Headstart is a United States Department of Health and Human Services program that focuses on giving complete education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. The Head Start program initially started out as a component of the late President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War On Poverty program in 1965.

The Head Start program continues to serve and cover the educational and health needs of children in the United States. Since 2005, over 22 million pre-school aged children have been provided with quality education and other benefits through the Head Start education project. Other milestones achieved by the Head Start education project include the construction, operation, and maintenance of over 48,000 classrooms in all states (nearly in every county).

Eligibility is mostly determined by family income. If an individual meets the income standards, he or she must pass the following criteria to be fully eligible for Head Start programs:

• Have children from 6 weeks to 5 years, or ;
• Positive pregnancy;
• Have children with special needs with an Individual Education Plan (IEP), or Individual Family Services Plan (IFSP), or;
• Have foster children with high risk factors, or ;
• A parent with a disability and/or possessing disabling conditions.

Headstart has made significant impacts on the society, especially on children. With the help of concerned advocates, the program continues to provide the needs of children of low-income families to have a better life ahead.