Toddlers in Early Head Start: A Portrait of 3-Year-Olds, Their Families, and the Programs Serving Them

This report describes findings from the Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES), a longitudinal study in 89 Early Head Start programs around the country. Baby FACES follows two cohorts of children through their time in Early Head Start, starting in 2009, the first wave of data collection. The Newborn Cohort includes pregnant mothers and newborn children (194 are in this group) and the 1-year-old Cohort includes children who were approximately 1 year of age (782 were aged 10 to 15 months) at study enrollment in 2009.

This report describes the experiences of children in both cohorts through age 3 and focuses on understanding program participation and predictors of participation, service quality and predictors of quality, and associations between program services and child and family outcomes. Specifically, the report addresses the following questions:

1. What are the program models employed, staff qualifications, and other important program features and characteristics?
2. What specific services are delivered to families and what is their quality?
3. How are Early Head Start children and families faring over time?
4. What are the predictors of home visit and classroom quality?
5. What are the predictors of program participation?
6. How do family characteristics, program experiences, and quality relate to outcomes?