Child Start Early Childhood Programs

Child Start Early Childhood Programs offers Head Start Preschool, Early Head Start, Child Care Partnerships, State Preschool, General Child Care, and Raising A Reader programs. The programs include center-based and home-based Early Head Start services, contracted family child care homes and private child care centers through Child Care Partnerships, a wrap-around State Preschool model with Head Start services, a center-based General Child Care model with Early Head Start services, and the Raising A Reader program focused on reading and sharing books with children from infancy through age five. The program also implements the Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) parenting education program.

• Ages: 0–5 years old
• Schedule: Monday–Thursday, 7:30AM–4:00PM

Child Start Early Childhood Programs supports the education, social and emotional development of children ages 0–5 by providing high quality, comprehensive and family-focused early childhood services in partnership with the community. The organization provides early childhood education and family development services to approximately 1,000 children annually across Napa and Solano Counties in its Head Start, Early Head Start, Child Care Partnerships, State Preschool and General Child Care programs. Child Start is the administrator for the national Raising-A-Reader program through funding from the Napa Valley Community Foundation and the First 5 Commission of Napa County, as well as support from the Napa County Office of Education, and works hand-in-hand with community services to support low-income families.

Head Start services began in Napa and Solano counties in 1965, the agency became Napa–Solano Head Start in 1995, and it became Child Start, Inc., a nonprofit public benefit corporation, in 2000. Child Start became the third agency in California to administer the Raising-a-Reader program in 2001, was awarded its first Early Head Start grant to serve 64 infants and toddlers in 2002, and became one of the first agencies in the country to be funded for Early Head Start–Child Care Partnerships in 2016. The organization overhauled its Early/Head Start program through the Designation Renewal System in 2017 and launched a new era of leadership with a new executive team in 2022. Child Start has been providing early childhood education and family development services to approximately 1,000 children annually since 1965 and has been recognized as an early childhood education leader throughout Napa and Solano Counties over the past 58 years.

The leadership team includes Executive Director Juan Cisneros, Deputy Director Susan Smith, Employment Opportunities contact Esmeralda Salinas, Verification of Employment contact Amanda Maguire, and Child Care Partnerships Program Operations Director April. Testimonials from families include a Head Start alumni who shared that being around many friends and Maestra Irene made a big impact, a Head Start parent who described Child Start as a blessing for her family and said her daughter is now excited to start kindergarten, and an Early Head Start parent who described the Early Head Start Home Visiting program as a game changer and said her home visitor guided her every step of the way.

Last updated May 13, 2026.