Head Start Assignment

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Introduction to Policy Assignment 1 Head Start
The social welfare policy that I have selected for this assignment is the Head Start Act Sec. 635. [42 U.S.C. 9801], also commonly referred to as Head Start. The Head Start Program can be traced back to 1965 during the Lyndon B. Johnson United States presidential era of the “Great Society” and “War on Poverty”. According to Marx (2011), “Housed in the Office of Economic Opportunity, these CAP agencies were given several objectives: to plan and coordinate local services for the needy, to fund and deliver certain services (e.g., the preschool program, Head Start), and to advocate for the poor. During this period of time, the government decision was influenced by research that indicated connections between poverty and negative impacts on education. On the website for The Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center ECLKC (“About Us”, 2011) identifies the originating purpose of Head Start as “Head Start was designed to help break the cycle of poverty, providing preschool children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional and psychological needs. A key tenet of the program established that it be culturally responsive to
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The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are the organizations responsible for the implementation of Head Start. Head Start is funded through the provision of federal grants for the operation of Head Start programs in local communities and these grants are provided to local non-profit and, for-profit organizations, public agencies, school systems and tribal governments. American Indian and Native American (AINA) funding is provided to tribal governments and Migrant and Seasonal funding is also as an alternative source of funding for youth and

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