< back to welcome page 1 Recruitment 2 Eligibility

2.1Eligibility Requirements Overview

2.1.1Head Start and Early Head Start Eligibility Requirements 2.1.2Eligibility Requirements for State Programs (CCTR and CSPP)

2.2Application and Eligibility Interview (First Meeting)

2.2.1Preparing for the Application and Eligibility Interview 2.2.2Conducting the Application and Eligibility Interview 2.2.3Completing Tasks from the Application and Eligibility Interview 2.2.4Verifying Head Start Eligibility

2.3Waitlist Management

2.3.1Family Changes prior to Enrollment 2.3.2Reverifying Returning Children

2.4Verifying and Recertifying Families for State Programs

2.5Addressing Family Changes for State Program Applications

3 Selection 4 Enrollment 5 Receiving (or Providing) Services 6 Transition 7 Admin/Operations 8 ChildPlus 9 Learning Paths

2.2.4

Verifying Head Start Eligibility

Note: This SOP provides instructions on verifying children or pregnant mothers for Early Head Start or Head Start Preschool. For information regarding reverification of returning children for the next program year, refer to the SOP Reverifying Returning Families.

The ERSEA department is responsible for creating a new family and enrollment records in ChildPlus, and for verifying the eligibility of all children and pregnant mothers applying for Head Start and State programs.

An Enrollment Coordinator downloads the scanned bundles of application materials sent from outlying areas or DocuSign. He/she does a visual review to ensure the materials are complete, then looks for conflicts of information (e.g., an application providing a piece of information that conflicts with the information provided in the support documentation)

Note: For Head Start applications, if the bundle is incomplete or errors are found during the process, the Enrollment Coordinator emails the staff member who compiled it and requests the documentation necessary to complete the bundle.

The Enrollment Coordinator creates a new family record in ChildPlus
If a family is income eligible, the Enrollment Coordinator evaluates the family’s income and housing costs, if applicable. Family eligibility is determined by the number of people in the family, their income, and the updated federal poverty guidelines, among other criteria
The Enrollment Coordinator enters the results of the verification in ChildPlus and creates the child’s enrollment record to reflect the results of the verification
The Enrollment Coordinator signs off on the Eligibility Verification form, which effectively puts the child on the waitlist
If the child is verified as Public Assistance or Foster Care, the Waitlist Notification text is sent through ChildPlus (TX083 or TXS083)
A second Enrollment Coordinator reviews the content the first Coordinator entered to ensure data accuracy, completion of the required fields, that the child is being waitlisted for the appropriate site and program, income is calculated correctly, eligibility documents are attached in ChildPlus, etc.

If the family is income eligible or McKinney-Vento:

The reviewing Enrollment Coordinator completes his/her review of the family’s eligibility and sends the Waitlist Notification text (TX083 or TXS083) once eligibility is confirmed

Eligibility audits are also performed by the ERSEA Specialist for the following:

Families who are verified McKinney-Vento
Families who are income eligible with zero income
Families who are income eligible with a federal poverty level of 120-140%

Note: Families are waitlisted regardless of income; however, few places are available for families who are over-income.

Refer to the SOP Waitlist Management for next steps.