Background: VNSNY’s Early Head Start program serves pregnant teens, teen and young parents, and their children in Far Rockaway, Queens. It aims to ensure that children and families achieve social competence and develop self-esteem, self-motivation, a love of learning, and an awareness of their potential. As a comprehensive child development and family support program, Early Head Start provides education, skills training, child care, counseling, home health care, and other support services.

Purpose: To evaluate the degree to which VNSNY’s Early Head Start program improves parental and infant/toddler health and social outcomes.

Study Design: This study involves three groups of participants served by the Early Head Start program: infants/toddlers, their mothers, and their fathers. Data for the study come from VNSNY’s administrative database, the Early Head Start Family Information System, in-person interviews, and observations of parent-child interactions. Data are collected at three points: upon entry into the program and at six and 12 months after enrollment.

The study aims to address the following questions:

1. Does involvement in the program increase skills attainment of young fathers and mothers?
2. Does the program successfully enable young parents to become active participants in rearing their children?
3. Do infants/toddlers enrolled in the program meet standardized health and developmental outcomes?
4. To what extent do improvements in infant/toddler mental health have a positive relationship to parental involvement in the program?

Sponsor: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families