Center Directors are instrumental in running a high quality Head Start and Early Head Start program.  The position of Center Director is like a mini-Program Director.  They are leaders of your centers – or as we like to call them, your “school readiness academies.”

We’ve found that effective and efficient Center Directors take the following approach to running their center:

Strong leadership and accountability is the foundation.

Center Directors are the leader of their center and are ultimately responsible for everything that occurs there. Roles and responsibilities of Center Directors include leading their staff, monitoring their center and data management, just to name a few.  Center Directors are charged with ensuring that school readiness and family engagement services are provided at their center.

Excellent customer service is provided to everyone.

The Center Director is the point person for many people inside and outside of the program.  Interacting with children, parents, staff and community partners is an everyday occurrence for Center Directors.  It’s essential that Center Directors understand what excellent customer service looks like and know the importance of providing it at all times.

Compliance monitoring is conducted regularly.

It’s critical that ongoing monitoring is a daily occurrence at the center, led by the Center Director.  Health and safety checks in the center and on the playground, classroom observations and folder checks are just a few of the items to be monitored at centers.  Being in compliance with all Head Start Program Performance Standards and other regulations is fundamental to a successful Head Start and Early Head Start program.

We provide training for Center Directors that is focused on developing strong leaders.  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

“It’s not what you said, it’s the way you said it.” How many times have you heard that? Poor communication is the cause of many challenges – challenges that can affect many areas of your program.  Child and family outcomes will not be as high as they could be if high-functioning relationships are not in place. Effective communication is critical for building relationships between teachers and families – and that includes both the children and their parents. Family service workers and home visitors must build strong relationships with parents. And communication is key to building successful working relationships between staff and co-workers.

So, how can you solve communication problems? We focus on 3 factors that help build effective communication skills and successful relationships.

Build a secure foundation.

When building a relationship, you have to make the person feel safe and secure. This is true whether we’re talking about a teacher working with a child – or a family service worker or home visitor working with a parent. When the child feels safe and secure, they are ready to learn. When a parent feels safe and secure, they are open to talking about and addressing issues as they work toward self-sufficiency.

Demonstrate professionalism.

Act like a professional” is overused and often misunderstood. Professionalism doesn’t mean working a corporate job or wearing a suit but rather, demonstrating a professional attitude. It means conducting oneself with responsibility, integrity and accountability. It means communicating appropriately and always finding a way to be productive. It involves boundaries, intentionality and ensuring that the customer is always heard.

Focus on outcomes.

When children feel safe and secure, they learn more and their assessment scores are higher. When family service workers and home visitors build a true partnership with parents, parents engage more. They feel safe and are more willing to address the challenges in their life. When staff have strong working relationships with each other, everyone is more productive. Accomplishments thrive.

We provide staff training on effective communication, building relationships, and professionalism. We can help increase the child and family outcomes within your program. Give us a call at (704) 451-3255.

In case you weren’t able to view the March 11^th National Head Start Association webinar on the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget, there were some interesting points of discussion and worthwhile news on upcoming opportunities. Items discussed include the increase in Head Start funding, the President’s 2015 budget proposal, upcoming opportunities, NHSA’s top advocacy priorities, and NHSA’s advocacy plan for the next 2 months. See the bulleted highlights below for the details.

Head Start Funding FY 2008 – FY 2014:

• Head Start’s funding level has increased significantly. In FY 2008, Head Start’s funding level was approximately 6.8 billion and in FY 2014, it is just over 8.5 billion. While most federal programs’ funds recently decreased, (including child welfare, education and health), Head Start’s funds have increased. This is due to your great advocacy work!

