Early Head Start Program

Early Head Start Program
Name
Institution

Early Head Start Program
The Early Head Start Program was established as a comprehensive program to help children from poor families. The program aims encompassed the fields of education, social services, and health. The main objectives of this program include boosting the child’s physical abilities and health and improving the social and emotional development of the child. Other objectives include boosting the child’s intellectual, improving the family’s ability to relate to the child, and increasing the senses of self-worth and dignity of the child and his or her family (Sakran, 2012). Since its establishment, the Early Head Start Program operation has changed in that, it greatly emphasis on early childhood education and growth. In response to this program, this essay seeks to discuss how the Early Head Start program is not effective. In brief, the paper will also discuss the success of this program.
According to Wrobel (2012), the Early Head Start program supports families facing difficult moments that affect children in their early years. However, this research claims that these difficult circumstances such as lack of access to quality education and high rates of poverty and violence affect children in adulthood. Although Head Start children benefit by acquiring quality education and living in best environments, the truth of the matter is that this reality is only met to the few. Based on this research, the program has not fully succeeded because of lack of adequate resources. Although the program works well, it requires a lot of investments to support young children in their early years. This explains why the program has not been successful in achieving its intended goals and objectives.
One of the greatest obstacles that researchers have found when evaluating this program is selection bias. According to Gormley et al (2010), this problem emerges because there is less treatment for African American Children. When comparing the impact of Head Start and other school projects such as High/Scope Perry, it is evident that the former reveals early benefits of about 25% that occur within a short period such as 3 or 4 years. With this in mind, it is obvious that a child may benefit from the program in the early years, but later he or she may be affected by issues of life such as poverty, lack of quality education, and emotional support. The impact of the pre-school program is much greater in that it last longer. The impact is twice than that of the Early Head Start program.
The conclusion of this discussion is that, Early Head Start is the most established and the pervasive program of early years. Despite its limitation, the program reaches over 20 million of children aged 1-4 years who mostly live below the poverty line. For the past years, the program has worked hard to enhance the development of young children and a healthy family functioning. The program has been known to help families with young children. More specifically, the program has strengthened relations of young children with their families. Some of the services provided by this program include comprehensive mental and physical health services, parent education, early education services, and home visits for newborns and families. These services have provided a strong ground for children to develop emotionally, physically, and intellectually. From this discussion, there is much that needs to be done to improve the program. Overall, the program requires more resources to meet all populations.

References
Gormley,W.T.,, Phillips, D., Adelstein, S., & Shaw, C. (2010). Head start’s comparative advantage: Myth or reality?Policy Studies Journal, 38(3), 397-418. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/757012390?accountid=45049
Sakran, J. A. (2012). Commentary: A head start program’s response to state-funded pre-K. Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, 35(1), 106-109. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1030144487?accountid=45049
Wrobel, S. (2012). From threat to opportunity: A head start program’s response to state-funded pre-K. Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, 35(1), 74-105. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1030146487?accountid=45049