Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center Archive

Head Start Program Facts: Fiscal Year 2008

 

FY 2007 Actual

FY 2008 Appropriation

Local Head Start Projects    
Projects in States and Territories

$6,178,848,856

$6,169,256,494

American Indian and Alaska Native, and Migrant and Seasonal Programs

$475,919,869

$475,179,106

Subtotal

$6,654,766,725

$6,644,435,600

Support Activities    
Training and Technical Assistance

$175,214,000

$174,949,400

Research, Demonstration and Evaluation

$19,793,000

$20,000,000

Monitoring/Program Review

$38,590,000

$38,590,000

Subtotal

$233,597,000

$233,539,400

TOTAL

$6,888,363,725

$6,877,975,000

 

ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Office of Head Start
1250 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024

Logo - Head Start blocks

February 2008

Head Start Facts

The Head Start program is administered by the Office of Head Start (OHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Grants are awarded by the ACF Regional Offices and the Office of Head Start's American Indian and Alaska Native, and Migrant and Seasonal Program Branches directly to local public agencies, private non-profit and for-profit organizations, Indian Tribes and school systems for the purpose of operating Head Start programs at the community level.

FY-2007 Program Statistics

ENROLLMENT

908,412

Ages:  
Number of 5 year olds and older

3%

Number of 4 year olds

51%

Number of 3 year olds

36%

Number under 3 years of age

10%

Racial Composition  
American Indian and Alaska Native

4.0%

Black/African American

30.1%

White

39.7%

Asian

1.7%

Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

.8%

Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial

4.9%

Unspecified/Other

18.8%

Ethnic Composition

 

Hispanic/Latino

34.7%

NUMBER OF GRANTEES

1,604

Number of Classrooms

49,400

Number of Centers

18,275

AVERAGE COST PER CHILD

$7,326

PAID STAFF

220,000

VOLUNTEERS

1,384,000

* Each enrollee is reported in both an ethnicity and a race category, which correlates to what the U.S. Census Bureau measures. For example, a family that identifies their child as Black and Cuban will be counted in the "Hispanic or Latino" ethnicity category and also counted in the "Black or African American" race category.

During the 2005-2006 Head Start Program Year:

  • 12.2 percent of the Head Start enrollment consisted of children with disabilities, (mental retardation, health impairments, visual handicaps, hearing impairments, emotional disturbance, speech and language impairments, orthopedic handicaps and learning disabilities).
  • Nearly 48,000 children participated in home-based Head Start program services.
  • 74 percent of Head Start teachers have at least an AA degree in Early Childhood Education.
  • 27 percent of Head Start program staff members were parents of current or former Head Start children. Nearly 910,000 parents volunteered in their local Head Start program.
  • 93 percent of Head Start children had health insurance. 85 percent of those with health insurance were enrolled in the Medicaid/Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program or a state sponsored child health insurance program.
  • The 1994 reauthorization of the Head Start Act established the Early Head Start program for low-income families with infants and toddlers. In Fiscal Year 2007, $689 million was used to support more than 650 programs which provided Early Head Start child development and family support services in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. These programs served nearly 62,000 children under the age of three.
  • More than 225,000 Head Start fathers participated in organized regularly scheduled activities designed to involve them in Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
  • 86 Head Start and Early Head Start Programs were sponsored by faith-based organizations.

