Early Head Start's 25th Year Anniversary - History and Impact
Summary
TLDRThis video celebrates the history and impact of the Early Head Start program on families, communities, and the nation. Key figures like John Lombardi, Patti Cole, and Frank Fuentes discuss the program's beginnings, while agency directors and staff share their experiences implementing Early Head Start services. The video highlights the comprehensive nature of the program, its commitment to high-quality early developmental services, and its enduring support for vulnerable children and families. Testimonials from parents and staff underscore the transformative impact of Early Head Start, advocating for its expansion and continued success.
Takeaways
- π Early Head Start celebrates its history and impact on families, communities, and the nation during Head Start Awareness Month.
- πΆ The program started in 1965, initially serving preschool children, but expanded to include infants and toddlers by 1995.
- π Early Head Start focuses on serving vulnerable children and families, offering support from prenatal stages through early childhood.
- π The program collaborates with community partners and integrates services to provide comprehensive support to families.
- π Early Head Start helps address issues such as lack of health insurance, untreated health conditions, and early language development.
- π‘ The program emphasizes the importance of early childhood education and development, starting from birth.
- π€ Early Head Start involves parents in the program, providing them opportunities for leadership and personal development.
- π¨βπ©βπ§βπ¦ The program supports diverse families, including migrant workers, by offering tailored services to meet their unique needs.
- π The success of Early Head Start is evident in the stories of staff and parents who have benefited from the program and now contribute back to it.
- π There is a strong emphasis on expanding the reach of Early Head Start to serve more eligible children across the country, aiming to alleviate poverty and support child development.
Q & A
Who is Wassi Tesfa and what is his role?
-Wassi Tesfa is the Executive Director of Pacific Clinic's Head Start Early Head Start Program in Los Angeles, California. He is also the chair of the Region Nine Head Start Association.
What is the significance of the video mentioned in the script?
-The video is meant to celebrate the history and impact of Early Head Start on families, communities, and the nation during the month of October, which is Head Start Awareness Month.
What is the role of Denise Lee in the Early Head Start program?
-Denise Lee is the Deputy Director for the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency Head Start and Early Head Start programs in California.
What was the historical context of Early Head Start in relation to migrant programs?
-Migrant programs had been serving infants and toddlers for 20 years before Early Head Start was introduced. The migrant programs had to use preschool per child funding to serve infants and toddlers, which was a struggle due to the higher costs associated with serving younger children.
What was the significance of the 1990s in the development of Early Head Start?
-The 1990s saw a focus on serving younger children, with President Clinton's administration showing interest in expanding Head Start. The period also saw the reauthorization of Head Start in 1990, which focused on directing more money to quality.
What was the initial funding for Early Head Start grants?
-The initial funding for Early Head Start grants was about 900 million dollars, with approximately 66 grants released in November of 1995.
What is the role of the Fatherhood Program in Early Head Start?
-The Fatherhood Program is a 24/7 curriculum that focuses on the importance of being a father, improving knowledge for fathers, and giving them the skills to be better parents.
How has Early Head Start impacted the community and families?
-Early Head Start has helped families change their lives by enabling parents to go back to school, find employment, and receive necessary services. It has also helped improve children's language development and social-emotional skills.
What is the role of the policy council executive board in Early Head Start?
-The policy council executive board in Early Head Start is responsible for opening doors to experiences and opportunities for parents within the program, and it has been instrumental in helping parents become staff members.
What is the future outlook for Early Head Start as mentioned in the script?
-The script suggests that there is a need to expand the program to all eligible children across the country, recognizing the enduring features of Head Start and Early Head Start that have supported families, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Outlines
π Celebrating Early Head Start
Wassi Tesfa introduces herself as the executive director of Pacific Clinic's Head Start and chair of Region Nine Head Start Association. She expresses excitement about sharing a video celebrating Early Head Start's history and impact during Head Start Awareness Month. The video includes insights from leaders like John Lombardi, Patti Cole, and Frank Fuentes, along with agency directors and staff who implemented Early Head Start services in their communities.
π The Beginnings and Evolution of Early Head Start
The speaker reflects on their journey starting as a Head Start teacher assistant in 1972 and working in various roles within Early Head Start since 1998. They highlight the significance of Early Head Start in addressing health and educational disparities for young children and the foundational efforts by leaders in the 1960s and 70s, leading to the establishment of the program.
