College students with children need better access to affordable child care to help them complete their degrees and improve the economic security of their families. Since many are also likely eligible for Head Start, partnerships between colleges and Head Start programs can help provide the added support these students need.
IWPR research in early summer provided guidance for how colleges could explore setting up these programs. The IWPR Student Parent Success Initiative’s new brief, Leveraging Head Start for Student Parent Families: Federal and State Policy Opportunities, released today, looks at another side of the equation. It outlines opportunities for federal, Congressional, and state policymakers to encourage greater support for parents pursuing college through Head Start-college partnerships.
The recommendations are simple but could ultimately have a tremendous impact on the lives of student parents navigating their academic careers. For example:
- The U.S. Office of Head Start should produce a supplemental resource, like its existing community assessment guide, describing how programs can collaborate with local colleges and universities to assess student parents’ need for Head Start services.
- The U.S. Department of Education should encourage, support, and provide examples of partnerships between Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grantees and Head Start to serve the family and caregiving needs of eligible student parents with low incomes.
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Congress should increase appropriations for Head Start to broadly expand access to eligible families, including student parent families, as well as continue to fund or expand funding for the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership program.
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State Head Start Collaboration Offices should expand their scope of work to include student parents with low incomes as a special population. They can also initiate partnerships with state systems of higher education to work together to serve student parent families.
Click here for more information and to read the brief in full. Please also consider sharing this report with your colleagues and networks.
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IWPR wishes to thank the Annie E. Casey Foundation for their support of this work, and to the experts who contributed to the research.
