DEPARTMENT: Human Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Melody Woosley
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT:
Head Start Briefing Item
SUMMARY:
This item presents the following Head Start grants items:
1. Approval of Head Start and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Policies
2. Briefing of Head Start and Early Head Start program and fiscal monthly activity for June 2017
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human services (HHS) requires recipients of Head Start grants to provide monthly briefings on program and fiscal activities and ongoing training throughout the year to their governing bodies. Additionally, HHS requires governing bodies to approve program policies. The City’s Community Health and Equity Committee and the Head Start Policy Council provide shared governance oversight of the City’s Head Start grants.
The Head Start and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) programs provide early childhood education, family support, and comprehensive support services to eligible children between the ages of six weeks and five years, and to 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 mission is to prepare children and engage families for school readiness and lifelong success. The program serves 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, the City’s Department of Human Services (DHS) provides direct program management, oversight, training and technical assistance, governance, family support and mental wellness services. This comprehensive services approach positively impacts families and holistically addresses the needs of child. DHS also contracts with EISD and SAISD for the provision of educational and disability services, the Metropolitan Health District for dental services, and is procuring a contractor for health services.
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 nonprofit child care centers to expand access to high-quality comprehensive services for 216 low-income infants and toddlers and their families.
Both programs (Head Start and Early Head Start) provide much-needed services to some of the City’s most vulnerable students. The Five-Year Strategic Plan Goals are to ensure: (1) children are prepared for kindergarten; (2) families are self-sufficient and know how to support children’s school readiness; (3) children are healthy and ready to learn; (4) children have safe environments to learn and thrive; and (5) highly-qualified staff are actively recruited and retained. During the 2017 - 2018 Academic Year, targeted strategies are planned to address improvement of: professional development and retention rates for staff; classroom and facility environments; communication of programmatic success and outcomes; and alignment of goals and data collection with partners.
ISSUE:
The items included in this memorandum provide a briefing and request approval of the Community Health and Equity Committee as follows:
1. Approval of Head Start and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Policies. Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) require the Governing Body to review and approve the Head Start and EHS-CCP policies. The revised policies for the 2017-2018 program year are in compliance with Head Start requirements and were approved by the Head Start Policy Council on July 25, 2017.
2. Briefing of Head Start and Early Head Start program and fiscal monthly activity for June 2017. This item provides a program and fiscal briefing for the month of June 2017. The report includes a status of enrollment, meals served, family and community support, health, education, and fiscal indicators.
ALTERNATIVES:
The review and approval of items included in this memorandum are required for program compliance with HHS rules and regulations for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no anticipated impact to the general fund as a result of these actions.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the items included in this memorandum.