Answer the questions before an application.
Explain locally available Head Start and Early Head Start options, center locations, hours, and how to apply using approved information.
See the related Product capabilityHead Start & Early Head Start
More time with families. Less time chasing the next enrollment step.
Fortell helps families ask questions, begin pre-screening, understand documents, and arrange the next conversation. Your enrollment team keeps ownership of eligibility verification, selection, and the relationship with each family.
Interest is not the same as enrollment.
A parent may call during a work break, miss a callback, or be unsure which program serves their child's age. A team may have a waiting list, but still need the right eligible applicant for a particular center, classroom, schedule, or opening.
ERSEA—Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance—connects several distinct steps. Families need a clear path through them, and staff need enough information to move the right application forward.
Program workflow
Help families move from inquiry to a staff conversation.
Gather an initial picture.
Collect the child's age or date of birth, location, family contact preferences, preferred language, and information relevant to the agency's screening pathway.
See the related Product capabilityRespect different eligibility pathways.
Do not reduce screening to income alone. Use approved questions for public assistance, homelessness, foster care, and other pathways, and route exceptions for staff review. [2]
See the related Product capabilityPrepare the family for the next step.
Explain relevant documentation, send an upload link where configured, and arrange a staff interview. AI pre-screening is not a substitute for the required staff-led eligibility process. [2]
See the related Product capabilityKeep follow-up specific.
Send approved appointment or missing-item reminders. When a family reports a barrier, capture it for the right team member rather than repeatedly sending the same message.
See the related Product capabilitySector perspective
Enrollment is part of a family's wider life.
In her Fortell podcast conversation, Blueprints CEO Trenna Passalacqua describes how transportation, work, and family circumstances can affect a child's participation after enrollment. A useful intake helps staff understand what the family needs next—not simply mark a form complete. [3]
Sector perspective
The family behind the application
Trenna Passalacqua, CEO, Blueprints · Transcript-selected playback window
Related Community Action experience · Not Head Start results
OlyCAP — A platform intended to support multiple programs
OlyCAP's case study discusses a platform intended to support multiple community programs, including Head Start. Its quantified results concern LIHEAP and are not repeated here as Head Start evidence. [4]
Questions to discuss
Short answers for program leaders
Does Fortell decide which child receives a place?+
No. Your staff apply the program's eligibility verification and selection process. An initial screen is not an enrollment decision.
Can it use our enrollment system?+
Review your system and the required workflow during scoping. Do not assume an existing ChildPlus or other named-system integration unless it is documented for this implementation.
Can this help with attendance?+
A configured workflow can collect messages and surface barriers for staff follow-up. Family support and attendance interventions remain the responsibility of the program team.
Implementation
Measures to agree together
These are proposed measures for implementation—not existing Fortell results.
- Inquiry-to-interview conversion
- Incomplete applications
- Follow-up attempts per family
- Appointment attendance
- Staff time preparing enrollment files
Sources
- 1.Office of Head Start, 45 CFR 1302.15, Enrollment
- 2.Office of Head Start, 45 CFR 1302.12, Determining, verifying, and documenting eligibility
- 3.Fortell podcast transcript, Trenna Passalacqua
- 4.Fortell, OlyCAP case study
Sources reviewed September 20, 2026. Historical statistics are identified by their original data or publication dates.
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