This research brief provides a national portrait of the characteristics, development, and well-being of children and families at the beginning of the Head Start program year, using recent data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2014). This brief highlights descriptive information from the Fall 2014 Data Tables and Study Design report (Aikens et al. 2017c). The authors address the following research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of children and families in Head Start?; (2) How are families doing at the beginning of the Head Start year?; and (3) How are children doing at the beginning of the Head Start year? How does this vary by Head Start exposure (that is, newly entering children compared with those returning for a second year), the age of newly enrolled children, and race/ethnicity? To address the first question, the authors explore the characteristics of children and families participating in Head Start, such as the age of the children, children's racial/ethnic background, home language, and household structure. They examine child and family characteristics to provide a national portrait of the participants the Head Start program serves. Indicators of family well-being during the fall of the Head Start program year are examined to address the second question. To address the third question, the authors describe children's cognitive skills (language, literacy, and mathematics), body mass index (BMI), social skills, problem behaviors, and executive function at the beginning of the program year.