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PURPOSE
The Community Action Partnership of Kern has
provided quality child education and development services in
Kern
County
for 35 years and counting, and has continued to grow and expand
services to children and families.
The mission of the Partnership’s Head Start program is to
help break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of
low-income families with a comprehensive program that addresses the
child’s needs in all areas of development:
educational, emotional, social, health, nutritional, physical,
and mental health. No
other program for young children is as comprehensive or reaches into
so many areas of the child’s life.
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Head Start is unique.
In 1965, Project Head Start was launched as
an eight-week summer program by the Federal Government, Office of
Economic Opportunity (OEO), to help break the cycle of poverty.
Eligibility of children 0-5 years of age is determined by the
parents’ annual income, based on Federal poverty income guidelines,
and also includes special needs children.
In 1969, HS was transferred from the OEO to the Dept. of
Health, Education, and Welfare; and currently operates under the
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Dept. of Health and Human Services. The
Partnership’s Head Start/Early Head Start programs operate under the
Child Education and Development
Services (CEDS) division. |
The CEDS division promises to provide
access to comprehensive cognitive, intellectual, physical, mental
health, and nutritional services, with the overall goal of providing a
greater degree of social competence and effectiveness for school
readiness, and instilling the responsibility of self-sufficiency in
young children and their families.
CEDS accomplishes its mission by providing wide-ranging
programs with a holistic focus on the family, encouraging parental
involvement and participation, building community partnerships, and
providing access to community based services.
Parent involvement is essential to the child’s success in the
program. Parents are the
primary educators of their children.
Parents provide input and assistance in a number of areas,
including the classroom, Policy Council, special activities, and
events. Under CEDS, the
Partnership’s HS/EHS program maintains 52 centers throughout
Kern
County.
Through the centers and a Home Based Program CEDS
provides extensive services to nearly 3,000 children annually.
Most child development centers are located on elementary school
campuses, thereby, facilitating the transition of children from
preschool to kindergarten. Center
based and Home Based HS/EHS programs are located throughout Kern County
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HEAD START
PROGRAM