π Policy and Expansion of Early Head Start
The text discusses the buzz around extending Head Start to infants and toddlers, supported by various leaders and organizations in the early 1990s. It details the legislative and policy efforts under President Clinton's administration, including recommendations from the Secretary's Advisory Committee and contributions from early childhood advocates. The first Early Head Start grants were released in 1995, marking a significant milestone in addressing the needs of infants, toddlers, and pregnant women.
π Implementation and Growth of Early Head Start Programs
Leaders like Denise Lee, Ben Naki, and Sheri Wah share their experiences with implementing Early Head Start programs in California and Nevada. They emphasize the importance of partnerships, community involvement, and tailored services for infants and toddlers. The program's growth and impact over the years, including initiatives to support families transitioning out of homelessness, highlight the ongoing commitment to early childhood development.
π Personal Stories and Program Impact
The text features personal stories from parents and staff who have been involved with Early Head Start. They discuss the transformative impact of the program on their lives and communities, including improved educational and employment opportunities for parents and enhanced support for children's development. The accounts underscore the program's role in fostering strong family relationships and providing essential resources for families in need.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Head Start
π‘Early Head Start
π‘Region 9 Head Start Association
π‘Quality Improvement
π‘Two-Generation Approach
π‘Comprehensive Services
π‘Parent Involvement
π‘Policy Council
π‘Community Partnerships
π‘Evaluation and Impact
Highlights
Introduction by Wassi Tesfa, Executive Director of Pacific Clinic's Head Start program and Chair of Region Nine Head Start Association.
The video celebrates the history and impact of Early Head Start during Head Start Awareness Month in October.
Contributions from leaders like John Lombardi, Patti Cole, and Frank Fuentes.
Introduction of the first Early Head Start program in Region Nine, led by Denise Lee of SETA Head Start.
Personal stories and experiences from agency directors and staff who have implemented Early Head Start services.
Historical context and challenges faced by Early Head Start programs, including lack of health insurance and untreated ear infections in children.
Significance of the migrant program serving infants and toddlers for 20 years before the official establishment of Early Head Start.
Passage of Early Head Start in the 1990s, leading to significant funding and focus on infants and toddlers.
Support from notable figures like Ed Ziegler, T. Berry Brazelton, and First Lady Hillary Clinton for early childhood policies.
Growth and expansion of Early Head Start programs and their positive impact on communities and families.
Personal testimonials from Early Head Start program participants, including parents and staff who benefited from the program.
Importance of individualized approaches in Early Head Start to meet the diverse needs of families.
Evaluation of Early Head Start's impact on children and families, emphasizing the benefits in language development and social-emotional growth.
Success stories of families overcoming challenges and achieving personal and educational goals through Early Head Start support.
Future goals and aspirations for expanding Early Head Start to serve all eligible children across the country.
Transcripts
[Music]
my name is wassi
tesfa i am the executive director of
pacific clinic's
head start early head start program here
in los angeles california
i'm also the chair of the region nine
head start association
i'm excited to share with you this video
celebrating the history
and the impact of early head start on
our families
communities and the nation during the
month of october
as you know we celebrate head start
awareness month
this year region 9 has captured some of
the key details
about the beginnings of early head start
from leaders like john lombardi
patti cole and frank fuentes
in addition you will hear from a number
of agency directors and staff
who have led the implementation of early
head start services
in their local community including
the first early head start program in
region nine
now led by denise lee of said a head
start
as well as greetings from national head
start association chair
damon carson of neighborhood house this
video tells the story of parents staff
and others who have contributed to the
movement
we hope you will enjoy the presentation
share it with your staff and community
partners
[Music]
enjoy
[Music]
it all started for me when i was a head
start teacher assistant
