Bold Leadership Series: A Head Start on Housing for America’s Families

Описание: Like all states, Connecticut’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs are required to aggressively seek out and prioritize homeless children for enrollment so that children can thrive in the classroom despite their family’s challenges. Although nearly 4 percent of enrolled children are precariously housed, agencies rarely have resources to address housing problems.

The National Center for Housing and Child Welfare (NCHCW) worked with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood’s Head Start State Collaboration Office to attack these housing problems head-on. Beginning in the fall of 2021, NCHCW began convening state leaders to establish a partnership between the Connecticut Department of Housing (DOH) and the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) to gain access to permanent housing subsidies and roll-out a “Head Start on Housing” landlord recruitment campaign in February 2022.

This pilot program armed three agencies within Connecticut’s sophisticated network of Head Start and Early Head Start programs with immediate access to the housing resources they need to help families escape homelessness. On June 13, 2022, Gov. Lamont announced a statewide expansion of this “on demand” Housing Choice Voucher program for Head Start households. This presentation will offer insight on how this extraordinary pilot program was established and offer tips on how to bring this innovation to your state.