Denver Head Start Joint Comprehensive Community Assessment

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Denver Head Start Joint Comprehensive Community
Assessment
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Denver Head Start Joint Comprehensive Community
Assessment Background

• City and County of Denver
• 554,636 overall population
• 2.4 million Denver metro population
• Denver Public Schools (one school district)
• Serves 72,489 students

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Denver Head Start Joint Comprehensive Community
Assessment

• Race Ethnicity in Denver, 2003

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Denver Head Start Joint Comprehensive Community
Assessment

• Race Ethnicity in Denver for Children lt 5, 2002

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Denvers Great Kids Head StartOrganization

• Denvers Great Kids Head Start
• 1,083 funded slots
• 30 sites/43 classrooms with 200 staff
• Grantee/delegate model
• A program of the Mayors Office for Education and
  Children

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Denvers Great Kids Head StartGrantee/delegate
model
Mayors Office forEducation and Children

• Denvers Great Kids Head Start

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Rocky Mountain SEROrganization

• Rocky Mountain SER - Service, Employment,
  Redevelopment
• 812 funded slots with 24 sites
• Throughout Colorado, Rocky Mountain SER operates
  65 Head Start Centers serving 1695 children and
  their families.
• Rocky Mountain SER is sponsored by the American
  G.I. Forum and the League of United Latin
  American Citizens. These two organizations are
  the oldest Hispanic organizations in Colorado.

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Denver Head Start Joint Comprehensive Community
Assessment

• Race Ethnicity for Head Start, 2003-2004

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Denver Head Start Joint Comprehensive Community
Assessment

• Primary Language Spoken at Home, 2003

Spanish
Other
English
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7
54
DGK
57
1
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RMSER
21
4
75
Denver
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Denvers Great Kids Head Start Rocky Mountain
SER

• Rationale
• RMSER and DGKHS grantees are largest urban Head
  Start programs in Colorado and Region VIII
• Co-located in one city/one county with same
  funding cycle
• Resource for other community agencies, including
  three Early Head Start programs in Denver
• Support from ACF Region VIII

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Request For Proposal (RFP) process

• RFP Consultant requirements
• Consultant with expertise in areas including, but
  not limited to, the following
• Community-based research and analysis
• Program evaluation
• Best practices in early childhood education
• Cultural competency
• Diverse populations and communities and
• Low income children and families.

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RFPConsultant requirements

• Contract with City and County of Denver
• Scope of work
• Include Head Start performance standards
• Provide information on cultural demographics
  including relevant data concerning immigrant
  and/or undocumented families
• Provide written monthly reports detailing the
  progress of work and a summary of data
• Coordinate and participate in scheduled
  conference calls or meetings to provide progress
  updates

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RFPConsultant requirements

• Deliverables
• Full Comprehensive Community Assessment
• Executive Summary
• Briefing paper
• Power Point presentation
• Spanish translation

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RFPTimeline

• RFP published March 5
• Applications due March 26
• Technical Assistance Workshop March 11
• Interviews March 29
• Selection April 1
• Completion October 1

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RFPSubmission process

• Published RFP in local newspapers
• Mailed RFP to 20 program evaluation experts
• Technical assistance workshop - two hours
• Review Scope of Work
• Timeline
• 20 workshop participants
• 5 organization/partnership applications submitted

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RFP Decision-making process

• Selection committee - Representatives from RMSER,
  DGKHS, Denver Mayors Office for Education and
  Children and ACF Region VIII
• Applications Rated- 100 point scale
• Proposer Qualifications and Expertise
• Project Approach/Proposer Resources
• Proposed rate of compensation
• Discussion and Consensus

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RFPSelected consultant

• JVA Consulting LLC
• Sixteen years experience with 20 consultants,
  facilitating community collaborations and
  conducting organizational and community-wide
  strategic planning
• Providing planning, capacity-building, research
  and evaluation services for nonprofit
  organizations, school districts, foundations and
  government agencies
• Alta Mira Consulting, Latino-focused arm of
  organization, with 10 years experience working
  with Latino community organizations

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Denver Head Start Joint Community
AssessmentAssessment process Advisory Committee

• Collaborative effort
• Real-time/Continuous improvement process
• Interpreting and analyzing data
• Progress reports/updates
• Provide local expertise and resources

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Advisory CommitteeRepresentatives

• RMSER and DGKHS Head Start Directors
• ACF Region VIII Early Childhood State Lead
  (Colorado)
• Mayors Office for Education and Children
• Head Start Delegate
• Early Head Start
• Experts in
• Early Childhood Care and Education
• Immigration
• Philanthropy/Foundation

• Research/Evaluation
• Mental Health

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Denver Head Start Joint Community
AssessmentGoals/objectives

• Developed through joint process with RMSER, DGK,
• ACF Region VIII, consultant and Advisory
  Committee
• Goal
• To provide in-depth information and analysis
  focused on families with children birth to 5
  years old in the City and County of Denver

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Denver Head Start Joint Community
AssessmentObjectives

• Identify gaps among existing community services
• Provide baseline on current status of Head Start
  eligible children, families, and services in
  Denver
• Inventory communitys strengths and available
  resources
• Enhance understanding of cultural demographics
  and diverse groups within Denver
• Initiate new community partnerships

