Head Start
A federally funded program providing free early childhood education, health, and nutrition services to low-income children ages 3-5.
Head Start is a federally funded early childhood program established in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty, administered by the Office of Head Start within HHS. The program serves approximately 750,000 children ages 3 to 5 each year through a nationwide network of roughly 1,600 locally operated grantees, including community action agencies, school districts, and tribal organizations. Early Head Start, created in 1994, extends services to pregnant women, infants, and toddlers up to age 3, serving approximately 200,000 additional families. Combined federal appropriations for Head Start and Early Head Start total roughly $12 billion annually. Eligibility is primarily income-based: families at or below the federal poverty level (approximately $31,200 for a family of four in 2024) are eligible, with additional slots reserved for homeless children, children in foster care, and families receiving TANF or SSI. Up to 10% of slots may be filled by children above the income limit, and an additional 35% may serve children up to 130% of poverty. Head Start programs must meet federal performance standards covering education, health, dental, mental health, nutrition, family engagement, and program management, and grantees undergo federal monitoring reviews on a five-year cycle. Head Start classrooms follow a 1:10 ratio with maximum group size of 20 and require teachers to hold at least an associate degree, with 50% nationally required to hold a bachelor degree. The program includes comprehensive health screenings, dental checkups, and family support services including home visits. Longitudinal research including the Head Start Impact Study and more recent quasi-experimental designs consistently find modest short-term cognitive gains that fade by third grade, but persistent positive effects on high school graduation, college attendance, and adult earnings, suggesting Head Start's comprehensive model produces durable non-academic benefits.