4/30/2024 0 Comments Early head start![]() ![]() They surveyed Head Start staff most knowledgeable about recruitment and enrollment and conducted interviews with families.įindings suggest strategies to increase enrollment:Īction Area 1: Reduce barriers to entry for families and create welcoming environments. In the first phase of the project, researchers used a human-centered design approach to understand the current state of recruitment efforts and experiences from a staff and family perspective. The multi-year project sought to address a key challenge: improve recruitment and enrollment to ensure more eligible children and their families receive high-quality Head Start supports. In January 2022, Start Early embarked on a new interdisciplinary project, funded by the Vivo Foundation, to understand barriers to Head Start enrollment in Chicago Head Start programs. Recent Research Provides Insight Into Key factors Affecting Enrollment To learn more about national trends and Head Start in general, check out this post. The research discussed in this blog focuses on challenges at the local and program level. The innovations and lessons learned from Head Start programs during this time may also provide ideas for leaders of other publicly funded early learning programs and systems – like home visiting – that may also be looking to ensure families are aware of and able to access and enroll in these critical services.Īlso, it is worth noting that recruitment, eligibility, and enrollment barriers occur at numerous levels. Many Head Start programs are scrambling to rebuild their capacity and recruit more families to enroll with a looming threat of funding cuts if they are unable to fill slots. As of February of this year, NHSA reports that under-enrollment is a big problem for many programs, with current enrollment relative to funded enrollment at roughly 79% for Head Start and 81% for Early Head Start nationally. ![]() Many centers had to reduce the number of classrooms they operated and struggled to find and retain qualified staff – leaving remaining staff with less capacity to support recruitment.Īlthough enrollment numbers have started to rebound in recent years, the disruptions and challenges exacerbated by the pandemic continue to plague Head Start programs. Numerous families made other arrangements for their children. According to a NIEER report, Head Start programs enrolled around 257,000 fewer children (a 33% decline) during the 2020-21 program year than they did in 2018-19. Head Start programs across the country are facing an enrollment crisis exacerbated by the pandemic and a persistent staffing shortage. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |