PROJECT DESCRIPTION 2015-16.DOC

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY
There are no changes to the program vision, mission, values or philosophy.
Vision
Healthy, Educated Children in Supportive Families
Mission
To educate children and support families with a broad and holistic range of supports to ensure
that children ages 0-5 are prepared and ready for school.
Philosophy
Child Safety: Child safety is paramount in our program.
Constituency Engagement: We engage, support, and empower the voices of those that the
program serves – to have input, influence and to support our work.
Cultural Relevance: We seek to understand and respect all cultures and to ensure that our
program is culturally relevant and meaningful to those we serve.
Diversity: We view diversity as a strength that will bring richness and depth to our program; we
strive to be inclusive.
Education: Education can be a great equalizer, a key to a successful future.
Employee Development and Advancement: We actively encourage and support all staff
towards continuous professional growth and opportunities to maximize their contributions to
the program.
Family-Centered and Strengths-Based: We focus planning and services on the family; believing
that this is the most critical support for children. We believe that every family has unique
strengths to build upon. Parents are the greatest influence and primary educators of their
children.
Health: Children who are fearful or in pain cannot concentrate on learning. A child needs to be
healthy to learn, but must also learn to be healthy. We help ensure that children receive
medical and dental care and work with children and families about healthy diet and exercise.
We work with families to strengthen relationships within the family and within their
community.
Innovation: We are a program that is constantly seeking improvement through innovation and
we view every person as being a potential ambassador of innovation.
Integrity: We are truthful and honest in all our communication and work.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Solutions-Focused: We support one another in working towards solutions to the challenges and
issues that we encounter. Children thrive in success-oriented environments.
Stewardship: We teach and model effective and wise use of resources.
Teamwork: We work together, building upon each other’s strengths, to be successful as a
team. Not one of us has all the tools for the program to be successful, but each of us has a
unique and significant contribution to make. Teamwork is about striving to see each other and
our program be successful. The sum of our contributions to the team will be greater than the
parts.
Trust: Trust is a choice; trust assumes the best in others. We continually work to build and
sustain trust among our staff, children, and families.
PROGRAM OPTIONS, SITES, AND RECRUITMENT AREAS
The program has assessed the strengths and needs of the communities within our service area.
Our annual community assessment is used to determine the program’s approach to various
program planning activities such as selection criteria, training and technical assistance plans,
and the selection of sites and options. A complete chart that reflects changes to enrollment in
each community due to conversion, reduction, and transfers to the delegate is included in a
separate section of this application.
This application is inclusive of the programmatic changes as a part of the request to convert
funds and reduce enrollment opportunities from our Head Start program to our Early Head
Start program as outlined by the Program Instruction ACF-PI-HS-14-02. This application
specifically reflects 32 additional EHS children through the conversion of $544,000 Head Start
funds into Early Head Start funds. This conversion will allow the program to increase the
number of children and days of service of EHS children in a center-based option. The conversion
will require the program to convert 66 Head Start enrollment opportunities and reduce
enrollment of 34 additional opportunities to allow the program to serve the remaining Head
Start children in Center-based options. The following information further illustrates the
required information and the programs approach to conversion and reduction.
Reduction of Head Start Home-based Services
Historically, enrollment in the Head Start home-based program option has been low with
challenges in obtaining and maintaining healthy waitlists. Parent attendance at group
socializations are less than 30% of those parents enrolled, and our most recent parent survey
demonstrates that families with young children are most interested in center-based services to
meet their need for early care and education while they are working, going to school, or
engaged in job training programs. In particular, parents with children ages 3 and 4 years seek to
enroll their children in center-based programs that can provide a classroom like setting to help
their children become ready for the social demands of kindergarten. Our current Head Start
home-based participants are most often selected from the waitlists of center-based classrooms.
Thus we anticipate that 66 Head Start enrollment reductions will occur in the home-based

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
program option. The capacity for Home Visiting is significant in Maricopa County with multiple
agencies providing services through different Home Visiting options such as AZ Healthy Start,
Parents as Teachers, Early Head Start, Nurse-Family Partnerships, and Healthy Families AZ. The
Communities of Chandler, Gilbert, Guadalupe, Tempe, and Mesa will no longer have Head Start
home-based services available. However, there are currently multiple opportunities for parents
to participate in home visiting program through the Nurse Home visiting program, First Things
First, and Healthy Families. It is anticipated that any Head Start eligible family seeking home-
based services will have opportunities to participate in other home-based early childhood
programs in their community.
Reduction of Head Start Center-based Services
The reduction of 34 children in Head Start Center-based services will occur in the Mesa
community in the grantee operated service area. While Mesa has a high percentage of eligible
children, the capacity within the community is increasing and the 2014 community assessment
showed that 33% of children aged 3 and 4 years are enrolled in early childhood programs in
Mesa with a decrease of 45% in families with young children receiving TANF assistance. The
specific center-based classrooms in Mesa that will be affected by enrollment reduction and by
the transfer of enrollment opportunities to the Westside programs will be where with two
double session’s classrooms exist. This means that there will still be a Head Start classroom at
the site that children who will be served in a second year of Head Start at those sites will
continue being served at the same location despite the reduction of the other classroom. The
selection of site closures is based on current program data that reflects a 23% turnover rate in
the combine three classrooms being closed due to reduction and transfer of enrollment
opportunities to the delegate service area, these classroom site also have 11% of enrolled
income above 100% of poverty, and a waitlist of only 28 children amongst the three
classrooms. This reflects a reduction of enrollment at sites with high child turnover, low
waitlists, and high over-income enrollment.
Transfer of Head Start Center-based Services from East to West Service areas
The 68 transferred enrollment opportunities will have the largest impact to the communities in
the delegate operated communities of El Mirage, Buckeye, and Tolleson. El Mirage is a small
community in a very rural part of Maricopa County. Additional enrollment opportunities will be
added to this community in part due to only 18% of children aged 3 and 4 years are enrolled in
an early childhood program and a 9% increase of children under the age of 5 years entering
foster care. Based on our community assessment, Tolleson presents with a low percentage
(12%) of children age 3 and 4 years who are enrolled in Early Childhood programs. Tolleson has
also had a 16% rise in children 0 to 5 who are receiving SNAP assistance. Buckeye has had a
substantial increase in its number of homeless children that equates to a 400% increase.
According to child welfare reports, Buckeye presents with a 38% increase in children under the
age of 5 years identified as experiencing abuse or neglect.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
New Early Head Start Center-based Services
The review and analysis of child outcome data has found a correlation to improved outcomes
for children who participate in more than one year of the Head Start program as well as the
total hours a child receives direct Head Start services by program option. There is lack of
affordable child care in Maricopa County. Most of the Head Start and Early Head Start families
would qualify for child care subsidy through the Department of Economic Security if they met
legal requirements. According to the Arizona Association of Supportive Childcare, lack of
childcare subsidy has reduced the number of childcare homes and childcare slots available in
this service area. Forty seven percent fewer families were receiving child care subsidy in 2013
(13,566) than in 2009 (25,634). As of September 2013, 6,313 children were on the statewide
waitlist for childcare subsidy. A waiting list of eligible applicants, installed in 2009 due to limited
funding, increased 16 times the number of children by 2012. Few Child Care providers in the
program’s service area who are participating in the Quality First rating system were rated above
two stars which are considered to reflect that they are approaching quality standards but have
not yet achieved a three-star rating that equates to having met the quality standards. New Early
Head Start center-based services will be added to the communities of Glendale, Tolleson,
Chandler and Mesa. These new enrolment opportunities will be paired with existing Head Start
center-based programs and will expand the program’s ability to provide continuous services for
children from birth to age 5. The program serves less than 4% of eligible Early Head Start aged
children throughout the service area. Glendale, Tolleson, Chandler, and Mesa are the
communities with the highest percentages of low-income families in both east and west service
areas.
Early Head Start
Early Head Start is a year-round program, and during FY2015-2016 will serve 335 infants,
toddlers, and pregnant women. The grantee will serve 96 children in thirteen center-based
classrooms. Eighty-eight (88) children/ pregnant women will receive services in eight home-
based groups. Via nine home-based groups, the delegate agency will serve 95 infants, toddlers,
and pregnant women and 40 toddlers in five center-based classrooms. The table that follows
summarizes 2015-2016 EHS slot allocations for grantee and delegate agencies.
Changes in Slot Allocations for Grantee and Delegate – Early Head Start
2014-2015 2015-2016 Change
Grantee Early Head Start HB 88 88 0
Grantee Early Head Start CB 80 96 +16
TOTAL Grantee EHS 168 184 +16
Delegate Early Head Start HB 95 95 0
Delegate Early Head Start CB 40 56 +16

