Secondary Analyses of Head Start Data Grant Recipients 2023-2025 Abstracts

The Secondary Analyses of Head Start (HS) Data grants aim to support researchers conducting secondary analyses of data to address key questions of relevance to HS, EHS, American Indian Alaska Native (AIAN) Head Start, and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs. Findings are intended to inform policy, program administration, and future research. Researchers may conduct secondary analyses of survey, program evaluation, or administrative data. 

The 12 grant recipients (below) were funded with Secondary Analyses of Head Start (HS) Data grants (PDF). 

Point(s) of contact:  Dianna Tran, Jenessa Malin 

The 2023 Secondary Analyses of Head Start (HS) Data grant recipients are: 

Project Abstracts

Arizona Board of Regents, University of Arizona

• PI: Dr. Melissa Barnett
• Caregiving Experiences of Toddlers Across Contexts: Patterns of Parent-Child and Teacher-Child Relationship Quality in Early Head Start

Engaging in high-quality relationships with caregivers during toddlerhood has the potential to set children on long-term trajectories for healthy development and school success. Early Head Start (EHS) programs work in partnership with economically disadvantaged families with children ages birth to three years to boost family wellbeing and child health and development. For families participating in center-based EHS programs, a primary goal is to create opportunities for positive development for children directly by providing high-quality child care, and indirectly by working with parents to foster positive parent-child interactions. However, children’s experiences in EHS center and home settings are dynamic and variable across children, teachers, and families.

In this proposed secondary data analysis study, we draw data from a subset of the Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2018 (Baby FACES 2018) to focus on the quality of relationships toddlers (ages 12 — 36 months) experience with parents at home and with teachers in EHS classrooms. We use a child-centered approach to describe the quality of child-caregiver relationships among families enrolled in center-based EHS programs. The goals of this project are to: 1) identify constellations (i.e., subgroups) of child-caregiver relationship quality in EHS classrooms and homes; 2) identify links between child-caregiver relationship quality constellations and child, family, teacher, classroom, and center characteristics; and 3) examine associations between child-caregiver relationship quality constellations and family engagement with EHS programs.

The findings will inform research and applied work with families, young children, and early childhood educators in EHS and other Early Childhood Education and Care settings. Specifically, this proposed project has the potential to identify targets for future policy and program development aimed at ensuring toddlers enrolled in EHS center-based programs experience high-quality relationships in two critical contexts to support healthy development and school readiness.

Arizona State University: The Children’s Equity Project

• PI: Dr. Shantel Meek
• Examining the Role of EHS-CCP in Early Childhood Workforce Retention:  Identifying Major Components Associated with Lower Workforce Turnover Rates

There is robust research examining the impact and benefits of Head Start and Early Head Start (EHS) for young children and their families. Yet, there is notably less about the impact and benefits for EHS teachers. In our review of available literature, we found no research whatsoever on the effects of EHS-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCP) specifically on the retention of the ECE workforce. This gap is particularly salient given that ECE workforce turnover rates have been a chronic issue in the field, which has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Caven et. al, 2021; Coffey & Khattar, 2022; McLean, et. al 2021). To ensure that children have access to quality early learning, ensuring that we have a qualified, nurturing, consistent ECE workforce is of the utmost importance. EHS-CCPs offer a unique context to examine the patterns of EHS supports that are offered to the child care program through the partnership and the implications of these dimensions for workforce retention. Therefore, our study aims to better understand which individual and combinations of workforce supports provided by the EHS-CCP are most reliably predictive of workforce retention.

The Children’s Equity Project (CEP) at Arizona State University will conduct an exploratory analysis using the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships 2016 (ICPSR 37233) data set from The National Descriptive Study of Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (2013-2018). We will focus primarily on direct workforce supports, such as compensation and professional development supports and their relation to ECE workforce turnover, including specific reasons for leaving the field. To fill the knowledge gap in the literature, we will address the following research questions:

1. What are the types of workforce supports received by partners through the EHS-CCP model?
2. Which unique workforce support patterns are predictive of lower turnover rates in partners, while controlling for program and partnership level characteristics?
3. Which unique workforce support patterns are associated with specific turnover reasons?

