News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The only childcare licensed by The Department of Human Services in Pickett County has openings available.
Head Start Director Penny Meadows said the program is for the most in-need Pickett County families. Meadows said everything is free, with acceptance being based on a point system ranking the child’s needs.
“Especially in these rural areas, we may be the biggest thing going there,” Meadows said. “That’s what we want to do is be there to help the children and the families. We don’t work with just the children, we work with the entire family, that’s one thing that makes us different.”
Meadows said kids need to be three to four years old as of August 15 to be eligible. She said to get the application process started, parents can call the Byrdstown Head Start or start the process online at LBJC.org.
“We set what’s called a family partnership agreement with each family and it’s really what the family wants,” Meadows said. “So it may be the family wants a better home or they may want a different job or they may want to go back to school or they may just want their child to write their A B C’s.”
Meadows said with this program being income based, families will need to have tax forms for their application.
“You get so many points for the age of your child, whether they’re a three year old or four year old,” Meadows said. “You get so many points based on where you fall on the income guidelines. We get those guidelines from the federal government, they set those, we do not. If the child has any kind of special needs, if there’s someone that gives a referral letter saying that Head Start would be the best placement for the child, such as their doctor or someone else then they can get extra additional points. So all those points go into the child’s application and when we run reports it totals the points and pulls the children out that have the highest points, first.”
Meadows said that Head Start provides free childcare from 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday. She said there are extended hours available before and after the program for parents working or in school.