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
TOTAL Delegate EHS 135 151 +16
TOTAL MCHS EHS 303 335 +32
The grantee will offer EHS services via 13 center-based classrooms. Fifteen sites will operate
seven hours, Monday thru Friday for no less than 214 days per year and two sites for 174 days
per year and 8 additional home visits through the summer due to the classroom being located
at a High school program for parenting teens. The delegate will offer educational services on
Monday thru Friday, for seven hours at seven center-based sites. The converted EHS center-
based sites will extend days of services at the delegate in two of their EHS classrooms from 174
days to no less than 214 days. The remaining center-based site will provide 174 days per year
with eight additional home visits during the summer months. Eight sites will offer home-based
services as an option.
The request for converted funds and reduction in Head Start includes some additional changes
to the Early Head Start service delivery approaches. The program is more fully defining a Birth
to Five center approach to serving children and families. The intent of the Birth to Five center
model is to create a seamless program for eligible families who may have multiple children
enrolled in both Head Start and Early Head Start program and who are engaged in employment,
education, or job training and need a full-day option for the early care and education of their
children. The Birth to Five models encourages children to transition from Early Head Start
home-based into Early Head Start center-based and to remain in the Head Start program for
multiple years as families actively engage in activities that will help them obtain and maintain
economic self-sufficiency.
The proposed staffing approach in the Birth to Five centers reflects a commitment to the family
unit through lessening the number of staff members who will work with a single family and
enhancing the transition experience, such as a single family support specialist allocated
between both Early Head Start and Head Start funding to work with both HS and EHS children
from the same family, a sole parent committee and parent engagement activities for both Head
Start and Early Head Start families attending the same center, and supervisory staff that is
working across both programs to provide continuity and improved transition planning.
Home-based services include one home visit per week for 1.5 hours. Socializations are held
twice per month for two hours. Twenty socializations are held throughout the year.
One home-based group provides home-based services county-wide to teens adjudicated by the
Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. While teen parents are incarcerated at the state’s
Adobe Mountain youth detention facility, the legal guardian of the incarcerated teen’s child
receives weekly home visits. The teen parent also receives weekly visits at the detention
facility. Socialization experiences for incarcerated teen parents are held at the detention
facility in order to include the parents, children, and their children’s caregivers. When slots in
this home-based group cannot be filled by children whose parents are incarcerated, the slots
will be made available to the general community, and these children will attend their nearest

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
socialization experience. This unique approach to serving incarcerated teens is provided by the
delegate agency and agreements with City of Phoenix Early Head Start ensures that any child
whose parent is incarcerated at Adobe Mountain can be enrolled in Maricopa County program
regardless of the child’s residence in the City of Phoenix service area.
Generally, children in EHS will be transitioned to their next placement in August.
Head Start
Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five is proposing to serve 2,195 children in the FY2015-2016
Head Start program. The grantee will serve 1,096 children in the center-based program option.
Likewise, the delegate agency intends to serve 1,099 children in the center-based program
option. The table below shows 2015-2016 Head Start slot allocations for grantee and delegate
agencies.
Changes in Slot Allocations for Grantee and Delegate –Head Start
2014-2015 2015-2016 Change
14-15 to 15-16
Grantee Head Start HB 66 0 -66
Grantee Head Start CB 1,198 1,096 -102
TOTAL Grantee HS 1,264 1,096 134
Delegate Head Start HB 0 0 0
Delegate Head Start CB 1,031 1,099 +68
TOTAL Delegate HS 1,031 1,099 +68
TOTAL MCHS HS 2,295 2,195 -34
The grantee will offer center-based Head Start services in 35 classrooms. Of these, 30
classrooms will offer double sessions. Services will be provided 3.5 hours per day, four days per
week. Services will be provided for 128 days. The remaining five classrooms will operate seven
hours per day, five days per week.
Thirty-three of the 36 Head Start center-based classrooms offered by the delegate will operate
double sessions of 3.5 hours per day, four days per week, for 128 days during the calendar year.
Three of the center-based classrooms will operate single sessions of seven hours per day, five
days per week.
Changes to Sites and Options
Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five, after analyzing individual community needs and taking
into account the proposed conversion of funding and reduced enrollment, has made changes to
program sites and options as shown in the following chart.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Current- Proposed- Change
HS Home-Based 11 HS Home-Based 0
EHS Home-Based 11 EHS Home-Based 11 -14 HS
Chandler -11 HSHB
HS Center-Based 132 HS Center-Based 118
+8 EHS
EHS Center-Based 0 EHS Center-Based 8
HS Home-Based 11 HS Home-Based 0
Gilbert -11 HSHB
HS Center-Based 34 HS Center-Based 34
HS Home-Based 11 HS Home-Based 0
EHS Home-Based 22 EHS Home-Based 22
Guadalupe -11 HSHB
HS Center-Based 66 HS Center-Based 66
EHS Center-Based 8 EHS Center-Based 8
Scottsdale HS Center-Based 34 HS Center-Based 34 N/C
HS Home-Based 11 HS Home-Based 0
EHS Home-Based 22 EHS Home-Based 22
Tempe -11 HSHB
HS Center-Based 142 HS Center-Based 142
EHS Center-Based 32 EHS Center-Based 16
HS Home-Based 22 HS Home-Based 0
EHS Home-Based 33 EHS Home-Based 33 -102 HSCB
Mesa -22 HSHB
HS Center-Based 790 HS Center-Based 702
+8 EHS
EHS Center-Based 40 EHS Center-Based 48
EHS Center-Based 8 EHS Home-Based 8
Avondale EHS Home-Based 11 EHS Home-Based 11 +2 HSCB
HS Center-Based 238 HS Center-Based 240
EHS Center-Based 0 EHS Home-Based 8
Tolleson EHS Home-Based 11 EHS Home-Based 11 +32 HSCB
+ 8 EHSCB
HS Center-Based 102 HS Center-Based 134
EHS Home-Based 22 EHS Home-Based 22
Glendale HS Center-Based 451 HS Center-Based 452 +8 EHSCB
+1 HSCB
EHS Center-Based 16 EHS Center-Based 24
El Mirage/ EHS Home-Based 22 EHS Home-Based 22
+15 HSCB
Dysart HS Center-Based 49 HS Center-Based 64
Wickenburg EHS Center-Based 17 EHS Center-Based 17 N/C
EHS Home-Based 11 EHS Home-Based 11
Peoria HS Center-Based 66 HS Center-Based 66 N/C
EHS Center-Based 8 EHS Center-Based 8

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
EHS Home-Based 11 EHS Home-Based 11
Buckeye HS Center-Based 68 HS Center-Based 86 +18 HSCB
EHS Center-Based 8 EHS Center-Based 8
Palo Verde HS Center-Based 20 HS Center-Based 20 N/C
Tonopah HS Center-Based 20 HS Center-Based 20 N/C
ADJC EHS Home-Based 7 EHS Home-Based 7 N/C
FUNDING ALLOCATION TO DELEGATE AGENCY
As a result of the transfer of additional Head Start enrollment opportunities to the delegate and
the additional EHS center-based enrollment opportunities through the proposed conversion,
the funding of the delegate has changed.
Head Start: Early Head Start:
Base Grant $7,741,113.00 Base Grant $1,510,432
TTA $65,525.00 TTA $30,415.00
To Serve 1,099 To Serve 151
The Grantee is expecting that the following conditions will apply to the increased funding and
enrollment opportunities to the Delegate:
 Create no less than two Birth to Five Centers. These are community-based sites that
have the capacity to serve both Head Start and Early Head Start in a single session,
center-based program option with Head Start services being offered Monday-Friday at
no less than six hours per day for 160 days.
 Early Head Start services being offered in a Home-based option for 44 visits per year for
1.5 hours and two socialization activities per month for a total of no less than 20
socialization per year, and a Center-based options single session for no less than six
hours per day Monday through Friday that complement the Head Start center-based
program at the same location and that provide no less than 212 days of classroom
service per year.
ELIGIBILITY, RECRUITMENT, AND SELECTION
Program Eligibility
Our community assessment summary shows that there are substantially more children who
qualify for Head Start and Early Head Start in our service area than the program is able to serve.
For this reason, we have considered only children whose families had incomes below 100% of
the Federal poverty level (FPL) to be income eligible in the past. For PY 2015-2016 we will
consider children whose families have income below 130% FPL to be income eligible in the
grantee-operated East Service Area. We will continue to prioritize children under 100% FPL

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
over children whose families’ income is 100-130% of FPL. Under no circumstances will the
program allow more than 35% of available slots to be occupied by children over 100% FPL, but
we expect that the number will be much lower. Our reasons for this change are based on our
community assessment, which shows a high need for affordable childcare as a result of the
freeze on the childcare subsidy program. Our full-day sessions in Head Start and Early Head
Start can meet the needs of working parents who need childcare, but have incomes slightly
over 100% FPL due to their jobs. This change is also justified by several other factors. There has
been an increase in pre-K opportunities for low-income children funded by the First Things First
program. See the Child Development and Child Care Programs Serving Eligible Children section
of the Community Assessment summary for additional details. Finally, our program believes
that the current FPL and minimum wage are so low compared to the cost of living that we must
consider children whose families make 130% FPL to be very appropriate targets for our services.
We believe that the current Administration’s efforts to raise the minimum wage reflect this
thinking. Please see the grantee Eligibility Policy attached to this application for a full
explanation of how children will be considered eligible for Head Start and Early Head Start in
the East Service Area.
The delegate agency in the West Service Area will consider only children whose families have
incomes of less than 100% FPL to be income eligible and will not offer more than 10% of
enrollment slots to children whose families have incomes of more than 100% FPL.
Recruitment
We recruit children from throughout our service area by talking with currently enrolled parents
and the social service and governmental agencies that serve low-income children. We also
work with the local school district to ensure families are aware of our program. Because we do
not offer transportation, we locate centers in areas with the greatest need for service and make
the greatest effort to recruit children near those centers. We actively recruit to meet a waitlist
of 140% of our funded enrollment in order have the opportunity to select children with the
greatest needs.
The delegate agency has established new community partnership agreements with Maricopa
County Integrated Health Care Clinics in Glendale and El Mirage. Partnership is also established
with Clinica Adelante. For recruitment purposes, delegate staff will have access to these health
care facilities that target low income, at risk families. Additional new partnerships have been
created with Department of Child Safety (DCS) Office in Glendale and in Mesa. DCS case
managers and Family Support staff have ongoing communication and receive active referrals
for placement of children removed from biological families. The recruitment agreement
focuses on referring children who are placed in kinship care and whose case plan calls for
reunification with the child.
Selection Criteria
Our program made changes to some of the criteria by which children will be given preference
for selection in PY2015-2016. These changes are detailed as follows:

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Removed preference for children and families attending specific programs and sites that
received preference in past years. These programs no longer exist. The sites with these
preferences will no longer be in use or because families enrolled in those programs are also
categorically eligible. These families will receive higher preference. The exception to this is
children enrolled at Glendale Community College. According to our agreement with this
site children of parents enrolled at Glendale Community College will receive greater
priority than many other children who may wish to attend that site.
Children of families receiving TANF/SSI will have preference. The number of children under
age 18 receiving SSI payments has risen consistently over the past several years across the
state of Arizona and Maricopa County. SSI recipients under 18 years of age in Maricopa
County increased 5.2%, from 12,079 in 2010 to 12,710 in 2012. Nationally, in 2012, about
67% of children receiving SSI resided in single parent households (as compared to 66% in
2010), and approximately 49% of these single parent households reported no other source
of income (as opposed to 48% in 2010).
The grantee added preference for active duty military and veterans. Military families are
considered a priority population in the Arizona Head Start State Collaboration Office.
Maricopa County Human Service Department has also recognized the needs of military
families, many of whom are reintegrating into civilian life as the most recent conflicts come
to a close. These families are a strategic priority for the Department. Luke Air Force base
is located in the delegates’ service area and active duty military families have been a
priority for many years.
The grantee removed preference for children referred because of exposure to substance
abuse. The program was unable to accurately assess this risk factor and parents were
reluctant to disclose this information.
The delegate removed preference for parents with a disability. This preference was no
longer needed because families who are receiving SSI will get preference for enrollment.
The delegate removed preference for teen parents in Head Start. The reason for this
change is that most parents of the 3 and 4-year-old children enrolled in Head Start are no
longer teens or new parents. In Early Head Start the delegate will give preference to
pregnant and parenting teens 13-21 years of age, rather than 13-24 years of age. In both
cases, the program, together with the Policy Committee, decided that other criteria were
more predictive of a need for services.
The delegate added preference for children of refugees. A large number of refugees have
moved into communities in the delegate service area. Many of these families have
experienced enormous hardship and are not well-connected to their new communities.
Many refugee parents do not speak English at home and are not proficient in English. For
these reasons, children in refugee families need additional assistance in order to ensure
school readiness.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
The delegate added preference for children referred from other social services agencies.
The purpose for this was to honor the growing community collaborations that the Parent,
Family & Community Engagement Manager is creating with partnering agencies in our
service area.
Family Services
In center-based Head Start/Early Head Start, Family Support Specialists (called Family Service
Specialists in the delegate agency) continue to be the primary providers of family services. In the
Early Head Start Home-Based option, home visitors provide these services. Partnership building
with parents will continue to be at the time of initial application by emphasizing that parents are
their child’s first and primary teacher. Parents will continue to be engaged in a goal setting
process at the initial home visit through the use of a needs assessment tool. Use of the Family Self
Sufficiency Matrix directs conversation and encourages observations which allow family service
staff to assist parents in identifying their strengths, interests, and needs in areas including health
and safety, adult education, transportation, family literacy, food, clothing, shelter, legal concerns,
and employment. Program staff uses this assessment to offer families the opportunity to develop
a Family Partnership Agreement that describes the family’s goal for their children, themselves, or
their family. During the completion of the family partnership agreement, parents are asked if they
have any pre-existing service plans with other agencies. If they do, the preexisting plan is
incorporated into the family partnership agreement. When warranted, parents will be asked to
complete a Release of Confidential Information so that staff can communicate directly with other
agencies working with the family. All Family Partnership Agreements establish timetables and
step-by-step strategies for achieving selected goals.
Parents will continue to be asked at the beginning of the year to make a commitment to
volunteer in the classroom if possible and the range of volunteer opportunities is discussed.
According to Arizona Bureau of Childcare Licensing, each volunteer who works any child other
than their own child must receive a background check and have a full staff file which includes
CPR and first aid training as well as documentation of immunizations, TB testing and physical
exam. This has created a tremendous barrier for some of the parents of the children we serve
who would like to volunteer. Both grantee and delegate make the effort to get all parents
willing to volunteer a staff file. Parents unable or unwilling to obtain a staff file may work with
their own child in the classroom under the supervision of a teacher or help with classroom set
up and clean up.
Partnership building with parents continues throughout the child’s enrollment in Head Start.
Staff providing family services immediately assists parents in all matters requiring crisis
intervention by providing referrals, directly contacting resource agencies, or collaborating in
service delivery for community-wide crises. Other referrals are made based on the family’s
needs as identified in the goal setting process and based on the family’s changing
circumstances throughout the year.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Staff providing family services will continue to refer families to parent education programs,
counseling programs, child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence services as well as GED,
ESL classes, and job training programs. WIC which provides parents of children pre-natal
through 5 years old with food assistance and nutrition information, literacy services including
classes as well as the local library, SCHIP (when available), AHCCCS and Community Health
Centers, and agencies providing emergency and crisis services. Financial literacy training is
provided by our program. After identification of a service or training need, staff providing
family services perform monthly follow-up to assure that the family received the appropriate
services and that the family’s need was met. If necessary, staff providing family services will
assist the family with applications, making appointments, translation/interpretation, or
transportation to ensure the family receives services. All families experiencing the effects of
substance abuse are referred to appropriate community agencies for treatment, counseling and
support groups. All enrolled pregnant women are provided with information on the effect of
drugs and alcohol on the unborn child.
At the end of the year the program will continue to collect and analyze data on families'
progress toward their family partnership goals and use this information to improve the
provision of family services.
PROGRAM APPROACH TO PROVIDING COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES
Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five is fully committed to providing high quality
comprehensive child development services both directly and through its Delegate Agency’s
program, Catholic Charities Head Start. Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five program’s
structure creates a seamless service delivery system. Content Coordinators are responsible for
the design and monitoring of systems for health, nutrition, education, transitions, family and
community partnerships, and disabilities and mental health in both Head Start and Early Head
Start. This ensures that the services provided in Head Start correspond with services provided
in Early Head Start.
Mental Health
In the area of Mental Health, there are no changes to service delivery from last year to this
year. Program continues to comply with all federal mandates and best practices in service
delivery including screening and referrals for full assessment and evaluation. In the grantee-
operated portion of the program, our Disabilities Coordinator continues to have oversight
responsibilities and supervises our Mental Health Associate. The Mental Health Associate
receives supervision regarding specific children from the grantee’s Mental Health Consultant, a
Licensed Clinical Social Worker with extensive Head Start and Early Childhood training and
experience. In the delegate-operated portion of the program, mental health services continue
to be provided by the Mental Health Specialist under the oversight of the Education Supervisor
and a state-licensed Mental Health Professional. Program mental health staff continue to meet
with licensed professionals on a monthly basis or more frequently as needed.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
While the title and reporting structure are different in both agencies, services continue to be
provided in a similar fashion. Our mental health staff provides training to other program staff
and parents, performs classroom observations, and consults with parents as needed. In the
grantee program, mentor teachers continue to receive training at the beginning of the year on
assessing the classroom environment and interactions in center-based Head Start. In the
delegate program, child support specialists receive this training. The trained mentors/child
support specialists then meet with the program’s mental health staff person and licensed
mental health professional to share their observations and/or concerns monthly. The licensed
mental health staff person for grantee program maintains a schedule of regular visits to EHS
center-based classrooms and also meets regularly with all home visitors. The program’s mental
health staff person provides consultations and follow up to staff and parents on identified
concerns. Home visitors working with pregnant women in both programs review the results of
all Edinburgh surveys and share any concerns with the licensed mental health professional, as
well as referring the mother to her primary care provider when warranted.
Disabilities
There are no changes to service delivery from last year to this year. Program continues to
comply with all federal mandates and best practices.
Maricopa County Head Start continues to strive to ensure that children birth to 5 years with
disabilities, and those with suspected disabilities, receive all the services to which they are
entitled under the Head Start Performance Standards (1308) and IDEA. Both grantee and
delegate programs continue to have inter-governmental agreements (IGAs) with the school
districts in which our service areas are located. The IGAs identify how preschool age children
will be recruited, identified as needing further evaluation, identified as having special needs,
how the Multi-Disciplinary Evaluation Team/ Individual Education Plan process will determine
how and where services will be provided, and how transition will occur into kindergarten. Each
IGA also identifies how both programs will support parents during the process from referral to
transition.
Both grantee and delegate programs have signed the MOU between our state’s Part C agency
and the Arizona Head Start Association that identifies how children birth to three years of age:
Will be recruited;
Identified as needing further evaluation;
Identified as having special needs;
How the Multi-Disciplinary Evaluation Team/Individual Family Service Plan process will
determine how and where services will be provided;
How transition will occur into services provided by the local school district and Head
Start when appropriate; and
How both programs will support parents during the process from referral to transition.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Early, timely, and accurate identification of children with disabilities continues to be extremely
important to the program. At the time of application, parents who express any developmental
concerns about their children are offered contact information for the local school district or our
Part C agency, depending on the age of the child, and the option to have their child screened
prior to enrollment. Our program continues to conduct screenings over the summers, often in
conjunction with the local school districts’ pre-school enrollment screenings.
In order to support staff, we continue to provide training sessions on disabilities services at pre-
and mid-service training, using community professionals as well as in-house staff. The
Disabilities Coordinator continues to provide individualized technical assistance to staff working
with children with disabilities.
Health Services
In the grantee-operated program, health systems, policies, and procedures are developed by
the program’s Head Start Nurse, a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Science degree and
clinical experience in pediatrics and school nursing. The Head Start nurse is certified as a
Childcare Health Consultant by the National Training Institute for Childcare Health Consultants
at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. The Head Start Nurse provides training,
information, and technical assistance to the delegate’s Health Manager, who oversees the
delegate’s health component.
Both the grantee and delegate agencies have established Health Services Advisory Committees
(HSACs) familiar with their respective service areas. The HSACs continue to meet quarterly to
discuss the health needs of children enrolled in the program and resources available to meet
those needs. The HSACs also review health policies and procedures and program health data to
suggest program improvements. Members include EPSDT coordinators from Arizona Health
Care Cost Containment Services (AHCCCS) (Arizona’s Medicaid program) and private health
insurers, dental and medical providers, the poison control center, and a behavioral health
agency. Parents are actively recruited to attend the HSAC meetings. Parents are encouraged to
attend through invitations at parent meetings and at Policy Council and Standing Committee
meetings. Family support staff also individually encourages parents to attend. We also actively
recruit members from other organizations such as the WIC program, the Department of
Economic Security. The grantee and delegate attend each other’s HSACs periodically.
A health assessment continues to be completed at selection. The questions in this assessment
have been designed to be easily understood and are geared toward obtaining enough
information to determine the right intervention to help each child to reach the optimal state of
health and to decrease learning difficulties and/or absenteeism in the classrooms. Any children
showing concerns on the assessment are referred to their primary care provider for further
evaluation.
When children enter the program with a pre-existing medical/nutrition condition such as
asthma, diabetes, severe food allergies, or other chronic health condition, the Head Start Nurse