While the data we will analyze are from 2016, the systemic workforce retention issues are similar now as they were seven years ago, compounded during the pandemic. Thus, our EHS-CCP workforce research project can provide critical insight into dimensions of compensation and professional development that contribute to retaining staff. Research findings will be used to inform policy recommendations and strategies to stabilize the ECE workforce for EHS-CCP and Head Start programs, with the potential to guide important considerations to address workforce turnover in the ECE field in general.

 
Board of Regents NSHE OBO the University of Nevada Las Vegas

• PI: Dr. Gerilyn Slicker
• Examining the Provision of Comprehensive Services in High-Quality Early Learning Programs Through Early Head Start- Child Care Partnerships

The purpose of this project is to improve understanding of the degree to which Early Head Start programs that also accept child care subsidies, including Early Head Start- Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) Programs, provide comprehensive services in high-quality early learning environments that meet the unique needs of enrolled families. A key goal of the EHS-CCP is to increase the community supply of high-quality early learning environments for infants and toddlers that are held to the rigorous and research-based Head Start Performance Standards while simultaneously offering flexible and convenient full-day and full-year services that best meet the needs of families from low-income backgrounds. EHS-CCPs are viewed as a mechanism for supporting more equitable access to high quality care. Yet, our understanding of how well EHS-CCP programs meet the comprehensive needs of enrolled families is incomplete.

This study leverages data from three recent national datasets— the 2018 and 2022 Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Study (Baby FACES) and the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) — and will address a set of research questions related to the extent to which EHS-CCPs provide high-quality, comprehensive services to infants, toddlers, and their families from low-income backgrounds. Our secondary analysis will be organized around four phases that examine the extent to which programs are meeting the policy goals and intended outcomes of EHS-CCPs. Phase I will be a descriptive examination of infant and toddler centers’ provision of high-quality, comprehensive services, comparing programs that accept child care subsidies and EHS funds with centers that do not combine these two sources of public funding. Phase II will classify our nationally representative sample of families enrolled in EHS into latent profiles on the basis of features of economic self-sufficiency and parent and child health and well-being, a critical step to better understanding the strengths and needs of enrolled families.

Using rigorous multigroup structural equation modeling (MGSEM), Phase III will evaluate the relationship between latent constructs including the provision of family-focused services, family engagement, family-child relationships, and child development; as well as test for associations across EHS and EHS-CCP programs. Finally, Phase IV will employ MGSEM to compare EHS and EHS-CCP programs on the structural model considering the relationship between teacher-child racial/ethnic match, the provision of high-quality experiences for children, and children’s development. Together, these phases will consider the extent to which EHS-CCPs are meeting their intended outcomes and driving child and family outcomes.

Findings from our study will highlight facilitators and barriers to the implementation of high-quality EHS-CCPs that meet family and community needs. Our results will also include implications for the sustainability of EHS-CCPs and will be disseminated through multiple academic manuscripts, policy and practice briefs, and conferences with academic, practitioner, and policymaker audiences.

 
Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

• PI: Dr. Wonkyung Jang
• Innovative Approaches to Studying Peer Effects in Head Start and their Implications for Policy, Research, and Practice

In recent years, young children have increased opportunities to interact with their peers in early care and education settings (US Census Bureau, 2022). The majority of children meet peers regularly and some even experience long-term relationships with particular peers beginning at birth (Brownell et al., 2006). However, research to date has focused primarily on examining the potential effects of families and non-parental caregivers on children’s outcomes, with less attention to the potential effects of peers on young children’s development (Wittmer, 2012).

This is, in part, due to a gap between conceptual questions about peer effects and the methods used to investigate them (Boucher et al., 2022; Sacerdote, 2011). While most peer effects studies have explored whether peer effects exist, little to no research has examined the mechanisms through which they occur and how different contexts may impact peer effects. Specifically, there is a dearth of research that addresses the multifaceted nature of peer effects and captures the complex interplay among the effects of peers, caregivers, and other contextual factors on children in ECE settings.

