low income families. Head Start children have a higher likelihood of graduating high school and even attending...
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...Head Start began in 1965 to provide childcare and preschool education for low-income families (Administration for Children and Families [ACF], n.d.). Since its inception, the program has served more than 30 million children and their families (ACF, n.d.). Head Start and Early Head Start targets pregnant mothers and children up to age 5 (ACF, n.d.). This program has the characteristics as a family policy because of the intersection between this public service and the impact on the family system. Most Head Start programs include a family intervention to enhance the educational experience. The program also allows low-income families access to childcare, which is a large family cost, so that the parents or guardians may work and use their income for other family needs besides childcare and preschool education. This paper uses the Popple and Leighninger’s policy analysis model to review the Federal Head Start Program (Chapin, 2014). This model was selected because of the historical, social, and political contexts in which the Head Start program was developed as well as for...
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...Research Proposal BSHS/382 Research Proposal Head Start and their Success Rates Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to 5 from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development. (Administration for Children and Families, na) The Head Start program was started in 1965 by Jule Sugarman who was its creator and director. It was first thought of as a catch up Summer program for low income children who were not ready to start Kindergarten. The program would teach the children what they needed to catch up to start Kindergarten the following year. (Wikipedia, Feb, 2011) The Head Start Program has been under fire in recent years because recent studies are showing the program is not having the desired effect as it did 40 years ago. The success rates of Head Start are staggering. The Head Start Impact Study shows that the effects of the program are minimal and the overall effects of the program had vanished in children by the first grade. (Klein, J, 2011) Our proposal will illustrate the program and the overall success rates of Head Start. We will demonstrate ways to improve the overall success rate of the Head Start Program and why the program needs improvements as well as why the rates of success are falling. Elements of Study Children enrolled in the Head Start program are presented with the opportunity to receive educational benefits such as learning vocabulary, letter-word recognition...
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...the program would be executed and the policies it would cover. The primary goal of the Project Head Start was to give disadvantaged children an equal chance at an education since they did not have the same resources as wealthy families. Although pre school education was an important aspect from this program funded by the federal government it also took the role of providing health care and counseling low income parents about their vital role during their children's early childhood education. Another difficulty that arose from forming this type of program was whether the citizens agreed with the involvement of the federal and state government into the pre school education. However, with research done by psychologist it was proven that education does indeed have an long term effect on children especially during the first three years of their lives....
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...parenting education, housing assistance, substance abuse treatment, child care, and home visits. Researchers generally find little evidence, however, that these services reduce the risk of subsequent maltreatment, although there is some promising evidence on the role of child care. Many families receive few services beyond periodic visits by usually overburdened caseworkers, and the services they do receive are often poor in quality. Preventive services for lower-risk families often focus on increasing parents’ understanding of the developmental stages of childhood and on improving their child-rearing competencies. The evidence base on the effectiveness of these services remains thin. Most research focuses on home-visiting and parent education programs. Studies of home...
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...opportunities are more limited. Strain is more common among lower-class persons, who live in inner-city urban areas that are characterized more by social problems and crime. As a way to enhance educational and employment opportunities and reduce delinquency, the government funded policies such as “Head Start” and job programs for the lower-class youths. The Head Start program is a federal program for preschool children three to five years of age in low-income families. This program 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. 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 this program. (Administration for Children & Families) By focusing on children and families during the children’s preschool, kindergarten and first grade years, yes, Head Start has positive impacts on the children during their time in the program. No one can say that a structured program like Head Start in ineffective. Any type of help that can be given to these young...
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...year olds were enrolled in Early Head Start, a similar federal program for younger children living in poverty. The Head Start Impact Study found that program attendees increased their test scores in reading, writing, vocabulary, and literary skills (“Head Start”). However, many studies show that the gains made in test scores gradually fade away as the children progress in school. While the program fails to show sustained increases in test scores among participants, studies suggest that the program leads to positive outcomes later on such as increased graduation rates and lower rates of crime. Programs like Head Start target not only cognitive advances but also social and behavioral. Though Head Start is considered...
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...Both The McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act and The Head Start Program are created to help the low-income and homeless people. The both programs have almost the same goal, which is reduce the poverty and improve the welfare. In fact, the Head Start program was established before The McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Next, the rest of the paper will be summarizing for The McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act and The Head Start Programs and some opinion. First of all, The McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 is one of the United States federal laws, which provides money for homeless shelter programs. It was the first response to the homeless by the federal legislative. Also, it was passed and signed by President Ronald...
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...Benefits of Head Start Program Between ages two to six, the brain increases from seventy percent of its adult weight to ninety percent (Berk, 2014). This is the time where children can improve certain skills such as physical coordination, perception, attention, memory, language, logical thinking and imagination. Each individual child will express these skills differently due to contributing factors such as nutrition, parent involvement, social- economic status and etc. According to Erickson, this age group is in the stage of initiative versus guilt where children begin find purpose in what they do, have the sense of completing task, engaging with peers and discovering what they can do with the assistance from adults. Play is vital in this...
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...destroying barriers that they may face in their everyday life. Fortunately, there are a few government programs that serve to aid individuals who are struggling. One example of this is the early start program and the head start program. While this program serves a diverse group of low-income families, their main target is to help women and their kids by providing the children various services and making sure the mother's needs are met as well as their child's. The head start program was established in 1965 as a way to tackle the war on poverty by aiming their attention on low-income families who were unable to give their children the proper amenities that they required since birth. What these programs do is endorse school readiness by contributing to a child's educational, nutritional, health and social requirements. The...
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...Due: Spring, 2014 Assignment: Observation Paper: Head Start / Early Head Start Point Value: 25 points Directions: Now that you have a broader perspective on both the early intervention movement in general and the Head Start initiative, consider their impact on both society and the field of early childhood education. Responding to social inequities and global demands may not be motivations you previously associated with teaching. Consider these perspectives as you observe, reflect, and research on the following questions. You will search out a variety of avenues to offer free or reduced services in your community which meet the following situations. 1. Head Start is the primary model for Early Childhood Education here in the United States. President Obama supports Head Start with federal dollars. Discuss the advantages of your own personal child attending a Head Start Program. 2. What is the difference between Head Start and Early Head Start? Where is the local seat for Head Start located in your region? Who is the state Early Head Start seat? 3. Subsidized childcare assistance: What is the poverty level for income in your county? How many children in your county are on subsidized childcare assistance? Whom do they talk to? Where are they located? What is the number? 4. Who is your Healthy Start Nurse in your county? What is their job? What services do they offer to your parents? 5. Subsidized housing: What is the...
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