Head Start, Early Head Start Programs Received Over $2 Billion in Recovery Act Funding

Introduction

Head Start was established in 1965 to promote school readiness and provide a comprehensive array of health, nutritional and social services to eligible four and five year old preschoolers and their families. The program has enrolled more than 25 million children since its inception. The Early Head Start program was established in 1995 for children from birth to three years of age and pregnant women in recognition of scientific evidence that a child’s earliest years are extremely important to healthy development.

Distribution of Funds

Grants totaling nearly $220 million allow current Head Start grantees to serve 15,500 additional children and families. Grants worth nearly $1.2 billion, support Early Head Start expansion and allow the program to serve 48,000 more pregnant women, infants, toddlers and their families, nearly doubling the number of Early Head Start participants. The increased number of children and families served by these grants created 15,000 new jobs at Head Start and Early Head Start centers, as additional staff were hired to handle increased enrollment.

Other Head Start Recovery Act funds (approximately $354 million) were used to support quality improvement efforts, including:

• Helping improve staff compensation and training,
• Upgrading Head Start centers and classrooms, and
• Increasing hours of operation and enhancing transportation services.

An additional $466 million, including $110 million from Early Head Start ARRA funds, $147 million from Head Start Recovery Act, and $209 million from the fiscal year 2009 appropriation funds, were used to award all Head Start and Early Head Start grantees a nearly five percent cost-of-living increase to absorb the inflationary pressure and increasing costs of care and to bolster training and technical assistance activities.

The Recovery Act supported coordination between Head Start, Early Head Start and state-run early childhood care and education programs by providing grants worth $100 million in Head Start Recovery Act funds to states to establish advisory councils on early childhood education and care.

A breakdown of the activity and source of Head Start and Early Head Start funding from the Recovery Act and Congressional appropriation is included below.

Early Head Start and Head Start Recovery Act Implementation Plans

• Early Head Start (PDF - 67.2 KB)
• Head Start (PDF - 78.84 KB)