Exploring the Costs and Revenues of Head Start and Child Care Partnerships in Ohio

This study examined the costs of providing high-quality early care and education (ECE) services for low-income Ohio children (aged 3–5 years). The costs are based on the actual services Head Start children received in six Head Start centers. Data show that each community Head Start agency must arrange a complex network of services, responding to such realities that the majority of Head Start children require a full day of services while their parents are working. Revenues come from several different major sources, with varying maximum reimbursement levels, time and attendance requirements, and structural quality standards. Findings indicate a wide range of total annual costs per slot across these six selected providers, all of which offered high-quality early care and education. Among the five centers that remained open, the costs ranged from about $6,600 per slot to about $9,500. The closed center was operating at a cost of about $14,000 per child. The largest cost component was the staffing of the centers. Centers and community agencies attempt to maintain and improve quality of care by providing a wide range of professional development and support activities, including training, workshops, and development of learning programs and materials. Total costs were not consistently higher or lower in urban or rural agencies. Consistent with cost complexity, Head Start agencies and partnership centers combined multiple major sources of funding to offer a unified package of services to children at a range of age and income levels.