Report: Head Start in Indiana needs more funds for equal opportunity

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The National Institute for Early Education Research released a new nationwide report that focused on Indiana’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs for children.

More specifically, the report examines equity and disparity gaps and, based on Indiana’s individual stats inside the report, the institute feels more funds are needed for equal opportunity with early start programming.

Head Start is for ages 3 to 5, while Early Head Start serves pregnant women and families with children younger than 3.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, progress in expanding Head Start enrollment had stalled for many years with enrollment stopping at 41% for children in poverty. Like other early childhood programs, the pandemic negatively affected Head Start and Early Head Start.

“If most of the eligible children for Head Start programs are not receiving the service, than we’re missing a big opportunity to create a more level playing field right at the beginning of kindergarten when public schools take over responsibility,” said the institute’s senior co-director W. Steven Barnett, who has a Ph.D. in economics.

For 2020-2021, 257,000 fewer children have attended Head Start nationwide. Enrollment started to go back up in 2021-2022 but hasn’t touched prepandemic numbers. Federal funding remained stable during the pandemic and even during inflation fluctuations.

“Inequalities by race and ethnicity were found nationally and by most states. One particularly concerning finding is that headstart funding per child and observed instructional quality were lower in states with a higher percentage of Black children enrolled in head start, in states with a higher percentage of Black children in the state and in states with a higher percentage of Black teachers in Head Start,” said the institute’s Dr. Allison Friedman-Krauss, an assistant research professor with a Ph.D. in development psychology.

In Indiana, due to the pandemic, 4,895 fewer children enrolled in Head Start, and 472 fewer enrolled in Early Head Start. Early Head Start enrollment was lowest in Indiana at 5% of eligible children being served while 20% of children in poverty have been enrolled in Head Start.

Specific data comparisons on estimated enrollment by race and ethnicity in Indiana include:

• 22% of white children in poverty attended Head Start, compared to 18% of Black children in poverty, 5% of Asian children in poverty, and 35% of children of other races in poverty.
• 21% of Hispanic/Latinx children in poverty attended Head Start compared to 20% of non-Hispanic/non-Latinx children.
• 6% of Black children in poverty attended Early Head Start compared to 5% of white children in poverty, 1% of Asian children in poverty, and 10% of children of other races in poverty.
• 5% of Hispanic/Latinx attended Early Head Start compared to 6% of non-Hispanic/non-Latinx children in poverty.

“The percent of children in poverty enrolled in Early Head Start ranged from 5% in Indiana, Nevada, two states with universal pre-school for 3 and 4-year-olds, allowing them to build more resources,” Friedman-Krauss said.

She also said, in every state, Head Start and Early Head Start educators earn far less than teachers at public schools.

Rhett Cecil, the executive director of the the Indiana Head Start Association, said he agrees with the report about teachers being underfunded. He says large gaps exist in the ratio for children-to-teachers, with the number of children who could be in the program put on a waitlist.

“I wish we could serve more kids here in Indiana. We’re serving as many as we can with the funds that are allocated,” Cecil said, “I think it would be great if Congress acted and quickly.”

The institute said inequities in access to Head Start and Early Head Start could substantially increase their funding to $2.5 billion each year for the next four years, for a total of $10 billion in new funds targeted on equity.