DEPARTMENT: Human Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Melody Woosley
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT:
Head Start Briefing and Approval of Several Items
SUMMARY:
This item requests approval of the 2015-2016 Policies and Procedures, Head Start Policy Council Amended Bylaws, 2014-2015 Annual Report, and Monitoring Policy Update. This item also provides information on Head Start program updates, and fiscal expenditures for the month of September 2015.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The City's Head Start program, federally funded and administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provides early education, family support, and support services to eligible children, between the ages of three and five, and their families. Head Start specifically serves children at or below 125% of the Federal Poverty Level and prioritizes the most vulnerable, including those with disabilities, homeless, and children in the foster care system.
The Head Start program serves 777 children in the Edgewood Independent School District (EISD) and 2,243 children in the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). The Department of Human Services (DHS), as the program grantee, provides direct program management, oversight, technical assistance, governance, family support and mental wellness services and contracts with SAISD and EISD for the provision of educational services; the Metropolitan Health District for dental services; and University Health System for health services.
Early Head Start is an HHS funded early childhood education and development program for low-income families with infants and toddlers (ages 6 weeks to 35 months). In 2015, DHS established an Early Head Start - Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) program. DHS partners with non-profit child care service providers to expand access to high-quality comprehensive services for 216 low-income infants and toddlers and their families.
The Economic and Human Developm...
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