FY 2007 Head Start Program State Allocations and Enrollment

STATE

FUNDING

ENROLLMENT

ALABAMA

107,069,710

16,374

ALASKA

12,524,123

1,583

ARIZONA

103,928,297

13,175

ARKANSAS

64,793,182

10,778

CALIFORNIA

835,094,424

98,353

COLORADO

68,621,163

9,820

CONNECTICUT

52,112,641

7,076

DELAWARE

13,290,490

2,071

District of Columbia

25,211,331

3,403

FLORIDA

264,221,005

35,457

GEORGIA

169,203,527

23,436

HAWAII

22,980,561

3,049

IDAHO

22,907,992

2,943

ILLINOIS

271,880,496

39,640

INDIANA

96,596,956

14,213

IOWA

51,762,241

7,710

KANSAS

51,136,866

8,178

KENTUCKY

108,290,595

16,070

LOUISIANA

146,504,237

21,592

MAINE

27,724,725

3,871

MARYLAND

78,356,161

10,347

MASSACHUSETTS

108,797,056

12,807

MICHIGAN

235,517,531

35,067

MINNESOTA

72,300,453

10,332

MISSISSIPPI

162,356,794

26,657

MISSOURI

119,482,617

17,456

MONTANA

21,035,544

2,919

NEBRASKA

36,207,292

5,080

NEVADA

24,380,031

2,754

NEW HAMPSHIRE

13,441,195

1,632

NEW JERSEY

129,545,483

14,854

NEW MEXICO

52,515,381

7,279

NEW YORK

434,979,286

48,818

NORTH CAROLINA

141,857,656

18,963

NORTH DAKOTA

17,245,660

2,353

OHIO

247,914,736

37,940

OKLAHOMA

81,384,010

13,474

OREGON

59,714,535

8,814

PENNSYLVANIA

229,113,424

35,362

RHODE ISLAND

22,105,950

3,104

SOUTH CAROLINA

82,842,414

12,248

SOUTH DAKOTA

18,902,974

2,827

TENNESSEE

119,832,346

16,397

TEXAS

480,685,049

67,630

UTAH

37,920,068

5,400

VERMONT

13,615,255

1,552

VIRGINIA

99,506,637

13,518

WASHINGTON

100,776,184

11,278

WEST VIRGINIA

50,851,993

7,682

WISCONSIN

91,252,718

13,538

WYOMING

12,422,337

1,840

INDIAN TRIBES

188,210,173

23,096

MIGRANT PROGRAMS

287,675,464

35,917

AMERICAN SAMOA

2,159,044

1,532

GUAM

2,172,537

440

NO. MARIANAS

1,671,096

420

PALAU

1,338,959

509

PUERTO RICO

250,345,489

36,842

VIRGIN ISLANDS

8,029,929

942

HEAD START ENROLLMENT HISTORY

FISCAL YEAR

ENROLLMENT

APPROPRIATION

1965 (summer only)

561,000

$ 96,400,000

1966

733,000

198,900,000

1967

681,400

349,200,000

1968

693,900

316,200,000

1969

663,600

333,900,000

1970

477,400

325,700,000

1971

397,500

360,000,000

1972

379,000

376,300,000

1973

379,000

400,700,000

1974

352,800

403,900,000

1975

349,000

403,900,000

1976

349,000

441,000,000

1977

333,000

475,000,000

1978

391,400

625,000,000

1979

387,500

680,000,000

1980

376,300

735,000,000

1981

387,300

818,700,000

1982

395,800

911,700,000

1983

414,950

912,000,000

1984

442,140

995,750,000

1985

452,080

1,075,059,000

1986

451,732

1,040,315,000

1987

446,523

1,130,542,000

1988

448,464

1,206,324,000

1989

450,970

1,235,000,000

1990

540,930

1,552,000,000

1991

583,471

1,951,800,000

1992

621,078

2,201,800,000

1993

713,903

2,776,286,000

1994

740,493

3,325,728,000

1995

750,696

3,534,128,000

1996

752,077

3,569,329,000

1997

793,809

3,980,546,000

1998

822,316

4,347,433,000

1999

826,016

4,658,151,448

2000

857,664

5,267,000,000

2001

905,235

6,200,000,000

2002

912,345

6,536,570,000

2003

909,608

6,667,533,000

2004

905,851

6,774,848,000

2005

906,993

6,843,114,000

2006

909,201

6,872,062,000

2007

908,412

6,887,896,000

The Head Start program has enrolled more than 25 million children since it began in 1965.