NEW HEAD START GUIDELINES PASSED DOWN

Head Start has completely overhauled its performance standards, and not all of the Head Start programs in the area have gotten the word.

The new standards were released in mid-January. Employees in Illinois Head Start programs are attending district training sessions to help them understand and begin implementing the new standards. Missouri programs have been slower to act.

Supervisors in Cape Girardeau and Marble Hill programs said they have not received a detailed explanation of the new standard requirements.

"We're supposed to get a new guideline procedure manual in February," said Leola Twiggs, supervisor of the Cape Girardeau Head Start. "I've received some general information about the new standards, but I haven't read them yet."

The Missouri district supervisor for local Head Start programs was out of the office and unavailable to comment.

Nearly all of the written performance standards were revised by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after quality concerns were raised by lawmakers during the reauthorization process in 1994. The comprehensive nature of the revised standards is expected to address the growth of Head Start and to insure uniform quality and consistency from program to program.

All Head Start programs are required to implement the new service standards by January 1998. The new standards which will provide many benefits to rural areas.

"The new performance program will continue to provide us with the guidelines and guidance necessary to insure that children in the lower seven counties receive the best services possible," said Teresa Gilbert, Head Start administrator for Southern Seven Head Start in Ullin, Ill.

Sharon Stover, Southern Seven Head Start Family and Community Partnerships director, said the new standards affect all areas of service that Head Start provides. She said the old policies insured quality service, but the new ones provide all children comprehensive services in the areas of education, health, nutrition and social services.

"This goes beyond educational standards," said Stover. "All children will now have to receive dental and vision screening as well as all immunizations. These changes include extended time to receive these screenings. They will benefit rural areas like ours because of the difficulty some of our children's families have in securing some of these services."

The Southern Seven Head Start services up to 523 children ages 3 to 5 and represents Alexander, Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski and Union counties in Southern Illinois. Stover said children enrolled in rural programs like the Southern Seven program will benefit most from the new standards because they will have better access to medical care regardless of their insurance coverage.

"There's only one dentist in the Southern Seven counties that will accept a medical card, and that's the coverage most of our children have," Stover said. "There's also a matter of travel, because we have children in Roseclaire and the dentist is in Cairo. The new standards will allow our program to have the dentist travel from school to school and provide on-site screenings."

NEW GUIDELINES

New Head Start guidelines are designed to benefit rural areas. Changes include:

Updating staff training requirements

Expanding services to pregnant women and children ages 0-3

Requiring dental and vision screenings and immunizations

Expanding medical services

Updating curriculum requirements