"When I first started the job, it took me a while to earn the trust of community leaders. But over time, they were willing to help me locate families they knew who had young children with suspected disabilities. The families were worried about being judged." – Disability services coordinator

This chapter explains how to find and enroll children with disabilities or possible delays in your program. It also covers the regulations you need to follow as part of the eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance (ERSEA) process.

As the DSC, you help find children who qualify for Head Start services and may have disabilities. You also train staff, former Head Start parents, families, and community partners to support this work. Make sure everyone understands that Head Start programs welcome all children and provide full support for children with disabilities and their families.

Key Ideas

• Use information from your program’s community- and self-assessment to find families with children who may have disabilities.
• Offer them support.
• Work with local groups like Child Find, early intervention programs, and the school district to help find and enroll these children.
• Head Start programs must make sure that at least 10% of their total actual enrollment are children who are eligible to receive services under IDEA.
• Head Start programs can’t deny enrollment because of the severity of a child’s disability or health condition.
• Programs must support children with disabilities to help prevent suspensions and stop expulsions.
• It’s important to include children with disabilities from all backgrounds.
• Everyone can help with recruitment — staff, current and former parents, families, and community partners all play a role.

Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance (ERSEA)

ERSEA is the process Head Start programs use to meet their enrollment goals. The rules for ERSEA are in the Performance Standards at 45 CFR §1302 Subpart A. These requirements start with a community assessment as described in Determining community strengths, needs, and resources, 45 CFR §1302.11. Programs must collect and use data to understand the community’s strengths, needs, and resources.

Programs must:

• Describe how many eligible children from birth to age 5 and pregnant women live in the area.
• Include details like where they live, their race, ethnicity, and the languages they speak.
• Find out how many children have disabilities, what kinds, and what local services are available.

The Head Start Program Performance Standards explain who qualifies based on age and income. If a program tries but can’t fill all spots with income-eligible families, it can enroll up to 35% of families who earn between 100 to 130% of the federal poverty level.

Programs must:

• Check eligibility carefully and keep good records.
• Train staff on how to follow the rules.
• Recruit families with eligible children and help them enroll.
• Make special efforts to find and enroll children with disabilities, children who are homeless, and children in foster care.
• Set selection criteria each year to decide which children get priority, including those who qualify for IDEA services.

Once families meet the criteria, they can enroll their children. After the first day of services, programs must track attendance to make sure children are showing up and getting the support they need. Poor attendance is a serious issue because children miss out on learning.

The rules also say that Head Start programs cannot allow:

• Temporary suspension for behavior, or greatly limit its use.
• Expelling a child because of behavior at all.

The 10% Rule

As the DSC, you need to know that your program must set selection criteria that prioritize children who qualify for IDEA services. This helps meet the Head Start requirement that at least 10% of the total enrollment are children who are eligible for special education or early intervention services.

What This Means

• Your program must prioritize children who qualify for IDEA services when setting selection criteria.
• This 10% includes children in Head Start Preschool, Early Head Start, and child care partnerships.
• The rule applies to the whole program, not to each classroom or site. Base the 10% on actual enrollment, not the number of funded slots
• For example, if your program enrolls 400 children, at least 40 of them should be eligible for IDEA services during the program year.

As the DSC, you help your program meet the 10% requirement by:

• Working with ERSEA staff to identify and prioritize children who may qualify for IDEA services.
• Using a team approach by bringing together staff with different skills and roles.
• Supporting children and families through collaboration across agencies.
• Making sure every child receives the support they need to grow, learn, and succeed in a welcoming and supportive environment.

What Counts Toward the 10%

• Children who are eligible for IDEA services, even if they are not currently receiving them.
• Children whose families decline services still count toward the 10% if the child is eligible.

What Does Not Count Toward the 10%

• Children with disabilities who are not eligible for IDEA services
• Children who are waiting for evaluation or are still being evaluated

You also collaborate with ERSEA staff to identify and prioritize children who may qualify for IDEA services. Using a team approach, you bring together staff with different skills to support children with disabilities and their families. This coordinated effort helps ensure that every child gets the support they need to thrive.

If You Can’t Meet the 10%

• If your program has done everything possible and still can’t meet the 10%, the program director must contact the Regional Office.
• The director can request a waiver, if needed.
• Some programs go beyond 10% — you can ask them for ideas on how to improve recruitment.

Learn more about the 10% rule in ACF-IM-HS-20-01 Supporting Children with Disabilities.

Why Attendance Matters

Once you’ve enrolled children, it is important to monitor their attendance. When children miss school, they miss valuable learning and social experiences. This is especially important for children with disabilities, who may also have health conditions that affect their attendance.

As the DSC, you can work with the management team, HMHSAC, and early intervention or special education partners to support regular attendance and full participation.

If a child with a disability shows behavior concerns that make it hard to participate:

• Don’t jump to suspension or expulsion.
• Take steps to re-engage the child.
• Follow the regulations, which require:
  • Involving a mental health consultant
  • Considering services under Section 504
  • Working with the child’s family, teacher, or home visitor

You may lead this process. Be sure to explain to families and staff that the goal is to help the child safely stay in the program. In rare cases, if needed, help support a smooth transition to another setting that better meets the child’s needs.

What is your role in recruiting and enrolling children with disabilities or possible delays?