in 1972. i have been part of this early
head start program
since 1998. i was the migrant head start
chief in the late 1980s
to mid 1990s i got the opportunity to
work for
head start in 2006 and i joined as an
early educator
it's been just an amazing journey an
opportunity
to give back to my community the
entryway
into creating tremendous opportunities
for vulnerable
children and families and we say nha we
like to
be committed to them developing in their
excellence and that certainly begins
with early head start
i was a graduate student at the time in
this emerging
early childhood movement and like all
good head start
teachers in the summer before the
children came this was a class of three
year olds back in 1972
we began visiting each family and i was
so impressed
with the interest but as i learned
more and more about the children what i
began to see
is ear infections that went unattended
because of lack of health insurance
children who had had asthma already and
for years before that
children that were still learning
language
and hadn't been exposed to as much
reading and language as
we would want and i wondered to myself
even back then in 72
why are we waiting so long little did i
know at the time
that the founding fathers and mothers of
head start
had thought about this in 1965 they knew
the importance of serving young children
but at that time
even taking that first step of serving
children
before kindergarten was a big step so
although they came back to that issue as
early as the next year
when they launched 33 parent child
centers
in 1966 and then
in 1969 the migrant program started
serving infants and toddlers
[Music]
the fact that i was the branch chief for
the migrant head start program was
significant
in that at the time of early head start
the
migrant programs had been serving
infants and toddlers for 20 years
i was excited to see the passage of
early head start
from two perspectives one that there was
going to be an
infusion of funding into the care of
infants and toddlers
because up to that point the funding for
grantees
was based on preschool children the
migrants
had to use that preschool per child
funding
to serve infants and toddlers at the
time there was no recognition that
infants and toddlers cost about
two-thirds more than preschool children
and so the migrants struggled mightily
with the budgets they were given
to serve the number of zero to five that
they were
reaching out to and it was an
opportunity
for the migrant programs to share their
knowledge and expertise
in serving infants and toddlers for 20
[Music]
years
[Music]
there was a buzz around extending her
head starts vision
down to babies which of course had
already been there
from the beginning with migrant and
seasonal head start so we had been doing
work in the subcommittee
on children about supporting families
and early development
and we were looking also for a place to
do a way to do
more around that in 1992 when president
clinton was elected even before he took
office
he had an economic summit and elizabeth
shore
spoke at that point at the economic
summit about the importance of serving
younger children
at the same time the carnegie
corporation of new york
had a task force on serving younger
children
in which several papers came out
recommending
serving children under three so this was
really kind of a golden age of
children's policy
we've been through a reauthorization of
head start in 1990
where we made some really big changes in
the
statute to really focus on directing
more money to
quality and we'd also had a lot of other
progress
that included enacting the first
national program for child care in many
decades
the family and medical leave act had
passed multiple times
and was finally signed into law in 1993
and so at the same time more and more
attention was being paid to the earliest
years
in 1993 when the president
took office and had a big interest
in expanding head start and put together
a secretary's advisory committee on the
future
of quality and expansion and head start
that the strong recommendation came out
again
to serve younger children and although
there was a lot of debate
in the committee about whether we
improve existing programs whether we
expand upon existing programs or we
start
new ones the report did find
that there was a recommendation to move
forward health and human services donna
shala pulled together
a commission on quality improvement and
that included
the actual commercial staff it wasn't
just that it was supposed to include the
principles
but it included a bipartisan group of
congressional staff that sat in on the
commission
and that's really where early head start
came into being
[Laughter]
[Music]
finally the grants were first released
at 900 million dollars i believe about
66
grants in november of 1995.
