Title
Head Start Birth to Five Monthly Report - December 2023
Description
This report provides the Economic Development and Housing Subcommittee, which serves as the City of Phoenix Head Start Birth to Five Governing Board, with an updated summary of the Head Start Birth to Five Program's financial and programmatic status.
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 monthly information with the Governing Board and Policy Council on program planning, policies and operations. In compliance with the Act, the Head Start program provides a monthly report on the following areas:
- Fiscal expenditures;
- Enrollment reports;
- School attendance;
- Medical/dental exams; and
- Program information summaries.
Fiscal Expenditures
Attachment A shows year-to-date expenditures for the Fiscal Year 2023-24. The report includes a breakdown of each Education Service Provider, Child Care Partnership, Policy Council and the administrative support budget.
Enrollment Reports
The Office of Head Start requires programs to report the total number of children enrolled on the last day of each month. At the end of December, overall enrollment was 2,099 out of 3,451 available slots.
At the end of December, the Education Service Providers enrollment was 1,867 slots filled out of 2,963. Based on the current number of teachers, the program can serve approximately 70 more children. Staff is actively working with providers to address this gap through the Full Enrollment Initiative.
Early Head Start ended the month of December with 212 slots filled out of 488. The Home-Based program, which provides year-round, in-person home visitation, filled 64 slots out of 300, which is at capacity based on the current number of home visitors. The Child Care Partnership program provides full-day, year-round services and has 148 slots filled out of 188. The Child Care Partners can serve up to 40 more children. However, Cactus Kids Preschool has yet to be able to fill teacher vacancies, leaving eight classrooms without children. While infant rooms have availability, vacancies continue to remain due to a lack of available classroom space for two-year-olds who remain on the wait list.
Education Service Providers and Child Care Partners continue to proactive efforts to recruit classroom staff through social media, job search websites, and collaboration with colleges.
School Attendance
The annual target for attendance set by the Office of Head Start is 85 percent. Attachment B indicates the year-to-date average attendance through the end of December. Head Start Preschool was 53 percent, and the Child Care Partnership program was 65 percent. Under-enrollment impacts attendance, as it is calculated on funded enrollment, not actual enrollment.
Medical/Dental Exams
Head Start regulations require all children to have medical and dental exams annually. At the end of December, 1,998 medical and 1,903 dental exams were completed, totaling 3,901 exams, as illustrated in Attachment C.
Program Information Summaries
Please see Attachment D.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Gina Montes and the Human Services Department.