Early childhood development programs for on-Reserve, off-Reserve (including urban) First Nations, Inuit and Métis children ages three to six and their families. The Federally-funded Aboriginal Head Start (AHS) is designed to meet the spiritual, emotional, intellectual and physical needs of the child. All projects are sponsored, designed and implemented by indigenous nonprofit organizations in the local community. Each AHS project stresses traditional knowledge and pride in indigenous heritage, good nutrition, healthy lifestyles and preparation for school. Parents and families are encouraged to be involved in all aspects of program development, delivery, management and evaluation. AHS also provides a focal point for non-reserve-based indigenous communities to organize themselves around the needs of their children and to revitalize indigenous cultures and languages.

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Programs that assist low-income single parents, teen parents, displaced homemakers, public assistance recipients or other targeted individuals and families achieve economic independence and long-term stability through an integrated group of services which may include education and job training, microenterprise development, mentoring services, life skills training, personal enrichment classes, counselling services, parenting skills development, legal assistance, housing assistance, child care and transportation assistance, information and referral and advocacy. The services may be delivered using an intensive case management model which involves assignment of a case manager, development of an individualized case plan and assessment of progress in meeting agreed upon goals and objectives.

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Facilities that promote healthy child development by offering a variety of activities, resources and information for parents/caregivers and children from birth to age six. Families are encouraged to drop in or may participate in a variety of scheduled activities and programs such as playgroups; early learning, parenting and life skills instruction; nutrition programs; and toy libraries. Outreach services and programs for expectant couples may also be included.

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Programs that provide a wide variety of social services that are designed to support the healthy development of families, improve family interaction skills and help fragile families to resolve their problems at a pre-crisis stage before they become unmanageable. Services may be centre-based or provided on an outreach basis to families who are initially reluctant to seek support and generally target the specific needs of a particular community. Included may be self-sufficiency programs which help families break the cycle of poverty by addressing the barriers to self-sufficiency; early child development and school success programs; programs which address the needs of teen parents; programs which target parents at risk for becoming abusive; programs for families with children who have special developmental needs and programs that focus on the maternal and child health care needs of first-time, expectant women whose babies are at high risk for low birth weight and infant mortality.

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