HEAD START HISTORY
In 1964, the Federal Government asked a panel of child development
experts to draw up a program to help communities meet the needs
of disadvantaged preschool children.. The panel report became the
blueprint for Project Head Start.
Project Head Start, launched as an eight-week summer program by
the Office of Economic Opportunity in 1965, was designed to help
break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income
families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social,
health, nutritional, and psychological needs. Recruiting children
age three to school entry age, Head Start was enthusiastically received
by education, child development specialists, community leaders,
and parents across the Nation. Head Start serves 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
many American Indians and migrant children.
In 1969, 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, and has now become a program within
the Administration on Children, Youth and Families in the Department
of Health and Human Services. A well-established, though still an
innovative program, Head Start has had a strong impact on communities
and early childhood program across the country.
The program is locally administered by community-based non-profit
organizations and school systems. Grants are awarded by the Department
of Health and Human Services Regional offices, except for the American
Indian and Migrant programs, which are administered in Washington,
D.C.
For statistical information on Head Start: Head
Start Statistical Fact Sheets.
Last Modified: 06/11/2002
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