Title
Head Start Birth to Five Monthly Report - August 2020
Description
This report provides the Land Use and Livability Subcommittee, which serves as the City of Phoenix Head Start Birth to Five Governing Board, an updated summary of the financial and programmatic status of the Head Start Birth to Five program.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY.
Report
Summary
The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 requires each Head Start Grantee to share information with the Governing Board and Policy Council on the status of the program planning, policies and operations on a monthly basis. To comply with the Act, the Head Start program provides a monthly report on the following areas:
- Fiscal Expenditures
- Enrollment Reports
- School Attendance
- Medical/Dental Exams
- Program Information Summaries
Fiscal Expenditures
Attachment A shows year-to-date expenditures for the Fiscal Year 2020-2021. The report includes a break down of each education service provider, the Policy Council, and administrative support budgets. Current year expenditures are in-line with the approved budget.
Enrollment Reports
The Office of Head Start requires programs to submit the total number of children enrolled on the last day of each month. At the end of August, enrollment was 1,952 out of 3,451 available slots.
For Educational Service Providers (ESP), the school year began between Aug. 3 and Aug. 31. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all ESP offered distance learning only with the exception of Deer Valley Unified School District which offered in-person and distance learning. For families without access to technology, several ESP used C.A.R.E.S. Act funding to provide tablets and internet access. 1,458 of the 2,963 slots are filled with vacancies due to a variety of reasons related to COVID-19 including some families waiting for in-person preschool.
The Early Head Start (EHS) Home-Based and the EHS Child Care Partnership programs provide services year-round. Of the 300 EHS Home-Based program slots, 48 slots have been vacant for more than 30 days. Most vacancies are due to children turning three and aging out of the program with many children transitioned to Head Start preschool or development preschool in their local school district. Of the 188 EHS Child Care Partners program slots, 64 have remained vacant for more than 30 days. Parents have withdrawn from the program due to job loss or electing to keep their children home due to concerns of being exposed to the coronavirus.
Head Start Birth to Five staff continues recruiting to fill the vacant slots in all three program options.
School Attendance
The annual target for attendance set by the Office of Head Start is 85 percent. Attachment B indicates year-to-date attendance through August at 52 percent for the preschool program. The school year began between Aug. 3 and Aug. 31 which attributed to the lower attendance percentage. The Child Care Partnership year-to-date average was 35 percent at the end of August. One of the Child Care Partners was closed for seven business days due to staff who contracted the virus and needed to remain at home.
Medical/Dental Exams
Head Start regulations require all children to have medical and dental exams each year. The new fiscal year started in July. Through the end of August, a total of 1,059 medical and 969 dental exams were completed for a total of 2,028 exams, as illustrated in Attachment C.
Program Information Summaries
Please see Attachment D.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Inger Erickson and the Human Services Department.