DEPARTMENT: Human Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Melody Woosley
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT: Head Start Briefing Item
SUMMARY:
This item presents the following Head Start grants item:
1. Program and Fiscal Briefing for March 2017
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requires that recipients of Head Start grants provide monthly briefings on program and fiscal activities and ongoing training throughout the program year to their governing bodies. The City's Neighborhoods and Livability Committee and the Head Start Policy Council provide shared governance oversight of the Department of Human Services (DHS) Head Start grants.
BACKGROUND:
The Department of Human Services (DHS) Head Start and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grants are federally funded programs administered by HHS. The programs provide early childhood education, family support, and comprehensive support services to eligible children, between the ages of six weeks and five years, and their families.
The Early Head Start - Child Care Partnership grant provides early childhood education and development for low-income families with infants and toddlers (ages 6 weeks to 35 months). DHS partners with six non-profit child care centers to expand access to high-quality comprehensive services for 216 low-income infants and toddlers and their families.
The Head Start Program serves children at or below the federal poverty line and prioritizes the most vulnerable children, including those with disabilities, experiencing homelessness, and children in the foster care system. The program serves a total of 3,020 children: 777 children in the Edgewood Independent School District (EISD) and 2,243 children in the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). As the program grantee, DHS provides direct program management, oversight, training, technical assistance, governance, family support and mental wellness services. Furthermore, DHS contracts with EISD and SAISD...
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