Missouri Head Start Association

“Expenses supplies 391 miscellaneous/admin expenses 600 postage 150 web hosting fees 675 travel 1,091 conferences & meetings held 12,391 insurance 525 region vii dues 8,760 national head start dues 300 subscriptions 21 grant expense 877 total 25,781”

“Accounts receivable 5,863 0 total 5,863 0”

“The primary exempt purpose of the missouri head start association is to promote advocacy, education and leadership of head start agencies throughout the state of missouri.”

“Leadership & training- mhsa designs and/or provides effective leadership & training by- 1. Providing parent and staff leadership training in jefferson city, mo in february, may, september, and december 2015 through the mhsa council meetings. These trainings allow interaction for head start management staff and family leaders elected to the mhsa council to receive training on various topics from regional and federal priorities related to head start families, including but not limited to: how to more fully engage families in the school readiness priorities for their children and self-sufficiency of their families, especially through community partnerships, instruction on providing comprehensive services to children from highly vulnerable situations including homelessness and special supports for families with special learning needs. Mhsa also provides continuous family leadership training through regular legislative updates and tools to inform parents on how to effectively speak with locally and state-wide elected officials about the needs of this population. Approximately 120 people participated. 2. Mhsa coordinates the instruction for providing classroom assessment scoring system training (class) adn follow-up throughout 2015 in columbia, mo. Mhsa supports programs in their use of this evidence-based and heavily researched instrument to improve the quality of teacher and child interactions in the educational setting. Program education coordinators are instructed on how to use the rating system for teachers as a professional development too that is used during program assessments by the office of head start. Mhsa provides the administrative and general support needed to offset the costs of this training to be offered to head start programs and child-care partners from across missouri. Mhsa also includes teaching follow-wp for participants through ongoing professional development opportunities offered through a community of practice approach to continued growth and dialogue. Approximatley 75-90 people received this instruction and follow-up in 2015. 3. Providing intensive instruction for head start home visitors and home- based head start-mhsa provided a series of two week instructions focused on advancing the skills of head start home visitors charged with working to engage families in the process of parenting and becoming active participants in their child's early education needs. Because there are various abilities and background for home visiting and family engagement staff, mhsa split the workshops into an offering for those new to their position (less than 3 years) and those with advanced experience to more carefully support their professional development needs. Workshops were provided in columbia, mo from january 2015 to december 2015 and supported by in-person and webinar follow-up. The group has continued and expanded their use of the community of practice to continue their learning and expanded to include local education agency staff also involved in home visits past the age of 5 to help ease the transition from head start to kindergarten. Many local programs have begun communities of practice to further their learning gained at mhsa with local child-care and school district partners. Approximately 75 individuals have actively participated through 2015 and the community of practice offerings grew to include professionals in fields of early head start (infant/toddler care), disabilities, health and family engagement and head start management and directors.”

“Mhsa works to establish collaborative partnerships with other similar organizations and groups by- -working to establish a platform for continued dialogue with partners including the mo head start-state collaboration office, mo department of social services, mo association for community action and region vii office of head start-administration for children and families to improve communication between head start grantees and community action resources. They discussed the current data regarding status of relationships across counties in missouri and how to most effectively work to improve efforts to come regarding early head start/child care partnership initiatives including both the implications of the partnership on both past and future work. We worked to identify gaps or barriers during this ongoing discussion and find meaningful ways to partner between head start/early head start and community resources to work to resolve issues through a plan of action and follow-up through the head start t/ta system and supports of mhsa. The kick-off event, "head start: a critical link in the early education system" was held in december of 2015 in kansas city and had approximately 50 participants. -membership on the region vii head start association board of directors. As one of four states representing region vii, missouri has the largest amounts of children and staff. The needs of the children are greatly diverse depending on the location and resources at hand for each individual program. Mhsa serves as a voice for these programs on the regional board. This collaborative partnership is particularly important as it allows missouri's needs to be heard on a larger platform and to effectively pool resources with other states to better serve children in region vii. -ongoing partnerships with the missouri head start state collaboration office, region vii administration for children and families and region vii training and technical assistance team. Mhsa serves as the convener for most meetings between this group of collaborators to further expand our knowledge base of the scope of work and role of each agency and serving head start children and communities involved.”

“Increasing public awareness by- -writing and distributing regular email alert bulletins to the mhsa network which contains information on upcoming events, pending legislation, program highlights, and statewide initiatives. -providing a website which also provides information as outlined above. It also provides information regarding national and state statistics related to head start and low-income families in missouri. -sharing information, as invited, to local and state-wide audiences and by serving on national calls and other outlets to share about the work of head start in missouri.”