Title
Head Start Birth to Five Monthly Report - September 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 September, overall enrollment was 2,040 out of 3,451 available slots.
At the end of September, the Education Service Providers enrollment was 1,827 slots out of 2,963 filled. Approximately 130 more children can be served based on the current number of teachers, but slot vacancies continue to occur because some classrooms are not located in the areas of highest need. This is being addressed through the Full Enrollment Initiative process.
Early Head Start ended the month of September with 213 slots filled out of 488. The Home-Based program, which provides year-round, in-person home visitation, filled 62 slots out of 300. The Home-Based program can serve up to 64 children based on the number of home visitor staff. In September, two children aged out of the program and staff is using the current waitlist to identify children to fill these two slots. The Child Care Partnership program, which provides full-day, year-round services, has 151 slots filled out of 188. The Child Care Partners can serve approximately nine more children based on the current number of teachers but continue to have vacancies in infant rooms because the children on the waitlist are older.
Education Service Providers and Child Care Partners continue 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 September. Head Start Preschool was 52 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 September, 1,572 medical and 1,520 dental exams were completed, totaling 3,092 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.