About Us

Head Start Program Facts: Fiscal Year 2019

Established in 1965, Head Start promotes school readiness for children in low-income families by offering educational, nutritional, health, social, and other services. Since its inception, Head Start has served more than 37 million children, birth to age 5, and their families. In 2019, Head Start was funded to serve nearly 1 million children and pregnant women in centers, family homes, and in family child care homes in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the nation.

For term definitions and fact sheets from other years, see Head Start Program Annual Fact Sheets.

Download the PDF version.

Federal Appropriations

The Congress of the United States authorizes the amount of federal spending for Head Start each year. The Head Start program is administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Federal grants are awarded directly to public agencies, private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, tribal governments, and school systems for operating Head Start programs in local communities.

Activity

Amount

Head Start Program, incl. Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships

$9,658,096,317

Training and Technical Assistance

$239,679,418

Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation

$21,695,911

Monitoring Support

$41,994,808

Program Support

$41,994,256

Designation Renewal System (DRS) Transitions Support

$24,999,980

Total

$10,028,460,690

Annual Federal Funding and Funded Enrollment by State

The Head Start program serves children, families, and pregnant women in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and six territories. The table in this section presents the total actual funding awarded and funded enrollment of Head Start programs in each state and territory.

AIAN funding is awarded to AIAN tribal governments. AIAN programs operate in 26 states, and in some cases, their services cross state lines. MSHS funding and funded enrollment are shown as one total, as this program supports children and families who receive services in various states during the year. Thus, federal funding and funded enrollment for these services cannot simply be attributed to individual states.

Annual Federal Funding and Funded Enrollment

 

Head Start (excl. AIAN)

AIAN1

State/Territory

Federal Funding

Funded Enrollment

Federal Funding

Funded Enrollment

Alabama

$145,534,918

 14,285

 

 

Alaska

$18,635,001

 1,474

$34,121,364

1,924

Arizona

$163,117,180

 13,376

$36,035,427

3,198

Arkansas

$100,435,705

 9,597

 

 

California

$1,234,170,149

 89,211

$12,603,386

801

Colorado

$110,068,356

 9,631

$2,564,882

183

Connecticut

$68,784,202

 5,755

 

 

Delaware

$20,198,087

 2,147

 

 

District of Columbia

$36,274,655

 3,727

 

 

Florida

$409,664,176

 40,632

 

 

Georgia

$241,459,177

 24,088

 

 

Hawaii

$29,422,820

 2,941

 

 

Idaho

$37,515,332

 2,944

$4,575,915

319

Illinois

$379,385,919

 34,803

 

 

Indiana

$147,022,115

 13,973

 

 

Iowa

$75,824,370

 7,273

 

 

Kansas

$75,832,939

 7,060

$1,998,314

109

Kentucky

$169,948,523

 15,167

 

 

Louisiana

$194,760,231

 20,819

 

 

Maine

$41,009,877

 3,027

$845,254

60

Maryland

$111,064,719

 9,483

 

 

Massachusetts

$150,718,056

 11,771

 

 

Michigan

$345,534,126

 29,394

$7,572,000

566

Minnesota

$116,933,944

 11,173

$14,338,425

1,004

Mississippi

$208,907,300

 22,540

$2,297,640

268

Missouri

$174,843,143

 14,663

 

 

Montana

$34,836,453

 3,051

$19,277,877

1,790

Nebraska

$56,351,047

 4,912

$5,299,519

349

Nevada

$39,187,438

 3,021

$4,184,086

362

New Hampshire

$19,754,206

 1,563

 

 

New Jersey

$177,684,738

 15,464

 

 

New Mexico

$71,647,498

 7,055

$27,772,014

2,452

New York

$586,684,467

 47,947

$1,427,851

143

North Carolina

$221,061,697

 21,078

$2,857,859

230

North Dakota

$23,491,492

 1,954

$11,416,670

969

Ohio

$357,759,541

 34,004

 

 

Oklahoma

$127,895,621

 14,377

$33,063,047

3,007

Oregon

$99,168,561

 12,724

$4,314,780

396

Pennsylvania

$333,717,500

 35,979

 

 

Rhode Island

$32,317,939

 2,682

 

 

South Carolina

$121,722,173

 11,882

$1,669,500

112

South Dakota

$26,754,739

 2,759

$22,834,477

1,820

Tennessee

$171,569,868

 16,716

 

 

Texas

$665,892,696

 70,265

$450,170

34

Utah

$69,545,293

 5,624

$4,130,938

242

Vermont

$22,364,137

 1,447

 

 

Virginia

$140,146,070

 14,029

 

 

Washington

$162,690,497

 11,360

$22,847,979

1,486

West Virginia

$70,268,635

 7,849

 

 

Wisconsin

$142,200,733

 13,372

$13,121,798

1,089

Wyoming

$19,819,142

 1,590

$2,896,335

295

American Samoa

$3,951,215

1,332

 

 

Guam

$3,474,939

534

 

 

No. Marianas

$3,358,925

460

 

 

Palau

$1,759,055

350

 

 

Puerto Rico

$307,758,411

32,043

 

 

Virgin Islands

$10,321,207

1,014

 

 

Subtotal:

$8,932,220,953

819,391

$294,517,507

23,208

MSHS

$431,357,857

30,420

 

 

Total
Funding $9,658,096,317
Enrollment 873,019

Program Year Statistics

Each year, Head Start programs are required to submit Program Information Reports (PIR) on the services they have provided to children and families throughout the program year, including child, family, and staff demographics and program characteristics.

