In the first half of the year one child aged out and was replaced by another child.  One family with two enrolled children (twins) moved out of the area in the second half and were replaced by two new children.
 

Allegany College of Maryland has been an avid supporter of this classroom. Allegany College of Maryland provides HRDC occupancy at minimal cost to operate one Head Start classroom and two Early Head Start classes.  Located on campus, this classroom has been able to provide an internship site for Allegany College students.  Some families have also benefitted as college students by having on- site childcare while attending school.  Maryland State Department of Education Office of Child Care has also been supportive of this classroom.  With the knowledge that affordable childcare is scarce in the community, the Office of Child Care has assisted in referring qualified children to the program.  The Infants and Toddlers Program has been a strong supporter of this Early Head Start classroom.  Qualifying children received speech services from Infants and Toddlers on-site.  The Allegany County Health Department and the Allegany County Department of Social Services were also instrumental in referring qualified families to the program.  HRDC Family Services staff would refer families from these classrooms to these agencies to obtain needed resources.

Several factors contributed to the success of the program. The program was able to maintain full enrollment.  Under the program’s recruitment plan, staff were able to identify families meeting the income guidelines, as well as, families who were impacted by incarceration and provide full-day comprehensive services.  Affordable childcare is scarce in this community.  These families were able to enroll their children into a safe, nurturing environment without the financial burden; enabling some families to increase work hours or attend college classes and following the agency’s two-generation approach to reduce generational poverty.  Outcomes scores for children enrolled in this classroom also showed progression.  All children received initial assessments within the first 45 days of enrollment.  Mid-year and end-of-year outcomes reporting indicates an increase across all domains.