so we went through a 30-year period from
1965
to 1995 before we really began to
seriously
address infants and toddlers and
pregnant women in the program
two early childhood titans were very
active around the importance of policies
that support infantile
development so one was ed ziegler who
was of course the known as the father of
head start but he was also passionate
info toddler advocate
and the other was tea barry brazelton
who we called america's pediatrician
so they were promoting policies that
directly supported
early development across the home in
formal early childhood settings
and that was a goal that was looking for
a home another key player we had
an early childhood champion in the white
house
in the form of the first lady hillary
clinton who
of course had been involved with the
children's defense fund
totally got all of these early childhood
issues and was really an
advocate and the whole clinton
administration was really keen to expand
on head start and dig deeper into
ensuring quality
i believe it was julie richmond who had
served as the first
director of head start in the mid-60s
who came up with the name
early head start and i love that name
because
it showed the link to head start but it
had that distinction
[Music]
my name is denise lee and i have the
honor and the privilege of serving as
the deputy director for the sacramento
employment
and training agency head start and early
head start programs
here in california my name is ben naki
i'm the vice president of early
childhood education programs
at parents and children together i am
sheri wah i
am the director here at the child and
family research center at the university
of nevada
and also the early head start director
i have been at the university for 30
years
and i have been part of this early head
start program since 1998
and proud to be part of it santa was
going to go
full force into it and work with its
delegate agencies and other partners in
the community including the county
office of ed
teaching strategies sonoma state
university
and put their heads together to come up
and write a
wonderful grant to serve this very new
age group
it wasn't just a grant that you wrote
what partners you would harness
to get a good score on your grant it was
really
well thought out partners that can bring
really great resources to the table
because while head start deeply knew and
understood
how to work with the three to five year
olds in all of at what
time we called cornerstones for the
performance standards now to switch that
into
this young age group required all of us
to put a different thinking cap
on and be open to different partners
that brought things to the table so
it was very fun to read that we started
out with the proposal to be 75
pregnant women and high risk families
with children zero
to three at the time seda was about 3
000 children large today we serve over 6
000
families and almost 40 years in service
we're about 12 classrooms right now
looking to get to about 15 classrooms
three years ago we were approached
by a local developer who was interested
in
developing a housing we call it a
village here a village that would be
exclusively for families that are
transitioning out of homelessness
the program was really designed for
families who are
you know need a home they would give
them a home and they would be able to
live there
for generations and hence the
terminology village
it's always been about the children and
the families
babies are what drive us here
and we love to provide high quality care
for infants and toddlers so that's been
the most exciting thing
as i say we started as a very small
grantee with 64
children over the years we've grown but
we're still a
pretty small grantee we only serve 180
early head start kids and instill the
babies every day
and make it fun and satisfying and
the reason that we come
hello everybody i'm john love and
my midway through my career of
mathematica we got this opportunity from
the
office of planning research and
evaluation in administration for
children and families
to take on the task of doing the
evaluation
of the new early head start program
[Music]
between about 1996 and 2002
when the final report of the main
evaluation
was published we knew which children
went into head start which
went into some other kind of pre-k
program in which children had no
experience after their early head start
one thing that
right away began to realize is we can't
start thinking about
early head start as a one-size-fits-all
kind of program
all families were at risk as we define
it because they're all low-income
but we've looked at other areas as well
like
whether the parents had graduated from
high school whether the mother was a
teen mom or not
anyway we've got a whole range of risk
factors and one thing we found is that
the program had different
degrees of impact depending on the
levels of risk in those families
the second one i would say is that all
children can benefit
all children can benefit from head start
and early head start
that doesn't mean that all children do
benefit and here again
becomes the task of the programs
to see what you can do to make sure that
the services you're providing
meet the needs of your families like
don't try to squeeze a family that
really needs home visiting into the
center-based program
and that sort of thing another thing i
might say is that not all children
benefit
in the same way some children see
benefits
in terms of their language development
some children in terms of their social
emotional
so that's that's a really strong benefit
i started my journey with early head
start through my daughter in 2011.
i am a parent of
head start i had been in head start
before coming into early head start i
was a child back in 1964.
when my child was going into her second
year of head start
i was able to finish my undergraduate
degree and i applied to a head start
program
in 2013 as well and i was able to get my
job because i had that experience as a
head start parent
my journey with head start started when
my daughter was three years old and we
lived in trenton north carolina
and now i am currently an employee of
foothill family
agency as a home-based supervisor
the families that we serve for the most
part are dealing with
poverty they're dealing with a lot of
heavy issues
and so not in that level but as a parent
i can
associate i can relate to them i didn't
know anything about head start i
enrolled her
in the preschool program it was amazing
that her teacher was so involved that
once she
met me and she saw me she got me quickly
involved in the parent committee
and i became a president of the parent
committee
and in that role in volunteering the
classroom her teacher said i think you'd
be great as a family service worker
and she persuaded me to apply for the
