Collaborations and Partnerships

Each local Head Start and Early Head Start Center considers the community and its resources to be valued partners. Although we are largely funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services through the Administration of Children and Families, we would not be able to offer such an extensive array of services to Boston’s low-income children and their families, if it were not for the additional support of a variety of local and national partners.

We are always interested in exploring the possibility of new collaborations and partnerships. And we are thankful for the gracious support of the agencies that have teamed with us to provide the following services:

ABCD Head Start and the Urban College of Boston:

A close partnership with the Urban College of Boston has enabled ABCD Head Start to develop career and educational ladders for staff that emphasize the importance of higher education and provide college credit for appropriate coursework. Head Start works with the Urban College to operate the national Child Development Associate (CDA) program, which grants competency-based early childhood credentials to Head Start assistant teachers, Early Head Start teachers and Family Child Care providers.

ABCD Head Start and the Children's Museum:

Now in its tenth year, the partnership with the Children’s Museum provides  Head Start teachers with training on how to use the Children’s Museum as an extension of their classroom. Each year, the partners choose a topic to emphasize, such as literacy, math, or nutrition. Teacher training is then focused on the chosen topic and the children and families from the classrooms get to visit the museum at least once during the program year.  As part of the collaboration, each Head Start family, of children and staff, are provided with free passes to visit the museum, in some cases these free passes lead to memberships for the family.

Student Interns:

Over the years, ABCD Head Start has developed relationships with area colleges including Boston College, Boston University, Salem State, Cambridge College, Emmanuel, and Wheelock, to place and supervise students from licensed masters and bachelors level social worker programs, and licensed mental health programs, in Head Start sites where they can be supervised by licensed clinicians on staff.

Children’s Hospital Family Connections:

ABCD Head Start is currently collaborating with Children’s Hospital to provide mental health services to Jamaica Plain Head Start, Parker Hill Fenway Head Start and South Side Head Start. These services focus on staff well-being, as well as providing services for program children and families to facilitate recognition and intervention of families with depression.

Parental Depression and Head Start:

Through an initiative with Boston Medical Center, a system is being developed to provide community-based management of depressed mothers with children in Head start.

Vision in Pre-School:

ABCD Head Start is taking part in the National Eye Institute Vision in Pre-School study, which is being conducted in Boston by the New England College of Optometry. The five-year study screened 200 ABCD Head Start Children last year and will screen 200 more this year. All Head Start children are screened as part of their regular Head Start vision screening. Children receive prescription eyeglasses or eye reports if follow-up treatment is required.

Dental Health:

ABCD Head Start is part of an Oral Health Collaboration with Boston University. This collaboration provides dental screenings in the Early Head Start programs, training for parents and staff in oral health and prevention services for infants and todlers.

The Mobile Dental Health Clinic provides on-site dental care including dental examinations, cleaning of teeth, fluoride application, and basic fillings to Head Start children.

Living Well Task Force:

Created by Head Start staff in response to the trend of increasing numbers of overweight children, the Living Well Task Force is a collaboration with Harvard Prevention Research Center, WIC, and the Massachusetts Departments of Education and Public Health. The Task Force works at creating a healthy environment for the Head Start community.

Jump Start:

Jump Start is an AmeriCorps service project that trains local college students in child development and early literacy. Teams of college students are matched with a Head Start program and throughout the school year spend two afternoons a week at a program site. Individual students work one-on-one with the children to support early literacy development and social and emotional growth.