Most peer-effect studies utilize the standard linear-in-means (LIM) model, assuming that children are influenced by the mean or average behavior or attributes of their peers (Kline & Tamer, 2011). However, peer-effect research has yet to consider dynamic models of peer effects (e.g., Shining Light vs. Bad Apple) and how the length of peer exposure affects the strength and nature of peer effects in EHS and HS classrooms. Given the significance of peer effects on children ages 0-5 in Early Head Start (EHS) and Head Start (HS) classrooms, the proposed project’s purpose is to explore and test, using innovative and state-of-the-art machine learning and AI techniques, the application of comprehensive conceptual models of peer effects to a large, multistate longitudinal data set (the Educare Learning Network [ELN] dataset). The following are the research questions that frame the project:

1. How do peer ability and background characteristics influence children’s developmental outcomes (e.g., social-emotional, language, and cognitive outcomes)?
2. How does the length of peer exposure affect the strength and nature of peer effects?
3. How do child ability and background characteristics (e.g., Dual Language Learners [DLL], children with disabilities, younger children, children from families with low income) moderate peer effects on children’s developmental outcomes?
4. How do contextual factors (e.g., group composition, classroom quality, continuity of care) moderate peer effects on children’s developmental outcomes?

 
Chapin Hall Center at the University of Chicago

• PI: Dr. Melissa Kull
• Identifying and Supporting Children and Families Experiencing Housing Instability and Homelessness in a Head Start Program

Nearly half of children experiencing homelessness in the U.S. are five years old or younger, meaning that over 1 million children experience severe housing instability during a critical developmental period. During this time, access to high-quality learning opportunities and support for family needs are paramount. Head Start has identified children experiencing homelessness as a priority population for enrollment, because a crucial component of Head Start’s model involves connecting families to wraparound services (e.g., food and housing assistance programs, other social services) that could provide the critical support these families need. However, there are no validated screening tools to assist Head Start Family Service Workers, the primary liaisons between programs and families, to identify families experiencing housing instability and homelessness. Further, the research on children and families experiencing housing instability and homelessness overwhelmingly focuses on the negative impacts of homelessness. This approach further marginalizes a population that has its own strengths and assets. Limited extant research has attempted to identify the strengths of families experiencing homelessness, and no research to date has explored whether these strengths, as well as access to wraparound services offered through Head Start, buffer children and families from the challenges associated with housing instability and homelessness. Our objectives are to 1) validate a screening tool that Head Start Family Service Workers use to identify families experiencing housing instability and homelessness; 2) identify the personal strengths of families experiencing housing instability and homelessness, and 3) understand whether family assets and wraparound services can buffer children and families from the stress of housing instability and homelessness.

To meet our objectives, we will use quantitative analytic techniques to validate an existing screening tool used by Head Start, the Quick Risks and Assets for Family Triage—Early Childhood (QRAFT-EC) with children enrolled in Head Start programs and their families. In a three-part analytic strategy, we will 1) conduct a psychometric analysis of the QRAFT-EC to assess its dimensionality, validity, reliability, sensitivity, and specificity; 2) use a latent profile analysis, a person-centered analytic approach, to identify family assets; and 3) conduct a longitudinal analysis investigating whether and how family assets and wraparound services can buffer children and families experiencing homelessness. We will draw on the QRAFT-EC screening data and intake forms, child development assessments, and other routinely collected data sources through a partnership with the Alliance for Community Empowerment, a Head Start grant recipient in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The findings of this study will establish the validity of the QRAFT-EC screening tool for assessing family homelessness and related needs and strengths. Findings will also illuminate overlooked assets among families experiencing housing instability and homelessness that can be elevated in strengths-based case management and supports.

