Program Design & Head Start

Head Start Program Structure and Overview  

Head Start and Early Head Start are federal programs authorized by the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007. Head Start and Early Head Start provide comprehensive child development, health, and social service programs for low-income families. Head Start Programs are based in child care centers and family child care homes. Another option is a home-based service in which a staff member visits a child’s home once a week.  The goal of Head Start and Early Head Start is to provide activities and programs that develop the social, cognitive, and emotional skills of children, while supporting their families’ well-being and development.  Since its establishment, Head Start has provided its services to low-income infants, children, and pregnant women in the U.S. at no charge. Head Start is for children aged three to five. While Early Head Start is focused on providing services to families with infants and toddlers aged birth to three years. Expectant mothers are also able to participate in Early Head Start.  

The Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) initiative provides a layering of funding for comprehensive and continuous services to low-income infants, toddlers, and their families Head Start Programs are administered by the Office of Head Start (OHS), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).1 Federal Head Start law requires the administering agency to develop Head Start Program performance standards for Head Start Program services. In accordance with federal law, ACF has developed Head Start Program performance regulations.  Federal law requires states to create State Advisory Councils.  In Minnesota, the State Advisory Council for Early Childhood Education and Care is the established policy council required by federal regulations. These State Advisory Councils are charged with coordinating the larger early care and education setting, and do not have authority over the Head Start or Early Head Start programming at the local level. At the local level, Head Start and Early State Grantees must create a Health Services Advisory Committee (HSAC). “The HSAC is an advisory group usually composed of local health providers who represent a wide variety of local social services agencies. They may include pediatricians, nurses, nurse practitioners, dentists, nutritionists, and mental health providers. Head Start staff and parents also serve on the HSAC. Effective partnerships are key to the success of this approach. HSACs help programs to make decisions about health services and strengthen the communities where Head Start families live. Additionally, children in Early Head Start must be an infant or toddler younger than three years old, and pregnant women may be eligible for services. Children in Head Start Programs must be at least three years.

An agency or contracted provider may enroll an additional 35% of participants whose families do not meet enrollment eligibility and whose family incomes are below 130% of the poverty line if it establishes and implements outreach to ensure it is meeting the needs of eligible families and enrolls eligible families first.

 Head Start and Early Head Start programs receive funding through the Consolidation Appropriations Act of 2016. In 2016, under the Consolidation Appropriations Act, $9.17 billion was appropriated to Head Start programs. An additional $135 million was allocated to Early Head Start programs.

As stated above, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the federal agency that is responsible for overseeing and administering Head Start program funds. Each fiscal year, the Secretary of HHS determines the amount to be appropriated to the State. The amount appropriated is determined by the amount Head Start agencies received in the prior year through base grants. The Secretary also determines how many new Head Start Programs to fund. Of the amount appropriated to Head Start programs, at least 2.5 percent but not more than three percent must be reserved to fund training and technical assistance, 20 percent of which must be used for Early Head Start programs.

HHS operates ten regional offices throughout the United States. The HHS regional office that serves Minnesota is Region five which also serves Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Once a program is designated a Head Start agency, a Head Start grant is made directly to the agency through the OHS regional office. Federal assistance to an agency cannot exceed 80% of the approved total program costs. Head Start grants also require agencies to contribute 20% towards the total program costs as a non-federal match. OHS may provide financial assistance to the agency for up to five years for the planning, administration, and evaluation of Head Start Programs.

Additionally, OHS can award collaboration grants and start-up grants. A collaboration grant can be awarded to a State’s collaboration office to facilitate collaboration among Head Start agencies within the State. A start-up grant is a one-time grant to the State to develop or enhance childhood education and care.

Head Start Program Structure 

An organization that is designated as a Head Start agency must provide Head Start services through a child care center,  a family child care home, home visiting, and/or an approved locally-designated variation. Regardless of the child care setting that is chosen, the program must deliver the full range of Head Start Program services, which include: education and child development, health, family and community engagement, services for children with disabilities, and transition services.

Head Start agencies must establish and maintain a formal structure for program governance that includes a governing body, a policy council at the agency level, and policy committee at the delegate level, and a parent committee. Governing bodies have a legal and fiscal responsibility to administer and oversee the agency's Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Policy councils are responsible for the direction of the agency's Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Parents of children enrolled in the program make up the policy council and have responsibilities to oversee the design, implementation, and monitoring of the federal Head Start program.

Locally-designated Program Variations

If there are unique needs in a community that does not fit the above program models, an agency or contracted provider can request to operate a locally-designated program option. This can include a combination of the above program options. In order to provide Head Start Program services through the variation option, the program must complete a waiver request and be approved by HHS.

Provider and Family Allocations

1. According to the federal process, any organization that wants to receive Head Start funding must submit an application to OHS. To apply, the organization must propose a service area where the Head Start programs would be administered and complete a community needs assessment. Once an organization is chosen to receive a federal Head Start program grant, they are referred to as a Head Start “agency.

Practically speaking, applications are only accepted with new funds are available, or there is an open competition for existing grants.  New funding opportunities are very rare.   Open competitions are more common, but require that a service area is available in a given state and locality.  In Minnesota, for example, the service areas are currently served by various agencies.

An agency can enter into an agreement with another entity to administer Head Start Services, which is referred to as a delegate agency. The agency must support, oversee, and ensure the delegate agency is providing high-quality services to children and families and meeting all applicable Head Start requirements. Once a program is designated a Head Start agency, a Head Start grant is made directly to the agency, or the delegate agency, through the HHS regional office. The Head Start agency or delegate agency may then partner with a child care center or family child care home to deliver program services.

An agency must use funds from USDA Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services child nutrition programs as the primary source of payment for meal services. Head Start and Early Head Start funds can be used to cover allowable food costs not covered by the USDA.