Florida Head Start Program

What You Need To Know?

Florida Head Start Program is a federally funded program to support low income families, helping them get complete child care and development support. Primarily the program is offered to children aged three to five but also includes toddlers and pregnant women. The benefit program provides support to low-income families through school readiness. The main focus of the program is to emphasize the role of parents in the early development of their child. It helps contribute to their social, emotional and cognitive development. Florida Head Start program is administered in collaboration with the Office of Head Start (OHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The services involved in this comprehensive program include the following benefits:

• Early education
• Health care
• Food and nutrition
• Social services
• Support for disables

Children from birth to age five from families with low income are eligible to enroll for the benefits. Homeless children and families which are receiving government assistance such as TANF are eligible to enroll. Families whose income level is below 130 percent of the poverty line and pregnant women can also apply for the Florida Head Start benefits.

As Florida Head Start is a popular program so sometimes even the child is eligible, could not get the space and families are put on waitlist. So it is very important to connect with your local community and try to meet the requirements as early as possible to get timely enrollment for your child. The Florida Head Start State Collaboration Office (FLHSSCO) specifically collaborates between Head Start and educational, medical, and social organizations in Florida. FLHSSCO’s office is located inside Florida’s Office of Early Learning.

How To Apply?

The Head Start present in your community can be found through the Head Start Locator tools available online. It will allow you to get in contact with the local program which can answer any queries you have. Approaching them will also prove helpful in terms of document collections as the appropriate ones will be highlighted.

Florida Head Start program is comprehensively available in every county statewide. Families just have to choose the right component of the program and then they can process the application online.

• Early Head Startbenefits are offered to children from birth to age 3 and it also covers pregnant women. This early support to children and the eligible families is focused on providing physical, emotional and intellectual support. The comprehensive early support to child development is rolled over on annual basis. To get more information on Early Head Start benefits, elgibilty, and enrollment, you can visit the online directory available on this link Early Head Start.
• Preschool Head Startsupport is offered to children aged 3 to 5. The purpose of this pre-school support is to ensure school readiness of the children by providing self-sufficiency to their families and focusing on cognitive development of the children. To locate the right information center in your county, you can visit the online directory of Preschool Head Start.
• Migrant Head Startprograms are offered to the immigrants or temporary farm workers. The program focuses physical and intellectual development of the children, toddlers, infants and preschool kids, when their parents are busy working in farms or other seasonal work. To locate migrant Head Start support near you, visit the link to this online directory Migrant Head Start.

For Further Information?

In instances where you wish to gain more information regarding the Florida Head Start which is located in the Office of Early Learning, you can contact the office by calling the toll-free number:

866-357-3239

Office of Early Learning

Florida Department of Education

250 Marriott Drive

Tallahassee, FL 32399

You can also simply visit the community Head Start through the help of online Head Start Locator.

Also Read: Kentucky Child Care Provider Information