BRANCH COUNTY — For the first time since before COVID-19, the county Head Start and Early Head Start programs are fully staffed, Assistant Superintendent of Early Childhood Education Cindy Hutson informed the BISD board Wednesday.
Hutson said the federal Department of Health and Human Services notified the Branch Intermediate School District, which runs the Head Start programs, that DHHS approved grants of $3,606,695 for the 2024-25 school year.
BISD provides 20% matching funds of $901,674 from state and local money.
The total 2024-25 Head Start budget is $4.5 million.
Hutson said DHHS added an unrequested 2.35% cost of living increase for the $2.8 million payroll.
DHHS said Federal Head Start "Promotes school readiness of children ages three to five from low-income families enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development."
The grant application identified 230 children in Branch County who should qualify.
Hutson said some applications are in process for beginning classes in a month at centers in Bronson, Girard, Quincy, and Coldwater's Lincoln school.
The Head Start program ended last year, serving 79 students: 10 in Bronson, 16 in Girard, 38 at Lincoln, and 16 in Quincy.
Hutson said, "The income guidelines are 100% of poverty level. There's other categorical eligibility, " including those receiving SNAP benefits or in the McKinney Vento homeless program.
Each family goes through an assessment interview. Head Start programs provide comprehensive services to enrolled children and their families, which include health, nutrition, social, and other services determined by family needs assessments.
Federal guidelines require Head Start services to be responsive to each child and family's ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage.
Hutson said, "We have several families that are non-English speaking or have little English. We open our doors to all families."
The assistant superintendent said, "We also have a language service we use to communicate with families so that we can get all the paperwork filled out and they know what our programs are like."
Staff speak several languages.
With a growing number of Haitian families in Branch County for employment, Hutson said there is a staff member who speaks Creole for those children.
There is a separate program, Early Head Start, that addresses the full range of a family's needs from pregnancy through a child's third birthday.
Branch County identified 65 infants, toddlers, and pregnant women who could qualify for these services.
The grant includes $971,813 for the Early Head Start program.
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BISD Early Childhood Education also participates in the Great Start Readiness Program, Michigan's state-funded preschool program for four-year-old children with factors that may place them at risk of educational failure.
At the end of the school year, 40 students participated in the GSRP separate program. Some in Hard Start also receive GSRP services.
— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com
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