The Role of Head Start Center Characteristics in Predicting Families’ Knowledge of and Comfort Accessing Resources: A Nationally Representative Investigation

Families with children under six years of age are among the hardest families to connect with resources (e.g., federal benefits, homeless shelters, food pantries; Gebhard, 2022), despite their overrepresentation amongst families experiencing poverty (Dearing et al., 2006). For example, statistics show that only half of families eligible for benefits under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are accessing them (Neuberger et al., 2024). Similar rates of underutilization can be found for other non-profit and government assistance resources as well (Nord et al., 2007; Shrivastava & Thompson, 2022). One program known for supporting a family-resource connection for families experiencing poverty is Head Start (HS). HS is a comprehensive, federally-funded child care program that serves children ages three through five and their families (ECLKC, 2022). HS has a unique service model where each enrolled family is paired with a family service worker (FSW) who helps provide for the individualized needs of families, and one of the most common ways they address family needs is through connecting families to resources (ECLKC, 2022). However, given the critical role of a family’s knowledge of and comfort accessing resources in supporting their resource connection and overall wellbeing (Lazar & Davenport, 2018), and given the large gap between the number of low-income families in need of resources and those actually accessing resources, this study seeks to develop a comprehensive understanding of the extent to which features of HS centers are able predict a family’s knowledge of and comfort accessing resources. Recent estimates suggest that roughly 40% of children enrolled in HS come from households reporting at least one financial strain, defined as the inability to afford life necessities such as a home, food, clothing, or medical care (Doran et al., 2021). Experiences of financial strain are associated with a host of negative child and family outcomes above and beyond poverty such as poor physical health, social skills, and cognitive development (Doran et al., 2021). In line with these findings, it is possible that experiences of financial strain may interact with features of HS centers to make it harder for families to learn about or feel comfortable accessing resources. However, it is also possible that the extreme need for resources for families experiencing financial strain may actually make it so families feel more comfortable actively seeking out resources. Therefore, given the prevalence of experiences of financial strain for HS families and the possibility of these two competing relationships, it is vital we understand the extent to which the relationship between features of HS centers and families’ knowledge of and comfort accessing resources differ as a function of a family’s financial wellbeing. Additionally, according to the HS Program Information Report, roughly 35% of children served by HS in 2024 were dual language learners (DLLs; HeadStart.gov, 2025). Families of DLLs who speak a language other than English may experience difficulties understanding and communicating with resource providers in order to access resources (Flower et al., 2021). HS programming is designed to support families who speak a language other than English, but it is possible that these language barriers may go beyond the support HS can provide and in turn make it so the relationship between HS programmatic characteristics and a family’s knowledge of and comfort accessing resources looks different for families who speak a language other than or in addition to English. Therefore, given the number of families enrolled in HS who experience a financial strain or speak a language other than English, this study also seeks to understand how a family’s financial strain and the presence of a language other than English spoken in a family’s home shape the association between HS features and the family’s knowledge of and comfort accessing resources. To address these aims, the present study will utilize a nationally representative dataset of children and families served by HS in 2021. This dataset includes parent-reported demographic information, information about their knowledge of and comfort accessing resources, their degree of household financial strain, their involvement in classroom- and center-level HS activities, and their overall perception of how effectively HS has helped connect their family with resources. This dataset also includes information from center directors on their center’s emphasis on learning activities for staff and parents and their center’s staff turnover rate. This research is vital for adding to the limited research base in this area but also for its ability to provide context regarding what features of HS programming are most beneficial for supporting families’ knowledge of and comfort accessing resources and how those benefits differ based on family financial wellbeing and language spoken at home. This foundational knowledge is important to inform future studies aimed at supporting better family-resource connections to bridge the gap between families in need of resources and those accessing resources.