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
or Health Manager continues to be responsible for the completion of an Individualized Health
Plan (IHP) for the child following the primary care provider’s instructions.
Maricopa County Head Start continues to recognize that parent involvement in their child’s
health is critical. Parents are encouraged to actively participate in their child’s health by
ensuring the child receives routine physical and dental exams, as well as immunizations.
Parents continue to have the opportunity to participate in the Policy Council’s or Policy
Committee’s Child Development and Health Standing Committee and/or HSAC meetings.
Educational handouts on health and dental health are provided at parent orientation, parent
meetings, and parent-teacher conferences. The Head Start Nurse is a trainer for Healthcare
Institute, a program which is designed to teach parents how to handle everyday childhood
illnesses at home. Forty parents have been trained in PY2014-2015. Training will be offered
again in PY2015-2016.
Our program continues to assist pregnant women in obtaining health services during pregnancy
and post-partum by linking pregnant women to AHCCCS and other community medical
providers and following up to ensure received pre-natal and post-partum care were received.
Staff also provide information on substance abuse, mental health, and fetal development and
make referrals to community service providers where warranted.
We continue to collaborate with nursing program in local colleges and universities whenever
possible to provide additional services to children and families. Nursing colleges have provided
health education as well as assisting with lead and hemoglobin testing.
Nutrition Services
Maricopa County Head Start continues to ensure each child’s nutritional needs are met by
obtaining and evaluating nutritional assessment data, providing nutrition education to parents,
and enhancing the child’s food experiences as required by the Head Start Performance
Standards.
In the grantee-operated portion of the program, a Registered Dietitian, leads and directs all
nutrition services and oversees the contract with the Arizona Department of Education Child
and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for meal reimbursement. The delegate’s Health
Manager, assisted by a Health Assistant, and oversees the delegate’s nutrition component and
CACFP contract. We continue to provide meal service in center-based sites through
intergovernmental agreements with local school districts. The Registered Dietitian or Health
Manager ensures that menus provided by the school districts offers nutrient quality and
variety, and meet the nutritional needs of children for proper growth and development.
Parents are encouraged to make suggestions and comments regarding menu planning by
writing comments on the menus posted in the classroom and to make comments on food
experience activities and monthly menus at parent meetings.
Classroom staff ensures that nutritional services contribute to children’s development and
socialization by serving all meals family-style and not using food for punishment or reward.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Children are given sufficient time to eat in a relaxed environment and all special meal requests
are accommodated.
In Early Head Start, staff continues to communicate with families on an on-going basis
regarding the nutritional needs and feeding requirements of the infants and toddlers enrolled
in the program. While infants are not served in the center-based option, both programs
encourage breastfeeding and provide for the storage of breast milk and a location to breastfeed
for breastfeeding mothers. Parents work together with Early Head Start teachers to create a
food plan which includes a description of which foods will be introduced at the appropriate
developmental stage. Toddlers receive finger foods that are developmentally appropriate.
Nutrition education is integrated into weekly lesson plans in the Head Start program. Creative
Curriculum has integrated nutrition and movement lessons which teachers incorporate into
weekly lesson plans.
Providing education to parents continues to be an essential part of the nutrition service plan.
Each parent receives a package of nutrition information at the beginning of the year. The
teaching staff completes a nutrition assessment within 90 days of program start. The Registered
Dietitian, Family Support Specialists, EHS Teachers, and Home Visitors provide nutrition- related
training from reliable, evidence-based sources during parent meetings and socializations,
including topics such as menu planning and consumer food purchasing, healthy eating, infant
and child nutrition, and age appropriate feeding practices. The program ensures all nutrition
education materials and monthly menus are translated into Spanish.
Family support staff continue to use the child’s physical, growth assessments, hemoglobin
values, and a written questionnaire regarding the child’s and family’s nutrition and eating
practices to identify areas where parents may need nutrition education, including information
on foods with iron, low sugar beverages, nutritious foods and snacks, incorporating physical
activity into the family’s lifestyle, and infant and toddler feeding. Results of growth
assessments completed by the program are shared with parents at parent-teacher conferences.
Family support staff continues to use nutrition information to set goals in family partnership
agreements.
Education and Early Childhood Development
The basis for our center-based program continues to be the Creative Curriculum approach to
supporting children’s learning. The curriculum encourages physical, socio-emotional, cognitive,
and language development. The center-based EHS program uses The Creative Curriculum for
Infants, Toddlers and Twos, which rests on a solid foundation of child development theory
regarding the importance of meeting basic needs, fostering social/emotional development,
developing secure attachment, and supporting cognition and brain development.
As a result of observations and lesson plan reviews, the program has implemented scripted

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
lessons for all Head Start teaching staff. These lessons are written out for staff in a variety of
project study topics. These scripted lesson plans include school readiness goals identified in
each activity for teaching staff to be aware of the connection of each activity with the school
readiness goals of the program. Other components of the lesson plans include Dual Language
Strategies, Dialogic reading strategies, new vocabulary words and strategies for children,
embedded assessments for teachers to continually assess children on their development,
outdoor learning environment strategies, as well as how to engage parents and families in the
project studies. Teaching strategies included in the lesson plans are intentional as well as
focused on each child’s developmental level and ability. Materials and supplies for each project
study are included in the lesson for staff to utilize throughout the four-to-six- week project.
There are plans for expansion of the project studies to include new topics for more variety for
teachers to choose from as well as meet the children’s needs.
Transportation
The program does not provide transportation to program services.
Management
Management Structure
The Grantee will not be filling the Management Analyst position in the coming year. With the
conversion of HS to EHS other changes to the organizational structure at the grantee are
reflected in the program’s organizational chart and include the site supervisor and family
support specialist positions at the birth to five community site being allocated across both EHS
and HS programs. The additional EHS-CCP grant personnel are also reflected in the Grantee
organizational chart. There is also a more clear division of responsibilities between the ERSEA
Coordinator and the Family Engagement Coordinator.
Communication
The grantee has worked to increase communication to staff through use of technology. The
grantee hosted a live webinar, two “Virtual Town Hall’s” and a program wide conference call.
The delegate had also used technology to reach staff through developing a YouTube channel for
messages by the delegate Director.
Record-keeping and reporting
The grantee and the delegate continue to run reports using ChildPlus. These include and are
not limited to monthly PIR reports, Director Dashboards, student attendance, student turnover,
and reports to keep the Board of Supervisors informed. Reports that are inclusive of all services
provided include the Dashboard 3.0. This report is reported by program sites. A variety of daily
reports are run as quality checkmarks that may include tracking in-kind activities.
Ongoing Monitoring and Self-Assessment
The grantee and delegate alike, engage in ongoing monitoring and self-assessment activities.
Administrative and content staff is scheduled to conduct program site visits that may include

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
play ground checks, child safety and supervision, and classroom checks. Findings from these
visits provide opportunity to identify areas strengths as well as items that require correction
plans. Furthermore, site visits provide an opportunity to provide training and technical
assistance. Most importantly, ongoing site visits provides an opportunity for all staff to connect
and work collectively as a team.
On an annual basis, the grantee and delegate work collectively on the self-assessment.
ChildPlus is used by Head Start programs nationwide. Each program uses ChildPlus in their own
way. An upgrade to ChildPlus is forth coming and upgrades will make the tool more user
friendly.
The grantee will be dedicating a Program Quality Specialist to work with the Program Nurse in
entering health related data.
The delegate and the grantee completes its self-assessment in conjunction with its Policy
Committee and Board of Directors.
Delegate Monitoring
The grantee revised the delegate monitoring plan to include more detailed activities with the
delegate including desktop reviews of the MIS, review of documents and onsite observations.
The delegate contract was revised to include language stating that the delegate would inform
the grantee of any Standards of Conduct violation. This will allow the grantee to address
potential health and safety concerns. The delegate monitoring plan also now includes quarterly
letters form the grantee to delegate with formal results from monitoring activities and outlines
any required corrective action or needed program improvement.
Human Resources
The grantee has a new Human Resources (HR) Analyst assigned to Head Start. With this
change, comes an increased physical presence and commitment to increase staff understanding
of Human Resources policies, procedures and practices. In strengthening supervisory staff
capacity, the HR Analyst has held trainings differentiating the purpose of the Performance
Improvement Plan and the five stages of disciplinary action. Additional training will include and
not be limited to:
 The recruiting process;
 NeoGov;
 Interviewing; and
 How to effectively deliver disciplinary actions.
The grantee employs 442 staff and presents with a 19% turnover rate. Approximately 4% of
teachers hold advanced degrees; 47% have Baccalaureate Degrees; 35% hold Associate
Degrees; and 22% have completed the Child Development Associate (CDA).

