California Head Start Families Face Transit Challenges, A New Map Shows

About 30% of Head Start programs in California are not located within walking distance from a public transit stop, according to a report and interactive map released Monday by advocates calling on transit planners to improve access to the nation’s main early childhood education program for lower-income families.

The National Head Start Association and the Seldin / Haring-Smith Foundation’s Civic Mapping Initiative measured the proximity of local transit stops to Head Start centers across the country.

In California, almost 600 out of 1,900 Head Start centers are more than 0.2 miles (or 2,000 feet) away from a public transit stop, which researchers consider beyond walking distance for a preschooler.

“Anybody who’s tried to walk 2,000 feet with a squirming toddler understands intuitively, understands viscerally, why this is so important,” said Abigail Seldin, a co-founder of the mapping initiative.

Lack of transportation was identified as one of the top reasons income-eligible families don’t enroll or stay enrolled, according to a nationwide survey of Head Start programs in 2021.

Challenges around transportation access are linked to gentrification. Some Head Start centers built decades ago are in areas that are no longer affordable for families that are income-eligible for the federally subsidized, early learning program, the survey found.

The analysis also discovered that nationally, 42% of Head Start centers have a transit stop within walking distance for a toddler and that another 19% are located within a mile of a bus stop. It’s close enough that a transit agency could reconfigure a route to accommodate families and Head Start staffers trying to get there.

Seldin said she hopes the data will lead transit planners to rethink how they can better serve families with young children, as the Memphis Area Transit Authority in Tennessee has done by moving bus stops nearer to three Head Start centers in their service area.

“Why should we make it difficult for families to access the number one anti-poverty program in America,” she said. “Ensuring transit access for families seems like a slam dunk way to ensure the success of families participating in that program.”