Why Nebraskans keep standing up for Head Start
As the recipient of Nebraska's largest Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grant, we've made a promise: to show up with care, consistency and compassion, especially when families face the toughest of times. Our work with CRCC, CSI, Educare Lincoln and Educare of Omaha, Inc., brings more than 200 combined years of experience in serving Nebraska's children and their families.
The federally funded Head Start program is part of that promise, one that has received bipartisan support year after year. But in recent weeks, news broke about a federal budget proposal that would zero out funding for Head Start in 2026. It is impossible to state the impact this move would have on nearly 800,000 children and their families nationwide.
Congress has the power to decide what gets funded and what doesn't. That's where we need to act.
In Nebraska, Head Start funding supports the capacity for 5,653 eligible children, employing 2,187 staff in 179 child care centers across the state. These are not just numbers. These are real Nebraska children and families with real futures. And now, the funding to support them is at real risk.
For 60 years, this nationally recognized, locally rooted program has given our most vulnerable children a safe, developmentally rich environment to learn and grow while their parents work to achieve economic self-sufficiency. The National Head Start Association's 2025 Nebraska Head Start Profile shows that 4,137 parents of enrolled children were employed, in school or in job training, which would not be possible without reliable child care through Head Start.
Protecting Head Start is essential to the well-being of children, families, and communities. Any move away from this risks consequences we can't afford. We don't use these words lightly.
Head Start is a vital foundation for families working to build a better future. It offers reliable support for parents and strong, nurturing early education for children — along with meals, vision and hearing screenings, developmental assessments, and dental care.
Protecting Head Start means preserving stability, opportunity and access to care for at-risk children and over a million parents who rely on it to stay in the workforce. Communities nationwide depend on it as a cornerstone of their child and family support systems.
Head Start works. Not because it's easy — but because it's essential. It's a federal program with decades of data, bipartisan support and consistent, community-driven results. It combines local donations with state and federal funds to provide exactly what Nebraska families need: dependable, comprehensive quality child care.
Given Head Start's proven return and essential impact, the conversations in Congress and in our communities should be about increasing funding, not eliminating it. The return on investment is clear.
Nobel Laureate economist James Heckman found that every dollar invested in quality early childhood programs like Head Start returns more than seven dollars in reduced crime, improved health and increased earnings. Supporting Head Start is not just a moral imperative. It's a smart economic one.
How much does the country invest? Head Start funding accounts for 0.18% of the FY2024 federal budget.
Head Start funding strengthens our work as long-standing early childhood partners in Nebraska. We know these families. We work alongside them. We see the deep commitment to their children and their dreams for their families' futures, many of which would not be possible without help from Head Start.
As a state that values hard work, personal responsibility and community, Nebraskans should encourage congressional support for this invaluable program. When we talk about Nebraska family values, we do not abandon our youngest citizens when they need us most.
We call on our elected officials, neighbors, friends and fellow Nebraskans — from Lincoln to Scottsbluff, Omaha to Ogallala — to speak up. Let your voice be heard. Speak up. Share this message. Remind Washington that Nebraska protects its children.
Let's ensure that, as Head Start celebrates 60 years of impact this May, the gift we give back is unwavering support. Because when we invest in children, we invest in us all.
Sarah Ann Kotchian is chief executive officer of the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative. She has served on local and state commissions, task forces and boards.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Canadian wildfires prompt New York air quality alert
An air quality health advisory has been issued for New York City and its surrounding areas because of smoke from wildfires in Canada. In a post on X, New York state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Department of Health (DOH) issued the advisory for Long Island, New York City Metro, Lower Hudson Valley, Upper Hudson Valley, and the Adirondacks on Saturday. Authorities are warning air quality in those regions is "unhealthy for sensitive groups". Wildfires in Canada have forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes, and the smoke drifting over the border has sparked air quality concerns across the northern United States. The air quality index (AQI) is predicted to be above 100 in much of New York state on Saturday, and could reach 135. Alerts are also in place for parts of New England. The AQI measures the severity of pollution in the air and categorises health risks. The higher the number, the more unsafe the air is to breathe. This is not the first time US authorities have issued air quality alerts because of smoke from the Canadian wildfires. In mid-July, a similar alert was issued for Chicago, with additional precautions advised for babies and the elderly. The political implications of the wildfire smoke have also reached Washington. Earlier in July, six members of Congress wrote to the Canadian ambassador complaining that smoke from wildfires was making it difficult for Americans to enjoy their summer. There are currently more than 550 active fires in Canada, with the most concentrated in the province of Manitoba, according to authorities. 6.1 million hectares (15 million acres) of land has been burnt across the country in the past year. May and June were particularly destructive months in western Canada, with roughly 30,000 people forced to evacuate in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where local administrations declared a state of emergency. Scientists have consistently linked the intensifying wildfire seasons to climate change. Canada is believed to be warming at twice the global average rate, and its Arctic regions are heating up at nearly three times the global rate, scientists have warned. Air quality alerts issued in Canada and US as wildfires continue to burn Wildfires scorch North America as crews battle flames US lawmakers write to Canada to complain that its wildfire smoke is spoiling summer

