MACAA receives Office of Head Start grant award to provide Early Head Start services

Monticello Area Community Action Agency is proud to announce a $1.4M federal award from the Office of Head Start to establish an Early Head Start program serving Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa, and Nelson Counties and the City of Charlottesville.

“We are very excited that MACAA has been awarded this contract by the Office of Head Start to begin an Early Head Start Program to serve infants, toddlers, and pregnant women from families with low incomes. Increasing our community’s capacity to support children and families within the first few years of life has been a long-identified goal. This program will provide critical child development and family support services to help build healthy attachments and relationships between parents, caregivers, and very young children.”

- Dr. Amanda Williford, MACAA’s Board of Directors

What is Early Head Start?

Early Head Start offers family-centered services for families with very young children who are experiencing low income. Our program is designed to promote the healthy development of the child, and to enable their parents to fulfill their roles as parents and to move toward self-sufficiency.

MACAA’s Early Head Start program will provide similar services to those offered by our preschool Head Start programs, but they are tailored to meet the unique needs of infants and toddlers (birth to age three). Early Head Start promotes the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development of infants and toddlers through safe and developmentally enriching caregiving. We strive to prepare expectant mothers and young children for continued growth and development and eventual success in school and life.

Early Head Start supports parents, both mothers and fathers, in their role as primary caregivers and teachers of their children. Our program will assist families in meeting their own personal goals and achieving self-sufficiency across a wide variety of domains, such as housing stability, continued education, and financial security. Early Head Start also mobilizes the local community to provide the resources and environment necessary to ensure a comprehensive, integrated array of services and support for children and families.

MACAA will be providing center-based and home-based options for eligible children and families throughout the region. Visit our Career Center to learn more about joining MACAA’s Early Head Start team!

Applications are now available online. Enrollment begins immediately and programming is expected to begin in July 2021.