Partnership Overview
Download a printable version of the full user guide here.
For parents nationwide, child care is a basic need, and often a critical barrier for those who seek to enroll in and complete postsecondary education. Nearly one in 10 undergraduate students are single mothers, nearly all of whom have incomes at or near the poverty line. For those with young children, the Head Start and Early Head Start program is a valuable resource they are likely eligible for, yet fewer than 100 community college campuses have a Head Start classroom on-site. At the same time, Head Start programs nationwide are struggling with enrollment and workforce issues, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A simple and elegant solution—one that is not used often enough—is increasing the number of Head Start classrooms co-located on community college campuses.
This melding of these two community-based organizations will meaningfully build capacity for both to serve the children and families in their community. For community colleges, this partnership will bring critical (and free) early learning slots onto campus without threatening the institution’s fiscal stability. Campus-run facilities are often not financially stable and out of reach for lower-income students and staff. For Head Start, this partnership will support enrollment, staffing, and the non-federal match requirement. Finally, these varied partnerships will support the children and families served by both community institutions.
What Does the Partnership Look Like?
To make these partnerships a reality, we ask community colleges to offer free (or low cost) on-campus facilities to Head Start programs. The Head Start programs will use their expertise and federal funding to run the program, either independently or in partnership with another child care provider on campus. Finally, we ask the two organizations to work together to coordinate the on-campus programming to meet the unique needs of their student population and local community, particularly considering blending and braiding additional funding sources (including Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) grants, state subsidies, and private pay models) to expand services to non-Head Start eligible families, families with other children, and families who need non-traditional or drop-in hours of service.
Getting Started
We have designed this user guide to support community colleges and Head Start programs that want to work together in this type of partnership. Each institution needs to be clear on its own capacity to partner and the value it brings to the table, as well as what it expects from its partner. The resources in this user guide will help both organizations connect, negotiate, and launch a successful partnership.