12 hours ago
As ADA turns 35, groups fighting for disability rights could see funds slashed
TOPEKA, Kan. -- Nancy Jensen believes she'd still be living in an abusive group home if it wasn't shut down in 2004 with the help of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, which for decades has received federal money to look out for Americans with disabilities. But the flow of funding under the Trump administration is now in question, disability rights groups nationwide say, dampening their mood as Saturday marks the 35th anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal dollars pay for much of their work, including helping people who seek government-funded services and lawsuits now pushing Iowa and Texas toward better community services. Documents outlining President Donald Trump's budget proposals show they would zero out funds earmarked for three grants to disability rights centers and slash funding for a fourth. Congress' first discussion of them, by the Senate Appropriations Committee, is set for Thursday, but the centers fear losing more than 60% of their federal dollars. The threat of cuts comes as the groups expect more demand for help after Republicans' tax and budget law complicated Medicaid health coverage with a new work-reporting requirement. There's also the sting of the timing: this year is the 50th anniversary of another federal law that created the network of state groups to protect people with disabilities, and Trump's proposals represent the largest potential cuts in that half-century, advocates said. The groups are authorized to make unannounced visits to group homes and interview residents alone. 'You're going to have lots of people with disabilities lost,' said Jensen, now president of Colorado's advisory council for federal funding of efforts to protect people with mental illnesses. She worries people with disabilities will have 'no backstop' for fighting housing discrimination or seeking services at school or accommodations at work. The potential budget savings are a shaving of copper from each federal tax penny. The groups receive not quite $180 million a year — versus $1.8 trillion in discretionary spending. The president's Office of Management and Budget didn't respond to an email seeking a response to the disability rights groups' criticism. But in budget documents, the administration argued its proposals would give states needed flexibility. The U.S. Department of Education said earmarking funds for disability rights centers created an unnecessary administrative burden for states. Trump's top budget adviser, Russell Vought, told senators in a letter that a review of 2025 spending showed too much went to 'niche' groups outside government. 'We also considered, for each program, whether the governmental service provided could be provided better by State or local governments (if provided at all),' Vought wrote. Disability rights advocates doubt that state protection and advocacy groups — known as P&As — would see any dollar not specifically earmarked for them. They sue states, so the advocates don't want states deciding whether their work gets funded. The 1975 federal law setting up P&As declared them independent of the states, and newer laws reinforced that. 'We do need an independent system that can hold them and other wrongdoers accountable,' said Rocky Nichols, the Kansas center's executive director. Nichols' center has helped Matthew Hull for years with getting the state to cover services, and Hull hopes to find a job. He uses a wheelchair; a Medicaid-provided nurse helps him run errands. 'I need to be able to do that so I can keep my strength up,' he said, adding that activity preserves his health. Medicaid applicants often had a difficult time working through its rules even before the tax and budget law's recent changes, said Sean Jackson, Disability Rights Texas' executive director. With fewer dollars, he said, 'As cases are coming into us, we're going to have to take less cases.' The Texas group receives money from a legal aid foundation and other sources, but federal funds still are 68% of its dollars. The Kansas center and Disability Rights Iowa rely entirely on federal funds. 'For the majority it would probably be 85% or higher,' said Marlene Sallo, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, which represents P&As. The Trump administration's proposals suggest it wants to shut down P&As, said Steven Schwartz, who founded the Center for Public Representation, a Massachusetts-based organization that works with them on lawsuits. Federal funding meant a call in 2009 to Disability Rights Iowa launched an immediate investigation of a program employing men with developmental disabilities in a turkey processing plant. Authorities said they lived in a dangerous, bug-infested bunkhouse and were financially exploited. Without the dollars, executive director Catherine Johnson said, 'That's maybe not something we could have done.' The Kansas center's private interview in 2004 with one of Jensen's fellow residents eventually led to long federal prison sentences for the couple operating the Kaufman House, a home for people with mental illnesses about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Wichita. And it wasn't until Disability Rights Iowa filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 that the state agreed to draft a plan to provide community services for children with severe mental and behavioral needs. For 15 years, Schwartz's group and Disability Rights Texas have pursued a federal lawsuit alleging Texas warehouses several thousand people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes without adequate services. Texas put at least three men in homes after they'd worked in the Iowa turkey plant. Last month, a federal judge ordered work to start on a plan to end the 'severe and ongoing' problems. Schwartz said Disability Rights Texas did interviews and gathered documents crucial to the case. 'There are no better eyes or ears,' he said.


