INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

TO: All Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies

SUBJECT: U.S. General Accounting Office Questionnaire of Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies

INFORMATION: In preparation for the reauthorization of the law under which the Head Start Program operates, the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) has been asked by the Congress to provide it with a comprehensive picture of Head Start, including local variations in services, participants served, costs associated with Head Start services, and service delivery arrangements. GAO has also been asked to review the systems that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) uses to assess Head Start grantee and delegate agency performance.

Although there will be a variety of strategies used to collect information to develop the picture of Head Start, a principle source of information is a questionnaire that GAO has recently sent to all Head Start grantees and delegate agencies. To be responsive to the timing needs of the Congress, the questionnaire must be completed and returned to GAO by June 1, 1997.

I know that this is a particularly busy time of year for all Head Start programs, so I appreciate that you are taking the time to complete the questionnaire. The information about your program is important and will assist them in developing a complete picture of Head Start and how it operates in a variety of settings and communities throughout the country.

/S/
Helen H. Taylor
Associate Commissioner
Head Start Bureau