Health/Mental Health

Head Start’s commitment to wellness embraces a comprehensive vision of health for children, families and staff. The objective of Child Health and Mental Health Services is to ensure that, through collaboration among families, staff, and health professionals, all child health and developmental concerns are identified, and children and families are linked to an ongoing source of continuous, accessible care to meet their basic needs.

The objective of the Head Start program is to provide all children with a safe, nurturing, engaging, enjoyable, and secure learning environment, in order to help them gain the awareness, skills, and confidence necessary to succeed in their present environment, and to deal with later responsibilities in school and life. The varied experiences provided by the program support the continuum of children’s growth and development, which includes the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of each child. Staff also works to instill healthy habits in the children, such as brushing teeth and washing hands.

All Head Start children benefit from regular health screenings, including:

Vision
Dental
Developmental
Speech/Language
Hearing
Behavioral

Program staff works with many area organizations to assure that Head Start families are provided resources they need to make a real difference in their lives. Collaboration includes:

Alleghany County Health Department: