Waiting for Head Start : More in County Applying for Program for Needy Children

Waiting lists are at an all-time high for Orange County’s Head Start programs for needy preschoolers, providing a vivid illustration that the recession and other economic shifts have combined to drive more and more people into poverty.

Orange County’s Head Start program, like those across the country, has steadily expanded. But even with 2,549 openings this year, 700 children are still sidelined, waiting for those already enrolled to move or drop out.

“Every year we have a waiting list, but nothing like this year,” said Marco Pena, executive director of Orange County Head Start. “The number of people who want to get in is growing faster than the number of slots” in the program.

Waiting lists for most local Head Start programs are longer than they were last year. Garden Grove has 120 on its list. Santa Ana has 100. Sixty preschoolers are waiting for spots in Cypress’ program; the number goes up to 76 in Orange.

The program is designed to increase a disadvantaged child’s chance of success in kindergarten and successive years of schooling by teaching social and other basic skills. The half-day programs also offer meals and snacks, plus some medical and dental care.

On a recent morning in the Fullerton Head Start program, one class of 4-year-olds practiced brushing their teeth, helped clean up a local park and took a nature walk, examining birds, trees and flowers through “binoculars” made of cardboard toilet-paper rolls. Another group learned shapes and colors by making bright orange Halloween pumpkins.

Head Start admits preschoolers from households with annual income of $13,950 or less for a family of four. A similar preschool program run by the state of California has a higher ceiling: $22,920. But it has fewer slots in Orange County--1,180 compared to Head Start’s 2,549.

The financial profiles of families applying for Head Start programs show both the intensity of economic distress and the shifts that are taking place in the nation’s economy, such as the contraction of the defense industry.

Reneta Peterson, social services coordinator for Orange County Head Start, said that in one case, three couples with two children each were sharing one apartment. Each father was earning only $100 cash per week. The sheer volume of applications for Orange County Head Start programs--5,000 this year--shocked Peterson.

“Most years, I’m done processing applications long before now,” she said. “This year, I’ve been working my tail off since July 1st and I still can’t seem to finish them.”

Patricia O’Loane, a social services aide with the Garden Grove program, said one single father of two had been earning a middle-class living as an aerospace engineer. But his job was eliminated, and for a year he has been unable to find work. Like dozens of others waiting for Head Start spots for their children, he is seeking a place for his younger child.

“More than in previous years, we’re getting (applicants) who were recently laid off from pretty good jobs,” O’Loane said. “They are unemployed and they find there are no jobs available. Lots have taken their kids and moved back in with their own parents. It’s tough.”

This year, the Garden Grove program has 172 slots, with 120 more on the waiting list, O’Loane said. Last year, with the same number of openings, the waiting list had only 80 people.

Ann Rytting, a co-coordinator of Anaheim’s program, said this year she has 186 openings, with 60 additional children waiting. If not for a significant expansion in the program this year, the waiting list would have been much longer, Rytting said.

This election year has proved a boon for Head Start, as all three presidential candidates advocate more money for the federally funded program. Only days ago, President Bush approved a $577-million increase in Head Start’s annual $2.2-billion appropriation.

As the candidates talk about Head Start, more and more people hear about it, and, realizing that their children may be eligible, converge on local programs, resulting in longer waiting lists, county officials said.

In California, a poor immigrant population and one of the nation’s highest birthrates, especially to teen-age and single mothers, help fuel the demand for public services such as Head Start.

But most of the rising demand for the programs is explained by the prolonged economic recession. Last year, 2.1 million more Americans slipped below the government’s official poverty line, resulting in the largest population of poor people--35.7 million--in the United States since the mid-1960s. Forty percent of the poor were children.

That shift showed up in Orange County, where the number of children in poverty, according to one recent study, jumped 28% between 1987 and 1990. The list of individuals receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children, one form of assistance for needy families, grew 23% each year between 1989 and 1991.

In California, welfare cuts have tightened the vise on the poor. Last year, AFDC grants paid to families were cut 4.4%. The state’s new budget mandated another 4.5% cut as of Oct. 1. If voters pass Proposition 165, welfare payments will be cut by more than 15%.

At the same time, however, liberalized qualifications for welfare allow more people to qualify for aid, said Angelo Doti, who oversees Orange County’s financial assistance programs.

“So we have more people on aid, and those who receive aid receive less than they would have three years ago,” he said.

That kind of financial pressure brings more people to the doors of Head Start, one of the few surviving Great Society programs, launched in 1965 as a national experiment to give a boost to economically disadvantaged preschoolers.

Head Start officials in Washington anticipate significant funding increases in California this year. Of the national Head Start money used to support local programs, California gets about 10%, so it expects to be able to expand once its share of the new appropriation hike is calculated and distributed.

In addition, this will be the first year that Head Start calculates its state and local distribution formulas based on the 1990 Census. Since those statistics show a skyrocketing poor population in California, the state expects to receive even more Head Start funds.

Times researcher April Jackson contributed to this report.

Getting a Head Start

The federally funded Head Start program has grown dramatically in Orange County. During the past five years, the number of funded openings increased 56% while the number of children involved grew 46%. During the same period, the budget jumped 112%. The statewide growth in both the budget (93%) and number of openings (49%) has been similar to that in the county. Budget (in millions of dollars) ‘92-93: $10.8 * Difference between openings funded and children served results from new children replacing those who drop out of the program; one slot can serve more than one child. Who qualifies for Head Start? Preschoolers from households with an income of $13,950 a year or less (family of four) Above or below the income guideline, children with special needs such as language, psychological or physical handicaps. Growing Distress Economic difficulties during the past several years have helped increase the number of children eligible for the program. Here’s how some indicators have changed: Families with children younger than 5 below poverty level since 1980: +203% Average number of people receiving AFDC benefits since 1987-88: +84 People living below the poverty level since 1980: +45 Children younger than 5 below poverty level since 1980: +38 Children younger than 18 below poverty level since 1980: +33 Families living below the poverty level since 1980: +20 Households receiving public assistance income since 1980; +12 Sources: Orange County Head Start office, Orange County Department of Social Services Researched by APRIL JACKSON and CATHERINE GEWERTZ