Facts In Action

A number of political factors, such as welfare reform work requirements, have influenced the need for many low-income families to seek extended child care through full-day, full-year Head Start programs. Head Start's response to this need has been the development of partnerships with community organizations including public schools, child care centers, and other social service programs. A recent study from The Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University sought to examine how these partnerships are working for both the children and the programs involved, as well as the challenges that arise in developing these partnerships.

Interviews with representatives from participating Head Start and partner programs suggested that one of the benefits of partnership was the change in the public's perception of Head Start as being a separate entity, detached from the early education and care community, to a more respected and integrated partner. Partnerships have also helped to increase children's access to comprehensive services. In addition, with the assurance of full-day, full-year child care arrangements, parents of children in partnering programs were able to explore new employment options.

Staff quality, turnover, and compensation issues stood out as the biggest challenges faced by partnerships. Interviews suggested that the unexpected amount of paperwork involved in both collaborating with other agencies and receiving funding from various sources led to burnout among providers and administrators. In addition, the differences in providers' salaries between programs created the illusion of "two classes" of staff. Other challenges included reconciling philosophical differences in how Head Start and partner programs perceived their role in working with children, and finding ways to adjust programming to be more sensitive to the increased demands on children transitioning to full-day, full-year services.

Source:
Head Start-Child Care Partnership Study, S.L. Kagan, M. Verzaro-O'Brien, U. Kim, and M. Formica, The Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy, Yale University, Winter 2000.

For more information:
write to the Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy, Yale University, 310 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06511-2188, call (203) 432-9931, or go on-line at http://www.quilt.org/Home/pdfdocs/BushBooklet.pdfEditor's Note: this url is no longer active.

Facts in Action, June 2001