Head Start programs are not required to provide transportation services. However, when they do provide those services, they must comply with key regulations.Explore these resources to support programs in the safe and efficient movement of children from one point to another. Find materials on transportation services, coordination options, vehicles, child safety restraints, and other requirements. Learn how to develop transportation systems that are consistent with service area needs and comply with state and federal regulations.
Implementing safe practices is essential when providing transportation services. Watch this webinar from the Office of Head Start to explore transportation services and vehicles during a pandemic.
This video discusses how to keep children safe while transporting them to and from early education settings and answers common questions on policies and strategies.
Head Start transportation teams have an important job. Each day, safe and reliable transportation services can be a child’s first interaction with Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Many young children are seriously injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes. Using a car seat reduces the risk of death in passenger vehicles by 71 percent for infants younger than age 1 and by 54 percent for toddlers ages 1 to 4. Early education staff can use these flip charts to help families learn how to keep their child safe in a motor vehicle.
Local child care programs and school systems that provide transportation services are responsible for ensuring that children with special needs are safely transported on all forms of federally approved transportation. Program directors and transportation personnel can refer to this article for recommendations to consider when developing plans to provide the most current and proper support to children with special transportation requirements.
Learn more about using active supervision and attention management strategies on Head Start buses.
This module focuses on the transportation of the student with special needs and the equipment that these students may require. It is intended as an in-service refresher training for drivers and transportation personnel of students with special needs. Program directors and transportation coordinators can incorporate this online module as part of the program's staff training.
Head Start programs that provide transportation services should consider communication skills training to increase the efficiency of their transportation staff. Program directors and transportation supervisors may use this resource to identify training issues that impact the quality of transportation services.
This checklist can be used by local programs that provide transportation services as a tool for ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations..
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website provides a quick reference for the proper use of child car seats and booster seats. Head Start program directors, health managers, and parents can determine the type of car or booster seat a child requires based on the child’s height, weight, and age. Posters and other promotional materials to encourage the use of appropriate child safety seats also are offered.