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
All supervisors must ensure employees receive performance evaluations at three months, five
months and 12 months from their hire into their position and every year thereafter. The
delegate conducts performance evaluations at 3 months and then again at 12 months and
every year thereafter. Performance evaluations include a professional development plan and
performance measures.
Program Governance
The grantee made change to the Policy Council By-Laws as approved by the Policy Council and
the Maricopa County Board of Directors. The changes consisted of dissolving the Policy
Council’s New Hire Standing Committee. Clarifying language was provided in the following
Governance areas:
 What constitutes a quorum;
 Policy Council Subcommittee members;
 Head Start parents at large participating in Policy Council; and
 Head Start parents involvement in the hiring process.
Last but not least, the Policy Council welcomed Head Start parent, Cherilyn Secody as the
incoming Chair. Likewise, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors welcomed the Honorable
Steve Chucri as the new Chairman. Representing District 5, former Senator Steve Gallardo now
serves as the Board Liaison for Maricopa County Head Start. Supervisor Gallardo is passionate
and committed to Head Start and attends monthly Policy Council meetings.
PROGRAM STAFFING AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Please see the uploaded salary schedules and organizational charts which detail program
staffing and structure. Changes to staffing and organizational structure in the 2015-2016
program years are outlined below.
Early Head Start – Grantee Program
Family Service Supervisors and Site Supervisor will be allocated across both programs whereby
embedding EHS classrooms into HS clusters and creating Birth to Five Centers.
Early Head Start – Delegate Program
The program will consist of 24.73 FTE staff dedicated to the following administrative, support,
content and related educational service areas: Program Design and Management,
Maintenance, Child Health and Developmental, Family and Community Partnership, Program
Managers and Content Area Experts, Teachers/Infant Toddler Teachers, and Teacher Aides.
Head Start – Grantee Program
The Head Start program will be directly charged for 1.7 FTE of IT technicians. The IT needs of
the program have been very great with the spread of technology across the many sites
throughout the county, IT technicians are traveling between sites to address IT issues and

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
support each classroom’s ability to access internet via wireless. In addition, the Head Start
program has become virtually paperless using a wide variety of technologies to ensure that the
work if completed in secure yet accessible manners. The program has increased their use of
scanners, signature pads, tablets, lap tops, and servers. General Service’s division has been
tracking Help Desk requests for all the division within Human Services to ensure that the
allocation of technician’s times is reflective of the costs associated. It was determined that the
Head Start program was using 1.7 FTE of General Services IT staff. As a result, the program will
be directly charged for this employee costs based on the analysis and allocation plan of the
General Services Division of the Human Services Department.
Other changes to the organizational structure and supervision lines are as a result of the
elimination of the Head Start Home-Based staff and supervisors and the combining of both HS
and EHS sites in the Birth to Five model, which changes the structure of cluster that were
previously either all Head Start or all Early Head Start to cluster with both Head Start and Early
Head Start sites.
The program will also use a consultant to meet the Nutrition services requirements. This is
occurring do to the inability to hire a full time nutritionist after almost a year of recruitment.
The program believes that they will have a better chance of hiring a nutritionist as consultant
and are currently working with Maricopa County Office of Procurement to release a solicitation
for a Certified Nutritionist to work 16 hours per week with the Head Start program.
The Head Start nurse will be supervising one health aide and two program quality specialist to
support the ongoing monitoring of classroom health and safety which the Nurse oversees.
Head Start – Delegate Program
The program will consist of 135.52 FTE staff dedicated to the following administrative, support,
content and related educational service areas: Program Design and Management,
Maintenance, Child Health and Developmental, Family and Community Partnership, Program
Managers and Content Area Experts, Teachers/Infant Toddler Teachers, and Teacher Aides.
The following table summarizes changes made during PY2015-2016.
Position Increase Position Increase
Child Service Specialist 2 Family Support Specialist 1
Teachers 4 Family Support Specialist 1
Program Aides 2 Supervisor

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT PLANS
Self-Assessment Improvement Plan
The plan for Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five’s 2014-2015 Self-Assessment was approved
by Policy Council in October 2014. The grantee and delegate worked together to complete the
self-assessment in both agencies. Integrated teams comprised of both delegate and grantee
staff and parents conducted the Self-Assessment between in October 27, 2014 through January
15, 2015. In conducting the Self-Assessment, the grantee and delegate used portions of 2012
Monitoring Protocol, Health and Safety Screener, Internal Child Supervision checklists, and the
2014 OHS protocol.
On December 17, 2014, Self-Assessment team leads met with program staff from each agency
to share findings and to identify program-wide and agency-specific strengths, concerns, and
non-compliances. During this meeting, action plans were developed to correct any problems
identified that had not been fully addressed at the time of the review.
Self-assessment findings were presented to Policy Council/Policy Committee parent
representatives on January 30, 2015.
The Self-Assessment Report, summary, and Action Plans are included as an additional uploaded
document and available for details on program strengths identified during the self-assessment
process including concerns that were corrected during the review. Items immediately
addressed and corrected were:
 Teachers are observing proper zoning for their classroom according to their
supervision plan.
 The classroom supervision plan is posted and followed.
 Cluttered classroom addressed and corrected on site
 Head counts are occurring at all transitions
 Food stored in refrigerator is covered and labeled with date.
The programs also identified other areas, that while in compliance with regulations, were in
need of improvement and generated plans to make those improvements.
Summary of Self-Assessment Improvement Plans
Child Development and Education
Areas for Improvement Plans for Program Improvement Outcome Status
Transition processes and  Look at and revise transition Ensure transitioning All tasks to be
systems to be strengthened policy; children and families completed by
and documented accurately—  Complete transition packet receive all information March 1, 2015
1304.40(h)(1),1304.40(h)(3),1 checklist; necessary as they
304.41(c)(1), 1304.41(c)(2)  Revise Head Start Transition leave the program.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Checklist;
 Complete guidance for staff to
input each transition into
ChildPlus; and
 Provide T/TA to FSS staff, Site
Supervisors and Area
Supervisors in regard to
process and procedure for
families in April
Child Supervision strategies  Look at and revise Ensure all classrooms All tasks to be
must be followed at all “supervision quick check” to and staff is following completed by
times—1304.52(i)(1)(iii) reflect needed items for supervision of May 31, 2015
checklist; children policy and
 Bi-weekly monitoring by the procedures inside and
Area Supervisor and the Site outside of the
supervisor of the Supervision classroom.
Quick Check; and
 Additional monthly checklists
completed by Management
staff of the program to ensure
compliance and to cross check
previous checklists
Process for analysis and Meet with consultant to compose Will develop a system All tasks to be
assessment of data and child templates, plans, and charts to be to improve the completed by
data can be strengthened— utilized in the colleting and analysis of child May 30, 2015
1307.3(b)(2)(i),1307.3(b)(2)(ii) analysis of child assessment data assessment data
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Areas for Improvement Plans for Program Improvement Outcome Status
Quality of communication can  Evaluate current Improving effective All tasks to be
be strengthened in communication processes; communication completed by
Education—1304.51(b)  Coordinate communication April 1, 2015.
strategies for disseminating
information, policies, etc.;
 Guidance document and
training on child supervision to
be written to inform all staff
the importance of the process
and following the policies and
procedures.
Roles and responsibilities can Review job descriptions and Staff will be anchored Completed:
be clarified— update to reflect future vision of in position, roles and Improved job
1304.52(a)(1),1304.52(a)(2) program. responsibilities descriptions and

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
training
provided to
ensure
supervisors
understand
roles &
responsibilities.
Management Systems  Income eligibility related Reduce error rate to All tasks to be
1304.51 (g) Record Keeping forms are uploaded in lower than 10% by completed by
Systems ChildPlus and reviewed for June 2015, errors are June 2015
accuracy within 72 hours of found timelier, staff
application are coached on errors,
 Application Review Checklists capture errors missed
will be utilized when by 1st review
completing/reviewing
applications
 Update Application Review
Checklist
 Share and review changes with
Delegate
Developmental and  Ensure that adequate Screening Results data All tasks to be
Behavioral Screenings are not resources are available to is entered in a timely completed by
being submitted or entered in submit and enter data in a manner into CP and June 30, 2015
a timely manner: timely manner monitoring reports
1304.20(b)(1),1304.20(b)(2),1  Comparison monitoring from reflect compliance.
304.20(b)(3) 10/2014 to 10/2015
Rescreening and Referrals  Ensure that adequate Developmental All tasks to be
based on Developmental and resources are available to Rescreening and completed by
Behavioral Screening results submit and enter data in a Developmental and June 30, 2015
are not being submitted and timely manner; Behavioral Referrals
entered in a timely manner—  Comparison monitoring are completed and
1304.20(b)(1),1304.20(b)(2),1 10/2015 – 12/2015 submitted in a timely
304.20(b)(3) manner so that data
can be entered into
CP and monitoring
reports reflect
compliance.
CHILD HEALTH AND SAFETY
Areas for Improvement Plans for Program Improvement Outcome Status
1304.52(i)(1),1304.52(i)(1)(i),1 Collaborate with HR to strengthen We will have All tasks
304.52(i)(1)(ii),1304.52(i)(1)(iv hiring and evaluation process. competent, qualified completed
),1304.52(i)(3). staff that will be March, 15, 2015

