Head Start

Background

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Head Start is one of the nation’s most impactful early childhood programs, serving more than one million children annually through a network of 1,700 local agencies across the country. Central to the program’s operations is the Head Start Enterprise System (HSES), a platform relied on by 16,500 active users for program oversight, reporting, and compliance.

With a user base spanning thousands of grantees and agency staff, the program required a help desk solution capable of handling high volumes of inbound inquiries quickly and consistently, while maintaining the quality of support that program administrators and frontline staff depend on to keep their operations running.

Objective

The Office of Head Start needed a responsive, multi-channel help desk partner that could resolve most tickets on first contact, maintain a high standard of service quality, and support a large, geographically distributed user community. The solution would need to integrate seamlessly with existing program systems while providing the consistency and reliability required for a federally administered program at this scale.

Solution

Beginning in July 2024, Nelnet provides comprehensive multi-channel help desk support for HSES, managing inbound inquiries from grantees and program staff across the country. Nelnet’s contact center team brings deep knowledge of the HSES platform, enabling fast, accurate resolution of issues that could otherwise slow down critical program operations. Since launch, Nelnet has consistently resolved 99% of tickets same day or next business day, while maintaining a 97.92% quality assurance score year-to-date.

Key Services Provided

Contact Center Support

Nelnet provides multi-channel inbound help desk support for HSES users, handling inquiries from grantees and program staff across 1,700 local agencies. The team is trained on HSES workflows and requirements, enabling accurate, first-contact resolution for most tickets.

Application Processing

In addition to help desk support, Nelnet assists with application processing tasks within the HSES environment, ensuring accurate, timely handling of program-related requests and submissions.

Program Management

Nelnet supports the broader operational management of the HSES support program, including performance monitoring, reporting, and continuous process improvement to maintain service quality at scale.

System Modernization

Nelnet contributes to ongoing system modernization efforts, helping the Office of Head Start keep the HSES platform responsive to the needs of its users and aligned with federal technology standards.

Dashboard and Analytics

Nelnet provides reporting and analytics support, giving program leadership the visibility needed to monitor help desk performance, track ticket trends, and identify opportunities to further improve the user experience.

Outreach

Nelnet supports outreach efforts to grantees and program staff, helping communicate updates, changes, and available resources to ensure users can get the most out of the HSES platform.

Results

0 M+

children served annually through supported agencies

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active HSES users supported across 1,700 local agencies

0 %

of tickets resolved same day or next business day

0 %

quality assurance score year-to-date

0 %

of tickets escalated to Tier 2

Conclusion

Nelnet’s partnership with the Office of Head Start demonstrates what responsive, mission-aligned customer support looks like at scale. By combining deep program knowledge with a proven contact center infrastructure, Nelnet helps ensure that the grantees and staff who depend on HSES can get the support they need, quickly and reliably, so they can focus on delivering for the children and families they serve.