• Created in 1965, Head Start is the nation’s premier early childhood development program. Head Start targets the poorest children; about 900,000 children are enrolled each year. A recent study has shown that Head Start graduates have higher grades in numerals, language, literacy, social conduct, and physical development compared to their non-Head Start peers. The program received about $7 billion in federal funds in 2004. But federal resources do not meet the need – only about three out of every five eligible preschool children participate and only about three percent of the eligible babies and toddlers participate.

  For more information on this issue, visit CHN’s Public Policy Priorities, 2013-2014.

  Advocacy Organizations

  Children’s Defense Fund
  National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
  National Head Start Association
  National Women’s Law Center

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