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Denver Head Start Joint Community
AssessmentQuantitative and qualitative
information

• Demographics
• Economics
• Health
• Education
• Program Information
• Unmet Need
• Head Start parents
• Head Start staff
• Community leaders

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Quantitative Data Sources include

• U.S. 2000 Census
• American Community Survey
• Department of Local Affairs
• Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population
  Survey
• Colorado Department of Public and Environmental
  Health
• Piton Foundation Neighborhood Facts Website
• The Colorado Childrens Campaign
• Denver Public Schools
• Colorado Department of Education
• Head Start Program Information Report (PIR)
• Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count! Website

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Qualitative Data Community leader interviews

• Youth service program
• Community health
• Elected official Denver City Council
• Mexican Consulate
• Business - marketing
• Denver Public Schools administrator

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Qualitative Data Focus groups

• Pre-survey
• 8 focus groups
• Conducted in English and Spanish by consultants
• 6 structured interviews
• Individual community leaders/15-30 minutes
• Interviewed by consultants

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Qualitative Data Focus groups

• Participants
• Head Start Families
• Head Start Staff
• Early Head Start Staff
• Head Start Eligible Families (not currently
  enrolled)
• Drawn from RMSER/DGKHS

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Denver Head Start Joint Community
AssessmentOngoing review meetings

• Monthly meetings with Advisory Committee
• Reviewed and refined data
• Unmet need
• Student Outcomes
• Provided additional resources and contacts
• Immigration resources
• Health statistics
• Refined areas of focus and interest
• Facilities
• Cost of quality

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Quantitative DataDemographic trends Immigration

• As of 2003,
• 16 of Denvers population is foreign-born.
• Of those, 70 are from Latin America, which
  includes Mexico.
• 75 of the immigrants in Denver were not
  citizens.
• 57 of Denvers foreign-born population entered
  the United States after 1990.

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Quantitative DataChildren lt 6 with parents in
the labor force
76
64
In the labor force
36
24
Not in the labor force
2002
2003
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Quantitative DataBirths to teen mothers

• In 2003
• The fertility rate for teens (ages 15-19) in
  Colorado was 40.5 (41 births out of 1,000 female
  teens).
• Denvers teen fertility rate was 75.6, with
  higher rates for RMSER and DGK neighborhoods.
• 74 of teen births were to Latinas.

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Quantitative DataMothers education status

• In 2003
• 22 of all births in Colorado were to mothers
  with no high school diploma.
• 37 of births in Denver were to mothers with no
  high school diploma.

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Education trends Graduation rate

• Denver Public Schools (2003)
• Denver Public Schools has the lowest graduation
  rate in the metro area.
• Latino Non-Whites (57 Denver Public Schools
  student population) have a graduation rate of
  29.
• African Americans have a 38 graduation rate.
• Source The Colorado Childrens Campaign

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Student achievement Project ID

• Denver Public Schools student identification
  number (1997-98).
• DPS Early Education Department found that former
  Head Start students
• Represented the highest percentage of low-income
  students.
• Demonstrated steady Colorado Student Achievement
  Program improvement from 2002 to 2004.
• Since 2005
• Secondary School Reform Commission (March 2005)

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Program information Head Start families,
2003-2004

• Families evenly divided between two-parent and
  single-parent households.
• Most families work.
• Highest educational level achieved by most
  families was less than a high school degree,
  followed by a high school diploma or GED.

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Unmet need Current capacity

• Estimation of eligible population currently served

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Unmet need Projected number of children, birth
to 4

• The number of 3-year-olds in Denver is projected
  to increase from 10,066 in 2004 to 12,158 in
  2008.
• Additional 2,092 children
• Denvers 4-year-olds are also projected to
  increase from 8,577 in 2004 to 12,150 in 2008.
• Additional 3,573 children

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Unmet need Future capacity

• Eligible population served by 2006 if funded
  slots are not added
• (estimate)

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
General trendsWhat parents, staff and community
leaders say about Head Start

• Parents, staff and community members expressed
  positive opinions of Head Start.
• Parents and staff identified pre-academic, social
  and independence skills as important reasons for
  children to attend Head Start
• However, parents and community members were
  unfamiliar with Head Starts range of services.

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Overall analyses Implications for Head Start

• Head Start services are needed, and this need
  will increase over the next three years.
• Head Start promotes school readiness--ready
  child, ready family, ready school and ready
  community.
• Since 2005
• The 5 By 5 Project
• Milestones Project

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Implications for Head Start

• Four- and five-day-a-week center-based programs,
  more than six hours per day are essential for
  working parents.
• Head Start will continue to be an important
  health resource for Denvers low-income families
  and their children.

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Implications for Head Start

• Through public awareness and education, Head
  Start can highlight its mission and the
  comprehensive services available through the
  program.
• Since 2005
• Published program overview
• Early Childhood Education briefs Second
  Language Development

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Denver Head Start Joint Community Assessment
Implications for Head Start

• Head Start services need to include
• Culturally competent programming for diverse
  families
• Staff bilingual in English and Spanish
• Immigration and naturalization support services
• ESL/GED classes
• Outreach to teen parents

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Denver Head Start Joint Comprehensive Community
Assessment For more information,
contactPamela Harris, PhD(720)
913-0880Pamela.Harris_at_ci.denver.co.us