President Johnson announced Project Head Start in May 1965 during a press conference in the White House Rose Garden. The program was begun out of Economic Opportunity Office in the summer of 1965. A single line in the Economic Opportunity Act had authorized the Head Start program that would assist millions of children and play a role in establishing the children's television show Sesame Street.
The first Head Start program was an eight-week summer assistance project for low-income children who would enter public school in the fall of 1965. More than 560,000 children took part in preschool classes and received medical, dental and mental health services. In 1966, Congress authorized a fully funded, year-round Head Start program. However, the Head Start Act, which extended the authority for Congress to appropriate funding for Head Start's programs, wasn't passed until 1981.
American Indian and Alaskan Native programs began in 14 states in 1965. In 1969, President Richard Nixon moved Head Start to the Office of Child Development. In August 1972, the Economic Opportunity Act called for the Head Start program to expand its opportunities for children with disabilities and mandated that at least 10 percent of the enrollment across the nation should consist of children with disabilities. In 1977, Head Start began offering bilingual and bi-cultural programs.
Head Start added a home-based program in 1973, and in 1995, Early Head Start began. This program added services for children from birth to age 3, and included services for pregnant women. In 1998, Head Start was reauthorized and added full-day and year-round services. And in 2007, President George W. Bush updated the re-authorization of Head Start to include services for homeless children.
In 1973, the National Head Start Association was formed. This association is a private organization that advocates for Head Start in Congress. The association was formed by Head Start directors across the nation; in the beginning, the organization was called the National Directors Association. The first annual conference was held in 1974 in Chicago. An affiliate organization, the National Head Start Parents Association, was formed and shortly thereafter, the Friends of Head Start Association was formed. All merged into the National Head Start Association in 1990.