HEAD START FACILITIES MANUAL

INTRODUCTION

A quality Head Start facility should provide a physical environment responsive both to the needs of the children and families served and to the needs of staff, volunteers, and community agencies that share space with Head Start. Quality facilities can help programs to achieve Head Start's goals of promoting children's social competence, providing opportunities for parent involvement, and fostering family self-sufficiency. Head Start has made improving the quality of all Head Start facilities a priority. This emphasis has emerged for three principal reasons:

• Studies have documented that many Head Start programs are housed in inadequate facilities which need to be upgraded as part of an overall strategy to improve program quality;
  
  
• The large increases in Head Start funding in recent years have high lighted the importance of obtaining new space for additional children; and
  
  
• The expansion of child care and preschool programs and tightened licensing, fire, and building code requirements has led to a critical shortage of licensed space for early childhood programs.

Along with this need for improved or expanded facilities has come Federal legislation that affects how Head Start facilities may be funded. In 1992, Congress passed the Head Start Improvement Act which authorized Head Start agencies to use grant funds to purchase facilities (and to pay interest costs on facility purchases) for the first time. In 1994, the Head Start Act was reauthorized and amended to provide grantees authority to use grant funds to construct facilities and to make major renovations to facilities. This legislation also included a provision authorizing the use of grant funds to purchase facilities from American Indian tribes. As a result of these actions, Head Start agencies are beginning to take a close look at their existing facilities and to plan for the future. Facilities assessment is an integral part of this process.

This Head Start Facilities Manual is a tool for Head Start grantees and delegate agencies to assess their existing facilities, to make improvements, and to secure space for expansion. The primary users of the manual will likely be the Head Start director, the grantee's executive director, the financial officer, and other persons who are directly involved in facilities planning and development. Head Start staff, parents, boards, Policy Councils and others interested in Head Start space will also find the Manual useful.

The manual has six chapters:

1. Assessing Head Start Facilities, which describes the facilities assessment team, how to assess existing facilities, and how to plan for future facilities needs;
   
   
2. Understanding Head Start Compliance Issues, which discusses Head Start Program Standards, state and local regulations, and provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) which Head Start facilities must meet;
   
   
3. Designing Head Start Facilities, which discusses Head Start Centers, including classrooms, play areas, and other facilities; Head Start home-based facilities; and shared facilities;
   
   
4. Developing Head Start Facilities, which discusses finding new space, altering and renovating existing space, contracting, and licensing;
   
   
5. Funding Head Start Facilities, which discusses funding sources, how to apply for funds, and leasing and purchasing facilities;
   
   
6. Finding More Help, which points to other resources, including programs, publications, and organizations.
   
   
   Each chapter includes checklists and/or other resource materials. Users of the manual may want to read the entire manual to gain a complete understanding of the facilities issues, or go directly to those chapters of particular interest.
   
   
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