An Examination of Children Referred and Identified with Socioemotional and Behavioral Needs in Head Start

Authors

  • Rebecca Bulotsky Shearer University of Miami
  • Christine Delgado University of Miami
  • Jhonelle Bailey University of Miami
  • Jenna Futterer University of Miami
  • Rinatte Gruen University of Miami

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55370/hsdialog.v23i2.1189

Keywords:

early identification, socioemotional, behavior, screening tools, head start

Abstract

This study utilized a population-based approach to examine the prevalence of children identified with disabilities in a large, urban Head Start program serving diverse preschool children living in poverty (N=7,301). In addition, the study examined demographic differences in patterns of screening and identification for disability with respect to socioemotional and behavioral needs. Two administrative data systems were integrated for analysis: program enrollment and demographic records; and a mental health screening assessment database including all children enrolled within the Head Start program. Findings suggested that gender (boys) and ethnicity (Hispanic) were associated with higher rates of identification for disability, including emotional/behavioral disability. In addition, of those children identified with an emotional/behavioral disability, the program-wide social-emotional screening tool showed greater rates of externalizing behavior problems compared to internalizing behavior problems. Implications for policy, future research, and practice within early childhood programs such as Head Start are discussed.

Downloads

Published

2020-12-13

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2020): Winter 2020

Section

Research Articles

License

This Agreement (the Agreement) is made by and between the authors and the HS Dialog Editorial Team.

Author Agreement

By submitting the research article to HS Dialog, I acknowledge it may be published by the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the Author(s) certify that:

  1. Warranties:
    1. Authors are legally authorized and possesses full power and authority on behalf of co-authors to enter into this Agreement.
    2. Author warrants, on behalf of all article authors, that:
    3. The article is original, has not been formally published in any other peer-reviewed journal, is not under consideration for publication by any other journal and does not infringe any existing copyright or any other third party rights;
    4. The named authors are the sole author(s) of the article. Any co-author not signing this Agreement personally has granted full authority to the main author and agree to enter into this agreement of his/her behalf and to gran the following rights to HS Dialog.
    5. The article contains nothing that is unlawful, libellous, or which would, if published, constitute a breach of contract.

II.Copyright

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Author(s) shall retain copyright to the article but grant the Journal right of first publication, and the irrevocable right to perpetually disseminate the article as part of the Journal subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License, that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Beginning one year after the date of formal publication of the article, Authors may enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work and subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), subject to a proper acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal: This article was originally published in HS Dialog (Vol., Issue, Year).

III. Indemnification.

Author shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Journal from any and all claims, liabilities, damages, expenses (including attorney’s fees and expert costs, penalties, fees, if any arising from enforcement of this Agreement and/or related to claims of infringement of copyrights or proprietary rights allegedly contained in the Article, or resulting from a claim of defamation, obscenity, or invasion of privacy based upon or arising out of the publication of the Article or any other breach of warranty as set forth in No. 1.