The EHS/CWS initiative provides a unique opportunity for a selected group of EHS grantees, in partnership with their local Child Welfare Agencies, to demonstrate how to best serve children in the child welfare system using the Early Head Start model. The EHS/CWS initiative was established through a partnership between the Office of Head Start and the Children's Bureau, with a goal to expand the service network in local communities to meet the needs of this unique population.

In Fiscal Year 2002, grants were awarded to fund 24 demonstration projects for a period of three years. The number of children from the child welfare system being served by the EHS/CWS projects varies from 4 to 40 children, with most grantees serving between 8 and 20 children. Across all 24 projects, funding is available to provide Early Head Start services to 397 children from the child welfare system.

The Children's Bureau is the sponsor for the evaluation activities that are part of the project. Each of the EHS/CWS grantees is expected to conduct its own local evaluation and is being provided with evaluation TA, as necessary, through James Bell Associates. The purpose of this TA is to assist with evaluation design, build local capacity to conduct evaluations, and strengthen the evaluations that are implemented. After three years of program implementation, EHS/CWS grantees are required to submit a final report on their local evaluations to the Children's and Office of Head Starts. Findings reported by clusters of grantees will be used for a cross-site evaluation, where a synthesis of findings from projects that addressed common outcomes will be performed.

There is variation in the types of children that EHS/CSW grantees enroll in their programs. The target population in the child welfare system that the EHS/CSW grantees intend to serve may include both infants and toddlers at some projects, while others may target only infants or only toddlers. Some programs are serving children in the child welfare system who remain at home but receive ongoing Child Protective Services, while other projects are targeting children who are removed from the home and placed in foster care or other out-of-home care arrangements. Other programs are serving children who are part of the child welfare system because they are considered at-risk for abuse or neglect. In addition, programs may choose to focus on children whose parent(s) have additional presenting problems, such as those whose parents are incarcerated or those whose parents are in substance abuse recovery programs.

Although all grantees are developing their unique theory of change and a locally-designed evaluation, most EHS/CWS projects are addressing outcome objectives that include safety, permanency, and well-being for children. Many of the grantees also have developed evaluation plans to measure intermediate outcomes that are expected to occur prior to these longer-term outcomes, including improved parenting skills, improved parent-child interactions, and increased coping strategies to deal with stress.

For more information about the EHS/CWS Initiative, contact Janice Im at jim@zerotothree.org.

EHS/Child Welfare Services Initiative Programs and Contact Information

BHK Child Development Board 700 Park Avenue Houghton, MI 49931 Lisa Schmierer Phone: (906)482-3663 BHK03@up.net	Evanston Early Head Start 1416 Lake Street Evanston, IL 60201 Martha Arntson Phone: (847)475-2661 Arntsonm@childcarenetworkofevanston.org
Carey Services Inc. 2724 South Carey Street Marion, IN 46953 Melody Sandifer Phone: (765)668-8961 msandifer@careyservices.com	Family Services of Grant County 1402 E. Craig Moses Lake, WA 98837 Sarah Gundry Phone: (509)766-9877 Sallyg@familyservicegc.net
Cen-Clear Child Services EHS 1633 Philipsburg Bigler Highway Philipsburg, PA 16866-3010 Shirley Smith Phone: (814)342-5678 ssmith@cenclear.org	Hamilton Center, Inc. 620 8th Avenue P.O. Box 4323 Terre Haute, IN 47804 Anita Lascelles Phone: (812)231-8436 Alascelles@hamiltoncenter.org
Children's Therapy Center Family & Child Development Dept. 600 East 14th Street Sedalia, MO 65301 Valerie Lane Phone: (660)826-4400 Vlane@chs-mo.org	Ironton-Lawrence County 305 North Fifth Street P.O. Box 517 Ironton, OH 45638 Sharon K. Daniels Phone: (740)532-3745 Skdaniels@cloh.net
Community Action Organization 1001 SW Baseline Hillsboro, OR 97123 Monica Barrett Phone: (971)223-6040 Mbarrett@caowash.org	Kennebec Valley Community Action Program 97 Water Street Waterville, ME 04901 Kathy Beauregard Phone: (207)859-1617 Kathyb@kvcap.org
Community Action Wayne Medina 2375 B-Benden Drive Wooster, OH 44691 Carla Unkefer Phone: (330)264-8677 dopcawm@valkyrie.net	Miami Valley Child Development 215 Horace Street Dayton, OH 45407 Diana Foreman Phone: (937)226-5664 x221 DmForeman@yahoo.com
Community Services for Children Inc. Head Start of Leigh Valley 1520 Hanover Avenue Allentown, PA 18109 Paula Margraf Phone: (610)437-6000 x2101 Pmargraff@cscinc.org	Neighborhood House Association 5660 Copley Drive San Diego, CA 92111 Sarah Garrity Phone: (619)757-1050 Sarah@neighborhoodhouse.org
Crossroads EHS 8445 Munson Road Mentor, OH 44060 Kathy Vavro Phone: (440)358-7370 Kvavro@crossroads-ecp.org	New Opportunities Inc. 232 North Elm Street Waterbury, CT 06702 Dona Ditrio Phone: (203)759-0841 x242 Dditrio@newopportunitiesinc.org
Dade County Board of Commissioners 395 N.W. 1st Street Miami FL 33128 Sondra Wallace Phone: (305)694-8477 Sonwall@miamidade.gov	Northside Center for Child Development, Inc. EHS 1301 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10029 Sojnia Gonzalez Phone: (212)426-3491 Sgcruz@northsidecenter.org
Dane County Parent Council Inc. EHS 2096 Red Arrow Tail Madison, WI 53711 Elizabeth Olsen Phone: (608)270-3448 Elizabeth.Olsen@dcpcinc.org	South Plains Early Head Start 411 Austin P.O. Box 610 Levelland, TX 79336 Nancy Langdon Phone: (806)744-3572 Nancy.Langdon@twc.state.tx.us
East Central Illinois Community Action Agency 56 North Vermillion Street Danville, IL 61832 Odette Watson, EHS Manager Phone: (217)443-2761 owatson@comaction.org	Tulsa County Head Start 717 South Houston, Suite 200 Tulsa, OK 74127 Caren Squires, EHS Director Phone: (918)382-3217 Csquires@CAPTC.org
Eight CAP Inc. Head Start 904 Oak Drive P.O. Box 368 Greenville, MI 48838 Madonna Atkins Phone: (616)754-9315 Madonna@8cap.org	Volunteers of America of North Louisiana 1808 Roselawn Ave. Monroe, LA 71201 Judith Mower Phone: (318)322-2272 JMower@voanorhtla.org