Assessing the Need to Convert Head Start Enrollment Slots to Early Head Start

This brief highlights select findings from the Conversion of Enrollment Slots from Head Start to Early Head Start (HS2EHS) Case Studies. The brief describes what motivates grant recipients to convert enrollment slots, how those motivations vary by policy, program, and community characteristics, how Head Start staff gather information and consider a range of factors to make this decision, and how they assess whether the program is meeting community needs. 

• Participants noted that a lack of infant and toddler education and child development services in their community was the primary motivation for their program to convert slots.
• Enrollment challenges, either at the grant recipient level or in a particular center, also motivated program leaders to pursue conversion in all but one of the study’s participating programs.
• Leaders of programs with sites in rural locations used conversion to address challenges specific to these areas, including limited demand for preschool services and a lack of infant and toddler education and child development services.
• Some programs in states with publicly funded preschool experienced competition that created enrollment challenges for Head Start.
• Leaders from all programs weighed a variety of considerations to determine where new Early Head Start classrooms may be needed, including the number of children on center-specific waitlists for Early Head Start; the availability and suitability of facilities; staffing considerations; and the local early care and education context, including licensing.
• Leaders from all participating programs used the community assessment process to inform their decision to convert. The community assessment process either motivated the decision to convert or helped programs confirm an already-made decision to convert.
• Before making a final decision to convert, program leaders gathered input from others and considered what would be needed to implement Early Head Start. Participating program leaders typically spoke with staff about the decision to apply for conversion, engaged governing bodies (i.e., the policy council and/or board of directors), and discussed the decision with Office of Head Start staff. Participants emphasized the importance of starting these conversations as early as possible in the planning process.

Purposive sampling identified six Head Start programs that had converted enrollment slots from Head Start to Early Head Start between April and October 2021. The research team conducted virtual site visits with these programs between November 2022 and March 2023. Participants included Head Start program administrators, finance staff, members of governance committees, and family-facing staff, as well as community partners, Office of Head Start Regional Office staff, training and technical assistance providers, and experts with knowledge of the local early care and education context. The research team also gathered relevant information for each program from the Head Start Program Information Report (PIR) and the Head Start Enterprise System (HSES), including conversion applications and community assessments. Participating programs provided additional documentation, such as conversion implementation plans. The research team conducted unit and cross-case analysis to develop a picture of each program’s conversion and draw out a cross-site narrative about conversion of enrollment slots.

Carly Morrison, Kate Stepleton, Diane Schilder, and Catherine Kuhns (2024). OPRE Report # 2024-308. Assessing the Need to Convert Head Start Enrollment Slots to Early Head Start, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services.