Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey: Baby FACES 2018
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Early Head Start Programs, Staff, and Infants/Toddlers and Families Served: Baby FACES 2018 (Data Tables)
OPRE Report 2021-92
Associated Project
Clients
Key Findings
- Families served by Early Head Start are ethnically and linguistically diverse. The median family household income in the past year is about $23,000. Nearly 40 percent of families have medium or high levels of demographic risk. In spite of those challenges, families and children are faring well and managing their stress. Parents report positive relationships with their children, and are responsive and sensitive to their child’s needs.
- Early Head Start teachers and home visitors are well educated and experienced. Most teachers (63 percent) and home visitors (80 percent) have at least a college degree and infant/toddler experience (9 years for teachers and 6 years for home visitors).
- Early Head Start teachers and home visitors receive professional development and support from the programs. Most teachers and home visitors (70 percent or more) have participated in a wide range of professional development activities (including individual or group supervision meetings and classroom/home visit observations with feedback) and received training on a variety of topics. A majority of teachers (66 percent) and home visitors (56 percent) have coaches, and most of them meet with their coaches at least once a month.
- Generally, Early Head Start classrooms are in the mid-range of quality. On average, however, Early Head Start teachers provide stronger support for children’s social-emotional development (with means ranging from 4.2–5.4 out of 7) than for their language and learning (with means ranging from 3.0–3.8 out of 7). Teachers say they have positive relationships with infants and toddlers. Teachers and parents also report positive relationships with each other.
- On their visits to the homes of Baby FACES families, home visitors are more likely to address child development (84 percent) and parent-child interactions (66 percent) than they are to cover more general topics. Almost all families (96 percent) in home-based services had received two or more home visits over the preceding four weeks, with about half of the families receiving four or more visits. Parents and home visitors believe they have strong working relationships with each other.
Early Head Start provides a comprehensive array of services for low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers. This includes child development services, child care, parenting education, case management, health care and referrals, and family support. In 2018, Early Head Start served more than 166,000 children and families (Office of Head Start [OHS] 2019).
The Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES) 2018 provides a wealth of information about Early Head Start programs, center-based or home-based services, teachers and home visitors, and the children and families they serve. Specifically, Baby FACES 2018 describes the children and families participating in Early Head Start, the services they receive, and the staff who serve them. It also describes how programs support staff to ensure the provision of high-quality services and how the quality of those services relate to the well-being of children and families.
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