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About HCHSP
Vision Statement
We are dedicated to the economic and social well-being of the children and families and committed to their safety, education, and healthy development with strong community support.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy
The Hidalgo County Head Start Program (HCHSP) has a long history of providing high quality Head Start services in Hidalgo County. Under the auspices of the County, for the past thirty five (35) years HCHSP has engaged staff, families and community partners in delivering comprehensive child development services to our children in the areas of education, health, mental health, nutrition and social services. HCHSP is federally funded as a Grantee Agency by the Department of Health and Human Services and also provides free nutritional meals to all children funded through the Texas Department of Agriculture. HCHSP uses a holistic approach to address the individual children's needs using the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (HSELOF) as the research based guide to identify the age appropriate skills, behaviors, and knowledge children need to succeed in school. Research based assessment, curriculum and best practices form the core of the teaching and learning act. HCHSP utilizes a Management Systems approach to services, which ensures program effectiveness and accountability to stakeholders. These systems include: Communication, Human Resources, Record Keeping and Recording, Program Planning, Self-Assessment, Eligibility-Recruitment-Selection-Enrollment-Attendance, Facilities, Fiscal, Program Governance, and Monitoring.
Our primary role as the biggest change agent in the community is best defined by our vision: "We are dedicated to the economic and social well-being of children and families and committed to their safety, education, and healthy development, with strong community support". We bring significant positive community changes and improvements in the lives of families we serve as we live our commitment to our mission: "To break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy". This commitment emboldens our staff, our parents, our Policy Council and Commissioner's Court (Grantee Board), to ensure that engagement and decision making is broad based and brings unity to our efforts. More than 34% of our employees are current or former parents and we facilitate career paths in education and other areas within our program by providing financial support and release time for staff seeking a college degree. We currently serve three thousand two hundred (3,200) of the neediest children in the county through a center based network of forty (32) facilities connecting one hundred and sixty (160) classrooms with a labor force of seven hundred and seventy five (775) employees, of which thirty four percent (34%) are current or former Head Start parents.
Our great partnerships with school districts and Early Head Start agencies in Hidalgo County support and strengthen our commitment to "School Readiness" as children transition in and out of Head Start and continue their educational experience. It is our sincerest expectation that every child along with their parents, will be school-ready to continue their educational journey with the support of our experienced staff, committed Program Leadership and informed community upon their exit from the world of Head Start excellence.
Services
The Hidalgo County Head Start Program (HCHSP) promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through educational, health, nutritional, social and other services. "School Readiness" is a comprehensive term describing those capabilities of children, their families, schools, and communities that best promote student success in kindergarten and in later grades. Each component below plays an essential role in the development of a child's school readiness. Children enrolled in the Hidalgo County Head Start Program receive developmental screenings and ongoing assessments across all developmental domains. These assessments are shared with parents. In addition, HCHSP and local school districts have established partnerships where public school teachers, in conjunction with Head Start teachers, provide instructions to all Head Start classrooms, and collaborate to determine the most effective ways to help the child with a successful transition to kindergarten. The School Readiness goals and objectives for children are aggregated and analyzed at three assigned formalized checkpoints during each Program year.
EDUCATION SERVICES
The Hidalgo County Head Start Program promotes School Readiness. The program recognizes that the parent is the child's first and most important teacher. HCHSP forms partnerships with parents and considers and respects the family's individual, cultural, ethnic language and family values. HCHSP uses a high-quality, research-based curriculum which promotes measurable progress toward children's development along with screenings and assessments that provide valuable feedback about each child's interests, strengths, and needs. Transitional services are supported from Early Head Start to Head Start and from Head Start to public schools.
CHILD NUTRITION SERVICES
The objective of the Child Nutrition Services Department is to promote child wellness by providing nutrition meal services and assisting families in meeting each child's nutritional needs and in establishing good eating habits that nurture healthy development and promote long life and well-being.
DISABILITY SERVICES
The overall purpose of the special services effort in Head Start is to ensure that children with disabilities receive comprehensive services and that they participate in the full range of activities within the child development program, in an inclusive environment where children truly have a "head start" in achieving their fullest potential.
