Selecting Families with the Greatest Needs
Lessons from the Head Start REACH Case Studies
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Associated Project
Head Start REACH: Strengthening Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Approaches with Families
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
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Key Findings
- Programs use information from their community needs assessments to formulate and update their selection criteria, reflecting which families programs should focus on for enrollment.
- Programs use information obtained during the application process, including the family interview, to understand family stressors and dynamics, apply their selection criteria, and assign points.
- Programs work with families on the waitlist to help them understand their enrollment options when a slot opens up, so families can make the best choice for themselves.
- Some programs connect families to partners to obtain services while they are on the waitlist.
The Head Start REACH project is examining the ERSEA approaches that programs for infants and toddlers (Early Head Start) and preschool-age children (Head Start) use to engage Head Start–eligible families experiencing adversities. Adversities is a broad term that refers to a wide range of circumstances or events that pose a threat to a child’s or a caregiver’s physical or psychological well-being. The adversities that families experience are often intertwined with poverty, may co-occur, and are influenced by systemic factors such as structural racism. Common examples include but are not limited to poverty, homelessness, involvement in the foster care or child welfare system, and effects of substance use. The case studies focused on these common adversities, based on priorities identified by staff at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and their emphasis in Head Start standards, policies, and initiatives. This brief details how programs develop and implement their criteria and processes for selecting families for enrollment.
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