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Office of Head Start skip to primary page contentDirector Yvette Sanchez Fuentes

Head Start Program Fact Sheet

Fiscal Year 2008

 
FY 2007 Actual
FY 2008 Appropriation
Local Head Start Projects    
Projects in States and Territories
$6,178,848,856
$6,169,256,494
American Indian-Alaska Native, and Migrant and Seasonal Programs
$475,919,869
$ 475,179,106
Subtotal
$6,654,766,725
$6,644,435,600
Support Activities    
Training and Technical Assistance
$175,214,000
$ 174,949,400
Research, Demonstration and Evaluation
$19,793,000
$ 20,000,000
Monitoring/Program Review
$38,590,000
$ 38,590,000
Subtotal
$233,597,000
$ 233,539,400
                 TOTAL
$6,888,363,725
$ 6,877,975,000

ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Office of Head Start
1250 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024

Head Start Logo

February 2008

Head Start Facts

The Head Start program is administered by the Office of Head Start (OHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Grants are awarded by the ACF Regional Offices and the Office of Head Start's American Indian-Alaska Native, and Migrant and Seasonal Program Branches directly to local public agencies, private non-profit and for-profit organizations, Indian Tribes and school systems for the purpose of operating Head Start programs at the community level.

FY-2007 Program Statistics

ENROLLMENT
908,412
     Ages:  
     Number of 5 year olds and older
3%
     Number of 4 year olds
51%
     Number of 3 year olds
36%
     Number under 3 years of age
10%
     Racial/Ethnic Composition  
     American Indian/Alaska Native
4.0%
     Black/African American
30.1%
     White
39.7%
     Asian
1.7%
     Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
.8%
     Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial
4.9%
     Unspecified/Other
18.8%

     Hispanic/Latino
34.7%

NUMBER OF GRANTEES
1,604

     Number of Classrooms
49,400
     Number of Centers
18,275

AVERAGE COST PER CHILD
$7,326
PAID STAFF
220,000
VOLUNTEERS
1,384,000

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During the 2005-2006 Head Start Program Year:

  • 12.2 percent of the Head Start enrollment consisted of children with disabilities, (mental retardation, health impairments, visual handicaps, hearing impairments, emotional disturbance, speech and language impairments, orthopedic handicaps and learning disabilities).


  • Nearly 48,000 children participated in home-based Head Start program services.


  • 74 percent of Head Start teachers have at least an AA degree in Early Childhood Education.


  • 27 percent of Head Start program staff members were parents of current or former Head Start children. Nearly 910,000 parents volunteered in their local Head Start program.


  • 93 percent of Head Start children had health insurance. 85 percent of those with health insurance were enrolled in the Medicaid/Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program or a state sponsored child health insurance program.


  • The 1994 reauthorization of the Head Start Act established the Early Head Start program for low-income families with infants and toddlers. In Fiscal Year 2007, $689 million was used to support more than 650 programs which provided Early Head Start child development and family support services in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. These programs served nearly 62,000 children under the age of three.


  • More than 225,000 Head Start fathers participated in organized regularly scheduled activities designed to involve them in Head Start and Early Head Start programs.


  • 86 Head Start and Early Head Start Programs were sponsored by faith-based organizations.

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FY 2007 Head Start Program State Allocations and Enrollment

STATE
FUNDING
ENROLLMENT
ALABAMA
107,069,710
16,374
ALASKA
12,524,123
1,583
ARIZONA
103,928,297
13,175
ARKANSAS
64,793,182
10,778
CALIFORNIA
835,094,424
98,353
COLORADO
68,621,163
9,820
CONNECTICUT
52,112,641
7,076
DELAWARE
13,290,490
2,071
District of Columbia
25,211,331
3,403
FLORIDA
264,221,005
35,457
GEORGIA
169,203,527
23,436
HAWAII
22,980,561
3,049
IDAHO
22,907,992
2,943
ILLINOIS
271,880,496
39,640
INDIANA
96,596,956
14,213
IOWA
51,762,241
7,710
KANSAS
51,136,866
8,178
KENTUCKY
108,290,595
16,070
LOUISIANA
146,504,237
21,592
MAINE
27,724,725
3,871
MARYLAND
78,356,161
10,347
MASSACHUSETTS
108,797,056
12,807
MICHIGAN
235,517,531
35,067
MINNESOTA
72,300,453
10,332
MISSISSIPPI
162,356,794
26,657
MISSOURI
119,482,617
17,456
MONTANA
21,035,544
2,919
NEBRASKA
36,207,292
5,080
NEVADA
24,380,031
2,754
NEW HAMPSHIRE
13,441,195
1,632
NEW JERSEY
129,545,483
14,854
NEW MEXICO
52,515,381
7,279
NEW YORK
434,979,286
48,818
NORTH CAROLINA
141,857,656
18,963
NORTH DAKOTA
17,245,660
2,353
OHIO
247,914,736
37,940
OKLAHOMA
81,384,010
13,474
OREGON
59,714,535
8,814
PENNSYLVANIA
229,113,424
35,362
RHODE ISLAND
22,105,950
3,104
SOUTH CAROLINA
82,842,414
12,248
SOUTH DAKOTA
18,902,974
2,827
TENNESSEE
119,832,346
16,397
TEXAS
480,685,049
67,630
UTAH
37,920,068
5,400
VERMONT
13,615,255
1,552
VIRGINIA
99,506,637
13,518
WASHINGTON
100,776,184
11,278
WEST VIRGINIA
50,851,993
7,682
WISCONSIN
91,252,718
13,538
WYOMING
12,422,337
1,840
INDIAN TRIBES
188,210,173
23,096
MIGRANT PROGRAMS
287,675,464
35,917
AMERICAN SAMOA
2,159,044
1,532
GUAM
2,172,537
440
NO. MARIANAS
1,671,096
420
PALAU
1,338,959
509
PUERTO RICO
250,345,489
36,842
VIRGIN ISLANDS
8,029,929
942

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HEAD START ENROLLMENT HISTORY

FISCAL YEAR
ENROLLMENT
APPROPRIATION
1965 (summer only)
561,000
$ 96,400,000
1966
733,000
198,900,000
1967
681,400
349,200,000
1968
693,900
316,200,000
1969
663,600
333,900,000
1970
477,400
325,700,000
1971
397,500
360,000,000
1972
379,000
376,300,000
1973
379,000
400,700,000
1974
352,800
403,900,000
1975
349,000
403,900,000
1976
349,000
441,000,000
1977
333,000
475,000,000
1978
391,400
625,000,000
1979
387,500
680,000,000
1980
376,300
735,000,000
1981
387,300
818,700,000
1982
395,800
911,700,000
1983
414,950
912,000,000
1984
442,140
995,750,000
1985
452,080
1,075,059,000
1986
451,732
1,040,315,000
1987
446,523
1,130,542,000
1988
448,464
1,206,324,000
1989
450,970
1,235,000,000
1990
540,930
1,552,000,000
1991
583,471
1,951,800,000
1992
621,078
2,201,800,000
1993
713,903
2,776,286,000
1994
740,493
3,325,728,000
1995
750,696
3,534,128,000
1996
752,077
3,569,329,000
1997
793,809
3,980,546,000
1998
822,316
4,347,433,000
1999
826,016
4,658,151,448
2000
857,664
5,267,000,000
2001
905,235
6,200,000,000
2002
912,345
6,536,570,000
2003
909,608
6,667,533,000
2004
905,851
6,774,848,000
2005
906,993
6,843,114,000
2006
909,201
6,872,062,000
2007
908,412
6,887,896,000

The Head Start program has enrolled more than 25 million children since it began in 1965.

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