Summary: Head Start--now more than 30 years old--has long enjoyed both congressional and public support. Since its inception, the program has served more than 16 million children at a total cost of $35 billion. Funding for Head Start has tripled in the past 10 years. In addition, the President recently announced several proposals to help working parents secure affordable, quality child care, including significantly expanding Head Start so it could serve more children who are eligible. Much has changed since the mid-1960s, however, and many questions have been raised about how the program operates in today's environment. For example, although it is widely known that Head Start provides an array of services to children, less is known about the services that it provides families and how services are delivered to participants. Head Start collects information annually on all its programs, but that information does not provide a complete picture of Head Start operations. This report describes (1) the number and the characteristics of those served, (2) the services provided and how they are provided, (3) the federal and nonfederal dollars that programs have received and spent to deliver Head Start services, and (4) the other programs providing similar early childhood services.
