Head Start Preschool Program
Economic Benefits
Research shows that Head Start is a wise investment for society- The preliminary results of a randomly selected longitudinal study of more than 600 Head Start graduates in San Bernardino County, California, showed that society receives nearly $9 in benefits for every $1 invested in these Head Start children
- These benefits include increased earnings, employment, and family stability, and decreased welfare dependency, crime costs, grade repetition, and special education
- A recent analysis of Head Start impact data suggests that Head Start as it operated during the 1960s through the 1980s yielded a benefit-cost ratio that may be at least as large as the $7 to $1 figure often cited for the model early childhood programs such as Perry Preschool which served children during the 1960s
- Properly trained Head Start parents can decrease Medicaid costs by $198 per family
Social Benefits
- Head Start benefits its children and society-at-large by reducing crime and its costs to crime victims
- Head Start children are significantly less likely to have been charged with a crime than their siblings who did not participate in Head Start
Information provided by the National Head Start Association