A national study, lead by Michigan State University researcher Sacha Klein, shows that Head Start may do more than just provide kids with introductory education. As it turns out, the Head Start program may also help keeps kids out of the foster system. How is that possible, you wonder? According to Klein, there are several factors that play a role here.
Klein, an MSU assistant professor of social work, and her team studies several types of early childhood care, ranging from in-home daycare with a relative, all the way over to more structured types of child care. The results show that Head Start is the only program that actually reduces a child’s risk of ending up in foster care.
Head Start is beneficial to families for many reasons.
Klein says the findings “add to what we already know about the benefits of Head Start. This new evidence suggests Head Start not only helps kids develop, and allows parents to go to work, but it may also help at-risk kids from ending up in the foster care system.”
It makes perfect sense when you think about it. As Klein points out, Head Start provides a focus on family, not just on childhood education. The program encourages parents to be involved with their children’s learning, and also “emphasizes the role of parents as their child’s first and most important teacher,” according to the Head Start website.
Klein and her team studied national survey data gathered from almost 2,000 families where at least one child had “entered the system” due to suspicion of abuse or neglect. Every one of those children had either been removed from their parent’s care, or was being overseen by a CPS caseworker.
Head Start kids are 93% less likely to end up in foster care!
The results revealed that in those families where children attended Head Start, the number of children removed from their homes was significantly reduced. In fact, children aged 5 and below who were enrolled in Head Start, were 93% less likely to end up in foster care than children in the child welfare system with no early care and education.
There are currently over 400,000 children in foster care around the US, and about one third of them are under the age of 5. It’s worth noting that all children in foster care are eligible for Head Start, as are all children in low-income homes, and in homes where the family is receiving government assistance of some kind.
However, children who are under the supervision of a case worker but have not been removed from their parent’s care are not necessarily eligible for Head Start. They would still have to met the low-income requirements, or prove that they are receiving government subsistence. Klein believes this should be changed.
ALL children in the welfare system should have access to Head Start.
Not just the ones who’ve been removed from their parent’s care, says Klein. She recommends that legislators in Michigan address this issue soon, making it possible for every child involved with CPS to attend Head Start. By making every child involved in the welfare system an automatic candidate for enrollment in the system, Klein believes it will greatly reduce the number of children removed from their families.
Head Start is a federal program designed to promote the school readiness of children from birth to age five, from low-income families. They do this by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development. Head Start programs provide a learning environment that supports children’s growth in many areas such as language, literacy, and social and emotional development.
Perhaps by making this simple change and allowing more at-risk children to participate in Head Start, Michigan can make a major difference in the number of children who are removed from their homes. By making use of an established federal program that’s been around for decades, we can assure a brighter future for the children of the Great Lakes state.