 
MEF Associates

• PI: Dr. Erin Bumgarner
• Family Engagement in Migrant and Seasonal Head Start

Founded in 1965, Head Start has become one of the nation’s most important federal early childhood initiatives. Just a few years after its inception, in 1969, Congress created Head Start’s Indian and Migrant Programs Division. In the decades that followed, this division would continue to evolve into what is today known as “Migrant and Seasonal Head Start” (MSHS). MSHS programs are distinct from the larger Head Start model in a few notable ways: operational periods are adjusted to reflect agricultural seasons and migration patterns, programs serve children birth to kindergarten (whereas Head Start only serves preschool-age children), and families are primarily Mexican-American and Spanish-speaking.

Foundational to Head Start’s two-generational model is the belief that parents are an essential ingredient to achieving positive child outcomes. This is reflected in both the Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework and the MSHS Conceptual Framework. Head Start Program Performance Standards reinforce this idea by requiring programs to strategically support parent-child relationships, encourage two-way communication between staff and parents, incorporate inclusive practices that address the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of parents, and create opportunities for parents to volunteer or become employees.

The proposed study has three overarching goals: to explore family engagement activities and strategies within the context of MSHS specifically, to unearth themes that can be applied to the larger Head Start community serving similar populations, and to disseminate information that is culturally sensitive and meaningful to both researchers and Head Start professionals. To address these goals, the proposed study team will use MSHS and FACES data to explore three research questions: (1) To what extent is there alignment between the family engagement activities and strategies that MSHS staff offer to parents compared to what parents actually engage with? (2) Is there variation in family engagement patterns based on center-level characteristics (e.g., operational period, age groups served)? (3) How do Spanish-speaking, Mexican-American families in the larger Head Start community characterize their relationships with Head Start staff?  The study team proposes to use a combination of latent profile analysis, regression, and descriptive analyses to answer these questions. Findings will then be shared with Head Start researchers and professionals through two written briefs and at two national conferences.

The study team includes staff from MEF Associates (Principal Investigator, Dr. Erin Bumgarner, Project Manager/Director of Analysis, Helena Wippick, Project Quality Advisor, Lorraine Perales), as well as independent consultant Dr. Sandra Barrueco. This team brings prior experience designing and implementing the 2017 MSHS Study, which will be an asset for the proposed project. The study team will also partner with members of the MSHS community to solicit feedback at key moments in the project timeline to ensure that findings are relevant, culturally sensitive, and meaningful.

SRI International

• Dr. Todd Grindal (PI) and Dr. Paul Burkander (Co-I)
• Impact of extreme weather on the implementation of Head Start Services

This proposed project, “The Impact of Extreme Weather on the Implementation of Head Start Services,” will combine multiple years of Head Start Program Information Report (PIR) data, contemporary records from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster declarations, and community demographic information from the American Community Survey (ACS) to document how extreme weather events disrupt the delivery of Early Head Start (EHS) and Head Start (HS) services to children and their families. We link the FEMA and PIR data using program ZIP codes and the Federal Information Processing Standards county codes of areas affected by extreme weather events that received federal disaster relief funding.

We will use an event study design to determine the magnitude and duration of effects of extreme weather events on the number of children served in a given EHS/HS program, percentage of newly enrolled EHS/HS children who received developmental screenings, number of unfilled teacher vacancies in a given EHS/HS program, and number of families who received at least one EHS/HS family service. We will examine the extent to which the magnitude and duration of disruptions differs for EHS/HS programs serving migrant and seasonal farmworker communities, tribal communities, and other historically underserved or marginalized communities; as well as how the effects of extreme weather on the provision of EHS/HS services are experienced by infants, toddlers, and expectant families.

The primary goal of the proposed study is to provide policymakers focused on early learning, Office of Head Start staff, and regional and local Head Start leaders with information needed to plan for and mitigate the impacts of future extreme weather events. This is an issue of high relevance to EHS/HS programs as they recover from the disruptions of the COVID 19 pandemic and prepare for potential future disruptions resulting from an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. The methods for combining and analyzing data on extreme weather events and the provision of EHS/HS services that we develop in this study will provide a framework that other researchers can use to examine how extreme weather events and other disruptions such as pandemics, earthquakes, or political crises impact the delivery of services to young children and their families. The authors will share the findings from this study with policymakers, EHS/HS administrators, and researchers in early childhood and disaster mitigation via short-form summaries, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed papers.

