Head Start Initiatives Reflect Increased Focus on Results, but Still Provide Too Little Information About Whether Program Makes a Difference

The Congress has recently acted to strengthen Head Start’s emphasis on achieving program purposes by, for example, requiring the program to develop performance measures. In response to this emphasis on performance assessment, Head Start has developed a framework that links program activities of local Head Start grantees to the program’s overall strategic mission and goal. The FACES survey, however, will collect information only at the national level. HHS officials told us, however, that they intend in the future to require local agencies to assess what outcomes they have achieved, as some agencies already do. In addition, these HHS initiatives will not address the need for information on Head Start’s impact, limiting its ability to assess how well the program is achieving its purpose. That is, the initiatives will not explain what caused any improved outcomes—whether the same outcomes would have occurred if children and families were in other kinds of early childhood programs or none at all. Although we acknowledge the difficulty of conducting impact studies of programs such as Head Start, we believe that research could be done that would assure the Congress and HHS that the current $4 billion federal investment in Head Start is achieving its purpose. program impact will be unclear. Changed Social Environment Raises Questions About Head Start’s Role

Head Start operates in a social environment that differs greatly from that of 30 years ago when the program was established: more parents are working full time, either by choice or necessity, and many more social service programs exist to address the needs of disadvantaged children and their families. 3). Just as Head Start is not the only community program providing specific services to disadvantaged children and their families, it is also not the only program that uses a community’s network of services to facilitate access to a comprehensive set of services. HHS has no information about the number of community programs providing comprehensive services, nor did we obtain this information in our recent study; we plan to explore this further in another study. Lack of Information Hinders Decisionmakers’ Response to Social Trends

While recognizing that these social changes may significantly affect Head Start now and in the future, the Congress and Head Start lack information needed to decide what specific actions to take in response to them. Information is lacking about families’ needs for services, how well Head Start’s current structure can respond to those needs, and the array of options available to disadvantaged children and their families. In addition, only limited anecdotal information exists about Head Start agencies’ initiatives for responding to these trends and the success of those initiatives. Additional copies are $2 each. A recorded menu will provide information on how to obtain these lists.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its work on the Head Start program, focusing on: (1) how well the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ensures that the Head Start program is achieving its purpose; and (2) how well Head Start is structured to meet the needs of program participants in today's social context, which differs significantly from that of 30 years ago.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) Head Start has, through the years, provided a comprehensive array of services and, as envisioned by the Government Performance and Results Act, has in recent years substantially strengthened its emphasis on determining the results of those services; (2) its processes still provide too little information, however, about how well the program is achieving its intended purposes; (3) HHS has developed a performance assessment framework that effectively links program activities with the program's overall strategic mission and goal; (4) this framework also includes measurable objectives for how the program will be implemented and what outcomes will be achieved; (5) HHS has new initiatives that will, in the next few years, provide information not previously available on outcomes such as gains made by children and their families while in the program; (6) currently, however, these initiatives are limited to assessing outcomes at the national level, not at the local agency level; (7) in addition, GAO is not convinced that these initiatives will provide definite information on impact, that is, whether children and their families would have achieved these gains without participating in Head Start; (8) although obtaining this kind of impact information would be difficult, the significance of Head Start and the sizeable investment in it warrant conducting studies that will provide answers to questions about whether the program is making a difference; (9) in addition to questions about the program's impact, questions exist about whether Head Start is structured to meet the needs of today's participants who live in a society much changed since the mid-1960s when the program was created; (10) families' needs have changed as more parents are working full time either by choice or necessity; (11) in addition, children and their families can now receive services similar to Head Start's from a growing number of other programs; (12) these social trends raise questions about how well Head Start is structured to meet participants' needs and, if changes are needed, what those changes should be; and (13) a lack of information about the array of community programs available and about actions local Head Start agencies have already taken hinders decisionmakers' ability to respond to these trends.