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
• Hiring process can be evaluated regularly on
strengthened to hire staff their professional
more efficiently; plans to prepare
• Performance improvement children being school
plans have been written and ready.
action steps will be
implemented into program
planning; and
• Professional development
plans are evaluated regularly
to assess impact on
teacher/staff effectiveness.
 Program did not store  Send out copy of the Nutrition The proper storage of All tasks to be
food appropriately— Policy Food Safety and food will be noted at completed by
1304.23(e)(1) Sanitation 2.3 to Site each site during February 28,
 Send out copy of the Supervisor and Area classroom review, 2015
Nutrition Policy Food Supervisors CACFP site reviews
Safety and Sanitation 2.3
to Site Supervisor and
Area Supervisors;
 Provide TA & A for site
supervisor, teachers,
teacher aids and program
aids if indicated by Area
Supervisors.
 Review CACFP site reviews
completed by Area
Supervisor, Nutritionist
and Head Start Nurse for
January and April reviews
for trends.
 Review the monthly log
for indoor checklist for
food storage indicator.
 Review the Supervision
Quick check to ensure
compliance with food
storage.
 Additional training to new
staff at NET and Site
Supervisor Boot camp to
ensure compliance with

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
food storage.
Outdoor environments and  Process for work orders will be All outdoor All tasks to be
structures were seen as clarified and implemented in environments will be completed by
unsafe—1304.53(a)(7); the program; safe for all children in April 20, 2015
 ECERS/ITERS training; the program
 Tool-kits to be distributed to
classrooms for quick fixes and
to ensure safety on the
playground;
 Retro-fit current playground
structures to ensure safety;
 Explore barriers to playground
structures
Indoor environments were  Create guidance document All indoor All tasks to be
seen to be unsanitary— with definitions of “clean”, environments will be completed by
1304.22(e)(5) “disrepair”, “age appropriate” safe and clean for all May 30, 2015
and other relevant terms for children in the
staff in relation to their program
classroom;
 Train staff on the daily
cleaning checklist; and
 Monitor indoor checklist for
compliance with cleanliness
FAMILY & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Areas for Improvement Plans for Program Improvement Outcome Status
Lack of follow-up on Family  Family Support Staff will Documentation is All tasks to be
Support documentation: schedule time weekly strictly occurring on a regular completed by
FPA’s, referrals, health for documentation; basis, referrals are June 2015
actions, health  Supervision with Supervisor made and health
requirements— will occur twice monthly; requirements are met
1304.40(b)(1),1304.40(b)(2)  Supervisors will monitor
documentation of notes
entered by staff;
 Non-Compliance will be
addressed by the Supervisors
o Verbal Coaching
o Written Coaching
o Performance
Improvement Plan
Professional development  Schedule on program calendar Professional All tasks to be
plans are evaluated regularly a Staff Development day; development for staff completed by
to assess impact on staff  Identify training needs; is provided for staff June 2015

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
effectiveness  Begin the use of the rubrics every other month to
within the Internal Monitoring increase effectiveness
System of the staff
ERSEA
Areas for Improvement Plans for Program Improvement Outcome Status
Recruitment to Maintain and  Develop a referral form to be Partner with DCS, DES, All tasks to be
Increase Waitlist used by DCS to refer families Homeless Agencies completed by
1305.5(a),1308.5(f),645A(c)(1) to HS; and other Programs in May 2015
 Meet with Health Providers to the Community to
develop a referral system; develop a referral
 Work with Homeless agencies system
to increase services within
that population; Attend
community meetings to
increase awareness of the
program; and
 Call all families on current
EHS/HS waitlist who are age
eligible to update application
DISABILITIES/ERSEA
Areas for Improvement Plans for Program Improvement Outcome Status
Must increase the % of  Develop and implement Must increase the % All tasks must be
children enrolled with recruitment plan to ensure an of children enrolled completed by
disabilities (IEPs and IFSPs)— adequate pool of applications with disabilities (IEPs August 30, 2015.
1308.5(c)(1),1308.5(c)(2),1308 for full enrollment as well as a and IFSPs)—
.5(c)(3),1308.5(c)(4),640(d)(1) healthy waitlist to include 1308.5(c)(1),1308.5(c)
children with disabilities; (2),1308.5(c)(3),1308.
 Regular communication with 5(c)(4),640(d)(1)
AzEIP and LEA’s to follow-up
on referrals and updates due
for IFSP and IEP documents;
 Monitoring
Federal Monitoring
The program participated in a triennial monitoring in February, 2014. The monitoring team
from the Office of Head Start (OHS) gathered data during a four day on-site visit. The
monitoring protocol measures seven (7) areas of grantee performance and contains key
indicators that are used to assess each grantee. Data gathered about grantees during
monitoring reviews is used by the Office of Head Start to evaluate multiple levels of
performance, including determining program strengths, concerns, noncompliance’s, and
deficiencies in implementing program Performance Standards, the Head Start Act, and fiscal
regulations in the following content areas:

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
1) Program Governance
2) Management Systems
3) Fiscal Integrity
4) Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance
5) Child Health and Safety
6) Family and Community Engagement
7) Child Development and Education
The review team conducted interviews, reviewed program document, completed observations
and reviewed child and staff files to inform OHS who made a determination of the program’s
compliance to Federal regulations.
Required Corrective Action
During the triennial monitoring the Program was found to be compliant on all but one
regulation. OHS determined that the Program had been deficient in complying with a regulation
pertaining to staff standards of conduct. The Program responded, as required, and successfully
developed and implemented a corrective action plan. The program received training and
technical assistance from OHS to clear the deficiency.
Audits
An annual financial audit of Maricopa County was completed by the Arizona Auditor General’s
Office. These audits include the Head Start grant and comply with the requirements of the
Single Audit Act and OMB Circular A133. The most recent completed audit is for FY 2013. This
audit identified three findings or recommendations for the Head Start Program.
PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Planning Process
The following table illustrates the timelines and steps the program continues to implement to
ensure that the program is responsive to community and parents needs and that planning is
transparent and seeks necessary approvals.
Task and Activities Timeframe Staff Responsible
Focus Groups with Management and
Leadership Teams of both Grantee and Delegate/Grantee
December
Delegate Programs to Re-establish Mission Directors
and Vision
Program Information Reports Completed and Leadership Teams, Policy
December
Analyzed Council

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Leadership Teams, Policy
Self Assessment Completed and Analyzed January
Council
Community Assessment Completed and Family and Community
January
Analyzed Partnership Manager
Program Goals and Objectives Approved by
February Head Start Director
Policy Council
Program Goals and Objectives Approved by
March Head Start Director
Board of Supervisors
Quarterly (in
alignment with Quality Assurance
Review of Short Term Goals School Readiness Coordinator, CDH
Outcome Manager
Reports)
Quality Assurance
Review of Long Term Goals Annually
Coordinator, HS Director
2014-2017 Strategic Goals and Objectives
The following long-range goals and short-term objectives were developed through the planning
process described above. Progress toward completing these goals is provided in the tables
below.
Goal 1: Identify, pilot and implement a performance-based kindergarten readiness
assessment/screening tool.
2014-2015 Research performance-based kindergarten readiness
assessment/screening tools and select one that best meets the
program’s needs.
Progress to The program selected two kindergarten readiness tools to pilot in both
date the East and West Head Start program. The grantee operated program
conducted Kindergarten screenings on all 4 your old children using the
Bracken tool at the beginning of the year. The teachers were trained on
administering the tool by the mentor teachers. We found that some
teachers were unable to complete the screenings with in the proposed
timelines. We also learned that the data collected by observation did
not always match the data collected by direct assessment.
Dr. Karen Burstein from Southwest Institute for Children & Families is
leading the delegate’s research performance-based kindergarten
assessment project. WHHS has 6 participating experiment classrooms

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
and 6 control classrooms. A selected percentage of children in
participating classrooms are receiving the Peabody Picture
Vocabulary Test (PPVT) assessment. The PPVT-R is among the best-
established indicators of verbal intelligence and scholastic aptitude
across childhood. It is among the most frequently cited tests in
Mitchell's (1983) "Tests in Print." Numerous studies have replicated
the reliability estimates from the PPVT standardization sample.
Additionally, the participating classrooms are utilizing another new
tool to help guide teachers to assess children's learning on a weekly
basis called Curriculum Based Decision Making (CBDM). The
Curriculum-Based Decision Making (CBDM) tool is created to help
teachers take full advantage of the myriad of observations that
typically occur each day by systematically monitoring children's
learning. It is a fast and easy-to-use method of assessing skills using
test materials based on the individual classroom curriculum. It
provides accurate data to teachers to inform modifications to and
pacing of instruction that meets individual needs. Furthermore, it
allows teachers to establish meaningful goals and benchmarks for
their students.
2015-2016 Provide training to staff as needed and pilot the assessment/screening
tool.
2016-2017 Fully implement the assessment/screening tool, analyze data, and set
program benchmarks to be included in school readiness goals.
Results realized: The program has increased our ability to gauge children's school readiness and
allow for collection of data that can be used to increase the number of children who finish the
program ready for school. We found the following results from the Bracken Kindergarten
Readiness Screening that is helping to inform the importance of more than one year of Head
Start.
The delegate met goal one this year using a pilot study of 12 classrooms (six control and six
experimental). Dr. Karen Burstein, President of Southwest Institute for Children and Families
oversaw this pilot with her team of research analysts. Six children from each of the six
experimental classrooms were assessed using the PPVT (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) in
addition to the regular ongoing TSG (Teaching Strategies GOLD) child assessment conducted by
teachers in the classroom. The sampling data from these classrooms is being examined and
compared to the overall classrooms TSG outcomes. The goal is to examine the PPVT and the
TSG data for comparative purposes between observational based assessments versus child
performance based assessment.
Additionally, each experimental classroom is utilizing The Curriculum-Based Decision Making
(CBDM) tool which is created to help teachers take full advantage of the myriad of observations