 
The Ohio State University

• PI: Dr. Arya Ansari
• Understanding the Needs and Experiences of Early Head Start Children and Families Before and After COVID-19: A Nationally Representative Investigation

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on young children and families across the United States (Kuhfeld et al., 2022; Martin et al., 2022), with effects likely to last long after the end of the pandemic. It is also now clear that the pandemic has exacerbated existing inequities in society, with families from low-income and marginalized communities being disproportionally affected. Economic insecurity, job loss, and disruptions to childcare and education systems, among other challenges, have played a role in exacerbating these disparities (Gassman-Pines et al., 2020; Singletary et al., 2022). Despite these mounting challenges and uncertainties brought on by the pandemic, programs like Early Head Start can help mitigate some of these inequities. Early Head Start programs have proven to be effective in supporting infants and toddlers under three along with their families from vulnerable communities by offering a range of services, such as early childhood education and home visiting (Love et al.,2005). However, to maximize program benefits, providers must ensure that their services meet the unique and changing needs of families during the pre- and post-pandemic periods.

Therefore, the primary goal of the current proposal is to shed light on the needs and experiences of Early Head Start children and families during the pre- and post-pandemic periods. To do so, we address the following three research aims. Our first aim is to identify how the stress and well-being of Early Head Start families has changed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-pandemic times. Our second aim is to assess the associations between Early Head Start services and families’ stress and well-being, both pre- and post-pandemic. Our third aim is to explore the joint effects of families’ stress and well-being along with the dosage and quality of Early Head Start services on children’s language and social-emotional outcomes in both the pre- and post-pandemic periods.

To address these research aims, we will use data from two waves of the Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Study (Baby FACES), which provides a nationally representative sample of children and families served by Early Head Start in 2018 and 2022. Both datasets provide a wealth of information on children, families, and their experiences with their Early Head Start programs. Importantly, data were collected in a parallel manner, which allows for nationally representative comparisons before and after the pandemic. We will harmonize the two datasets and apply advanced statistical modeling to address our research aims.

When taken together, the current proposal represents the first national comparison of the lives of Early Head Start families before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The results generated from this proposal will help provide critical information about the changes and unique challenges experienced by families served by the Early Head Start program, which is necessary as it can help providers improve and tailor their services and supports for young children and families during these unprecedented times. With this information, Early Head Start providers can help minimize the widening disparities and negative impacts of the pandemic.

 
The University of Alabama

• PI: Dr. JoonHo Lee
• Understanding Classroom Process Quality in Early Head Start Classrooms: Enhanced Measurements, Predictors, and Dose-Response Curves

The Early Head Start (EHS) program is founded on the principle that providing high-quality services is essential for promoting the growth and development of children from families with low incomes. The proposed project focuses on teacher-child interactions—a key aspect of process quality—in EHS classrooms. It explores potential enhancements in measurement, identifies key predictors, and examines their impact on child developmental outcomes. Previous research on process quality and children's outcomes shows weak associations, possibly due to measurement or modeling limitations. This highlights the need to reexamine the critical substantive questions regarding process quality in EHS classrooms using updated methodological approaches.

We propose to analyze a nationally representative dataset from the 2018 Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES), a nationally representative dataset of Early Head Start programs and centers, classrooms and teachers, and children and families. We have three primary aims: 1) To develop and validate a latent percentile score of teacher-child interaction quality using a Bayesian model-based approach, enhancing the measurement of classroom process quality; 2) To conduct a comprehensive machine-learning analysis of the relationship between EHS classroom process quality and various predictors, considering potential nonlinear effects and interaction between factors; and 3) To examine the dose-response relationship between EHS classroom quality and child development, using a generalized propensity score method to control for confounders. We emphasize the use of advanced Bayesian, nonparametric, and machine-learning methods to effectively capture the complex underlying relationship between classroom process quality and high-dimensional contextual variables.

