Community Development Institute Head Start history

In 1969, under the Nixon administration, Head Start was transferred from the Office of Economic Opportunity to the Office of Child Development in the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

1970 Founded by Carolyn Miller and Paul Villar, visionaries in community development and civil rights

The Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), the regulations governing Head Start programs, were originally published in 1975.

In 1977, under the Carter administration, Head Start began bilingual and bicultural programs in about 21 states.

Seven years later, in October 1984 under the Reagan administration, Head Start's grant budget exceeded $1 billion.

Head Start is a comprehensive early childhood development program primarily serving low-income preschool-age children and their families while Early Head Start was established during the 1994 Reauthorization of Head Start.

In 1995, the first Early Head Start grants were awarded to serve expectant families and children ages birth to 3 from families with low income.

In Fiscal Year 1997, $159,000,000 was used to support 173 projects to provide, Early Head Start child development and family support services in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

In Fiscal Year 1998, funding of $279,250,000 will be used to support Early Head Start programs.

2004 Published The Nonprofits’ Guide to the Power of Appreciative Inquiry, a guidebook to this transformative process for organizational change and development

In 2009, under the Obama administration, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act added more than 64,000 slots for Early Head Start and Head Start programs.

2010 Celebrated 40 years inspiring individual, organizational and community transformation

In 2011, the Designation Renewal System (DRS) established five-year grant periods for all Head Start service awards.