Head Start and Early Head Start provide high-quality comprehensive services to children and their families that help children develop cognitively and non-cognitively to enable them to succeed in school and in life. When families are under stress, that stress affects their children's development. One of the greatest stresses on families has been the ongoing impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and their aftermath on the people of New Orleans and the Gulf region. This document records testimony and suggestions for improving the relationship between the Federal Department of Health and Human Services and local Head Start programs to make it a supportive relationship that helps programs reach the high standards to which they aspire, and for increasing coordination between Head Start and State-funded pre-kindergarten programs in the affected region. Statements and additional material are included from: Honorable Michael N. Castle, Senior Republican Member, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education: Honorable Dale E. Kildee, Chairman, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education; Honorable John P. Sarbanes, Congressional Representative from Maryland; Pearlie Elloie, Director, Office for Children, Youth and Families, Total Community Action, Inc.; Ellen Frede, Ph.D., Co-Director, National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University; Barbara Haxton, Executive Director, the Ohio Head Start Association; Mac McKeever, Out-County Head Start Director; Ross A. Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of California-Davis; Yvette Sanchez, Executive Director, the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association; and Emily Sheketoff, Emily, Executive Director, the American Library Association.