FY2004 saw over 900,000 children enrolled in Head Start nationwide

The Head Start budget for FY2004 was approximately $6.9 billion.

Head Start programs receive 80 percent of their funding from the federal government. The other 20 percent comes from the local community.

The racial/ethnic composition of the FY2000 Head Start population was 3.3 percent American Indian, 28.7 percent Hispanic, 34.5 percent Black, 30.4 percent White, 2 percent Asian and 1 percent Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

A total of 19,397,000 children have been served by the Head Start program since it began in 1965

Head Start is administered by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

During the FY2000 operating period, 12.7 percent of the Head Start enrollment consisted of children with disabilities, compared to 13.1 percent in FY94-95. (mental retardation, health impairments, visual handicaps, hearing impairments, emotional disturbance, speech and language impairments, orthopedic handicaps and learning disabilities.)

The Coats Human Services Amendments of 1998 require Head Start grantees to coordinate services with state officials who are responsible for administering part C and section 619 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.1431-1445,1419)), and services for homeless children.

More than 80 percent of the Head Start teachers have degrees in early childhood education or have obtained the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential.

Early Head Start service for infants and toddlers was added in the 1994 Head Start Reauthorization. In FY2000, Early Head Start served 45,000 children under the age of three year.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Head Start Act into law on May 18, 1965

Head Start began as a summer program and served 561,000 children the summer of 1965.The Head Start budget during 1966, the first full year of operation, was $96,400.000.