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Head Start: Challenges Faced in Demonstrating Program Results and Responding to Societal Changes
 

Through the years, Head Start has provided a comprehensive array of services, as envisioned by the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) 1993. Questions exist about whether Head Start is structured to meet the needs of today's participants who live in a society much changed since the mid-1960s when the program was created. Program staff can review this report to see how these social trends continue to raise questions about how well Head Start is structured to meet participants' needs and, if changes are needed, what those changes should be. Families' needs have changed as more parents are working full time either by choice or by necessity.
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Head Start: Challenges Faced in Demonstrating Program Results and Responding to Societal Changes
 

Head Start has, through the years, provided a comprehensive array of services and, as envisioned by the Results Act, has in recent years substantially strengthened its emphasis on determining the results of those services. Its processes still provide too little information; however, about how well the program is achieving its intended purposes. The Department of Heath and Human Services has developed a performance assessment framework that effectively links program activities with the program's overall strategic mission and goal. This framework also includes measurable objectives for how the program will be implemented and what outcomes will be achieved.

This testimony is based on the preliminary results from an ongoing study that we are conducting at your request on how HHS ensures that Head Start programs are accountable for complying with laws and regulations and for achieving program purposes. For more on this report >>> [PDF, 350KB]

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Head Start: Challenges Faced in Demonstrating Program Results and Responding to Societal Changes. T-HEHS-98-183. GAO. 1998. English. [PDF, 350KB].