|
ACYF
Administration on Children,
Youth and Families
|
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families |
| 1. Log No. ACYF-IM-HS-95-36 |
2. Issuance Date: 12/07/95 |
| 3. Originating Office: Head Start Bureau |
| 4. Key Word: Early Head Start Grants |
INFORMATION MEMORANDUM [See
Attachment at the bottom]
TO: Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies
SUBJECT: Early Head Start Grant Award
LEGAL AND RELATED REFERENCES: Head Start Act, as amended, Sec. 645A
PURPOSE: To inform Head Start grantees and delegate agencies about the first grants which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded under the Early Head Start program. This program provides comprehensive child development and family support services to low-income families with children under age three and to pregnant women.
BACKGROUND: The Early Head Start (EHS) program is the product of bipartisan legislation created under the Reauthorization of the Head Start Act in May 1994. At that time, Congress mandated a new program for low-income families with infants and toddlers.
In recent years, research on early childhood development has indicated that the years from conception to age three are critical in human development, and that services to support families and enhance growth and development can be helpful in outcomes for young children. In the summer of 1994, the Advisory Committee on Head Start Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers, appointed by HHS Secretary Donna Shalala and composed of child development and health and family services experts, established program guidelines and approaches.
In its report, previously distributed to Head Start programs, the Committee advised providing resources for high quality supports and serves to promote healthy child and family development as well as training, standards, monitoring, research and evaluation, and services coordination at the national level. It recommended enabling families and communities to design flexible and responsive programs, but required, at a minimum, that programs provide child development, family support, health services for young children and pregnant women, and home visits to families with newborns.
This Committee designed the program on four cornerstones: child development, family development, community building, and staff development. It agreed that the new program should be family-centered and community-based and also identified nine principles that serve as the foundation for Early Head Start: high quality; prevention and promotion; positive relationships and continuity; parent involvement; inclusion; culture; comprehensiveness, flexibility, responsiveness, and intensity; transition; and collaboration.
An announcement of availability of funds to establish Early Head Start programs was published in the Federal Register on March 17, 1995. In response to this announcement, 585 proposals were received.
INFORMATION: On September 30, 1995, the Administration on children, Youth and Families announced 68 new Early Head Start (EHS) grants (see attached list) which total $47.2 million. These projects serve over 5,000 children and families in 34 States as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Programs are located in urban and rural communities in all regions of the country.
Seven are new grantees, 22 are current Head Start programs, 24 are former Parent and Child Center (PCC) Programs, and 15 are former Comprehensive Child Development Programs (CCDPs). In addition to existing Head Start grantees, sponsoring organizations include universities, school systems, community mental health centers, medical centers, city and county governmental agencies, Indian Tribes, Community Action Agencies, child care providers, and other non-profit organizations.
Early Head Start is designed to enhance children's physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development; support parents -- both mother and fathers -- in fulfilling their parental roles; and help parents move toward economic independence. Programs are expected to offer certain core services, including high quality early education (both in and out of the home) and family support services, home visits, parent education, comprehensive health and mental health services, including services for women prior to, during, and after pregnancy; nutrition; and child care. However, EHS programs also have the flexibility to respond to the unique strengths and needs of communities and of each child and family.
Among the program options are family child care, center-based care, and home visiting. Several projects will use combinations of these models. In response to specific needs identified in their communities, some projects will emphasize certain program components, such as services for teen parents; family literacy; life skills development; substance abuse treatment; and injury and accident prevention. All projects will work with community partners to assure early, continuous, and comprehensive services.
EHS grantees will receive direct assistance through a network of experts in infant/toddler programs individually and in clusters. A training and technical assistance contract has been awarded to ZERO TO THREE/The national Center for Clinical Infant Programs; Far West Laboratories will provide assistance under a subcontract.
A rigorous evaluation plan was also developed to carry out multiple objectives, including the identification of successful program models and the variables that contribute to program outcomes. The research strategy will also lay the groundwork for later longitudinal studies. The national research contract has been awarded to Mathematical Policy Research with a subcontractor, Columbia University. A Request for Proposal for local research partners of current local EHS programs may compete for the local research grants and to be a site for the national evaluation.
EHS programs will be enrolling families throughout the coming year. All projects are expected to be completely operational by September 1996.
