A Monthly Donation of $100 sponsors books, puzzles, art supplies and other learning materials for one classroom of children Donate Now
Early Head Start Classroom
Early Head Start (EHS) is a federally funded community-based program for low-income families with infants and toddlers and pregnant women. Its mission is simple:
to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women,
to enhance the development of very young children, and
to promote healthy family functioning.
Early Head Start is a child development program for low-income families.
Child Development: Programs must support the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language development of each child. Parenting education and the support of a positive parent-child relationship are critical to this cornerstone. The services that programs must provide directly or through referral include:
Early education services in a range of developmentally appropriate settings;
Home-visits, especially for families with newborns;
Parent education and parent-child activities;
Comprehensive health and mental health services; and
High quality child care services, provided directly or in collaboration with community child care providers.
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Family Development: Programs must seek to empower families by developing goals for themselves and their children. Staff and parents develop individualized family development plans that focus on the child's developmental needs and the family's social and economic needs. Families that are involved in other programs requiring a family service plan will receive a single coordinated plan so that they experience a seamless system of services. The services that programs must provide directly or through referral include:
Child development information;
Comprehensive health and mental health services, including smoking cessation and substance abuse treatment;
Adult education, literacy, and job skills training to facilitate family self-sufficiency;
Assistance in obtaining income support, safe housing, or emergency cash; and