As the DSC, you play a vital role in helping your program recruit and enroll children with disabilities or suspected delays. You work closely with the ERSEA team — typically the family services manager and family engagement staff — who know the community well. Your efforts support the program’s goal of meeting the 10% enrollment requirement for children eligible for IDEA services.

Your Key Responsibilities

• Help update the community assessment by identifying children with disabilities and gaps in local services. This supports planning for staffing, services, and partnerships.
• Make sure ERSEA staff know how to respectfully connect with families of children with disabilities or suspected delays.
• Promote fair treatment and help staff understand basic disability rights.
• Train staff to use positive, strengths-based language and explain the value of serving all children together.
• Create recruitment materials that reflect the families and languages in the community.
• Let families know about all care options, including family child care, home-based services, and child care partnerships.

Outreach and Community Engagement

• Use different outreach methods like community events, flyers in multiple languages, and partnerships with trusted local groups.
• Plan ways to connect with families who may be hard to reach.
• Include all types of caregivers — fathers, grandparents, stepparents, foster parents, and others who care for young children.
• Reach out to fathers in places they often go, such as barbershops, recreation centers, or workplaces. Share materials that speak directly to them.
• Work with Child Find and other community partners to help identify children who may need early intervention or special education services.

Work with your health manager to follow up on referrals from:

• Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) screenings
• Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) referrals
• Local hospitals, clinics, and community agencies like Easter Seals
• Children’s regular doctors and dentists (medical and dental homes)

Promote Your Program

• Talk confidently about Head Start services as a great choice for children with disabilities. It offers full services for children and strong support for families.
• Work with your communication and fiscal teams to share program information through flyers and social media.
• Remember to use the families’ home languages.
• Be ready with a short explanation (an “elevator speech”) about how your program supports all children, including those with disabilities.
• Keep track of your recruitment efforts, including how you select children, those who enroll, and the attendance for children with disabilities.

Tips to Boost Your ERSEA Efforts

As the DSC, you play a key role in helping your program meet the 10% enrollment requirement and support children with disabilities. Here are practical ways to strengthen your ERSEA efforts:

Review and Reflect

• Look at your current ERSEA policies and procedures. What’s working? What needs improvement? Use tools like the ERSEA worksheet and action plan (see Appendix B).
• Update your community assessment. Make sure it includes current data on children with disabilities and available services.
• Review your interagency agreements with Part B and Part C partners. Are expectations clear and realistic?

Strengthen Recruitment

• Prioritize enrolling IDEA-eligible children. Work closely with Child Find coordinators.
• Invite referrals from community partners, agencies, and health care providers. Share brochures and flyers about your program.
• Use strengths-based language. Help ERSEA staff talk with families about the benefits of early intervention and Head Start services.
• Make sure your selection criteria support access for children with disabilities. Work with leadership, Policy Council, and HMHAC to review and revise, as needed.

Make Enrollment Welcoming

• Ensure the enrollment process respects families and uses their languages. Review intake forms and provide interpreters, when needed.
• Respect different views on disability. Be sensitive to how families understand and talk about delays or diagnoses.

Monitor and Support Attendance

• Track attendance data for children with disabilities. Talk regularly with the data team and flag concerns early.
• Work with the management team to remove barriers to attendance. Offer staff training, coaching, or other supports to help children participate fully.
• Review IFSP and IEP goals to make sure children are receiving the services they need and staying enrolled.

Take a Coordinated Approach

• Many of these strategies involve multiple teams. Work across systems — ERSEA, education, health, and family services — to fully support children with disabilities and their families.

People Who Can Help with Recruitment

Recruitment is a team effort. These individuals and groups can help connect with families:

• Program management and ERSEA staff
• Family services and education staff
• Policy Council, governing board, and advisory committees
• Local Part B and Part C agency staff
• Community providers (e.g., hospitals, clinics, recreation centers)
• Current and former Head Start families

Questions to Ask Your Team

• How do we use community and program data to recruit families?
• How do we develop and update our selection criteria?
• Which community partners help us recruit? How do we engage them? How do we find new ones?
• How do we market our program to families?
• What strategies help improve attendance?
• How have we addressed suspension and expulsion in the past? What strategies can help us prevent them?

Scenario: Supporting Jamie’s Ability to Stay Enrolled

Tina is the DSC at Families First Head Start, a rural program. She has helped the program meet the 10% enrollment requirement for children with disabilities in past years. But this year, enrollment has dropped below 10%. Program leaders think this is because children are missing class due to off-site therapy appointments.

One parent, Alisha, told Tina that her son Jamie will no longer attend the Head Start program. Jamie has speech therapy three times a week, and Alisha has to take time off work to ride the public bus with him. The trip takes about three hours, and Jamie doesn’t arrive at school until lunchtime. He’s upset about missing morning activities, and Alisha is stressed about missing work.

Tina is concerned. She talks with the program director and transportation manager. They come up with a short-term solution: if Alisha can get Jamie to therapy, the Head Start bus will pick him up afterward and bring him to the center. A bus monitor will ride with him. This way, Alisha can go straight to work, and Jamie can still attend school.

Tina also starts planning a better long-term solution. She meets with Alisha, staff, the local education agency (LEA), and the speech therapist. They discuss having therapists provide services at the Head Start center. The therapist can’t change her schedule now but will be able to in a few months.

Tina sees many benefits to this plan. It’s low-cost, helps children stay enrolled, and gives teachers a chance to learn from the specialists. If the plan works well, they’ll update their MOU with the LEA to include support for children with IEPs in the learning environment, whenever possible.