FY 2015 President’s Budget Proposal:

• Head Start/Early Head Start
  • $8.868 billion ($270 million increase)
  • $8.193 billion in base funding (including $100 million COLA)
  • $650 million for Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships ($150 million increase)
  • $25 million for DRS transition
• Opportunity, Growth & Security Initiative
  • $56 billion fund that includes $800 million for Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships and for “supporting Head Start grantees who are expanding program duration and investing in teacher quality”
• Maternal, Infant & Early Childhood Home Visiting
  • $500 million total funding (roughly $120 million increase); 15 billion over 10 years
• Child Care and Development Fund
  • $750 million mandatory; $57 million increase in discretionary money
• Community Services Block Grant
  • $350 million in total funding (cut of $324 million)
• Race to the Top – Pre-K
  • $500 million in discretionary Race to the Top funding ($250 million increase over FY 2014)
  • $1.3 billion in FY 2015 for State partnership Pre-K (Strong Start)

Opportunities for the Head Start Community:

• Rethink & refresh – let’s put the sequester behind us and promote our commitment to quality.
• Consider Early Head Start – Child Care partnerships to serve more birth to 3 children with the new funding.
• Position Head Start as the most accountable and effective early childhood education and driver of economic mobility.

NHSA’s Top Advocacy Priorities:

• Head Start funding
• Preventing resumption of sequester of 2016
• Positioning Head Start in the President’s Plan and Strong Start legislation
• DRS mitigation
• Implementing the Policy Agenda
• Preparations for Reauthorization

Advocacy Plan – March & April:

• Workforce State of Emergency – Call for stories: NHSA is looking for stories from Head Start staff who are struggling due to not receiving a livable wage. We are also looking for stories of other struggles (i.e. stress, healthcare costs, continuing education, etc.). These stories will become our advocacy activities.  For more information – go.nhsa.org/workforce-emergency.
• Members of Congress are on a 2-week recess in April (weeks of April 14^th & April 24^th). Invite them to visit your program to say thank you and to remind them that Head Start changes the lives of children and families in their district and across the country.

About 2 weeks ago, we received great news that Head Start received a 1 billion dollar boost in its funding.  While we don’t know a lot of specifics yet, we’ve been told that the monies that were reduced by sequestration will be restored.  We’ve also been told that 500 million dollars of the monies will be for Early Head Start – Child Care partnerships.

Before we receive more information, it’s time to get your ducks in a row.  When the funding opportunities are posted, we’re expecting a short timeline to write the grant application.  We’ve found that there’s a lot you can do now to be in good shape when the grant opportunities are posted. Things to do now to get ahead of the game include:

Investigate potential child care partners.

Talk with center directors of child care centers or family child care providers in your service area.  Tell them about Head Start and share information on Head Start requirements and goals.  Ask similar questions about their child care center.  See if it may be a potential match.

Get a comprehensive Community Assessment.

You will need data that shows why your service area is in high need of services.  You’ll also need data that describes all of the needs of the children and families in your area.

Think about how your program stands out from others.

Brainstorm with your team. Make a list of all the ways that your program provides high quality services – ways that it goes above and beyond.  Ask yourself, and your team, what it is you do that is innovative.

Need some help writing your grant? Or are you interested in having your grant reviewed?  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255.

Sequestration is one of the most recent challenges for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.  I believe that now is the time for Head Start and Early Head Start programs to create both a short-term and long-term plan to address sequestration.

Cutting 5% is quite a task since Head Start and Early Head Start programs already run their programs on a lean budget.  Programs are having to be creative to find 5% of their budget to cut.  Short-term options such as enrollment reductions, staff reductions, shorter program year, switching program options and many other possibilities are being considered.  Unfortunately, many of the options come at quite a cost to Head Start children and families, staff and the community.  Brainstorming has produced many additional budget cutting ideas as well.

I’ve always believed that Head Start should not put all of their “eggs” in the “Head Start basket”.  It is risky to assume that there will never be a cut in Head Start funding and, unfortunately, that is certainly the case now.

A long-term strategy that I recommend is researching and applying for additional grant opportunities.  Additional grant opportunities can support your Head Start or Early Head Start grant and assist in defraying some of the costs that are currently coming out of your Head Start grant.  There are early childhood-related grants available that could be a good match with Head Start and Early Head Start grants.  This way, programs are not placing all of their “eggs” in “one basket” and can more easily manage and maneuver when Head Start funding gets cut.

— Deborah Kaiser