Early Head Start Partnership Program

The Early Head Start Partnership Program is a collaboration of Columbus’ leading community agencies focused on the education and welfare of children and their families. Our goal is to ensure that children from infancy to age four, receive a healthy and enriching start in life. Early Head Start provides high-quality early education, along with comprehensive child development, health, nutrition, social and other services to families who qualify. We work with families, partners and providers in a comprehensive approach to meet the needs of the whole child and whole family. This generational approach supports stability and long-term success for families who are at most risk. In 2015, the partnership received $18 million in federal and non-federal funding for a five year period. In 2019, a new grant was awarded to continue our efforts through 2024. In 2021, the program was awarded an expansion grant of $10 million for another five year period. This newest grant will help us serve 103 more infants, toddlers and families, for a total of 263 child care spaces. Read how we are expanding our reach to provide a continuum of services for low-income families.

Want to know more? Read our 2019-2020 Annual Report.

Together with our partners from the A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning and Crane Center for Early Childhood Education Research and Policy, we are making an impact on child, family and community success. Learn how we’re making a difference in our monthly newsletter.

If you are interested in learning more about our program, please fill out our Interest Form.

Collaboration provides eye exams for infants and toddlers

The EYE Can See project provides comprehensive eye exams and glasses to infants and toddlers living in low-income neighborhoods located throughout Columbus, Ohio. The collaboration between Ohio State’s College of Optometry and the university’s Early Head Start Partnership Program focuses on increasing the outreach of high-quality vision services to underserved children six months to 4 years old; an age group often overlooked for vision assessments.

Led by Dr. Catherine McDaniel, Associate Professor of Clinical Optometry at The Ohio State University’s College of Optometry, EYE Can See offers outreach vision services to Early Head Start families, 89% of whom live 100% below the poverty line and/or receive public assistance. These families have limited access to healthcare, food, safe housing, employment, and transportation. Most have never seen an optometrist. With 20% of EHS infants and toddlers having a visual impairment, evaluating children in child care centers and family child care homes is one less barrier for parents. The program promotes the importance of optometric care to parents, caregivers, educators, teachers while providing comprehensive eye examinations and glasses to the most vulnerable population.

This project is made possible by The American Optometric Association (AOA) and Optometry Cares^® –Healthy Eyes Healthy Children (HEHC) Community Grant Program. The grant is made possible by the support of founding sponsor Essilor Vision Foundation, Healthy Eyes Advantage, and EyeCare Partners. The HEHC grant program provides annual awards of up to $5,000 for innovative projects with a focus on collaborations between optometrist and community partners to boost awareness and access to vision care for children. The 2020 Ohio grant was one of only 15 awarded in the nation, and the only one in Ohio.

Read more: HEHC grants $73,300 to support children’s vision projects.

The Bipartisan Policy Center released a Spotlighting Early Successes Across America report highlighting the success of 12 Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCP) across the country. EHS-CCP was created by Congress in 2014 to address the lack of high-quality, affordable child care in the U.S., and assist in building capacity for quality child care options especially for low-income families. Early Head Start grantees partner with local child care providers who then receive funding and resources to improve the quality of services offered. The children they serve receive access to higher-quality early care and education, as well as comprehensive services like nutritious meals, health and dental care, mental health supports, family engagement opportunities, and screenings to identify developmental delays or disabilities early. This report by the BPC highlighted 12 such programs across the country, including one here in Columbus, Ohio, housed within Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology and located within the Schoenbaum Family Center. According to the report, The Ohio State Early Head Start Partnership Program represents the best of the early childhood community to innovate and solve local problems. Ohio State’s integrated approach involves 19 childcare providers and 17 community partners operating collectively to improve childcare quality, expand access to comprehensive services, and promote learning and development to 160 children and their families, annually. The report also highlights Ohio State’s partnership with the Franklin County Department of Jobs and Family Services that has led to 100 families benefiting from caseworker assistance with the child care subsidy process, and recognizes the mixed-income delivery system as a cornerstone of the Columbus site. Read the report here.