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Head Start Program

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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 …show more content…
The goal of this program is to provide

excellent education to children from low income families before they reach kindergarten. The

goal is to help build a strong foundation in children before they start school.

Head Start was founded as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty in 1965. Since

then, Head Start has grown from an eight-week demonstration project originally made to

teach low-income children in a few weeks what they needed to know to start kindergarten to

include full day all year services. In 1969 Head Start was transferred to HHS by the

Nixon Administration and in 1994, the Early Head Start program was established to

serve children from birth to three years of age reflecting evidence that these years are critical to

children's development. Now, Head Start has served over 30 million children and their …show more content…
Usually four to five times a week for

approximately six hours In the Early Head Start services were provided in center-based

settings, and less than half were offered in home-based program settings. These

programs were put forth to take of advantage of the critical development period for

children and make sure they receive proper education to prepare for school.

One of the main achievements of the Head start programs was that it provides

top quality education. Over 73% of the teachers that teach in the Head Start programs

hold BA degrees or higher and 96% hold an AA or higher in education related field.

Another major strength is the wide demographics that it serves. Head Start served a

diverse group of children, families, and pregnant women. Thirty-seven percent identified

themselves as Hispanic/Latino, and 29 percent were Black/African American. Twenty

nine percent of participants were from families that primarily spoke a language other

than English at home. Nearly 24 percent of participants were from families that primarily

spoke Spanish at home.

Although the program provides great direction, care, and education they

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