Southwest Oklahoma Community Action Group Inc.’s Head Start Program accomplishes much more than helping pre-school children from low-income families prepare for kindergarten; the program also focuses on the whole child—social, physical, emotional, intellectual and developmental--for early identification of potential problems and involves the child’s family.

Neil Montgomery, SOCAG director, cited Head Start as one of his largest programs, employing 60 people and operating on a current annual $1,973,383.00 budget--80 percent from federal funding and 20 percent from community donations, in-kind volunteer services and cost reductions. Former Head Start parents fill more than half of the staff positions.

During the 2008-09 school term, the program received funding for 257 children but provided services for 318 children throughout the year from 269 families at seven Head Start centers in Jackson, Harmon, Greer and Beckham counties. (To determine income eligibility or to volunteer services, such as reading to the children, call the Head Start Office at 580-482-1919, Ext. 100.)

“I think there are some real misconceptions that Head Start is a daycare program; Head Start is not daycare,” Montgomery said. “Along with the development of the child, it has much to do with the children’s families and family issues. We have fatherhood initiatives, literacy programs and all kinds of incentives to improve the lives of families and the children within Head Start at all seven locations.”

Sheila Clark, SOCAG’s Head Start program director with offices at the Lincoln Center on Carver Road in Altus, has worked in a variety of positions with Head Start parents and children for 22 years. “Our mission is to provide a quality early childhood development program to help children and families learn skills for living productive, satisfying and successful lives,” Clark said. “We focus on every aspect of the child and the family to get the children on the same playing field as the children from more affluent families when they start kindergarten; I just love the program.”

All the centers employ highly qualified teachers with bachelor’s degrees and state certification in early childhood development for the 4-year-old classes; all of the other staff members meet the qualifications for their positions and attend training sessions throughout the year. The teachers use the “Creative Curriculum,” emphasizing outdoor activities and interest-learning centers rather than confining the children at desks. The teachers increasingly use the Oklahoma Department of Education’s PASS skills in the lesson plans, just as the public schools. Children with disabilities are placed in the classroom setting with other children and comprise about 10 percent of Head Start students.

At the three Altus Head Start locations, Elva Campos is center director/teacher at the Lincoln Center (serving 36 students in two full-day classrooms and employing seven staff members); Michael Balderas is the assistant Head Start director and directs the program at the Bailey Center, 201 S. Lee (with 14 employees serving 51 students in three classrooms of 3-year-olds); and Gloria Parker is the center director at the Wilson Center, 905 N. Willard (with 10 staff members for 54 students in three classrooms). Summer classes are held in the Lincoln and Wilson centers.

Parker said Head Start makes a difference. “When they come in, many of them cling to the parents, but soon they just wave goodbye. Several teachers from the public schools have said that they can tell when a child has been to Head Start; they are used to more structure and rules,” she said. “Many times, the parents are floored when they see how much they’ve learned. We’re getting them ready for kindergarten, so they learn the basic skills, shapes, colors, name, address and zip code. We not only have the child, we have the whole family and help the families with goals—finding a better job, going to school, housing assistance. We love volunteers and encourage the parents to volunteer.”

Balderas sees big changes in the socialization of the 3-year-olds at his center. “They learn how to interact with their peers and with other people,” she said. “Some of the children have developmental delays that the parents don’t know about because they haven’t been around other groups of children. Then we do referrals for speech therapy, physical therapy for gross motor skills or whatever they need. One special needs child didn’t verbalize much; but through the year as he spent time with about 16 other kids, he started saying ‘Hi’ to everyone. That was a big step for the child.

“One of the first things we do when the kids come to the program is dental screening and early childhood health checks, including vision and hearing, and we refer anyone that does not pass to physicians—paid for by Medicaid. It prevents illnesses down the road. The state has a schedule for children’s physicals but many Head Start parents don’t know the schedule exists.”

SOCAG first received a funding grant from the Office of Head Start in Washington, D.C., in 1965, when the program originated as part of the War on Poverty. Since then, applications--approved by the SOCAG Board of Directors and the Head Start Policy Council--were granted annually.

Parent Committees meet monthly at each of SOCAG’s seven centers to make decisions for the centers and sponsor professional speakers (dental educators, psychiatrists, etc.) that focus on parental needs, such as smoking cessation or information about child behavior and development.

“We have a lot of problems with parents getting their child to the dentist, even if they have insurance, often because dentists that will see the children are located up to 90 miles from the family. Sometimes it’s an attitude that they are just baby teeth and will fall out anyway,” Clark said. “The dental educator shows pictures of children with bottle mouth, where the teeth are decayed. Some parents don’t realize the possible effect on the bone structure.”

Each Parent Committee elects one parent and one alternate to serve a maximum of three one-year terms on the Head Start Policy Council (required by the Head Start Act) that meets monthly in Altus. In addition to the seven elected parents, four community members also serve on the Policy Council—this year a retired teacher, an Altus Air Force Base Child Development Center representative and an OSU Extension employee; a member of SOCAG Board also serves. “The intent is to ensure that the communities are active in the local program,” Clark said. “One father from Elk City takes off work and comes to every meeting, driving 120 miles round trip.”

Quarterly “Families, Fathers and Fun” nights, provide training sessions for parents and a hotdog and chili meal for the whole family; they are sometimes held in Altus but also in Mangum, Hollis and Elk City. The evening originated to encourage fathers to become more involved in their children’s lives. Balderas conducts the fathers’ meeting. “We teach the fathers discipline techniques, what it means to be a father in their kids’ lives and how important it is to have a mother figure and a father figure as a role model to lead the kids in the right direction,” Balderas said. “Some fathers really don’t want to come at first but many of them come back the next time.”

Head Start family service workers at each site refer parents with needs to other agencies and schedule free rides to medical appointments, family counseling, child therapies, English as a Second Language classes and other services. “The workers often go with them,” Clark said. “It’s intimidating for some parents to seek services, and we want them to get to their services.”

All Head Start children, including some enrolled in public school pre-kindergarten classes, qualify for free meals—breakfast, lunch and/or afternoon snacks. A registered dietitian plans menus in six-week cycles and graphs the children’s height and weight to encourage parents to prepare certain foods for underweight students and to provide more exercise and appropriate food for overweight children. Cooks at each center prepare the sit-down meals that are served family style.

“We collaborate with the public schools with the 4-year-old classes. This helps us purchase supplies and equipment needed; all of the public elementary schools have Pre-K, but if we weren’t here they would have to have more classes,” Clark said. “We provide things that the public schools cannot, such as door-to-door transportation through Southwest Transit. Buses must meet certain specifications like the high-back seats, child safety restraints and sidewalls made to certain specifications. Our staff members serve as bus safety monitors and ensure that the child is delivered to the correct location. A walk-through is performed at the end of each route and children are counted often.”

During the Head Start Carnival, held at the Altus Community Center in May, the many community agencies, as well as those under the SOCAG umbrella, provide information on how families can get help with utilities, become homeowners, obtain a GED, attend literacy classes and access other services. Families may also apply for the next school term at the carnival. All applicants are placed on a waiting list. Applications for children 3 or 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2009, are accepted until spring. After all children from low-income families are served, students are accepted from families with incomes over the poverty guideline, until the centers reach capacity.