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ESCAMBIA COUNTY HEAD START IS A
COMPREHENSIVE CHILD DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM, WHICH SERVE CHILDREN FROM THREE TO AGE FIVE, AND THEIR FAMILIES. THEY ARE CHILD-FOCUSED PROGRAMS AND HAVE THE OVERALL GOAL OF INCREASING THE SCHOOL READINESS OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN LOW-INCOME FAMILIES. THE HEAD START PROGRAM HAS A LONG TRADITION OF DELIVERING COMPREHENSIVE AND HIGH QUALITY SERVICES DESIGNED TO FOSTER HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT IN LOW-INCOME CHILDREN. HEAD START GRANTEE AND DELEGATE AGENCIES PROVIDE A RANGE OF INDIVIDUALIZED SERVICES IN THE AREAS OF EDUCATION AND EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT; MEDICAL, DENTAL, AND MENTAL HEALTH; NUTRITION; AND PARENT INVOLVEMENT. IN ADDITION, THE ENTIRE RANGE OF HEAD START SERVICES ARE RESPONSIVE AND APPROPRIATE TO EACH CHILD'S AND FAMILY'S DEVELOPMENTAL, ETHNIC, CULTURAL, AND LINGUISTIC HERITAGE AND EXPERIENCE.
TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR HEAD START, CHILDREN THAT ARE THREE YEARS OLD ON OR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1 OF THE CURRENT YEAR FROM FAMILIES WITH LOW-INCOME ARE ELIGIBLE FOR HEAD START. CHILDREN FROM FAMILIES RECEIVING PUBLIC ASSISTANCE (TANF OR SSI) ARE ELIGIBLE FOR HEAD START. CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE ARE HEAD START ELIGIBLE, REGARDLESS OF FAMILY INCOME. TEN PERCENT OF ENROLLMENTS ARE OFFERED TO CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES. CHILDREN WHO COME FROM FAMILIES WITH SLIGHTLY HIGHER INCOME MAY BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN HEAD START WHEN SPACE IS AVAILABLE.
ALL CHILDREN IN HEAD START ARE BETWEEN THE AGES OF THREE AND FIVE YEARS OLD AND PARTICIPATE IN A VARIETY OF EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT HELP THEM GROW MENTALLY, SOCIALLY, EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY. THEY ALSO RECEIVE FREE MEDICAL AND DENTAL CARE, HAVE HEALTHY MEALS AND ENJOY PLAYING INDOORS IN A SAFE SETTING. HEAD START MEETS THE LICENSING REQUIREMENTS AS SET FORTH BY FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. PARENT INVOLVEMENT AND SOCIAL SERVICES ARE PROVIDED. WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF A FAMILY ADVOCATE, EACH FAMILY COMPLETES A SELF ASSESSMENT AND ESTABLISHES A WRITTEN GOAL PLAN WHICH IS MONITORED THROUGHOUT THE PROGRAM YEAR.
THE ESCAMBIA COUNTY HEAD START POLICY COUNCIL IS MADE UP OF 51% PARENTS FROM THE PROGRAM AND 49% COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES. THE COUNCIL MEETS ONCE A MONTH AND DISCUSSES POLICIES THAT WILL AFFECT THE PROGRAM. MEMBERS ARE LIMITED TO SERVING ON THE COUNCIL FOR 3 YEARS. THESE DO NOT HAVE TO BE CONSECUTIVE YEARS.
SOME ITEMS THAT THE POLICY COUNCIL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ARE:
1. APPROVAL OF ALL FUNDING AND REFUNDING APPS.
2. PROGRAM PERSONNEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.
3. HIRING AND TERMINATION OF STAFF.
THE COUNCIL ALSO SERVES AS A LINK OF INFORMATION BACK TO THE PARENT COMMITTEES AS WELL AS FROM THE PARENT COMMITTEES BACK TO THE COUNCIL.
