Judith Chase began Head Start as a summer pilot in Easton in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty initiatives. Until 1981, Head Start of the Lehigh Valley was administered through Colonial Northampton Intermediate Unit #20, followed by CACLV (Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley). In 1981, Patricia W. Levin incorporated “Community Services for Children” as a platform for numerous early education programs, including Head Start.

Milestones include the following:

• 1965 Began Head Start as summer program in Easton founded by Judith Chase
• 1967 Expanded Head Start to Lehigh and Northampton Counties
• 1972 Started home-based services to serve rural areas
• 1982 Established TOT-INFO child care resource and referral service
• 1985 Began to administer subsidized child care in Lehigh County
• 1996 Initiated Early Head Start for children prenatal to 3
• 1998 Named as PA’s Child Care Resource and Referral Developer for 15 NE PA counties
• 2001 Moved into newly acquired and renovated “Donley Children’s Campus” in Allentown
• 2003 Established Early Head Start/SafeStart Child Welfare Collaboration with Lehigh and Northampton Counties
• 2007 Added PreK Counts Preschool through state funding