Easterseals Metropolitan Chicago

Easterseals is a non-profit, community-based Head Start and Early Head Start partnership program that recognizes individual strengths and empowers children and their families that have limited access to resources. Through supportive collaborations with private early childhood programs, their teams provide hands-on, comprehensive quality services to give children and their families the opportunity for a brighter future and a head start to success.

Early Head Start & Head Start

Head Start/Early Head Start is an early learning program nationally recognized for high quality, family-centered education for children ages 0 to 5 years. The goal of all Head Start and Early Head Start programs is to promote school readiness in young children of all abilities from families with incomes below poverty guidelines. Our programs integrate social and intellectual development through the provision of education, health, family, nutrition and other services. Head Start is a national, federally funded program that provides services to promote school readiness for children from birth to age 5 from predominantly low-income families. These services are provided to both children and their families and include education, health and nutrition, family engagement, and other social services.

o Goals
o To provide safe and developmentally enriching caregiving which promotes the physical, cognitive, social and emotional development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and prepares them for future growth and development
o To support parents, both mothers and fathers, in their role as primary caregivers and teachers of their children, and families in meeting personal goals and achieving self-sufficiency across a wide variety of domains
o To mobilize communities to provide the resources and environment necessary to ensure a comprehensive, integrated array of services and support for families
o To ensure the provision of high-quality responsive services to family through the development of trained, and caring staff