NCHCW launches a head start on housing for America’s families and youth
A Head Start on Housing is a joint venture among the state’s offices of Early Childhood, Housing, Head Start State Collaboration, the CT Head Start Association, and the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare.
Head Start originated in New Haven in the 1960s under President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” anti-poverty initiative, to provide early educational services to families with incomes up to 100 percent of the federal poverty line. It became a celebrated nationwide program that continues to this day.
“The one missing piece of Head Start was housing,” Ruth White, executive director of the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare. “Head Start staff are required to go out and recruit families that are experiencing housing instability or homelessness but couldn’t attach vouchers which must have been infuriating for them. 1.5 million children in the American public schools system are experiencing homelessness right now so hopefully this program can become a model for state’s across the nation.”
Cover slide from July 8, 2024 Presentation