TRENDS AND FORECASTS:
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THE HEAD START RE-AUTHORIZATION BILL IS NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE SENATE AFTER THE HOUSE NARROWLY APPROVED AN EXTENSION OF THE PROGRAM BY A VOTE OF 231 TO 184. SEVERAL CHANGES WERE MADE IN AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE QUALITY AND STREAMLINE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT. CHANGES INCLUDE: (1) DEVELOPING A FISCAL COMMITTEE WHO WILL REPORT TO THE BOARD, (2) REDUCING THE POLICY MAKING AUTHORITY OF THE POLICY COUNCIL TO THAT OF AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE, (3) 50% OF TEACHERS WITH BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION BY 2010, (4) PUBLIC RESULTS OF RECENT REVIEWS AND FINANCIAL AUDIT, (5) GRANTEES WITH ONE OR MORE DEFICIENCIES FORCED TO RE-COMPETE FOR HEAD START GRANT, (6) FAITH BASED GRANTEES ALLOWED TO DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RELIGION WHEN HIRING STAFF.
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THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SET ASIDE $15 MILLION IN EMERGENCY FUNDING TO HELP HEAD START AND EARLY HEAD START GRANTEES TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO FAMILIES DISPLACED BY HURRICANE KATRINA. ESCAMBIA COUNTY HEAD START SENT IN A PROPOSAL TO SERVE AN ADDITIONAL 70 CHILDREN THROUGH CENTER BASED AND CONTRACTED CARE SITES. THE PROPOSAL WAS APPROVED FOR $37,000 TO SERVE CHILDREN FOR 90 DAYS WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF RENEWAL EVERY 90 DAYS FOR UP TO ONE YEAR. HEAD START IS IN THE PROCESS OF CONTACTING FAMILIES WHO INITIALLY INDICATED A NEED FOR SERVICE AND CAN BEGIN SERVING ADDITIONAL CHILDREN UPON DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS FROM THE REGIONAL OFFICE.
EDUCATION:
HOME VISIT #1 593 YEAR TO DATE: 806
DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENINGS: 149 YEAR TO DATE: 819
ADMISSIONS:
TOTAL NUMBER OF ENROLLED CHILDREN: 850
TOTAL VACANT SLOTS: 5
PARENT INVOLVEMENT:
TOTAL FAMILY ASSESSMENTS: 157 YEAR TO DATE: 565
TOTAL FAMILY GOAL PLANS: 66 YEAR TO DATE: 125
TOTAL HOME VISITS: 176 YEAR TO DATE: 490
TOTAL FAMILY REFERRALS: 7
DISABILITIES:
CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH DISABILITY: 54 YEAR TO DATE: 54
NUMBER OF SUSPECTED/POTENTIAL: 221
REFERRALS TO LEA FOR PROCESSING: 18
HEALTH:
HEARING COMPLETED: 251
VISION COMPLETED: 263
BLOOD PRESSURE COMPLETED: 151
HCT COMPLETED: 245
PHYSICALS: .....
DENTAL SCREENINGS: 220
MENTAL HEALTH:
REFERRALS RECEIVED: 3
REFERRALS TO BAY CENTRE: 2
CLASSROOMS OBSERVED BY BAY CENTRE: 2
TRANSPORTATION/FACILITIES:
TOTAL PASSENGER TRIPS: 625
TOTAL VEHICLE MILES: 6,985
TOTAL VEHICLE TRIPS: 4,051
COST OF SERVICES: $62,662.54
NUTRITION:
FREE APPLICATIONS: 418
REDUCED APPLICATIONS: 34
NON-NEEDY: 160
TOTAL BREAKFASTS: 7,872
TOTAL LUNCHES: 7,854
TOTAL OPERATION COST: $48,473.57
REIMBURSEMENT FROM USDA: $22,810.00
HUMAN RESOURCE AND DEVELOPMENT:
PERMANENT EMPLOYEES: 143
TEMPORARY/SUBSTITUTES: 5
POSITIONS AVAILABLE: 6
EMPLOYEES IN ORIENTATION: 5
CONTRACTED STAFF: 4
NON-FEDERAL (IN-KIND):
NUMBER OF VOLUNTEER HOURS: 2,045.25
TOTAL NON-FEDERAL SHARES: $19,096.01
ESCAMBIA COUNTY HEAD START REPORT ON RESULTS OF SPRING NRS ASSESSMENT
DURING THE LAST TWO WEEKS OF APRIL, 2005 HEAD START ASSESSED 556 KINDERGARTEN ELIGIBLE CHILDREN USING THE NATIONALLY MANDATED NATIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM (NRS) ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT. CHILDREN WERE MEASURED IN THE SAME FOUR SKILL AREAS THAT WERE ASSESSED LAST FALL: ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCREENER, VOCABULARY, LETTER RECOGNITION, AND EARLY MATH.
