FHSA Mission and Vision: Head Start was founded in 1965 to help break the cycle of poverty by providing low-income parents with early childhood education and comprehensive family services. Since then, Head Start has expanded to include children from birth to age 5 and now serves approximately one million children per year across all 50 states. In Florida, Head Start and Early Head Start serve over 40,000 children annually through 142 federal Head Start grantee recipients.
The Mission of the Florida Head Start Association (FHSA) is to empower members to advocate, lead, and enhance the education, health, and social services provided to families by Head Start. To this end, FHSA:
1.Actively advocates for resources and policies that support this mission.
2.Forges and maintains strong collaborations with the Office of Head Start (OHS), Florida Head Start Collaboration Office, Florida Department of Education Divisions of Early Learning, other partners, advocates, governmental agencies, and community members.
3.Provides its members with up-to-date information, analysis, strategic direction, and other resources.
4.Offers members meaningful opportunities for information sharing, goal setting, and professional development through regular meetings.