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
that typically occur each day by systematically monitoring children’s learning. It is a fast and
easy to use method of assessing skills using test materials based on the individual classroom
curriculum. It provides accurate data to teachers to inform modifications to and pacing of
instruction that meets individual needs. Furthermore, it allows teachers to establish
meaningful goals and benchmarks for their students.
Comparative data from this study will be available in summer 2015.
100 88
90 84
80 70
70 64 59
60 52
50 41 42 46 1st Year
40 38 2nd Year
30
20
10
0
Colors Letters Numbers Sizes Shapes
Some of the other strategies we implemented this year to help us reach our school readiness
goals include:
 Increasing staff development opportunities through the program year;
 Researching, piloting and implementing math curriculum and strategies;
 Increasing implementation of scaffold lesson plans;
 Planning program options that ensure smooth transition from EHS to HS; and
 Developing and implementing parent education on supporting children’ school
readiness (attendance, literacy, positive discipline, etc.).
Goal 2: Parents will have the opportunity and knowledge to set and achieve goals to
implement early learning strategies at home.
2014-2015 Design parent trainings on early learning strategies. Provide training
that allows staff to support parents as they set and implement goals
on early learning strategies.
Progress to During the summer break, the grantee program developed lesson plans
Date for parent education trainings that focused on parenting strategies to
help children reach school readiness goals such as reducing screen time,
reading to children, and the importance of family routines. The Delegate
and Grantee worked together to share parents education resources to
improve parents education delivery.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Delegate’s FSS' received training from the AZ Department of Education
on the importance of literacy and on how to review the Early Learning
Literacy Guide with families. The Guides were given to families during
their FPA home visits. Staff was equipped with the Parent Tool Kit &
training; in the Tool Kit staff and parents have access to activities from
the Abriendo Puertas parent curriculum to do during their parent
meetings. Delegate partnered with Kith and Kin. This organization
provides child development and other parenting training workshops in
the Tolleson, Avondale and Glendale communities. Next year, Closing
the Achievement Gap will be a mandatory training for all FSS to provide
to their respective families. Piloting the APTI model for parent-teacher
conferences is another way this strategic goal will be met.
2015-2016 Pilot parent trainings on early learning strategies and revise as needed.
Support staff as they begin to help parents set goals on early learning
strategies.
2016-2017 Offer training on early learning strategies to all parents. Ensure all
parents are offered the opportunity to set goals to implement early
learning strategies at home.
Results realized: The work to date on the objectives under goals two and three (below) have
facilitated meaningful engagement of parents (including mothers, fathers, grandparents, foster
parents, and kinship caregivers, as appropriate) in activities designed to help them become full
partners in the education of their children.
Goal 3: Increase attendance in Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms.
2014-2015 Analyze program data to determine the characteristics of children with
the best attendance in each program option.
Progress to The grantee has developed and implemented a weekly attendance
Date report that is provided to the Directors of the grantee and delegate
programs. This is helping program leadership and management address
attendance issues quickly and begin further discussions with staff on
barriers that families are experiencing in maintaining good attendance.
Each of the delegate’s Area Managers developed a plan to meet the
objectives of this goal. Plans are currently being implemented and data
will be available by the end of the year to evaluate the effectiveness of
established plans. Additionally, the delegate is in the process of
collecting data on children with the best attendance. This goal is on
track. At the end of the year, end of year program data will be used to
guide modifications to next year’s goals.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
2015-2016 Enroll children in the program option that best meets the needs of the
family based on analysis of attendance data and the parent’s
preferences.
Results realized: Both grantee and delegate programs reviewed, revised, and implement its
attendance policy as well as develop tracking and reporting systems on parent training and
socialization attendance.
Goal 4: Ensure Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five is involved in planning goals
for child outcomes with each partner school district.
2014-2015 Begin tracking Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five staff attendance
at each partner school district’s Early Childhood Quality Improvement
team meeting.
Progress to Both grantee and delegate program participated in a Kindergarten
Date Transition Summit sponsored by the Arizona Department of Education.
The groups talked about shared goals and resources and committed to
further collaborate on child outcomes. With the additional Pre-K funds
being disseminated in the state for Pre-K development, further
collaboration with Glendale and Union school districts are being
prioritized to ensure that Pre-k opportunities for children are
coordinated.
Delegate’s Disabilities and Mental Health Manager attends LEA ECQUIP
meetings on a regular basis. WSHS has made great progress this year in
strengthening its presence and collaboration with school districts. The
Parent, Family and Community Engagement Manager has initiated
meetings with school district administrators, Superintendents and
Principals. These meetings have been well attended and received by
district staff. School readiness goals and child outcome data for the
respective school districts was shared. These meetings have increased
in attendance and have resulted in enhanced levels of communication
on multiple levels. Positive results observed include district staff
offering the use of additional classroom space in FY 2015-2016.
2015-2016 Create reports on child outcomes and community assessment data
specific to each partner school district or community. Share these
reports with each partner district’s Early Childhood Quality
Improvement team.
2016-2017 Develop shared goals for child outcomes with each partner district’s
Early Childhood Quality Improvement team.
Results Realized: Staff have been attending regular ECQUIP team meetings and sharing results
from child assessments as well as discussion joint opportunities for professional development.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Goal 5: Increase the quantity and quality of practice-based coaching and mentoring
available to instructional staff.
2014-2015 Plan budget priorities and implement staffing patterns and that allow
greater instructional staff access to mentor/coaches.
Progress to Mentor teachers were added to grantee support staff in Early Head Start
Date center-based and a mentor for Home-based staff shared between Early
Head Start and Head Start programs.
The delegate has added two Child Service Specialists (CSS) to their
existing 14 CSS already on staff. The two additional CSS were added to
allow greater instructional staff access to mentor/coaches. In order to
provide better coaching and mentoring, an additional Family Service
Supervisor (FSS) was added to the existing three FTE positions. The
program has seen positive outcomes as a result of the addition of these
positions. This staffing model permits CSS to spend 60% of their time
directly coaching/mentoring staff in the classroom. The addition of the
FSS Supervisor has allowed them to better support, coach and mentor
FSS regarding income eligibility documentation which was previously a
self-assessment finding. It has also allowed FSS Supervisors to provide
reflective supervision to FSS around high risk families and the challenges
confronting them. WSHS has participated in the State T&TA based
training provided by the National Center for Quality Teaching & Learning
(NCQTL). They have piloted the Teacher Learning Collaborating (TLC)
coaching curriculum with a group of 10 teachers. Staff have embraced
the PBC model.
2015-2016 Track and analyze the amount of coaching and mentoring that
instructional staff receives. Provide training to mentor/coaches and
instructional staff that allow them to make the most effective use of
these relationships.
2016-2017 Use previous year’s data to further improve staffing patterns to provide
instructional staff greater access to mentor/coaches. Provide further
training to mentor/coaches and instructional staff that allow them to
make the most effective use of these relationships.
Results Realized: The grantee and delegate program were able to use mentor and coaching
strategies to implement targeted professional development plans for staff. This culminated in
teaching staff holding curriculum fairs in both the Eastside and Westside programs
demonstrating each program’s commitment to professional development

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Changes to School Readiness Goals
2015-2016 School Readiness Goals
Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five views school readiness as a journey for families and
children, beginning even before they are born and continuing throughout the time children are
enrolled in our program. We are committed to providing a comprehensive program from
prenatal through age 5 years to ensure that children and families are ready for school. To that
end, we have developed school readiness goals for children birth to five. Our 2015-2016 school
readiness goals are aligned with the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning
Framework, expected outcomes for infants/toddlers, state early learning standards for pre-k
and infant/toddlers and kindergarten common core to better inform teaching practices.
Child Assessment and Individualization
Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five uses Teaching Strategies GOLD to collect, store, and
analyze information about children's development. Information collected by the teacher or
home visitor may be supplemented with information gleaned from the child's parents in
conjunction with in-home curriculum tasks or family literacy activities. Information about the
child's development is also collected from parents at parent-teacher conferences, from parents
working with their children in classroom, and during parent meetings. The program uses child
assessment data to individualize the instruction and learning for each child and, as necessary,
refer children for additional evaluation and intervention. Instructional staff can use reports on
children’s developmental levels from GOLD to plan learning activities for both individual
children and small groups of children. The child's progress is shared with parents three times
each year using a report generated from GOLD that summarizes the child's progress in all
domains of learning.
Key Findings
Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five aggregates and analyzes child-level assessment data
three times per year and uses it in combination with other program data to determine the
program's progress toward meeting its goals, to inform parents and the community of results,
and to direct continuous improvement related to curriculum, instruction, professional
development, program design, and other program decisions. Progress toward meeting our
school readiness goals is shared with the Policy Council and the public in our annual report.
Our focus on child-level assessment data from GOLD has prompted us to begin collection and
analysis of other types of data indicative of child outcomes. In addition to the aggregation of
child-level assessment data, we have begun to display assessment data together with CLASS
scores by classroom in order to look at the relationship between CLASS scores and children's
performance on school readiness indicators. We plan to aggregate this data at the end of the
2014-2015 program year and use it to plan staff development activities and initiatives. We
have also decided to use a child performance-based kindergarten readiness
assessment/screening tool to supplement data collection of children entering kindergarten

