Early Head Start, Head Start & Preschools

Early Head Start, Head Start & Preschools

Head Start was established in 1965 to serve low-income 3- and 4-year-old children and their families.

• • 30 years later, the federal Early Head Start (EHS) program was created to address children under age 3 and pregnant women.

  • Both programs provide services focused on the “whole child,” including early education addressing cognitive, developmental, and socio-emotional needs; medical and dental screenings and referrals; nutritional services; parental involvement activities and referrals to social service providers for the entire family; and mental health services.

These services are provided in a pre-school/daycare environment.

See Module 4, Handout 8: Early Head Start Fact Sheet

Module 4, Handout 9: Head Start Fact Sheet

There are many head starts throughout each community so the best way to locate a head start for your case is to go on the website and find the nearest center.

**A good daycare can do a lot of good. For a child who has had inconsistent attachments with multiple care givers, having the opportunity to form a healthy attachment with a day care provider or preschool teacher can be reparative and become a strong resiliency factor.

10% of day cares are really good; 40% actually do harm

All Head Start programs are required to complete the Program Information Report (PIR) on an annual basis. So their programs to have more consistency in the services they provide than others. However, it really comes down to the individual teacher’s in each program. For more information on how to assess a childcare provider or environment please see the:

See Module 4, Handout 7: Assessing Quality Care giving

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