Reaching and Supporting Families Most in Need
Lessons and Practice Considerations from the Head Start REACH Case Studies
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Associated Project
Head Start REACH: Strengthening Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Approaches with Families
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Clients
Key Findings
- Programs conduct annual community needs assessments to help them decide which families to focus on for their recruitment, selection, and enrollment activities. They supplement the assessments with information from parents’ applications.
- Programs prioritize factors other than income, including families’ adversities and demographic characteristics, to identify and enroll the families most in need of services.
- For recruitment to be successful, Head Start staff recommend building relationships and clarifying the Head Start model for partners.
- Programs tailor strategies to promote attendance and retention among families facing adversities.
The Head Start REACH: Strengthening Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Approaches with Families project is focused on understanding the eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance/retention (ERSEA) approaches that Head Start programs use to engage Head Start–eligible families experiencing adversities. This brief describes how Head Start programs participating in REACH case studies identify and prioritize families, including those experiencing adversities, for recruitment and enrollment in Head Start; how they recruit, select, and enroll families, including those experiencing adversities, into Head Start; and how they maintain regular attendance and retain families in the program.
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