What is Oregon Prenatal to Kindergarten?
Oregon Prenatal to Kindergarten (OPK) is a comprehensive early childhood education program focused on families experiencing the impacts of poverty, including but not limited to homelessness, food insecurity, and chronic stress. The mission of OPK is to foster school readiness by supporting the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of children from birth to age five.
Program services include:
Education and kindergarten readiness: Programs use high quality curricula that promote development in language, literacy, mathematics, science, inquiry, and social-emotional skills from birth through the transition to kindergarten.
Health Services: Comprehensive health services include medical, dental, nutrition, and mental health supports. Programs establish a medical and dental home for every child and conduct developmental and social-emotional screenings, and assist families in accessing needed community health resources.
Education-Focused Home Visiting and Conferences: Educators conduct home visits to discuss each child's developmental progress, share screening results, and collaboratively address concerns related to potential delays or disabilities.
Inclusive Environments: OPK programs support inclusive classrooms for children with disabilities, ensuring access to the same learning environments as typically developing peers. Programs coordinate with Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) providers to deliver individualized educational services and assist parents in navigating special education processes and rights.
Family Engagement: Families are engaged through monthly family education sessions on topics relevant to parenting, child development, family well-being, and child abuse prevention.
Family Support and Home Visiting: Family advocates provide individualized parenting education in the home, assist families in goal-setting and stability planning, and connect families with mental health, housing, and crisis support services. This includes ongoing support even in cases involving child welfare or family separation.
Parent Leadership: Each program operates a Parent Policy Council, which empowers parents to participate in program governance and decision-making.
OPK emphasizes the role of parents as their child’s first and most important teacher and families as advocates and leaders. Parents help make programming decisions through the Policy Council and must sign off on all program components.
Eligibility: A pregnant parent or a child up to kindergarten entry is eligible if the family’s income is equal to or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or is categorically eligible. Categorical eligibility includes SNAP, TANF, Foster Families, Families experiencing Homelessness.
Number of children and families served annually: 14,581
Prenatal to Kindergarten Eligibility and Enrollment
Eligibility for OPK services is based on the following:
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Income: Families with incomes at or below the
federal poverty level (FPL). Adjustments are made for housing cost burdens—families who spend more than 30% of their income on housing may have that cost deducted from their total income for eligibility purposes.
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Categorical Eligibility: Children who are in foster care, experiencing homelessness, or receiving public assistance (e.g., SNAP, TANF, or OHP) are categorically eligible, regardless of income.
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Other Risk Factors: Families facing adversity—including domestic violence, parental incarceration, substance use disorder, or child welfare involvement—may also qualify based on demonstrated need.
Enrollment for OPK is open and nondiscriminatory, and follows Oregon laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, national origin, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, physical or mental disability, military status, or marital or family status.
Enrollment FAQ
Pregnant parents and families with incomes at or below the federal poverty level (FPL) with children from birth through age five are eligible for OPK services.
Other children and families who are eligible, regardless of income, include:
- Children in foster care,
- Families experiencing homelessness,
- Families receiving public assistance (SNAP, TANF or SSI)
- Families experiencing other risk factors.
Children in foster care and families experiencing separation are eligible for OPK services, regardless of family income.
OPK follows the Head Start Performance Standards and the Head Start Act, which requires 10 percent of children enrolled to be children with disabilities who are eligible for early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) services. OPK programs work with special education agencies to provide inclusive settings. OPK programs also conduct developmental screenings to support the identification of children with disabilities or special needs.
OPK programs serve families experiencing trauma and support early childhood mental health services
There are many ways to qualify for OPK, including categorical
eligibility and risk factors. The best way to know if you qualify is to submit
an application and work with the program to review your eligibility. OPK
programs may also enroll a small percentage of families who do not meet the
eligibility criteria or poverty guidelines.
The best way to know if you are eligible is to submit an application. Use the the Program Locator website or call 211 for more information. You can also contact your local Early Learning Hub to learn about other programs in your area.
How to Enroll
For more information about Head Start, visit the
Head Start and the
Oregon Head Start Association websites.
Find a Program Near You
P-3 programs serve pregnant individuals and children from birth to age three, 3-5 programs serve families with children between the ages of three and five.