Friday, November 12, 2004
One Ohio official said the changes were not intended to harm the program.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Enrollment in Head Start is down because of new eligibility restrictions and a tedious approval process that makes it more difficult to enroll a child in the preschool program, local Head Start directors say.
Ohio implemented the changes July 1 when the program became Head Start Plus. The program provides education, health services and free meals to help 3- and 4-year-olds from poor families prepare for kindergarten.
Frustrated Head Start Plus providers say the new rules are straining their finances and preventing many children from getting help. Statewide, only about 3,400 of the nearly 8,500 Head Start Plus slots are filled.
"We fear there is a long shadow over Head Start," said Judy Peters, president and chief executive of West Side Ecumenical Ministry, which oversees 22 Head Start centers in Cuyahoga County. "We fear it is going to go away."
Before July 1, children eligible for state money often received a half-day of Head Start and a half-day of traditional child care, sometimes at difference places.
The full-day Head Start Plus is an effort to introduce the program's standards to more day-care centers and create a more uniform preschool education.
The requirements
The new rules required single parents to work a minimum of 35 hours per week for their children to qualify for Head Start Plus. That disqualified many children whose parents were full-time students or working part time.
The state eliminated the 35-hour work minimum after receiving complaints. Now, children are eligible as long as a parent is working. The problem, providers say, is getting the word out to those who were initially turned away.
Another problem with the new rules is that the county must determine a child's eligibility, which can take weeks. Parents fill out applications that ask for a range of personal information, including income, which the county tries to verify. Previously, Head Start agencies could qualify children on the spot.
Also, a new "pay as you go" policy means Head Start Plus providers must wait to be reimbursed by the state. That can take a month or more, leaving them without money to cover expenses. Previously, a provider was paid when a child was enrolled.
The changes were not meant to harm Head Start, said Barbara Riley, assistant director of the Ohio Department of Job & amp; Family Services.
"Quite the contrary to, 'Let's kill it,' we sat and looked at what we can do," Riley said.
Ohio is one of 13 states that offers both state-funded and federally funded Head Start.
The state allocated $96 million this year for more than 8,000 children to enroll in Head Start Plus programs. Another 38,000 Ohio children are served by the federal Head Start program.