We view EHS as a model which will enable us to learn about providing quality services to families with the youngest children. The program will benefit all Head Start grantees and other community agencies which deliver vital early childhood and family support services.
/S/
Olivia A. Golden
Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Attachment
EARLY HEAD START GRANTEES
EHS grant recipients, listed alphabetically by State, are :
Alaska:
Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc., Anchorage, AK
Arizona:
Southwest Human Development, Inc., Phoenix, AZ
Arkansas:
Child Development, Inc., Russellville, AR
California:
Northcoast Children's Services, Arcata, CA
Sacramento Employment and Training Agency, Sacramento, CA;
Venice Family Clinic, Venice, CA
Colorado:
Clayton/Mile High Family Futures, Denver, CO
Community Partnerships for Child Development, Colorado Springs, CO
Friends of Maria Mitchell, Denver, CO
District of Columbia:
Edward C. Marzique Parent Child Center, Inc., Washington, DC
Florida:
School Board of Alachua County, Gainesville, FL
Dade County Board of Commissioners, Miami, FL
Georgia:
Berry College, Mount Berry, GA
Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA
Save the Children Federation, Atlanta, GA
Illinois:
City of Chicago, Department of Human Services, Chicago, IL
Ounce of Prevention Fund, Chicago, IL
Wabash Area Development, Inc., Enfield, IL
Indiana:
Hamilton Center, Inc., Terre Haute, IN
Iowa:
Mid-Iowa Community Action, Inc., Marshalltown, IA
Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc., Graettinger, IA
Kansas:
Child Care Association of Wichita/Sedgwick County, Wichita, KS
Unified School District #305, Salina, KS
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Kentucky:
Breckinridge-Grayson Programs, Inc., Leitchfield, KY
Murry Board of Education, Murray, KY
Maryland:
Family Services Agency, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD
Friends of the Family, Inc., Baltimore, MD
Michigan:
Region II Community Action Agency, Jackson, MI
Mississippi:
Friends of Children of Mississippi, Inc., Jackson, MS
Missouri:
Human Development Corporation, St. Louis, MO
KCMC Development Corporation, Kansas City, MO
Nebraska:
Central Nebraska Community Services, Loup City, NE
New Hampshire:
Community Action Program Belknap-Merrimack, Inc., Concord, NH
New Jersey:
Babyland Nursery, Inc., Newark, NJ
Northwest New Jersey Community Action Program, Phillipsburg, NJ
New York:
The Astor Home for Children, Rhinebeck, NY
Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc., Mayville, NY
Educational Alliance, Inc., New York, NY
P.E.A.C.E., Inc., Syracuse, NY
Project Teen Aid, Brooklyn, NY
North Carolina:
Asheville City Schools, Asheville, NC
North Dakota:
Little Hoop Community College, Fort Totten, ND
Ohio:
Child Focus, Inc., Batavia, OH
Cincinnati-Hamilton Community Action Commission, Cincinnati, OH
Oregon:
Southern Oregon Child and Family Council, Inc., Central Point, OR
Pennsylvania:
The Philadelphia Parent Child Center, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Puerto Rico:
ASPIRA Inc., of Puerto Rico, Rio Peidras, PR
New York Foundling Hospital (serves Puerto Rico), New York, NY
South Carolina:
Sumter School District 17, Sumter, SC
Sunbelt Human Advancement Resources, Inc., Greenville, SC
Tennessee:
City of Chattanooga, Human Services Department, Chattanooga, TN Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN
Texas:
Avance, Inc., San Antonio, TX
City of San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
Head Start of Greater Dallas, Inc., Dallas, TX
Texas Migrant Council, Inc., Laredo, TX
Utah:
Bear River Head Start, Logan, UT
Vermont:
Brattleboro Town School District, Brattleboro, VT
Central Vermont Community Action Council, Inc., Barre, VT
Virginia:
United Cerebral Palsy of Washington and Northern Virginia, Inc., Washington, DC
Washington:
Children's Home Society of Washington, Auburn, WA
Port Gamble Klallam Tribe, Kingston, WA
Washington State Community College #17, Spokane, WA
Washington State Migrant Council, Sunnyside, WA
West Virginia:
Monogalia County Board of Education, Morgantown, WV
Wisconsin:
Renewal Unlimited, Inc., Baraboo, WI