FAMILY SOCIAL SERVICES
The program offers parents opportunities and support for growth, so that they can identify their own strengths, needs, and interests, and find their own solutions. The objective being to support parents as they identify and meet their own goals to nurture the development of their children in the context of their family and culture, and to advocate for the communities that are supportive of children and families of all cultures.
HEALTH SERVICES & MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Health Services embraces a comprehensive approach to proper health for children and their families. Our objective is to ensure that, through collaboration with families, staff, and health professionals, all child health developmental concerns are identified and addressed, and children and families are linked to an ongoing source of continuous, accessible care to meet their basic health needs.
Servicios
El Programa de Head Start del Condado de Hidalgo (HCHSP) promueve la preparación escolar al mejorar el desarrollo social y cognitivo de los niños a través de servicios educativos, de salud, nutricionales, sociales y de otro tipo. "Preparación escolar" es un término completo que describe esas capacidades de los niños, sus familias, escuelas y comunidades que promueven mejor el éxito de los estudiantes en el jardín de infantes y en los grados posteriores. Cada componente a continuación desempeña un papel esencial en el desarrollo de la preparación escolar de un niño. Los niños inscritos en el Programa Head Start del Condado de Hidalgo reciben exámenes de desarrollo y evaluaciones continuas en todos los ámbitos del desarrollo. Estas evaluaciones se comparten con los padres. Además, HCHSP y los distritos escolares locales han establecido asociaciones donde los maestros de escuelas públicas, en conjunto con los maestros de Head Start, proporcionan instrucciones a todas las aulas de Head Start, y colaboran para determinar las maneras más efectivas de ayudar al niño con una transición exitosa al jardín de infantes. Las metas y objetivos de preparación escolar para los niños se agregan y analizan en tres puntos de control formalizados asignados durante cada año del Programa.
SERVICIOS EDUCATIVOS
El Programa de Head Start del Condado de Hidalgo promueve la preparación escolar. El programa reconoce que el padre es el primer y más importante maestro del niño. HCHSP forma asociaciones con los padres y considera y respeta los valores individuales, culturales, étnicos y familiares de la familia. HCHSP utiliza un plan de estudios basado en la investigación de alta calidad que promueve el progreso medible hacia el desarrollo de los niños junto con exámenes y evaluaciones que proporcionan valiosos comentarios sobre los intereses, fortalezas y necesidades de cada niño. Los servicios de transición son compatibles con Early Head Start a Head Start y desde Head Start hasta las escuelas públicas.
SERVICIOS DE NUTRICIÓN INFANTIL
El objetivo del Departamento de Servicios de Nutrición Infantil es promover el bienestar infantil proporcionando servicios de comidas nutricionales y ayudando a las familias a satisfacer las necesidades nutricionales de cada niño y estableciendo buenos hábitos alimenticios que nutren el desarrollo saludable y promuevan la larga vida y el bienestar
SERVICIOS PARA DISCAPACITADOS.
El propósito general del esfuerzo de servicios especiales en Head Start es asegurar que los niños con discapacidad reciban servicios integrales y que participen en toda la gama de actividades dentro del programa de desarrollo infantil, en un entorno inclusivo donde los niños realmente tienen una "ventaja" en lograr su máximo potencial.
SERVICIOS SOCIALES FAMILIARES
El programa ofrece a los padres oportunidades y apoyo al crecimiento, para que puedan identificar sus propias fortalezas, necesidades e intereses, y encontrar sus propias soluciones. El objetivo es apoyar a los padres a medida que identifican y cumplen sus propias metas para nutrir el desarrollo de sus hijos en el contexto de su familia y cultura, y abogar por las comunidades que apoyan a los niños y las familias de todas las culturas.
SERVICIOS DE SALUD Y SERVICIOS DE SALUD MENTAL
Los Servicios de Salud adoptan un enfoque integral de la salud adecuada para los niños y sus familias. Nuestro objetivo es garantizar que, a través de la colaboración con las familias, el personal y los profesionales de la salud, se identifiquen y aborden todas las preocupaciones relacionadas con el desarrollo de la salud infantil, y que los niños y las familias estén vinculados a una fuente continua de atención continua y accesible para satisfacer sus necesidades básicas de salud.