The findings may uncover nonlinear and interaction effects, shedding light on ways to enhance responsive interactions in infant and toddler classrooms and better isolate and highlight EHS benefits for child development. Our percentile-based measure of latent process quality could be a useful resource for the national EHS classroom quality monitoring system, providing a clear statistical benchmark for evaluation.

The proposed study addresses these primary research questions:

1. How can using a model-based latent percentile score improve the measurement of classroom process quality?
2. What factors predict process quality in EHS classrooms?
3. What are the dose-response curves that characterize nonlinear relationships between the process quality in EHS classrooms and child developmental outcomes, after controlling for potential confounders?

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Dr. Hsiu-Wen Yang (PI), Dr. Serra Acar (Co-I), Dr. Ching-I Chen (Co-I)
• Promoting Seasonal and Migrant Head Start Childrens Development: Program Practices That Matter

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) is a program designed to address the specific support needs of farmworker families by providing quality learning experiences across 38 states. High-quality teaching interactions in Head Start programs have long been recognized to support children’s emergent language and literacy skills (Sabol et al., 2020), and this may be especially true for dual language learners (White et al., 2020). However, much of this evidence is from primarily monolingual traditional Head Start settings, not MSHS, which are required to provide bilingual instruction. Preliminary reports suggest MSHS teacher interaction quality is similar to or higher than ratings in traditional Head Start programming (Caswell et al., 2019), indicating that MSHS may serve as a promising context for understanding classroom features that can contribute to dual language learner’s emergent language and literacy skills. Further, despite the many systematic barriers experienced by MSHS children, their average standardized language scores were marginally higher than scores reported in other Head Start populations of Spanish-English bilingual children (Caswell et al., 2019), again indicating a potentially positive influence of MSHS programming. Despite these potentially positive aspects of MSHS programming, few studies have explored the program and teaching practices to inform quality improvement efforts across Head Start settings serving similar populations. Thus, we need to identify program features and teaching practices that may contribute to promoting these children’s language and literacy development. Therefore, this study aims to identify unobserved heterogeneity and capture complex patterns of program and classroom characteristics to inform targeted program quality improvement and teacher professional development (Goal #1) and identify classroom quality features and instructional practices that are beneficial for the MSHS children’s language and literacy development (Goal #2). We will use the 2017 MSHS dataset for the proposed study. The target samples are 122 classrooms and 873 children nested within those classrooms. Results from this study will inform MSHS program quality and instructional practices improvement to promote young children’s language and literacy development. Our dissemination efforts will encourage active communication and foster partnerships among stakeholders in the field and promote linguistically responsive teaching practices in MSHS. This timely study will respond to ACF’s interest in “quality measurement, improvement, and investments”, “improving teacher and caregiver practice through professional development,” and “supporting the unique strengths and needs of diverse and traditionally understudied populations of children and families.”

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Dr. Stephanie Potochnick
• Improving Latino/a Head Start Enrollment: Evaluating How Latino/a Settlement Destinations and Immigration Enforcement Shape Latino/a Family Head Start Accessibility and Enrollment

Though evidence indicates that Latino/a parents want to enroll their children in a high-quality preschool like Head Start, and that Latino/a children often benefit more from Head Start programs than other children, Latino/a Head Start participation continues to lag behind that of other racial/ethnic groups and varies widely across states and communities.

