Early Head Start

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Early Head Start

Early Head Start (EHS) helps children and their families when they need help the most—from before the baby is born until that child reaches his or her third birthday.

A federally funded program, EHS promotes family self-sufficiency and healthy parent-child relationships through a range of support services for families in Williamsburg, James City, York County, and Poquoson. Two program options are available:

Home-based Services
  • Under this option, an experienced Family Consultant visits the family in their home every week. The consultant helps families value and support their children’s learning and development, provides information regarding health and safety in their home environment, and links the family to community resources.
  • Families are also offered developmental playgroups and family events.
Center-based Services
  • CDR provides center-based EHS services in the two locations of its First Steps Child Care & Development Centers: Lafayette High School and the Griffin-Yeates Center.
  • Children in EHS classrooms enjoy the very best in early childhood education: individualized care in child-friendly rooms with no more than eight children in a classroom and two teachers and a teacher’s aid. The centers provide loving care in a full-day, full-year setting, and the teacher and center-based Family Consultant provides two parent teacher conferences and two home visits each year for each family.
  • Families also receive family support and community resources from the center-based Family Consultant.

With Early Head Start, families never have to face challenges on their own. CDR’s well-trained staff help each family identify their strengths and make a plan to reach their family goals.

To find out more or to apply for the program, please call CDR’s Central Point of Entry at (757) 566-TOTS (8687) or fill out the online contact form.

Who is Eligible?

All Early Head Start services are free, but families must qualify based on one of the following criteria:

  • Income –federal poverty guidelines 
  • Homelessness
  • Foster child
  • At least 10 percent of the babies and toddlers enrolled in Early Head Start must be children with disabilities, so families of children with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

To find out more or to apply for the program, please call CDR’s Central Point of Entry at (757) 566-TOTS (8687) or fill out the online contact form.

To find out more about volunteer opportunities with Early Head Start, please contact volunteer@cdr.org, or call 757-566-3300.

Early Head Start Annual Report 2017-2018
Early Head Start Annual Report 2016-2017
Early Head Start Annual Report 2015-2016

Questions or concerns about your child? Call CDR’s TOTS line at 757-566-TOTS.

¿Tiene preguntas acerca de su bebé o niño? llame al 757-566-3300.