Editing Head Start (program) (section)

== Budget and funding ==
The 2011 federal budget for Head Start was $8.1 billion. 85% was to be devoted to direct services and no more than 15% on administration, serving approximately one million students. The budget was $12 billion in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seitz |first=Amanda |date=2023-11-22 |title=Biden's plan would raise salaries for Head Start teachers but could leave fewer spots for kids |url=https://apnews.com/article/preschool-salaries-teacher-pay-shortage-head-start-e3febfb16815517cef8399418ae369c6 |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=AP News}}</ref>

Local grantees must provide a 20% cash/in-kind match.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lubeck|first1=Sally|last2=DeVries|first2=Mary|last3=Nicholson|first3=Julie|last4=Post|first4=Jackie|date=July 1997|title=Head Start in Transition|journal=Early Education & Development|language=en|volume=8|issue=3|pages=219–244|doi=10.1207/s15566935eed0803_2|issn=1040-9289}}</ref> Each local grantee is required to obtain an annual financial audit, if it receives more than $500,000 in federal support.

Grants are awarded by the [[Administration for Children and Families]] (ACF) Regional Offices and the American Indian – Alaska Native and Migrant and Seasonal Program Branches directly to local public agencies, private organizations, Indian tribes and school systems.<ref name="acf.hhs.gov">{{citation | publisher = U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | title = Head Start factsheet | url = http://www.acf.hhs.gov/opa/fact_sheets/headstart_factsheet.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100115192748/http://www.acf.hhs.gov/opa/fact_sheets/headstart_factsheet.html | archive-date = 2010-01-15 }}</ref>

The individual Head Start classrooms/centers "repay" the grant through a program known as InKind. The Inkind program is a way to get their parents and their students working together on out of class studies.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}