About Early Head Start

The mission of Early Head Start (EHS) is to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance the development of very young children, and promote healthy family functioning. EHS was created by the U.S. Congress in the reauthorization of the Head Start Act in 1994 following the increased awareness of the importance of early brain development and the potential to make a lifelong impact on children who receive services in their most formative early years. Since its inception in 1995, EHS has grown to serve almost 81,000 children and pregnant families in 2004, which represents only 3% of the eligible population.

Early Head Start offers the full array of Head Start services to children and families based on an understanding of best practices for infants and toddlers. Services are designed to foster positive attachments between very young children and consistent, responsive caregivers based on the recognition that these relationships are of critical importance to the healthy development of very young children. As with preschool Head Start services Early Head Start may be provided through a variety of program options.

Early Head Start research has demonstrated that children who participated in the program performed significantly better in cognitive, language and social-emotional development compared to children that did not participate in the program. Parents in Early Head Start also showed more positive parenting behavior, reported less physical punishment of their children and provided more help for their children to learn at home.