Our study aims to identify ways to improve Latino/a family Head Start enrollment across different communities. Latino/a families, particularly immigrant families, have increasingly settled in new US settlement destinations with limited immigrant supports and have also faced heightened immigration enforcement during the Trump administration—both of which are likely to hinder Latino/a family Head Start accessibility and enrollment. Applying a multidimensional definition of equitable ECE access (i.e., affordability, reasonable effort, supports child development, and meets parent needs), we will answer the following research questions (RQ):

1. Are there systematic differences in Latino/a family Head Start accessibility and immigration enforcement (federal immigration raids, local 287g policing agreements, and detention rates) across Latino/a settlement destinations?
2. How do differences in Latino/a family Head Start accessibility and immigration enforcement contribute to diverging Head Start Latino/a enrollment rates across destinations?
3. How does immigration enforcement impact Latino/a enrollment overall and across destinations?

To answer these questions, we will focus our analysis at the county-level and use a combination of secondary data sources, most notably Head Start Program Information Reports (PIR) and a novel multi-year, county-level immigration policy dataset. For RQ1 and RQ2, we will use pooled cross-sectional data (2015-16 through 2018-19), and descriptive analyses to identify overall patterns and associations in Latino/a Head Start enrollment rates, Head Start accessibility, and immigration enforcement contexts across Latino/a destinations. For RQ3, we will use a novel quasi-experimental technique to disaggregate immigration enforcement policy impacts into “mobility” (i.e., out-migration) versus “deterrence” (i.e., under-enrollment) effects, estimating a triple-difference model with repeated cross-sectional data (2012-13 through 2018- 19). Like an experiment, this design identifies policy impacts by differencing Latino/a Head Start enrollment levels in the same county pre- and post-enforcement (1st difference) and between a treatment-control comparison (non-immigration enforcement counties; 2nd difference). The 3^rd difference uses 1st grade Latino/a enrollment to identify “mobility” and “deterrence effects”.

Overall, our study will help advance racial equity for underserved Latino/a children and families by identifying how two overlapping systematic differences—settlement destination disparities and immigration enforcement—contribute to geographic disparities in Latino/a Head Start enrollment. Our results will identify specific programmatic supports and policy efforts to help Head Start programs increase Latino enrollment across destinations. We aim to disseminate the findings of our study through multiple avenues to inform local and state policymakers, researchers, Head Start programs, and Latino/a-based organizations and advocates.

 
Yale University

• Dr. Julia Rosenberg MD MHS (PI) and Veronika Shabanova PhD (Co-I)
• State Medicaid Policies for Undocumented Children and The Role of Migrant and Seasonal Head Start in Promoting Health - Secondary Dataset Analysis of the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Survey

In this proposed secondary dataset analysis of the 2017 Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) Study, our goals are to evaluate health access, health status, and health-related social needs (HRSN) outcomes for children enrolled in MSHS in states that do vs. do not offer public health insurance eligibility to children regardless of documentation status and to explore the role of MSHS in mediating these disparities.

We will apply the Health in All Policies framework, which encourages effective policymaking that promotes health in all sectors, to evaluate health access, health status, and HRSN outcomes. We will also evaluate the role of specific, targeted evidence-based MSHS initiatives—including health, economic, and other support services—in mediating these disparities and inequities. This health-focused evaluation lens reflects the Administration for Children and Families' goals to improve equity and meet the unique health needs of migrant and seasonal farm worker families.

For children enrolled in MSHS in states that did and did not offer Medicaid eligibility to undocumented children at the time of the 2017 MSHS Study, we aim: (1) to evaluate disparities in regular medical and dental health care via measures of forgone care, and to explore the role of MSHS in mediating forgone medical and dental care through its provision of parent-reported care navigation; (2) to assess differences in health and development, via body mass index metrics and teacher-reported developmental problems, and to explore the role of MSHS in mediating underweight/overweight body mass indices and developmental problems by providing nutrition support and developmental referrals; and (3) to examine differences in the HRSN outcomes of food insecurity and financial insecurity as reported by parents/caregivers and to explore the role of MSHS in mediating HRSNs via nutrition and financial support provision.

Overall, we expect that the outcomes will strengthen the evidence for inclusive state policies that translate into better health outcomes for children in migrant and seasonal farmworker families. We also expect to assess how MSHS services mitigate disparities that affect child health, development, and family support by addressing the needs of the families MSHS serves.