Title
Head Start Birth to Five Monthly Report - February - Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8
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.
- Program information summaries.
- Nutrition.
- Child Incident Reports.
- Program Instructions or Information Memorandums.
Fiscal Expenditures
Attachment A shows year-to-date expenditures for the Fiscal Year 2024-25. 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 February, the total program enrollment was 2,181 out of 2,209 available slots, or 98 percent.
Enrollment at the end of February for the Preschool Education Service Providers was 1,956 slots filled out of a total of 1,957, or 99.9 percent.
Early Head Start, which includes home-based and center-based year-round programming, ended the month with 225 slots filled out of 252, or 89 percent. The home-based program exceeded its capacity, filling 82 out of 64 available slots, or 128 percent. In contrast, the center-based program filled 143 out of a total of 188 slots, or 76.5 percent. As a result of lower enrollment in the center-based program, additional families have been enrolled in the home-based program to boost overall enrollment.
The contracts with Out of This World Christian Child Care, Inc., and Fusion Minds, LLC, DBA Immanuel Care for Children ended on January 30, 2025, leading to 76 available slots. A contract with Kuehg Corp., DBA KinderCare Learning Centers began on February 1, 2025. KinderCare is set to start enrolling children on March 24, 2025, with 40 children which will bring them to full enrollment. The remaining 36 slots, along with an additional four slots from the home-based program, have been allocated to the Greater Phoenix Urban League, which will be fully enrolled by June 2, 2025.
Additional families have been enrolled in the home-based program to receive services while the Greater Phoenix Urban League prepares to open classrooms, to maintain full enrollment in the Head Start Birth to Five program as a whole.
Full Enrollment Initiative
The Full Enrollment Initiative for the Head Start Birth to Five Program concluded on April 4, 2024. On October 1, the program received a final letter from the Office of Head Start designating it as chronically under enrolled. The letter noted that, due to measurable progress towards achieving full enrollment, the Office of Head Start will not reduce the base grant for the Head Start Birth to Five Program at the time.
Starting in November 2024, the Head Start Birth to Five Preschool Program achieved an enrollment rate of 97 percent or higher, fulfilling the mandatory six-month requirement to be fully enrolled by April 2025. At that time, the Office of Head Start will issue a letter confirming that the program has reached full enrollment and will, therefore, be exited from the Full Enrollment Initiative. The Early Head Start Program maintained full enrollment from November 2024 through January 2025 but did not meet the 97 percent enrollment rate in February due to the on boarding of the new provider, KinderCare. Additional families will be enrolled in the home-based program to achieve full enrollment in March 2025.
Risk Assessment Notification Review
The Head Start Birth to Five program received a Risk Assessment Notification in April 2024 due to a violation by a provider of the Head Start Program Performance Standards, specifically regarding the Standards of Conduct. Training and technical assistance to enhance the Birth to Five's current policies and procedures for ensuring the safety of children has been provided through Region 9 Head Start Office.
The Risk Assessment Notification process officially concluded on Feb. 6, 2025. A report is anticipated by the beginning of April 2025.
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 February. Head Start Preschool was 72 percent. The Early Head Start Center-Based program was 53 percent.
Medical/Dental Exams
Head Start regulations require all children have medical and dental exams annually. At the end of February, 2,381 medical and 2,136 dental exams were completed, totaling 4,517 exams, as illustrated in Attachment C. The target goals have been updated to reflect the new enrollment number.
Program Information Summaries
Please see Attachment D.
Nutrition
Each program must design and carry out nutrition services that are culturally and developmentally appropriate and provide children with up to two-thirds of their daily nutritional requirements. Nutrition services must meet the nutritional needs and feeding requirements of each child, including children with identified food allergies, children with disabilities, and children who have special diets due to religion and family preference. In addition, a program must serve meals and snacks that meet U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary patterns and are high in nutrients and low in fat, sugar, and salt. Children in the Early Head Start Center-Based classrooms receive protein, fruits, vegetables, and low carbohydrates during breakfast and lunch with milk or water. Snacks include protein and low carbohydrates with milk or water.
Child Incident Reports
The Head Start Program Performance Standards require programs submit reports, related to any significant incidents affecting the health and safety of the program participations. This includes injuries requiring hospitalization, emergency room treatment, or doctor's visit, as well as inappropriate discipline, potential child abuse or maltreatment, lack of supervision, or unauthorized release of a child. There were no Child Incident Reports submitted to the Office of Head Start in February.
Department of Child Safety Reports
All Head Start and Early Head Start staff are required to report suspected child abuse and neglect to protect children and help children and families connect to services. During the month of February, one report was made to the Department of Child Safety.
Program Instructions or Information Memorandums
Periodically, the Office of Head Start needs to provide information or programmatic updates to all Head Start Grantees. This is done through Program Instructions (PIs) and Information Memorandums (IMs). PIs provide information or recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families to States, Tribes, grantees, and others on various issues of child welfare that usually result in guidance or policy changes. IMs provide up-to-date information but do not establish requirements or supersede existing laws of official guidance. In February, there were no IM's and PI's released.
Locations
Alhambra Elementary School District, 4510 N. 37th Avenue
Cartwright Elementary School District, 5220 W. Indian School Road
Deer Valley Unified School District, 20402 N. 15th Avenue
Fowler Elementary School District, 1617 S. 67th Avenue
Isaac School District, 3348 W. McDowell Road
Laveen Elementary School District, 5601 W. Dobbins Road
Murphy Elementary School District, 3140 W. Buckeye Road
Pendergast Elementary School District, 3802 N. 91st Avenue
Phoenix Elementary School District, 1817 N. 7th Street
Riverside Elementary School District, 1414 S. 51st Avenue
Roosevelt Elementary School District, 6000 S. 7th Street
Washington Elementary School District, 4650 W. Sweetwater Avenue
Wilson Elementary School District, 3025 E. Fillmore Street
Council Districts: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Gina Montes and the Human Services Department.