Galena Park ISD outlines Early Head Start services, eligibility and governing responsibilities

Anna Latta, executive director of Early Head Start, briefed the Board of Trustees on the program’s services, eligibility criteria and the governing responsibilities tied to the grant during the Oct. 6 meeting.

Latta described Early Head Start as a federally funded program administered by the Office of Head Start and governed by the Head Start Act and the Head Start Performance Standards. She said Galena Park ISD’s Early Head Start program has operated since 1999 and serves infants and toddlers and pregnant women in district attendance zones.

Latta listed services the program provides at no cost to qualifying families: full-day child care Monday through Friday, a research-based curriculum, ongoing developmental assessments, inclusive classrooms and a requirement that at least 10 percent of enrollment be children with special needs (the program collaborates with Early Childhood Intervention, or ECI). Nutrition services meet CACFP standards, and the district provides medical and dental case management, family-engagement and fatherhood activities, transportation for qualifying families through Galena Park ISD transportation, and supplies such as diapers and wipes.

Eligibility, she said, is based on income, the child’s age (under 3) and residence within Galena Park ISD attendance zones. Latta said the program prioritizes applications by a point-based system that assigns more points to families with greater need; staff contact families to verify eligibility and schedule enrollment when documents are provided. Latta said the program typically maintains a waiting list averaging 85 to 120 families each month and said the program currently serves 60 students and pregnant women in the grant-funded slots.

On governance, Latta said Early Head Start uses an inclusive leadership model with three parts: the governing body (legal and fiscal responsibility), a policy council (program direction), and management staff (day-to-day operations). She said the governing body must include at least one member with legal expertise, one with fiscal expertise and one with education expertise; other members can include Early Head Start parents and community representatives.

Latta outlined governing-body responsibilities that require board oversight or approval: reviewing and approving funding applications, financial audits, operating budgets, annual selection criteria and the annual public report that summarizes program performance and demographics. She said program and school-readiness goals are developed every five years based on community assessment and student-assessment data, and that the district receives federal monitoring reviews and must address any follow-up activities.

When a trustee asked how the program could grow, Latta said the district has pursued expansion grants in the past but can only expand if a grant is available. She reiterated the ongoing waitlist and said the district continually monitors funding opportunities for expansion.