For a copy of the PIR form, detailed reports, and data sets for the 2019 PIR and prior years, and for further information, please visit: Program Information Report (PIR)

Program Characteristics:

Most grantees provided both Head Start and Early Head Start services. The methodology for calculating the percent of grantees by program type has been updated for this fact sheet, and moving forward, to reflect the agency level to account for multi-grant agencies.

  • Twenty-nine percent of grantees provided Head Start preschool services only.
  • Thirteen percent of grantees provided Early Head Start (EHS) services only.
  • Fifty-eight percent of grantees provided both Head Start and Early Head Start services.

Most Head Start preschool services were provided in center-based settings that, based on local design, vary in the number of days per week and hours per day classes are in session. Over half of EHS services were provided in center-based settings, and less than half were offered in home-based program settings.

Pie chart showing the percentage of children enrolled in the various program options for Head Start.

 

Pie chart showing the percentage of children enrolled in the various program options for Early Head Start.

Child and Family Demographics:

Head Start programs cumulatively served 1,047,000 children ages birth to 5 and pregnant women throughout the 2018–2019 program year.

Pie chart showing percent of children in each age year starting with pregnant women, less then one year old, and ending tih 5 years old.

Head Start served a diverse group of children, families, and pregnant women. Thirty-seven percent identified themselves as Hispanic/Latino, and 30% were Black/African-American.

Families were asked to self-identify both an ethnicity and a race category based on U.S. Census Bureau measures. For example, a family that identifies their child as Black and Cuban was counted in the "Black or African-American" race category for the race question and counted in the "Hispanic or Latino" category for the separate question on ethnicity.

Twenty-eight percent of participants were from families that primarily spoke a language other than English at home. Approximately 22% of participants were from families that primarily spoke Spanish at home.

Pie chart showing enrollment for each race.

 

Pie chart showing enrollment divided into Hispanic and non-Hispanic, non-Latino.

Services to Children and Families:

Head Start programs work with families to help ensure children have access to needed services and resources. The number of children who received immunizations increased from the beginning of the program year to the end of the program year. Also, more families had health insurance and medical and dental homes for their children at the end of the 2018–2019 program year than at the beginning.

Bar chart showing percentage of children who had various health measures at the beginning and end of enrollment.

Head Start programs work with families to ensure they have the means to obtain health insurance, services for children with disabilities, adequate housing, job training, and more. In fiscal year 2019:

  • Most children had public health insurance. At the end of the program year, 90% of children were enrolled in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or a state-funded child health insurance program.
  • Thirteen percent of Head Start cumulative enrollment was made up of children with disabilities, defined as children having special plans under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In comparison, nationally, about 3% of infants and toddlers and 6% of preschool-age children have identified disabilities. Head Start serves a greater percentage of children with disabilities than found in the overall population.
  • Among pregnant women enrolled in EHS, approximately 79% received prenatal education on fetal development and 21% had medically high-risk pregnancies.
  • Head Start served about 947,000 families cumulatively throughout the program year. The number of families served is less than the number of participants served, since some families have more than one child enrolled.
  • Approximately 59,000 families served during the enrollment year experienced homelessness. Of those families, 27% found housing during the program year. Approximately 69,000 Head Start families received housing assistance, such as subsidies, utilities, and repairs.
  • Approximately 151,000 families, or 16%, received services related to job training and adult education, such as general equivalency diploma (GED) programs and college selection.

Program Staff:

Head Start programs employed and contracted with 273,000 staff. Parents of current or former Head Start children made up 23% of Head Start staff.

  • Approximately 1,061,000 adults volunteered in their local Head Start program. Of these, 749,000 were parents of Head Start children.
  • About 127,000 staff members provided child development services to children, including teachers, assistant teachers, home visitors, and family child care providers.
  • Among child development staff, 30% were proficient in a language other than English.
  • Seventy-two percent of all Head Start center-based preschool teachers had a baccalaureate degree or higher in early childhood education, or in a related field with experience. The Head Start Act specifies that 50% of center-based preschool teachers nationwide should have had these credentials by 2013.
Graphic displaying percentages of degrees for Head Start center-based preschool teachers

1AIAN funding is awarded to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes. For reference, the funding and enrollment has been split out by the state in which the Tribe is headquartered. Some Tribes serve children across state lines.