Head Start Age of Eligibility Guidance for 2009-10

Effective 2009-2010, State of NC House Bill 150 requires that a child presented for enrollment to kindergarten must be five years of age on or before August 31st of that school year.

State of NC House Bill 1473 requires that a child being served in the More at Four program be “eligible to enter kindergarten the next school year.”

To ensure all children served in the 2008-2009 More at Four program are “eligible to enter kindergarten the next year,” it is necessary to adjust the pre-kindergarten age of eligibility to four years of age on or before August 31st effective 2008-2009, one year prior to the kindergarten age eligibility adjustment. 

Per the requirements of HSPS 1305.4(a) and OHS Policy Clarification PC – I – 015 , all Head Start programs in NC will have to comply with the August 31st age eligibility date effective 2009-10.  (Excerpts of the regulation and policy clarification are noted in the two bullets below.)  However, unlike the More at Four program, there is no Head Start regulation that requires programs to adjust age eligibility for the 2008-09 program year.

• HSPS 1305.4(a) ~ To be eligible for Head Start services, a child must be at least three years old by the date used to determine eligibility for public school in the community in which the Head Start program is located, except in cases where the Head Start program's approved grant provides specific authority to serve younger children...
• Policy Clarification OHS – PC – I – 015 ~ A low-income child who will turn three by the date used by the local school system to determine kindergarten eligibility is considered to be a Head Start eligible child and may be enrolled as a 3 year old in the local Head Start program.

Impact of MAF regulation on Head Start programs collaborating with MAF:

Head Start programs that serve More at Four children (either by dual enrollment or as a stand-alone program) will need to comply with the More at Four pre-K age of eligibility adjustment referenced above.  To that end, the age of eligibility cut-off date used for children who will be enrolled into MAF slots for the 2008-09 program year will need to be August 31st. 

Please be advised that this adjustment in the age eligibility cut-off date for four-year-olds will likely have an impact on the three-year-olds that you serve.  Therefore, it will also become necessary to adjust the age of eligibility for three-year-olds in your program to August 31st, effective 2008-09.  This will ensure that all children in your program will be aligned according to the same cycle of program entry and exit.

Any such changes to your criteria for age eligibility must be pre-approved by your Policy Council and should be reflected in your program policies and procedures.

Impact of MAF regulation on Head Start programs that do not collaborate with MAF:

Head Start programs that do not serve MAF children may choose to follow the guidance in the section immediately above; or it may choose between two alternate courses of action. 

Alternative #1  For the 2008-09 program year, Head Start programs that do not serve MAF children could continue to use the October 16th cut-off date for age eligibility.  At the start of the following program year (2009-10) those 4-year-old children with birthdates from September 1st – October 16th will remain eligible for a third year of Head Start service because they will not turn 5-years-old by August 31st and will therefore not be eligible for Kindergarten.

Alternative #2  For the 2008-09 program year, Head Start programs that do not serve MAF children may wish to adjust their enrollment criteria (with Policy Council approval) to make both 3- and 4 –year-old children with birthdates on or before August 31st  the highest priority. This approach allows a program to serve a greater number of children for one or two years, rather than fewer numbers of children for three years. 

Note: In both scenarios, all newly enrolled children for 2009-10 program year must adhere to the August 31st cut-off date!

For more information please contact your Head Start T/TA Specialist, the Director of the NC Head Start-State Collaboration Office, or the NC Head Start Association

updated April 29, 2008

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