Head Start Family Services
Family Services
The Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative Head Start/Early Head Start helps to connect families to community resources that may benefit their family. Head Start’s Family Advocates help each family identify their strengths, and look for ways to support and build on them. Once enrolled in our program your Family Advocate will work with you to establish a family goal(s), whether big or small, and your Family Advocate will be there to support you in your journey. Furthermore, Your Family Advocate will support you by linking your family to resources within the community (Jobs, education, Food, Clothing, utility assistance, holiday assistance etc.) provide support/communication with doctor’s offices, disabilities services and daily/weekly communication with teachers and, monthly parent training events etc.
Parent Committee
Once your child is enrolled in our Head Start/Early Head Start program, you are enrolled in the Parent Committee. The Parent Committee is a very important part of our program. Parents have an important voice, and being part of the Parent Committee provides parents with the opportunity to have input into their child’s education. Parent Committee provides you with the opportunity to network with other parents, gain leadership skills, advise staff on local program policies, activities, and services so that the program meets the needs of your children and family. Once you become involved in Parent Committee, ballots will be used to vote for one member of the Parent Committee to become part of the Policy Council (Chair, Co-Chair). We can’t wait for you to join us!
Policy Council
The purpose of the policy council is to support and guide the staff of Head Start and Early Head Start to make the program the best possible experience for children and families. Policy Council members help to make decisions such as who is hired, when a position becomes vacant, how to spend funds we receive to operate the program, and what changes need to be made to improve program services. With the help of Head Start and Early Head Start staff, the policy council makes decisions about program priorities. Policy Council meetings are held once a month.
At least 51% of the members are parents with children currently enrolled in the Head Start or Early Head Start program. Employees and their close relatives are not eligible to serve on the policy council. Each member shall serve for one year at a time. No member may serve for more than five years in a row. Mileage compensation at the agency’s rate will be paid to representatives driving their own vehicle, or policy council members can choose to In-Kind this amount back to the program.
In-Kind
Head Start/Early Head Start receive monetary credit for volunteer time. Eighty percent of the HS/EHS budget comes from the federal government and twenty percent comes from the community. In order to continue receiving funding from the federal government, it is extremely important that the program have donations of volunteer hours. Any time you donate to help in the classroom or on field trips, home visits, parent meetings, attending trainings, reading books to your kiddos, completing home to school activities etc. should be recorded on the In-Kind forms provided to you from staff and turned in to the teacher each month. These volunteer activities also give you more time to see how the program is working for your child or children. Thank you in advance for your support!
Your volunteer time is critical!
Over the past few years, OVEC’s In-Kind has reached a critical point. We have been unable to reach our In-Kind match. It is possible that we will start to lose funding if this does not improve. We have estimated what is needed, divided it over the number of parents and determined the minimum amount of time and/ or value of items we need each family to assist us with. If you think of this like “Habitat for Humanity,” the government gives the money to provide the free service and they ask for your “sweat equity’ to help give back.
Attendance
HELP YOUR CHILD SUCCEED IN SCHOOL! Build the Habit of Good Attendance. Early school success goes hand in hand with good attendance!
Did you know?
Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school-and themselves. Start building this habit in Early Head Start so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Good attendance will help children do well in high school, college, and work.
Children are to be at the center every day unless they are sick. If your child will arrive late or will be absent, please call your child’s center prior to 8:30am. Any child who has irregular or sporadic attendance/tardiness will be contacted by the family advocate to help work out a solution to the problem. It is important for your child to be at the center by the designated class start time, so that your child will be included in the school meal count. If your child arrives later, they may not receive a school lunch meal. Also, many educational activities are planned in the morning hours and we don’t want your child to miss out. Consult your Family Advocate if you are unsure of your child’s start time.