Upcoming Events

These office hours orient new health managers to the knowledge, skills, and practices needed to establish and oversee Head Start health services. Learn how the Health Manager Orientation Guide and the Head Start Health Services Competencies can support your  daily work. Each 90-minute session includes Q&A facilitated by experienced staff and our subject matter experts.  

If you have questions you want the group to address, please write to the National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety at health@ecetta.info.

This series of national office hours highlights components of successful mental health consultation (MHC) in Head Start programs. This forum occurs each month from September 2025 to March 2026. Kadija Johnston, LICSW, and Amy Hunter, LICSW, from the National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety address questions from participants and offer in-depth information on a variety of topics related to MHC. The national office hours focus on participants’ questions and concerns, and a range of other topics.

The National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety partners with Illuminate Colorado to provide free training and materials. They also bring the Conversation Guide for Professionals on Substance Use, Children, and Families to Head Start staff. The Conversation Guide is a tool that provides ideas and resources to help professionals use strength-based conversations when working with families. The Guide focuses on helping professionals address substance use, safe and engaged caregiving, and protective factors that promote child and family well-being.

The Administration for Children and Families’ National Research Conference on Early Childhood 2026 (NRCEC 2026) will be held June 22—24, 2026, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA. The conference, formerly known as Head Start’s National Research Conference on Early Childhood, has been held annually since 1991. It highlights cutting edge research on early childhood programs serving young children and their families.