McDowell County Schools Early Head Start Early Head Start

Early Head Start is the infant/toddler program modeled after Head Start to serve low income pregnant mothers, infants, and toddlers the same way that Head Start serves pre-schoolers and their families. Early Head Start was created in 1995.

Head Start generally serves children ages 3 to 5 who meet local eligibility requirements. Pregnant women and children from birth to 3 years of age are eligible for Early Head Start services. Children and families who are homeless, in foster care, or receive TANF or SSI are also eligible for services. Eligibility is determined by Head Start program staff and some families may be eligible for services if they are determined to be at or below the federal poverty level. Some grantees enroll a percentage of children from families with incomes above the Poverty Guidelines as well.

Families are encouraged to apply.

To Apply:You must complete an enrollment application with a staff member to be considered for any of the programs listed below. To complete an application we need you to provide us with the following:Child's Birth Certificate or Birth RecordIncome Verification for the past 12 months or previous year (w-2's, tax forms, pay stubs, SSI letter, Child Support print out, Work First, etc.)We also ask that you provide us with your child's Social Security Number due to our Child Nutrition program's requirements. We must have the child's SSN to issue a McDowell County School System Pin Number for meal tracking purposes.If we do not receive all the required information your child's application it is INCOMPLETE and does not go on our waiting list for placement.If you do submit all required information, your child's application will be ranked by the number of Recruitment Points scored on their application. Your child will be placed on our waiting list and will be placed in a slot according to their