Web Innovations in the Regions

The Upper East Tennessee Head Start decided to develop a Web site over two years ago when staff realized the need for more information about the good work that Head Start does. Upper East collaborated with a small up-and-coming firm that was looking to get into the Web business. This company agreed to provide Upper East with a free Web site for one year as a test market for its services. Recently, Upper East has contracted with a Web expert, Bud Creech, who maintains and develops the Web site through in-kind contributions. The Head Start program has found this arrangement very effective because Bud has the time necessary to keep the Web site current, one of the program's main concerns. When Upper East started thinking about developing this site, it was guided by the Program Performance Standards. Originally, the content centered around the seven component areas. Since then it has been revised to reflect the revised Standards, focusing on Program Design and Management, Family and Community Partnerships, and Early Childhood Development and Health Services. Upper East has found having a Web site to be very useful. It has received feedback from across the region and the country, and the site has been an effective marketing tool at the local level. Upper East plans to update it often and make it as user-friendly as possible.

A little over three years ago the Economic Opportunity Corporation (EOC) Head Start of Greater St. Joseph, Missouri, decided to develop a Web site to provide information on Head Start and their program in a new way.

Even though EOC had a general idea of what to feature on its site, it was still a challenge to nail down the particulars. It took many meetings and much deliberation for EOC to choose its site's content. For this reason, Jeff Carolus, EOC's information systems manager, recommends sitting down and thinking about content first: who you're trying to reach, what information you want people to have, and what aspects of your program you want to highlight.

Once EOC decided on the content, the transition to the Web proved to be relatively smooth. EOC already had the technology to create a site and Jeff was available to develop it. This meant limited set-up costs, so the site was a cost-effective project for EOC.

That isn't to say that EOC didn't need some guidance along the way. Once Jeff started developing the site, he found a lot of information available on the World Wide Web.

Jeff continues to maintain the site today, and says that the biggest challenge is finding the time to make changes and updates. It is important, he says, to think about what information the broader community will need and continually update the site as requests for more information come in.

When SETA was trying to think about new and effective ways to increase public awareness about its services, staff began to develop the idea of creating a Web site. Since no one on staff felt comfortable or had enough time to devote to this project, SETA decided to hire an outside consultant to develop and maintain the site. Head Start staff writes the content for the page, each member focusing on her or his area of expertise, and they give the text to the consultant to post. Denise Lee, Program Officer at SETA, feels that it is very important to have a person in charge of this project who can keep the information up-to-date. This is especially important when you're talking about time-sensitive issues such as job openings.

SETA really wanted to highlight the innovative services that it provides to the local community, to help open avenues of collaboration with local agencies and child care. SETA markets its site heavily, including the Web address on all of its flyers, posters, publications, and handouts that they provide to the community. Lee recommends that, when you're developing a site, you try to highlight the uniqueness of your program and community to set yourself apart. And again, it is important to have someone in charge of the project who can devote the time that is necessary to keep the site current and useful.