SOCIAL SERVICES

What We Do at Head Start

Head Start Forms:

• 2024-2025 Birth to Five Enrollment Application
• Chugachmiut Dental Exam Form

Head Start Annual Report & Parent Handbook:

• Chugachmiut Head Start Annual Report 2023
• Parent Handbook 2023-2024

A Comprehensive Child Development Program

Chugachmiut’s Head Start program currently serves children in Nanwalek and Port Graham. Head Start programs promote school readiness by working with each child and family to participate in fun and beneficial early learning activities in the classrooms. Services help each child develop life and educational skills by providing educational, cultural, health, nutritional, social, and other services to enrolled children and families. Head Start engages parents in their children’s learning and helps parents make progress toward their educational, literacy, and employment goals.

Head Start’s Impact:

The program has led efforts to improve the cognitive abilities of young children. Studies have indicated that Head Start children score higher than comparable non-Head Start children in preschool achievement tests that measure these abilities. The studies also show that Head Start children perform equal to or better than their peers when they enter regular school, and there are fewer grade retentions and special class placements.

Head start programs’ outreach and training efforts have helped provide parents with the knowledge and service they need to build a wonderful life for their children. Direct involvement of parents in Head Start planning and policy-making has given families an active role in their child’s education in how those services are provided.

Program Service Areas:

EDUCATION

Head Start’s educational program is designed to meet each child’s individual needs. It also aims to meet the community’s needs and its cultural characteristics.

Every child receives a variety of learning experiences to develop intellectual, social, and emotional growth. Children participate in indoor and outdoor play and are introduced to the concepts of words and numbers. They are encouraged to express their feelings and develop self-confidence and the ability to get along with others.

School Readiness Goals: Our parents, staff, and community, as well as the State of Alaska, to develop our School Readiness goals. Teachers work with each child and in groups to ensure each child demonstrates progress towards being ready for school. School Readiness goals are posted on the parent bulletin board at each site.

HEALTH

Medical and Dental | Establishing medical and dental services is a program priority. Children also receive hearing, vision, and nutrition screenings with appropriate referrals and resources offered to families when needed.

Nutrition | Mealtime is an extension of learning by modeling language, conversation, social interaction, and introducing new foods. The menu integrates the latest nutritional research, so families are offered the healthiest meals possible.

Mental Health | A mental health professional, is available to every Head Start program to provide mental health services for children and families. Ongoing training and support ensure that we provide high-quality classroom environments that foster each child’s success, safety, and wellness.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Participation in Decision Making | Parents, are the most critical influence on a child’s development. An essential part of our program is the involvement of parents in program planning and operating activities. Many serve as members of the Policy Council, and all parents are part of the Center Committees and have a voice in program design.

Volunteers | Parents also volunteer in classrooms, playgrounds, field trips, meal times, and more. Parents receive preference for employment in Head Start for jobs in which they qualify for.

Classes & Workshops | Through participation in classes and workshops on child development and through staff visits to the home, parents learn about the needs of their children and about educational activities that can be carried out at home.

FAMILY SERVICES

Respect for the uniqueness of each family drives the work of family service staff as it builds relationships with families and works on parent-generated goals. Family service staff provide resources and referrals, crisis intervention, opportunities for community involvement, and support to develop literacy, leadership, and employment skills.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

1. mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
2. (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
3. email: program.intake@usda.gov.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.  Chugachmiut reserves all of the rights of PL638.