Services provided by Migrant Head Start are similar to those of regular HS, but Migrant grantees modify delivery to meet the specific needs of migrant farm worker families. MHS is run by Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc., which is a private, not-for-profit corporation sponsoring numerous programs to help low-income individuals/families in local communities. The mission of TVOC: “Provide opportunities to improve the quality of life for people & communities."

Migrant Head Start Facts:

• Served 85 children in Rochester in 2006
• Fills a critical need for children of seasonal migrant workers between May and November each year
• Most of the families migrate here from Texas to support Rochester’s agricultural industry
• Provides child care, medical and dental care, and education to children 6 weeks old to kindergarten age
• Responsive to families’ cultural/linguistic experiences
• Most migrant families come to Rochester to work at Seneca; July through November is Migrant Head Start’s busiest time of the year
• This is also a time when MHS is forced to stop serving 25% of its families due to space restrictions at their current location.
• The MHS program has a unique emphasis on serving infants and toddlers as well as pre-school age children, so that they will not have to be cared for in the fields or left in the care of very young siblings while parents are working. Infants as young as 6 weeks of age are served in Migrant centers.
• Making service available to all preschoolers (including infants and toddlers) means that both parents can work to maximize the meager earnings from farm work. Migrant Head Start families earn more than half their annual income from agricultural work and move at least once within each 2-year period in search of farm work.
• Families must also meet the annual Head Start poverty income guidelines.