job and 30 years later
my career has been head start but once
you get the head start feeling down in
your bones
it's kind of hard to move on to
something else
now that i have a nine month old all of
the tools that the teachers provided
all of the things that they were able to
introduce to me as my daughter's first
teacher now i'm able to apply to my
second daughter so i'm glad i was able
to start my journey an early head start
at flood hill family
and continue now as an early head start
manager and being able to connect with
families
and connect with parents and understand
their journey because i went through
that journey with them
throughout that journey to get to
witness the power of belief
believing in them and they believing in
themselves
and being able to make an impact in the
lives of their children
to being able to feel like they're doing
something good for their children
because a lot of times our families
might have not finished high school
but they still have that desire and that
commitment to their children living a
better life than
what they were able to give themselves
it does
task and we're her soul we are
very empathetic we can feel we
acknowledge
and that's why we have those reflective
sessions with
professional where staff can actually
share what's on their mind
as supervisors we have protected time
and reflect as well
we're very fortunate to have a lot of
resources it's very rewarding in the
heart
[Music]
with early head start a big thing is
that you're always going to be
surrounded by positive
people who want to look forward to a
better future i really think
the program the early head start program
head start overall
is wonderful because children at this
age being 0
3 0 5 it's like the building that
foundation for school readiness
if you don't have a good foundation just
like a house if you don't have a good
foundation
the house is gonna fall over right our
goal and my personal goal is to create
impact in our community and to create
impact in the families we serve
because ultimately i live in this
community i was born and raised in the
community i serve
so the impact that we are creating is
what we are going to receive as we you
know grow older and our families grow
together
families have been able to change their
lives
parents have been able to go back to
school find employment
receive necessary services for helping
them
work with their child whether it's
challenging behaviors or
just learning how to manage the everyday
stressors of being a parent
the fatherhood program it's a 24 7 that
curriculum
it talks about the importance of being a
father how to be a better father
improves the knowledge for those fathers
and also gives them the
behavior at one point we had a son and a
father
the son he was going to have his first
son and then
his dad had just also remarried
and he was going through this program as
well
the youngest son was talking about some
of the things that he didn't see in his
father like he was not very
close to him he never said that he felt
that he was loved
and it was very touching because you
know his father was right there sitting
with us
and he kind of stopped the class and he
was like i'm really sorry i just
i don't know how to express myself and
then now they were both
becoming a father again you know they
started having a closer relationship
my name is orlando moore and i'm with
the
sunrise children's foundation early head
start i became a father at a very young
age and i was introduced to the early
head start program through my mom and my
sister
they were more than a daycare to me and
my children the teachers were like
family they made me feel welcome and
respected
they held special trainings and events
for dads like myself
and others after school programs they
would call
us and want the parents to be more
hands-on with their children and they
wanted me to come observe
how they were interacting with my kids
so
that was a big thing for me because you
know i was always uncomfortable with
sending my kids
different places without my presence she
had like a real bad speech impediment so
they helped her a lot with her language
pronouncing
you know a lot of different words from
my experience i thought i had the best
experience but
from other fathers they were loving the
program just as much as i was
i hope the funding for this program
never goes away because it has helped so
many fathers in so many different ways
kalynn was around one year old when i
made the phone call to enroll her
and here we are almost four years later
and we are with
kids community which is part of placer
county community action
being on policy council executive board
has opened doors to experiences
that i never knew existed there's so
much opportunity for parents within
early head start and head start and i
have personally witnessed
parents become staff and i'm so proud of
all the staff at kids community
and our executive director denise
cardoza who believes so much
in all the parents and all the staff and
i'm just so honored to have been a part
of kids community
looking forward given how
how important the program is given where
we are with
poverty in the united states we know
that we've got a high percentage of
black and latino children
that whose families are in poverty
unfortunately we still serve seven or
eight percent
of the children in poverty we can do
better than that
the country can do better than that we
should be expanding the program to
all eligible children across the country
and i think that should be the goal
recognize the soundness of the vision
behind head start this comprehensive
nature
its insistence on high quality early
developmental
services and empowering of families and
the two generation approach which now is
a buzzword but it's been in head start
and early head start from the beginning
these are enduring features that have
not only stood the test of time
but they've stepped up to support
families during the cove
19 pandemic and i think that is just
such a tribute
elevate the program continue to elevate
the program
continue to improve quality continue to
advocate for more access but more
importantly
you know enjoy your time many people
refer to this work as god's work
so when you're doing something that's
obviously very important you need to
enjoy it
so my hope is that they enjoy their
opportunities they enjoy their working
environments each and every day
i want to wish early head start a very
happy
25th birthday to the next 25 years
and beyond to the rest of the nation you
know we're right alongside everybody
we're so stoked you know you guys are
really
making a difference in our community
thank you for
jumping on board with this wonderful
[Music]
program
[Music]
you
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