As the county’s Head Start and Early Head Start Grant Recipient, Community Action Marin gives children a head start in their academic and social emotional development, and in life. The program helps to ensure that children ages 0-5 from income-eligible families across Marin County get high-quality education at an early age; laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning and the skills and mindset needed to thrive as adults.
Leveraging Head Start federal funding and braiding state funding to create a unified Early Education program, Community Action Marin has been able to increase the number of families served with a comprehensive Whole Family Approach. Our agency is responsive to community needs and ensures families benefit from the agency’s social services, in addition to high-quality education.
Our program’s Family Advocates, in collaboration with an assigned lead from San Rafael Early Learning Center, have been working to fully support families, strengthening the relationship between public school teachers and educators.
Community Action Marin:
Provides support with health, nutrition, and social services, utilizing Community Action Marin’s Whole Family Approach which provides multi-generational services across the county, ensuring well-being and positive parent-child relationships.
Expands parent and guardian access to learning, self-advocacy, and family engagement through workshops and curriculum with parent/guardian involvement and at-home activities to support children’s education. Parent leadership is fostered through Parents as Leaders Training, Parent Leadership Council, and Parent Committees, nurturing connections to peers and community.
Increases school readiness through program wide implementation of a research-based curriculum and teaching practices that support children’s language acquisition, higher level thinking and social-emotional development, as well as strategies to understand behaviors and develop individualized intervention plans when needed.
Ensures each employee belongs with staff equipped with ongoing professional development training and tools that ensure a high-quality comprehensive early learning program for children, families, and staff.
Children & Families Served
Head Start Eligible Children Served
(82% of capacity)
Early Head Start Eligible Children Served
(77% of capacity)
Enrolled on average each month of the total 214 Head Start slots
(56% for the 148 Early Head Start slots)
Teacher staffing shortages have impacted Early Childhood Education providers nationally and continues to be a focus for Community Action Marin’s Workforce Development initiatives.
Developing Students
Our Children and Family Services programs support school readiness through program wide implementation of a research-based curriculum to fidelity (Creative Curriculum) and effective classroom teaching practices to support children’s language acquisition.
Our staff utilizes the California Collaborative on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) Teaching Pyramid, which includes strategies to understand behaviors and develop individualized student intervention plans when needed.
This past year:
- 68% of Head Start eligible preschool children projected to be entering Kindergarten and 32% of Early Head Start children transitioned into Head Start!
- 83% of students showed improvement in language and literacy
- 80% of students showed improvement in in Social & Emotional Development
Providing Family Support
In March 2024, Community Action Marin surveyed the parents and caregivers of children in our childcare and early childhood education programs, including Head Start and Early Head Start, to learn what issues were of the most concern to their family and to gather feedback on the program. The survey revealed that:
•100% of parents or guardians were satisfied or very satisfied with Children & Family Services programs
•55% of parents said the program helped them keep a job, 29% said it helped them accept a job, and 19% said it allowed them to pursue their education
Additionally, a total of 3759 health services were provided to children in the program with the following percentages receiving:
Vision Screenings: 100%
Hearing Screenings: 100%
Medical Exams: 55%
Dental Exams: 64%
Growing Parent Leaders
The Parent Leadership Council (PLC) is currently comprised of 21 individuals, all parents of children and family members. The PLC provides us with critical insight, guidance, and feedback on various program related matters.and submits decisions to the board. These include approval of the Head Start budget and planned carryover, a focus on program Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance (ERSEA), and program planning. This group also shares information and informs parents about Children & Family Services activities and encourages involvement from other parents and guardians enrolled in the program.
