A comprehensive early learning and child development program that has benefited 40 million children since it was introduced in 1965 is under threat by federal cuts. As Head Start turns 60 years old, the President’s budget plans to terminate the program that countless families rely on. As a recent LA Times report on the Head Start funding threat highlights, the cuts threaten care for 80,000 California children.
Head Start is an essential service for young children in low income earning households. The program was created to help lift families out of poverty and has provided families with health and childhood development services that enabled children to succeed in life. In a recent segment that ran on Fox40 News in Los Angeles, CCRC Government Relations Director LaWanda Wesley shared the devastating impacts of the Head Start funding threat.
“These are families that go to work every day, who are looking at their own economic mobility. I was one of those family members that was on subsidized child care that had access to the Head Start program and it was my lifeline and lever to the middle class,” said Wesley. “When I talk about a family of three looking at the family poverty line that’s around $15,000. That’s the lowest income of the lowest income. If you pull that rug out from underneath them, now you’re sending these families to being unhoused, not accessing food.”
Not only is the cost of care and early education at both private and public facilities prohibitive for many families, so too are the rigid schedules, lack of support for cultural needs and developmental delays. Head Start offers personalized learning that engages young minds.
“In my classroom, the children are considered active learners,” CCRC Head Start teacher Lisa Ricks said. “They have their own roles, solve their own problems, and drive their own learning experience. We learn together, not just me saying “here’s letter A.” I drive them to problem solve and identify things they want to learn.”
The program was instrumental in educating children who came of age during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After COVID-19, kids weren’t ready for [the classroom] and the staff did an amazing job,” said Gayane Gajardyan, a mom of a Head Start child. “How the teachers handled, especially my son who wasn’t an easy boy, was amazing. He loved it, doesn’t want to change school, wants to stay here.”
Tens of thousands of children benefit every year from Head Start’s early care and learning, nutrition, dental and medical exams, and family supports. In 2022, 84,549 children and pregnant women benefited from Head Start programs with 7,500 in Los Angeles County alone. CCRC’s research shows 99% of parents with enrolled children said Head Start helped their child be prepared to succeed.
“He was so attached to me and he grew his independence coming to Early Head Start,” said Aime Enriquez, a mother of a Head Start child. “And he learned how to count to ten and his letters. It’s amazing, he can take all that knowledge to the next school year.”
CCRC recently unveiled a partnership between Head Start and Hope the Mission to bring early care and learning services to families at the homeless shelter in Reseda.
“Experiencing homelessness is rough but imagine being a child living in a car, living on the streets and you don’t feel safe,” said Hope the Mission Communications Manager Krissylee Delapinia. “This space will provide what they need to get education, feel safe, and parents have somewhere to leave their children.”
In rural communities where access to early education is limited or nonexistent, Head Start is the only service available. As of 2018, Head Start had centers in 86 percent of America’s 1,760 rural counties and 1 out of every 3 rural child care facilities was a Head Start center. These rural Head Start programs served over 175,000 children from 110,000 families. The positive impact of these services cannot be overstated. “Rural Head Start programs help fill a crucial role in delivering educational, health, and parent education services to families with few other options for assistance.”
A recent report by the Center for American Progress found that “children who participate in Head Start have improved social-emotional and cognitive development; show higher levels of school readiness; and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college.” For every $1 invested, there’s a return ranging from $7 to $9 in social and economic benefits. Head Start graduates are less likely to live in poverty and rely on public assistance as adults.
The proposed federal cuts to effectively end Head Start put tens of thousands of children at risk for losing their education services. Families rely on Head Start not only for early learning, but for the quality child care that allows them to work and attend school. For 60 years, Head Start has positively changed the trajectory of children’s lives – these cuts are a threat to community well-being, our children’s future, and the nation’s economy. Our nation and the wellbeing of its youngest citizens cannot afford to lose Head Start funding.
If you or someone you know has had a positive Head Start experience, we want to hear it! Submit your story here.
