POWER of COMMUNITY The
Supplement to the Annual Report 2019
High Quality Early Childhood Education Makes a Difference in Lorain County Lorain County Community Action Agency’s highquality Head Start Program expanded services and extended hours while earning attention from high-ranking officials in 2019.
Fact-finders examined every aspect of LCCAA’s Head Start program in detail and found that LCCAA intentionally uses data and information to improve teaching, assessments, family engagement and more.
LCCAA Head Start celebrated a “quality-affirming” federal review which stated the program meets all Reviewers added that the agency uses community the stringent requirements, federal performance partnerships and collaborations effectively in standards, laws and regulations demanded of the providing resources to Head Start families. funding.
Lorain County Community Action Agency 936 Broadway Ave., Lorain, Ohio www.lccaa.net 1-888-245-2009
Who We Serve LCCAA Head Start includes 891 slots which in 2018-19 served a total of 1,146 students. Early Head Start includes 40 slots which served 67 young children and/or pregnant mothers. Full enrollment is maintained with a waiting list. To be eligible, families must live at or below 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Line. Families receiving TANF or SSI are automatically eligible, as are homeless children and children in foster care. Head Start also serves children with disabilities. Based on LCCAA’s 2019 Community Needs Assessment, approximately 5,000 eligible children live in Lorain County. Current funding allows LCCAA Head Start to serve approximately 18.5 percent of those elgibile. LCCAA Head Start remains vigilant for opportunities to expand programming as it did in 2019 opening LaGrange Head Start. LaGrange - like LCCAA’s five other directly operated centers - earned a Five Star Rating from Ohio’s Step Up to Quality Program.
Affirming Quality The Focus Area 2 Federal review was conducted in November 2018. In this type of on-site review, the Office of Head Start is looking for grantees to demonstrate their ability to track and assess their program’s progress and performance, use data to drive results, and make adjustments and corrections as needed. The review team looked systematically and holistically across program services and functions including: health services; management systems; education and child development services; parent, family, and community engagement services; and financial and administrative services. The results of LCCAA Head Start’s review were stated in a letter from the Administration of Children and Families:
“Based on the information gathered during this review, we have found your program meets the requirements of all applicable Head Start Program Performance Standards, laws, regulations and policy requirements.”
How We Serve
As a comprehensive child development program, LCCAA Head Start serves the whole child and family. Assistance available to Head Start families through LCCAA and its partners includes: health screenings, dental and vision screenings, job and computer skills training, housing and utility assistance, and emergency food, clothing and shelter. Family Service Workers serve as a bridge between parents and Head Start teachers and then between parents and school or community programs. Their work means children are ready for school and families are ready to support their children’s learning.
Families Receiving Additional Services Emergency/Crisis Intervention Health Education Access to Health Care Medical Exam Access to Dental Care Dental Exam
37% 78% 99.9% 98% 96% 76%
Head Start is Federally Funded Revenue In Kind Total Revenue Expenses In Kind TNTA* Total Expenses
Head Start Early Head Start $7,498,813 $508,193 $1,874,704 $127,048 $9,373,517 $635,241 $7,415,610 $496,773 $1,874,704 $127,048 $83,203 $11,420 $9,373,517 $635,241
*Training and Technical Assistance
Demonstrating Compassion The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) evaluates classroom environments by offering teachers feedback on how they interact with students. CLASS uses a 7-point scale to assess three categories of teacher-child interactions that support children’s learning and development. Emotional Support (Result: 6.0795*): assesses the degree to which teachers establish and promote a positive climate in their classroom through their everyday interactions. Classroom Organization (Result: 5.9848*): assesses classroom routines and procedures related to the organization and management of children’s behavior, time and attention in the classroom. Instructional Support (Result: 3.0152*): assesses the ways in which teachers implement the curriculum to effectively promote cognitive and language development. This domain measures how teachers support and extend children’s thinking, encourage problem solving and conversational skills, and expand vocabulary. * Results averaged across all LCCAA Head Start classrooms. Individual classroom results may vary.
LCCAA Head Start is now enrolling for 2020-21. www.lccaa.net 1-888-245-2009
LCCAA Head Start’s fiscal audit for 2018-19 has been finalized. There were no deficiencies relating to the audit of financial statements, no instances of noncompliance material to the financial statements, and no deficiencies relating to the audit of the major federal and state award programs.