IT IS WITH GREAT PRIDE THAT ESCAMBIA COUNTY HEAD START IS ABLE TO REPORT SCARES AT OR ABOVE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE IN ALL FOUR SKILL AREAS. SPECIFIC AVERAGES ARE LISTED BELOW:
ECHS SKILL LEVEL NATIONAL SKILL LEVEL
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCREENER: 6 6
VOCABULARY: 4 4
LETTER RECOGNITION: 5 4
EARLY MATH SKILLS: 5 5
A HUGE THANK YOU IS IN ORDER TO THE ENTIRE TEACHING STAFF FOR WORKING SO DILIGENTLY EVERY DAY TO ENSURE THAT OUR CHILDREN ARE READY TO BEGIN KINDERGARTEN, GIVING THEM A TRUE "HEAD START" FOR SUCCESS IN SCHOOL ANT LIFE.
HSNRS CHILD ASSESSMENT SKILL AREAS
BELOW ARE BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SKILL AREAS FOR EACH CHILD ASSESSMENT TASK.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCREENER: THIS TASK ASSESSES CHILDREN'S ABILITY TO FOLLOW SIMPLE SPOKEN INSTRUCTIONS AND GIVE THE ENGLISH NAMES OF FAMILIAR OBJECTS. THIS COMPONENT ALSO SERVES AS A SCREEN FOR IDENTIFYING CHILDREN WHOSE KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH IS INSUFFICIENT FOR THEM TO RECEIVE THE FULL ASSESSMENT IN ENGLISH. SKILL LEVELS RANGE FROM NOT BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND SPOKEN DIRECTIONS AT ALL (LEVEL 1) TO COMPREHENDING DIRECTIONS IN ENGLISH WELL (LEVEL 6). FOR THE SPANISH VERSION, PARALLEL SKILL LEVELS DESCRIBE THE RANGE OF CHILDREN'S ABILITIES IN UNDERSTANDING SPOKEN SPANISH.
VOCABULARY: THIS TASK ASKS CHILDREN TO SHOW THE MEANING OF SPOKEN WORDS REPRESENTING PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY OR THEIR FUNCTIONS, ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING, EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS, WORK OR CAREER-RELATED ACTIVITIES, AND PLANTS AND ANIMALS AND THEIR HABITATS. SKILL LEVELS REPRESENT THE AVERAGE VOCABULARY SIZE OF TYPICAL CHILDREN AT VARIOUS AGES. THE LOWEST SKILL LEVEL (LEVEL 1) REPRESENTS THE AVERAGE VOCABULARY SIZE OF U.S. CHILDREN (NOT JUST HEAD START CHILDREN) WHO ARE YOUNGER THAN 2 1/2-YEARS OLD. GIVEN THAT MOST OF THE CHILDREN PARTICIPATION IN THE HSNRS ARE 4 YEARS OLD OR OLDER, THE VOCABULARY OF CHILDREN SCORING AT THIS LEVEL IS SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN WHAT WOULD BE EXPECTED OF CHILDREN OF THAT AGE. THE HIGHEST SKILL LEVEL (LEVEL 6) REPRESENTS THE AVERAGE VOCABULARY SIZE OF U.S. CHILDREN WHO ARE 5 1/2 YEARS OR OLDER.