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
since GOLD is based solely on teacher observations. In PY 2013-2014 an assessment of a
random sample of enrolled 4 year old children was conducted using the Bracken performance-
based assessment/screening tool. The assessment was completed to determine the ease and
practicality of using this type of assessment at enrollment next year.
The Bracken yielded interesting pre/post-test findings as illustrated in the following graph.
Consistently, across areas measured, children showed improvement at T-2 when compared
with T-1.
Likewise, when considering dosage and how children enrolled in Head Start for a second year,
at T-2, children presented with higher scores when compared with their peers who were in
their first year of Head Start.
This data will be compared with our GOLD data as an additional way to measure school
readiness for children transitioning to kindergarten.
Ninety percent (90%) of enrolled children are expected to meet or exceed each of our school
readiness goals for their age group. Three and four year olds met all their school readiness
except for math. However, 89% of three year olds and 84% of four years olds met or exceeded
their math goals. The following table provides a summary of the EHS and HS student
performance for all school readiness goals.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Percentage of Children Meeting/Exceeding School Readiness Goals
EHS HS
1-2 Year 2-3 Year 3Year 4 Year
Olds Olds Olds Olds
Social-Emotional Development:
Demonstrate an understanding of their
86% 83% 95% 96%
own feelings and monitoring of their own
behavior
Social Studies Knowledge and Skills:
Establish and sustain positive
87% 82% 95% 94%
relationships in their families and
community
Physical Development and Health:
Develop Gross Motor skills and 73% 83% 90% 96%
understand movement concepts
Creative Arts Expression:
Develop small muscles to perform daily
95% 88% 98% 96%
routines, creative arts, and school related
skills
Language Development:
Develop and use language skills to 88% 77% 90% 90%
express thoughts and needs
Approaches to Learning/Science
Knowledge and Skills:
97% 78% 93% 95%
Approach learning with persistence,
flexibility, curiosity, and engagement
Logic and Reasoning:
Demonstrate ability to think, reason, use
97% 94% 94% 99%
information, and apply strategies for
solving problems
Literacy Knowledge and Skills:
Understanding and awareness of speech 77% 89% 94% 94%
sounds, rhyming and syllables
Literacy Knowledge and Skills:
Understanding and knowledge of the 100% 74% 93% 97%
alphabet, letters, and letter sounds
Literacy Knowledge and Skills:
Understanding of print and use of writing 100% 90% 95% 98%
skills to convey meaning
Mathematics Knowledge and Skills: 75% 71% 89% 84%

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Understanding and comprehension of
counting, number symbols, and number
operations
Maricopa County Head Start used the above assessment data in planning out new long range
goals. We expect that in addition to the results and benefits listed below, implementation of
each of our long range goals will lead to improvements in school readiness. We were
particularly concerned with the results of assessments of two year olds enrolled in the program.
In order to address this concern, we have begun to implement toddler CLASS. We will use
toddler CLASS in all EHS classrooms in PY2014-2015 in order to improve teacher-child
interactions. We expect that this tool will help us to ensure that very young children are
meeting school readiness goals for their age group.
UPDATES TO RESULTS AND BENEFITS
Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five is achieving the results and benefits submitted in our
Year One Application and referenced below as an outcome of the implementation of our
service plans. Children with special needs are identified early, participating children leave the
program healthy and ready to learn, and parents are being engaged in the wider community.
While these outcomes have the most meaning for the individual children and families that
participate in the program, the entire community benefits when these outcomes are achieved.
All of these results help our community thrive and represent a cost savings to our community at
a future point in time.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Education
We have successfully seen enrolled children show progress in their capacity for independence
in a wide array of activities, such as communication and language tasks, routines, self-control
and self-help, and respect for the feelings of others. As illustrated in the graph that follows,
during PY 2013-2014, children made significant gains and ‘met or exceeded’ in 11 areas of
development:

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
70%
60%
50%
40%
30% Meets/exceeds
20%
10%
0%
Objective 1 – Regulates own emotions (60%)
Objective 2 – Established and sustains positive relationships (66%)
Objective 6 – Demonstrates gross-motor manipulative skills (57%)
Objective 7 – Demonstrates fine-motor strength and coordination (50%)
Objective 9 – Uses language to express thoughts and needs (48%)
Objective 11 – Demonstrates positive approaches to learning (64%)
Objective 14 – Uses symbols and images to represent something not present (31%)
Objective 15 – Demonstrates phonological awareness (49%)
Objective 16 – Demonstrates knowledge of the alphabet (38%)
Objective 19 – Demonstrates emergent writing skills (21%)
Objective 20 – Uses number concepts and operations (57%)
Health
As a result of our efforts in working collectively and closely with families, families report
express increased comfort level in accessing and utilizing health resources available in the
community. Educational efforts in parents having greater understanding of the importance
of preventive care as well as early intervention in area of health, dental and safety concerns
is paying off. Parents are becoming more proactive and in a better position to advocate for
their child’s health and dental needs. Our aim is that every child enrolled in the program:
 Is matched to a medical and dental home;
 Receives all necessary treatment;
 Is current on a schedule of preventative and primary medical and dental care;
 Is as current as possible on immunizations at program termination; and
 As developmentally appropriate, presents with greater independence with personal
hygiene.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
Children enrolled during PY2013-2014:
 96.5% had health insurance;
 94.8% had a medical home;
 94.2% were up to date on their childhood immunizations; and
 92.8% had established a dental home.
For PY2015-2016, we will work towards:
 95% of children/families will have established medical and dental homes;
 100% of children in the program will have completed all age appropriate immunizations
within 15 days of enrollment and stay current throughout the program year.
 93% of all children enroll will complete a physical exam or well-child exam and all
identified follow-up treatment will be completed by the end of program.
 97% of newly enrolled children will complete a comprehensive dental exam and all
identified treatment will be completed by end of enrollment.
Families
The following is a summary of Family Services data captured and summarized in the PY 2013-
2014 PIR report. Number of families whom completed the referrals:
 511 - Emergency/crisis intervention such as meeting immediate needs for food, clothing,
or shelter;
 86 - Housing assistance such as subsidies, utilities, repairs, etc.;
 140 - Mental health services;
 286 - English as a Second Language (ESL) training;
 568 - Adult education such as GED programs and college selection;
 154 - Job training;
 25 - Substance abuse prevention;
 6 - Substance abuse treatment;
 30 - Child abuse and neglect services;
 38 - Domestic violence services;
 21 - Child support assistance;
 701 - Health education;
 6 - Assistance to families of incarcerated individuals;
 812 - Parenting education; and
 67 - Relationship/marriage education.
As we move forward, participating families will increase the skills that allow them to become
self-reliant. The Family Outcomes Tab in ChildPlus will be utilized to measure where families
are when they enter the program and again at the end of the year. By the end of the year, 85%
of the families will understand how to access community social services. Family engagement
and/or fatherhood events will occur monthly with 60% of the families attending. Families will
understand how to participate in group decision-making by attending monthly parent meetings

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
and trainings. 100% of the families will have identified, planned and achieved at least one
school readiness goal. Families who participate in our program will understand their role as
their child’s first, and most important, teacher and will actively seek opportunities to foster
their child’s development and to improve their children’s education.
Nutrition
The expected result of implementation of our nutrition services plan is that children at
nutritional risk will be identified and referred appropriately for further evaluation. Data
collected on children throughout the program year suggest success towards our established
goals of identifying children at risk for chronic conditions. This provides us opportunities to
work with the parent and family in establishing strategies that will reduce these risk factors by
exposing families and children to healthier lifestyles. These strategies may include and are not
limited to the importance of play and physical activity. Understanding the nutritional value of
food and how it impacts health in general. The information provided by the program helps
parents understand the nutritional needs of their child and they will choose healthier foods and
beverages and increase physical activity within their families.
PIR report for PY 2013-2014 suggest:
 20 pregnant women enrolled in the program. Of these, 4 presented as a medically high
risk pregnancy;
 111 children were identified as underweight (BMI less than 5th percentile for their age
and gender);
 311 are overweight (BMI at or above the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile
for the child’s age and gender);
 483 are obese (BMI at or above the 95th percentile for age and gender)
As we move forward, we will work towards:
 100% of children will complete a growth and nutrition assessment in the first 90 days;
and
 96% of all children will have completed an annual hemoglobin screening for Head Start
children and age appropriate for EHS.
Disabilities
Implementation of our disabilities service plan assures that children with disabilities are recruited
for our program, that all children are screened soon after enrollment to assure early
identification of potential disabilities, that children with special needs are connected to
specialized services provided by appropriate agencies, and that the transition process from our
program(s) to the next are well defined. Children with special needs continue to be included in
all program activities. These activities are thoughtfully planned to support the child’s IEP/IFSP
goals. Parents and other professionals continue to be involved in the child’s life and are kept fully
informed of the child’s progress in the program. We continue to work with school districts to
ensure that services are provided in inclusive settings as much as possible.

Maricopa County Head Start Zero-Five Program
Continuation Application
Year Two 2015-2016
Project Description
During PY2013-2014, 255 children received an IEP and deemed eligible by the LEA to receive
special education and related services.
Mental Health
In Head Start, we promote problem solving, self-control, ability to experience and express
emotions, positive social interactions, and self-confidence. Strategies are implemented to
assist parents in developing awareness of positive discipline techniques, importance of
providing appropriate structure and routines, fostering positive parent-child relationships, and
develop appropriate behavioral expectations for their child. Parents receive information,
referrals and support for their own mental health needs.
Program staff is provided with training, coaching and other supports to develop the additional
skills needed to address challenging behaviors and/or mental health needs in the classroom.
Staff is provided with monthly wellness information and activities to encourage a healthy
work/life balance.
During PY2013-2014, our Mental Health professional:
 Consulted with program staff about the behavior or mental health of 88 children. 51 of
these were provided three or more consultations;
 Consulted with parents of 74 children regarding concerns observed in the classroom
related to behavior or mental health; and
 Referred 25 children for mental health services. 18 of these children received mental
health services.