“Early Head Start (EHS) provides child development services to low-income pregnant women and families with young children under age three. Begun in 1994 as an extension of Head Start, the program promotes healthy prenatal outcomes; the health, cognitive and language development and socio-emotional well-being of infants and toddlers; and family development and a supportive parent-child relationship. This brief outlines the impacts of Early Head Start programs on children and families.

This research brief is one in a series of research briefs on the impacts of early childhood programs published by First Focus and the Brookings Center on Children and Families. The full series includes briefs on State Pre-K, Head Start, Early Head Start, Model Early Childhood Programs, and Nurse Home Visiting.”