State Head Start collaboration offices are working from the top down to keep everyone informed, on track and working together.

In 1990, the Administration of Children and Families and the Office of Head Start (OHS) — known at the time as the Head Start Bureau — created offices within 12 states that would help support the development of multi-agency partnerships, both public and private. By 1997, offices within all 50 states as well, as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, were being funded through OHS.

“We wanted to augment Head Start’s capacity to be a partner on state initiatives on behalf of low-income children and their families,” said Carmen Bovell, OHS’s state collaboration director. “It is important to involve Head Start in state policies, state planning and state decision making, particularly when it affects the Head Start target population.”

Communicating Changes Head Start has suffered many blows within the last few years, specifically related to funding and increased accountability. When these changes hit the fan, Bovell communicates directly with with 12 regional offices via phone, email or an electronic message board to coordinate any questions or concerns that arise from the individual state collaboration offices.

“According to the 2007 Head Start Act, collaboration offices are required to facilitate cooperation among Head Start and Early Head Start agencies along with other agencies in the state. Some specific responsibilities include assisting Head Start grantees to collaborate with state and local planning entities,” said Bovell.

The offices coordinate Head Start services with state and local agencies. These include child care, child welfare, health care, education, family literacy services, and services to both homeless children and children with disabilities. They also align Head Start curriculum and assessment with the Head Start child outcomes framework and state early learning standards, according to Bovell. Also included in the recent congressional reauthorization is the requirement for each state collaboration director to serve as a member of the state advisory council on early childhood education and care. These councils develop accommodations and a range of critical factors relating to the liability of high-quality early education, care and services for children within the state.

Aside from the daily access to Bovell’s office, the regional and state collaboration office administrators coordinate throughout the year with monthly conference calls, webinars or semi-annual meetings. The OHS also requests that representatives from each state’s Head Start association attend.

“The relationship with our state collaboration office is excellent,” said Edward Condon, executive director of the California Head Start Association. “This past year we worked on key issues: curriculum guidelines, professional development, program collaboration and Head Start reauthorization regulatory issues.”

Barbara Haxton, executive director of the Ohio Head Start Association, shares a kinship with her collaboration director, an old friend and long-time Head Start supporter that she has worked with in some form for more than 18 years.

“We provide a forum for the collaboration director to meet with Head Start leadership, and we work in concert with him. It is and has been a very collaborative relationship.”

Understanding Policies and Assessments One issue discussed in depth recently is a requirement concerning children with special needs. According to the Head Start Act of 2007, beginning in fiscal year 2009, at least 10 percent of the total number of children enrolled by each Head Start program must be children with disabilities who are determined to be eligible for special education and related services, or early-intervention services. To meet the 10 percent requirement, the children must have been determined eligible for special services under IDEA by the agency providing IDEA services in that particular community. Children who have an individualized education program (IEP) developed solely by the Head Start program will not be counted.

“It’s a Catch-22 for us,” said Lynda Nunez, transportation manager from Child-Parent Centers, Inc., in Tucson, Ariz. “The state requires school districts to transport children with disabilities to our Head Start centers. However, if the school district has its own Pre-K program, it may not assign any children with disabilities to our centers within that school district, which would mean that we would have spaces left open. And the regulations require us to fill all spaces in the classroom. Thus, the conundrum.”But the 2007 reauthorization also gives collaboration offices the responsibility of assisting in these local situations and acting as a conduit between Head Start agencies and local school districts.

“There typically is a written agreement, and the Head Start collaboration office may be called in by the local grantee to provide all kinds of assistance,” added Bovell. “This written agreement will describe how the Head Start program and the local school district will coordinate services such as staff training and child development.”

Although school districts are not required to work with local Head Start programs, Bovell said it is in their best interest to do so, as the children will soon transition to kindergarten.

Currently, collaboration directors are conducting state-wide assessments on the needs of Head Start grantees in the areas of coordination, collaboration and alignment of services. They plan to use the results to develop a strategic plan to address any problem areas identified.

“Whatever major need arises for those that cut across the majority of programs, there are a number of programs within the state. The state collaboration directors will develop a plan to address those needs,” assured Bovell.

At this writing, most of the comprehensive assessments were to be completed by January, and the results will be made available to the general public. The assessments will be updated once a year, as well as its strategic plan, and designed to help keep agencies operating the best they can for the young children that depend on them.