Assignment for EDUC 6105

1. CMCCAA Head Start
Process of Change
-Dana James

2. History, Structure & Culture
Head Start originated in 1964 as a part of
President Johnson’s declaration of War
of Poverty
The program was established in order to
meet the needs of underprivileged
preschool-aged children
Designed to break the cycle of poverty by
providing children of low-income families
a comprehensive program to meet their
emotional, social, health, nutritional, and
psychological needs
Progressed from an 8 week
demonstration program to a full day, year
round program

3. History, Structure & Culture
Head Start is a division of The Department of Health & Human
Services and is funded through grant programs
Ran through local agencies, such as Community Action programs
but is monitored by the Office of the Administration for Children
and Families Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center
(ECLKC) through 12 regional offices
My local Head Start is classified into Region 4 which is based out
of Atlanta, GA
Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Action Agency
(CMCCAA) administers my local Head Start Program

4. –CMCCAA Head Start Philosophy
“Staff must be qualified, nurtured, encouraged and
rewarded as they enhance their skills and
educational levels to provide the quality services
deserved by families and their children. Inherent to
the philosophy is the determination to be an agent
for change within the community, to serve as
advocates and liaisons for the low-Income. To
strive to ensue that programs and services address
the real needs of the community in a planned,
orderly, efficient, effective and professional
manner”

5. Growth & Change
Since starting CMCCAA Head
Start, the program as evolved from
2 small centers with 4 total
classrooms to 7 centers with a total
of 21 classrooms
In 2011, CMCCAA Head Start
recognized the need for more
classrooms in order to serve more
families
This lead to a purchase of a larger
building that combined 2 centers (5
classrooms) which allowed for an
additional 4 classrooms serving 80
more families

6. Growth & Change
Lots of initiative was taken by management staff in an effort to prevent a
resistance to change
Managers stepped in to help their employees with their daily tasks during
the transition since there was such an unusual load while the moving
process occurred
More staff was hired to prevent turnover that could happen when larger
operational needs occur
Lunch was provided the staff the first week during the transitional phase
into the new center
These actions taken by management staff kept the overall moral of the
employees up and helped them to remain positive during the change

7. With this change and merging of 2 centers came lots of
challenges and bumps in the road
Two major problem areas came from the logistics of the
move and the assignment of new roles at the new
location
The maintenance department in charge of moving the 2
centers into the new location were not time-efficient,
which cause a delay in opening the center for the 2012
school year
New roles had to be assigned in order to smoothly
operate and accommodate a much larger center

8. Growth & Change
The overall support from the management staff helped to
keep a positive attitude from the majority of the staff
members
When a problem arose, they were quick to address the
issue in a timely manner
Staffing issues were addressed
The biggest problem came from the maintenance
department falling behind on their deadline to be moved into
the new facility

9. Fostering Innovation
The leadership at CMCCAA Head Start
has a great outlook at making
necessary changes and being
innovative
A change was needed to better serve
the community and they sought out a
way to address this need
Leaders support their staff and
encourage them in a positive manner
CMCCAA Head Start Family Service
Specialist said “My managers did
everything possible to support us
during this major change and I
appreciated their help”

10. References
CMCCAA. Helping People, Changing Lives. Head Start
Program, 2012.
http://www.cmccaa.com/headstart.html. Accessed 13
Aug. 2016.
National Head Start Association. Mission, Vision,
History, 2016. http://www.nhsa.org/about-us/mission-
vision-history#. Accessed 12 Aug. 2016.
Office of Head Start. An Office of the Administration for
Children and Families. About Us, 2015.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/about. Accessed 13 Aug. 2016.