Keystone Children & Family Services
Capital Area Head Start: Overview
A familiar name within Keystone Children & Family Services, Capital Area Head Start is widely known in Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry Counties for providing comprehensive child development services to over 800 children ages birth to five. Serving primarily low-income families, the program features 23 community-based centers in urban, rural and suburban areas.
In fulfilling our primary mission, all Capital Area Head Start children receive educational, medical, dental and nutritional services to prepare them for public school and the world at large.
In fulfilling our primary mission, all Capital Area Head Start children receive educational, medical, dental and nutritional services to prepare them for public school and the world at large. Equally important, Head Start actively empowers parents, enhancing their personal competencies while increasing their access to social services, job training, GED completion or high education, and employment opportunities. In particular, parent volunteerism in the classroom is a recognized part of our program’s extraordinary success.
Capital Area Head Start has been selected as a site in Pennsylvania for Early Head Start services, serving pregnant women and children from birth to three years of age. To further extend our hand to the community, a new partnership has been formed between CAHS and the Harrisburg School District, where three- and four-year-olds participate in a full year of educational programming at schools throughout the city. Serving over 500 children, this innovative program is just one more example of our enduring commitment to “be there for kids when they need it most.”
Further expanding our system of educational and support services, CAHS reaches out to other vulnerable populations within our communities, including a unique program for children of families experiencing homelessness. Head Start’s warm, nurturing environment serves as a source of stability in the lives of young children who may be frequently uprooted during the school year.
CAHS also provides support services for children whose parents are incarcerated.
Head Start educators also provide programming to teens at a local high school where they promote the promise of future employment.
Keystone is proud of Head Start’s innovative legacy and honors its pledge to remain responsive to the ever-changing needs of families while empowering them to embrace the future with increased confidence and a renewed sense of hope.
Sites
Dauphin County has 20 site locations:
- 4 full day/full year (2 are for birth to five)
- 8 part day/full year
- 6 part day/school year
- 2 home-based
Cumberland County has 2 site locations:
- 1 part day/school year
- 1 home-based
Perry County has 1 site location:
- 1 home-based
Importance of CAHS in Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry Counties
- Employs over 200 staff, no layoffs in over 20 years.
- Spends over $10,000,000 annually through employment, leasing of space and purchase of goods and services.
- Brings needed federal funds into the area.
- Is governed by a local Board of Directors and by a parent Policy Council, so decisions about spending, staffing and program administration are made locally.
- Is a comprehensive, family-focused agency, working to impact parent and child health, education and development. CAHS connects families to services that provide them with new hope and opportunity by empowering them to make changes in their lives.
- Is recognized as a high-quality program by the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare’s Keystone Stars quality initiative program.
- Builds strong families and strong families build strong communities.
- Advocates for children and families.
- Demonstrates significant educational outcomes for children in literacy, cognitive development and social-emotional development.
- Maintains 100% enrollment.
- Demonstrates significant health outcomes for children: 93% of preschool children are up-to-date on a schedule of preventative and primary health care, 100% of all children served are up-to-date or have all possible immunizations, and 95% of preschool children have a completed dental exam.
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