Hamilton Spectator
15 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
As the ADA turns 35, groups fighting for disability rights could see their federal dollars slashed
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Nancy Jensen believes she'd still be living in an abusive group home if it wasn't shut down in 2004 with the help of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, which for decades has received federal money to look out for Americans with disabilities. But the flow of funding under the Trump administration is now in question, disability rights groups nationwide say, dampening their mood as Saturday marks the 35th anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal dollars pay for much of their work, including helping people who seek government-funded services and lawsuits now pushing Iowa and Texas toward better community services. Documents outlining President Donald Trump's budget proposals show they would zero out funds earmarked for three grants to disability rights centers and slash funding for a fourth. Congress' first discussion of them, by the Senate Appropriations Committee, is set for Thursday, but the centers fear losing more than 60% of their federal dollars. The threat of cuts comes as the groups expect more demand for help after Republicans' tax and budget law complicated Medicaid health coverage with a new work-reporting requirement. There's also the sting of the timing: this year is the 50th anniversary of another federal law that created the network of state groups to protect people with disabilities, and Trump's proposals represent the largest potential cuts in that half-century, advocates said. The groups are authorized to make unannounced visits to group homes and interview residents alone. 'You're going to have lots of people with disabilities lost,' said Jensen, now president of Colorado's advisory council for federal funding of efforts to protect people with mental illnesses. She worries people with disabilities will have 'no backstop' for fighting housing discrimination or seeking services at school or accommodations at work. The potential budget savings are a shaving of copper from each federal tax penny. The groups receive not quite $180 million a year — versus $1.8 trillion in discretionary spending. Trump's administration touts flexibility for sta tes The president's Office of Management and Budget didn't respond to an email seeking a response to the disability rights groups' criticism. But in budget documents, the administration argued its proposals would give states needed flexibility. The U.S. Department of Education said earmarking funds for disability rights centers created an unnecessary administrative burden for states. Trump's top budget adviser, Russell Vought, told senators in a letter that a review of 2025 spending showed too much went to 'niche' groups outside government. 'We also considered, for each program, whether the governmental service provided could be provided better by State or local governments (if provided at all),' Vought wrote. Disability rights advocates doubt that state protection and advocacy groups — known as P&As — would see any dollar not specifically earmarked for them. They sue states, so the advocates don't want states deciding whether their work gets funded. The 1975 federal law setting up P&As declared them independent of the states, and newer laws reinforced that. 'We do need an independent system that can hold them and other wrongdoers accountable,' said Rocky Nichols, the Kansas center's executive director. Helping people with disabilities navigate Medicaid Nichols' center has helped Matthew Hull for years with getting the state to cover services, and Hull hopes to find a job. He uses a wheelchair; a Medicaid-provided nurse helps him run errands. 'I need to be able to do that so I can keep my strength up,' he said, adding that activity preserves his health. Medicaid applicants often had a difficult time working through its rules even before the tax and budget law's recent changes, said Sean Jackson, Disability Rights Texas' executive director. With fewer dollars, he said, 'As cases are coming into us, we're going to have to take less cases.' The Texas group receives money from a legal aid foundation and other sources, but federal funds still are 68% of its dollars. The Kansas center and Disability Rights Iowa rely entirely on federal funds. 'For the majority it would probably be 85% or higher,' said Marlene Sallo, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, which represents P&As. The Trump administration's proposals suggest it wants to shut down P&As, said Steven Schwartz, who founded the Center for Public Representation, a Massachusetts-based organization that works with them on lawsuits. Investigating allegations of abuse and pushing states Federal funding meant a call in 2009 to Disability Rights Iowa launched an immediate investigation of a program employing men with developmental disabilities in a turkey processing plant. Authorities said they lived in a dangerous, bug-infested bunkhouse and were financially exploited. Without the dollars, executive director Catherine Johnson said, 'That's maybe not something we could have done.' The Kansas center's private interview in 2004 with one of Jensen's fellow residents eventually led to long federal prison sentences for the couple operating the Kaufman House, a home for people with mental illnesses about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Wichita. And it wasn't until Disability Rights Iowa filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 that the state agreed to draft a plan to provide community services for children with severe mental and behavioral needs. For 15 years, Schwartz's group and Disability Rights Texas have pursued a federal lawsuit alleging Texas warehouses several thousand people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes without adequate services. Texas put at least three men in homes after they'd worked in the Iowa turkey plant. Last month, a federal judge ordered work to start on a plan to end the 'severe and ongoing' problems. Schwartz said Disability Rights Texas did interviews and gathered documents crucial to the case. 'There are no better eyes or ears,' he said. ___ Hunter reported from Atlanta.