Head Start is an educational program that changes the lives of many underserved youth in the United States. Here is the history of this great program.

2. In January of 1964,
President Lyndon Johnson
took up the cause of building
a Great Society by declaring
"War on Poverty” in his
State of the Union speech.
Shortly thereafter, Sargent Shriver took the lead in assembling a
panel of experts to develop a comprehensive child development
program that would help communities meet the needs of
disadvantaged preschool children.

3. This program was called Head Start…
…a comprehensive eight-week summer program
staffed by thousands of volunteers from across
the nation with a budget of $96.4 million

4. The plan was to open the doors to a few thousand children
nationwide that would teach low-income children (ages 3-5)
in a few weeks what they needed to know to start
elementary school by providing a comprehensive program
to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional and
psychological needs of early child development
through community-based organizations.
More than 561,000 children showed up,
each one was welcomed with open arms.

5. Congress required Head Start programs to deliver open participation of the
parents. Parents were asked to participate in the development, leadership,
and overall program direction. This is still true today.
Many summer programs
became nine-month, half-day
programs in the first few years,
in 1969 under the Nixon administration,
Head Start was transferred from
the Office of Economic Opportunity
to the Office of Child Development
in the U.S. Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare.

6. In 1970, the Parents Manual 70.2 was published.
The manual strengthened and clarified the role of parents
and community representative in the decision-making
process. It was incorporated as part of the original
Head Start Performance Standards in 1973.

7. Here are some interesting facts about Head Start:
In 1972, 10% of
national enrollment
was set aside for
children with disabilities 10%

8. Here are some interesting facts about Head Start:
In 1977, the
Carter administration
began bilingual and
bicultural programs
in 21 states.
21states

9. Here are some interesting facts about Head Start:
Head Start's budget
exceeded $1 billion
in 1984 under the
Reagan administration
$1billion

10. The expansion to Early Head Start began in 1988.
Congress authorized the Comprehensive Child Development program,
a five-year demonstrated program to provide comprehensive, integrated,
continuous support services to low-income families with infants.
34programs
Twenty-four (24) programs were funded initially and in 1993, 10 more
programs were funded with a special emphasis on services to families
with substance abuse problems. The Head Start Expansion and Quality
Improvement Act was passed in 1990, and the Head Start State collaboration
project began. There is a Head Start State Collaboration office in every State.

11. In 1993, the President’s Commission on Head Start was
established. A year later the Commission rolled out
major changes in Head Start re-authorization.
The reauthorization of the Head Start Act
in 1994 made it possible to establish
Early Head Start as a program to serve
infants and toddlers under the
age of 3, and pregnant women.
This expanded the
Comprehensive Child Development program
to Early Head Start programs across the country.

12. Under the Clinton
administration in 1995,
Head Start's appropriation
was $3.53 billion and
the first Early Head Start
grants were given
with services to nearly
752,000 children.
The second revision for the Performance Standards was made in 1998,
and the re-authorized to expand to full-day and full-year services.

13. Under George W. Bush administration
in 2007, the School Readiness Act
was passed. The Reauthorization created
six National Centers and a state-based
system to ensure success. These centers
provide training and technical assistance to
early learning programs across the United States.
The statute also included a provision that regulations move programs from an
indefinite project period to a five-year grant cycle. Programs would be required
to demonstrate they are of high quality or a competitive grant opportunity
would be made available within the community.
Congress instructed the Office of Head Start
to update its performance standards and to
ensure any such revisions to the standards do not
eliminate or reduce quality, scope, nutritional,
educational, social, types of health, parental
involvement, or other services programs provide.

14. The Office of Head Start moved in 2013 from indefinite project periods to definite
project periods of five years (60 months) for all Head Start grantees as part of the
Designation Renewal System (DRS). The DRS ensures that organizations of the
highest quality continue to provide Head Start services and opens the service areas
of others to competition. This renewed commitment to quality provides an opportunity
to implement changes in HS funding practices and oversight of Head Start programs.
The third revision of the Performance Standard was in 2016.
Under the Obama administration
in 2009, the American
Reinvestment and Recovery
Act added more than 64,000
slots for Early Head Start
and Head Start programs.

15. Head Start serves over a million children
and their families each year in urban
and rural areas in all 50 states,
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico
and the U.S. territories, including
American Indian, Alaskan Native
and Migrant/Seasonal communities.
Presently, Head Start is administered by the Administration for Children
and Families (ACF) in the Department of Health and Human Services.

16. Head Start is one of the longest-running programs attempting to
address systemic poverty in the United States. As of late 2016, more than
30 million children had participated in Early Head Start and Head Start.
Today there are more than 1800 organizations in the United States,
serving children from birth to five and their families. Head Start and Early
Head Start programs offer a variety of service models, depending on
the needs of the local community.

17. Many Head Start and Early Head Start programs are based in centers and schools.
Other programs are in child care centers and family child care homes. Some
programs offer home-based services that assigned dedicated staff who conduct
weekly visits to children in their own home and work with the parent as the
child's primary teacher. Head Start programming is responsive to the ethnic,
cultural, and linguistic heritage of each child and family.

18. Conclusion
As the ‘war on poverty”…continues the head start program has shown
us that the true weapon against a life of limited options is education.
Head Start program continues to make a difference in the lives of many
youth, preparing them for elementary school and education beyond.
If we were to take a moment to look into the childhood of some
of our countries’ most successful business men and women,
medical providers, policy changers and leaders. I’m sure we would
find a few head start graduates among them.
The Head start program is much more than a preschool
for the economically disadvantaged, it is an effective tool
in our success as a country, creating a smarter, stronger and
more globally competitive generation in this nation