Before You Reach Out… For Head Start
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For Head Start
So, you’re interested in partnering with your local community college. Before you reach out, here are the things we recommend you know and/or consider before starting the conversation:
Questions to Ask:
What value do you see in partnering with your local community college to offer on-campus services? You’ll want to be clear with the college and your internal stakeholders what your goals are from this partnership.
How will this partnership align with your community assessment, mission statement, self assessment and/or program goals?
How will this partnership align with the community college’s mission statement and strategic plan? Consider looking at the college’s profile on collegescorecard.ed.gov.
What program option are you able to or interested in providing on campus? Specifically, how many hours per day, days per week, and days per year of service are you able to provide?
What age group are you funded to serve? Are you potentially willing to request a change of scope based on needs of the families on or near campus?
How many existing slots are you interested in relocating to an on-campus location?
What is your willingness to blend and braid funding to provide more accessibility on campus? For example, can you incorporate state and local funding, voucher programs, sliding scale, and/or private pay slots into your on-campus classrooms in order to serve students who are not Head Start eligible? What about extended hours before and after school and drop-in care?
Are there any specific state or local licensing requirements that will need to be considered for an on-campus location?
How soon do you need the space? Is your timeframe flexible? Do you have a lease coming up? Are you writing for expansion slots?
Best Practices:
“We got to the point of walking through the empty space, but when the college representative was listening to my colleagues and I talking about the requirements of the kitchen and the sinks and the fences and the toilets and on and on… He just said, ‘I’m not sure this is a good idea.’ Even though we said we could help pay for the changes, he did not want to go forward.””
Start the conversation with the basics. Don’t terrify the community college with too many details about the requirements under the Head Start Act and the Performance Standards. These will need to be discussed eventually because changes will be necessary and the college needs to be prepared, but you should keep the conversation high-level to start. You’re the expert on Head Start requirements and the college can rely on you to cover them.
Share all the pros of the relationship, particularly the stable funding that Head Start can bring to the table and how this can improve the community college’s bottom line.
Remember the importance of deep relationships. Bringing people together in the same room can help get through almost any barrier there is. Partnerships like these thrive on people who are committed to serving their community and making things work; working through something over a cup of coffee can’t be underestimated.
Carefully assess your funding, enrollment, and strategic objectives and be open and honest about what you can provide.
Consider having someone from the community college serve on your board or policy council. This will demonstrate your commitment to this partnership and help them understand what Head Start is and how you integrate into their campus.
“Because of our partnership, our community college was able to obtain the Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) grant. That CCAMPIS grant helped our parents to be able to go to school. It helped provide funding for staff trainings, parent trainings, and even classroom materials.”
Vocabulary Check-In
The U.S. Department of Education awards some community colleges money for child care through the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. Colleges apply for these competitive grant dollars to support the low-income student-parents they serve, either by offering care on campus or providing them vouchers to access care elsewhere in the community. CCAMPIS dollars can be used to cover both child care and before- and after-school care for older children.