History
Head Start
Head Start is a pre-school program that provides educational and developmental services to America's low-income children and supportive services to their families. Nationally, the Head Start program has prepared over 20 million children for success in kindergarten and beyond. CAP's program provides a safe environment for learning and ensures that children are healthy, eager, and ready to learn by the time they enter school.
Many of our children are ages 3-5, but services are also available to infants and toddlers. Head Start offers services to meet the special needs of children with disabilities.
The Head Start Program includes: Comprehensive Education, Family Support, Parental Involvement, Health Services, Nutritional Education, Individual Education Plans, Parent Education, Family Programs and Activities, and Before/After Care Services.
The State of Oklahoma's Program in Early Childhood Education
In 2006, The Oklahoma State Legislature and Governor Brad Henry awarded $5 million in funding (with $10 million in matching private funding required) to Community Action Project of Tulsa County to establish the State of Oklahoma Pilot Early Childhood Program. In the first year of the program, CAP and five state partners added nearly 300 classroom spots for at-risk children ages birth through three years in Oklahoma. The program also supported improvements to more than 400 existing classrooms for very young children.
By the end of year two, the State of Oklahoma's Program in Early Childhood Education will have added or made improvements to nearly 1200 classroom slots in total for at-risk children in Oklahoma. Funding in year two will increase to $10 million (state funds) and $15 million (private funds) and the program will include a total of 15 community partners working in more than 20 communities across the state.
CAP's History with Early Childhood Programs
In 1998, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designated CAP as the primary Head Start agency for Tulsa County. Through our Head Start program, we provide early childhood education, health and nutrition services, special needs services, parent involvement opportunities, and family support services for 1,500 low-income children.
We partner with Family & Children's Services of Tulsa (F&CS) to offer family strengthening services to the Head Start families we serve. Several of our early childhood education centers have achieved the highest level of national recognition for providing quality childcare programs: accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).