LETTER RECOGNITION: THIS TASK ASSESSES CHILDREN'S ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET BY NAME. SKILL LEVELS REPRESENT THE NUMBER OF LETTERS CHILDREN CAN IDENTIFY, RANGING FROM FROM NONE (LEVEL 1) TO ALL OR ALMOST ALL OF THE LETTERS (LEVEL 6).
EARLY MATH: THIS TASK ASSESSES CHILDREN'S EARLY MATH SKILLS, SUCH AS RECOGNIZING ONE-DIGIT NUMERALS AND BASIC GEOMETRIC SHAPES, MATCHING NUMBER NAMES ONE-TO-ONE WITH OBJECTS, SOLVING WORD PROBLEMS INVOLVING COUNTING OR SIMPLE ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION, MAKING JUDGMENTS INVOLVING RELATIVE SIZES OF OBJECTS, AND INTERPRETING SIMPLE MEASUREMENTS AND GRAPHIC REPRESENTATIONS OF QUANTITIES. SKILL LEVELS REPRESENT HOW MANY OBJECTS. CHILDREN AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL (LEVEL 6) TYPICALLY CAN COUNT 17 OR MORE OBJECTS, AND CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS USING MEASUREMENTS OR GRAPHS. ALTHOUGH LABELS FOR EARLY MATH SKILLS LEVELS REFER TO PERFORMANCE ON THE COUNTING BLOCKS ITEMS, SCORES ON ALL OF THE EARLY MATH SKILLS ITEMS WERE CONSIDERED AS EACH CHILD WAS ASSIGNED TO A SPECIFIC SKILL LEVEL. THE COUNTING BLOCKS ITEM GIVES EACH SKILL LEVEL A READILY UNDERSTANDABLE SIGNIFICANCE.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY HEAD START
VOLUNTARY PREKINDERGARTEN (VPK)
STAFF UPDATE
Head Start parents completed VPK Interest Surveys in February. Based on parent wishes and need, the program will have four extended day classrooms for four year olds during the upcoming 2007 - 2008 school year at the following locations: Edgewater, Gibson and Oakcrest. The children in these classrooms will be dually funded through Head Start and start Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) dollars. We will be using the state Head Start model which has proven to be successful in other agencies. Highlights of the program are as follows:
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Extended day (VPK) will begin on August 17th.
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The children's day will begin at 7:45 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. daily.
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Hours for teachers will be from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a 1/2 hour duty free lunch and 1 and 1/2 hours duty free planning.
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A second teacher (CDA credentialed) will be staffed daily from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
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Locations will be at Gibson, Edgewater, and Oakcrest. We will be serving 54 to 72 children in extended day.
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Class size will be limited to 18 children as per state VPK guidelines. Official VPK instructional hours are from 1:30 until 5:00 p.m. This means that during morning Head Start hours, four year old classrooms will have 20 children. Two of those children will leave on the bus at 1:00 p.m.
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Bus transportation will be provided in the morning. Parents will pick children up at the center in the afternoon.
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Teachers in extended day classrooms will not serve as bus escorts; nor will they be expected to " fill in" at the center during their lunch/planning time.
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Parents who have not already completed a VPK application, must complete one during the home visit process. These will be provided to you. This is completely separate from the Head Start application and will be submitted to the Early Learning Coalition for payment.
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All VPK children will be scheduled for transition during the same two hour time frame. Representatives for the Early Learning Coalition will be on site to issue the Certificate of Eligibility from the state. VPK parents must attend their scheduled transition visit in order to meet with the Coalition representative and obtain their certificate. Children cannot participate in the VPK program without the Certificate of Eligibility. VPK teachers should communicate the importance of attending transition on the home visit. Transition times for VPK classrooms are scheduled for Thursday, August 3rd at the following times:
Edgewater B from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Gibson A and C from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Oakcrest A from 12:30 - 2:30 p.m.
HEAD START'S FOCUS IS HELPING CHILDREN SUCCEED BY GETTING A "HEAD START" IN LIFE.
COMMUNITY SERVICES CONTACTS CAPS