Essential Elements has been a tremendous asset and support to our Head Start program! I found them right after we had our last Federal Review and we had several non-compliances. They worked closely with us to correct the non-compliances, and when we had our Re-Review, we passed with flying colors and the report showed that all non-compliances had been corrected.

Essential Elements has helped us revamp our Self-Assessment system, created our Community Assessment, and developed our Annual Report. They developed an ongoing monitoring system for us that we now have in place and they have provided training and consultation to our program for two years and is continuing to work with our staff on succession planning as we now have several staff transitioning in and out of our program. Essential Elements has brought us a tremendous amount of value – for myself as a Head Start Director, for my staff, and for my program.

Essential Elements has been a producer for my agency. They are very resourceful and I would not be where I am today without their skills, determination, focus, and professionalism. They are very knowledgeable about Head Start and Early Head Start operations. They have coached and mentored me as an Executive Director and, previously, as a Head Start/Early Head Start Director.

My management team and direct service staff have benefited from Essential Elements’ individual mentoring and my program has risen to a level where excellence is expected. My team trusts them and you can count on them. You can call them anytime and they are responsive. They become invested in ensuring that your program gets the results that you want. They are caring and will ensure that you are doing well prior to getting down to business. They are task-oriented and results-driven…. and they get us results. I highly recommend Essential Elements to any organization who is looking to be a leader in the Head Start community.

I want to tell you about a valuable resource that I found! When I knew we would be coming up for Review this year, I found Essential Elements. They came to help us prepare for the Review and the experience has helped me in so many ways.

Essential Elements thoroughly prepared us for the Review, but what we were provided with was so much more. (After they left, I was left with a very clear to-do list. We were provided us with examples of forms, procedures, plans, etc. … that had already been created (Why recreate the wheel if you don’t have to?). As I’ve worked my way down the to-do list, I’ve had many questions and they have been there every step of the way for me.

Essential Elements explained that their services do not stop when they leave – that they will be there to answer questions by phone, email, or text. They have been so true to their word! They are reliable and responsive. There have been many instances when they have been there for our program and, especially, for me as a Director. And it’s been more than just preparing for the Review. They let me know about changes in Head Start I might not otherwise know about, gives guidance and recommendation when I need it, and helps me, in general, navigate situations I find myself in as the Director.

When you hire Essential Elements, you hire a service. They are smart, confidential and focused on you being successful … and they have high expectations. They expect you to follow through on what you need to do to be successful. It is nice to know someone has your back in a job where, truthfully, as the Director, it is hard to trust people.

If you need someone who can answer any question, send you forms you need, help you deal with challenging employees and programmatic situations, double check your work, or just listen and tell you if you are on the right track … contact Essential Elements.

Instead of coming in like some consultants, talking at you and telling you what to do from in front of you, they look at the client and see what they need … where they are … and then they come in beside the client walking through the problem together.

While Essential Elements is not cheap, as you know, you get what you pay for. In this case, I consistently get more than I pay for. In fact, while I thought I just wanted someone to assist us with preparing for the Review, they have become so valuable to us and we continue to utilize them for our T&TA needs.

Essential Elements has been providing T&TA services for us for quite a few years now. They have been very instrumental in assisting our program with ongoing services and many projects. They have created our Annual Report, developed a training module for us and they were a driving force in our agency’s “No Findings” during our last Review.

They have developed training for new staff on Performance Standards, Reauthorization and Leadership Development. They wrote our grant application for Early Head Start in which we were awarded full funding for our Early Head Start program. They also facilitated start-up planning for our Early Head Start program, which is running successfully today. They worked on our Self-Assessment, assisted with Refunding Applications and created an ongoing monitoring tool for our program. They have aided in the development of our Annual Pre-Service Training and have assisted myself as a new Head Start/Early Head Start Assistant Director and then Head Start/Early Head Start Director in the training, leadership and direction needed by new Directors. We have received training in many areas including full enrollment, school readiness, family engagement, ongoing monitoring, screening, transitions, personnel issues, leadership development, all content areas, and many other topics.

Essential Elements’ leadership and professionalism is outstanding and their knowledge is unprecedented. They are very responsive and are easily contacted through telephone, email or text message. I would highly recommend Essential Elements to any agency looking for excellent T&TA services who will assist their program in being fully compliant and going to the next level.

Essential Elements came to our program and offered just what was needed to move our program forward in strategic planning and the formation of our first succession plan. The trainer had wonderful skills as a facilitator and discussion leader as she brought out information from the group that is meaningful and pertinent to the process.

The trainer was articulate and formulated ideas and concepts in a comprehensive and useful way. Essential Elements has become a valuable asset to our program as an advisor, while having a good understanding about all components of Head Start and how they work together successfully.

Essential Elements has provided great insight and some fabulous products for us in many areas over a number of years. The trainers at Essential Elements are creative and extremely well-versed in Head Start regulations and practice. In addition to consultation on a multitude of topics, they have guided us through preparing for successful federal monitoring reviews, strategic planning, succession planning, development of an ongoing monitoring process, overhaul of our parent handbook, and the compilation of our policies and procedures manual. They also wrote a great deal of our successful Early Head Start grant proposal!

Essential Elements is an important advocate in the Head Start community. Their ability to see a “big picture” while being able to fine tune details is beneficial as is their open communication and willingness to tackle hard issues. They can discuss options with ease and they have the capacity to assist others to see a better way to gear their work toward success. I find them to be professional in manner, extremely knowledgeable about Head Start, and dedicated to making a difference in the work that they pursue. I believe that Essential Elements would be an asset to any group or organization that employed their services.