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Yahoo
17-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Head Start of Covington celebrate 60 years
COVINGTON, Ind. — The Head Start of Fountain and Warren, in Covington, Indiana, has been helping prepare kids and their families for school for the past 60 years. To celebrate the anniversary, and Field Day, the program hosted a 'Down on the Farm' themed event Friday, May 16, in Covington City Park. For Dawn Tritten, director of the Head Start program in Covington, the Field Day is a rare opportunity for her to get out of the office and see all the kids playing together. 'We have seven centers. Their parents get together and plan what they want to see, and they did an amazing job,' Tritten said. 'I don't get out very much. So for me, it is amazing to see everyone together.' There were several different play stations set up around a pavilion in the park, including an animal station with chickens and a corgi, as well as a Touch the Truck section, with a semi truck, firetruck, ambulance, and more. 'Sometimes we have these gentlemen with their vehicles come and read to us, and it's also an opportunity for us to bring it to them if they can't get out to see it themselves, so we have great community partners,' Payton said. Jerry Mortimore, a truck driver, is one such reader. He brought his semi to the event so his son Zander Anderson, a Head Start student, could play in it and show his friends how fun it is to climb up into the cab and sit behind the wheel. 'He's been driving a truck forever, and they are obsessed with it,' said Mortimore's wife. 'Zander came up to him and said, 'Can you take it to my field day?' So, we're letting him bring it.' After the fun celebration, Trittel and JJ Payton — Head Start Center Manager — gave out awards to several parent volunteers before presenting certifications of completion to those kids who were in attendance. Among them was Hunter Marlatt, whose mother Keana Hiner said her son has grown so much in the program. 'He has been playing with kids a lot better and counting better, and he's better with his shapes and his colors,' she said, adding that he is just much easier to bring around other people now. Those interested in enrolling in Covington's Head Start program can reach out to the director at 765-793-0473. The office is open year-round. Head Start is a federally-funded program that provides free, comprehensive early learning, health, nutrition, and family support services to children ages 3-5 from low-income families, according to the First Five Years Fund. It was established in 1965 as part of President Lyndon P. Johnson's 'War on Poverty.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California legislators are protesting Trump's cuts to Head Start — even Republicans
On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of legislators in Sacramento released a letter urging California's congressional delegation to protect the embattled Head Start program and reject any proposed Trump administration cuts. The letter, which was signed by over three-quarters of state lawmakers, said they are "deeply alarmed" by a growing list of cuts to the federal early childhood program under the Trump administration — including the threat of total elimination — and asked that Congress "reject any proposals that weaken or eliminate Head Start." 'That is probably the most bipartisan letter and issue that we have worked on in years, and it is all to protect and save our Head Start program," Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D-Silicon Valley), said at a press conference. Head Start also enjoys overwhelming public support across the political spectrum with 74% of Trump voters in support of the program, according to an April survey of more than 1,000 registered voters nationwide. The poll by the firm UpONE Insights was conducted on behalf of First Five Years Fund, which lobbies Congress on early childhood education. Read more: With Head Start in jeopardy, Trump administration threatens child care for 800,000 kids California receives $1.5 billion annually for Head Start. The program provides child care, education, medical care, and nutritious meals to more than 80,000 low-income children from birth through age five in the state and employs about 26,000 workers. Due to recent cuts and threats, nearly 1000 Head Start employees in California have already received pink slips, Ahrens said. Two of the members who spoke at the conference — Ahrens and Republican Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R-Alturas) — had attended Head Start programs themselves. 'I still distinctly remember eating fresh fruit for the first time in my life, because the Head Start Program offers free breakfast," Ahrens said. In rural districts, like Modoc, Siskiyou, and Lassen Counties, "Head Start isn't just one option among many. A lot of times, it's the only option," said Hadwick, who represents these areas. "I fully believe that we need to cut our budget and cut the waste. I just hope that we don't do it on the backs of low-income, working families and our children.' "Access to reliable early education supports parents to work or pursue training, and early childhood jobs —many held by women of color — support community well-being and economic mobility," the legislators wrote in the letter. Already, a shortage of child care access "is estimated to cost California "$17 billion in lost productivity and economic output" annually, they wrote, and cuts to Head Start would "exacerbate this loss." Read more: ACLU sues to halt Trump administration attacks on Head Start child-care program Last month, an early version of President Trump's budget proposed eliminating the Head Start program entirely. That proposal appeared to have been withdrawn in the "skinny" Presidential budget plan released last week, but the administration has undercut the program repeatedly. In January, an executive order to temporarily freeze all federal financial aid in January left Head Start staff suddenly unable to access the funds they had been promised. In February scores of federal staffers were laid off at the department of Health and Human Services' Office of Head Start in Washington, D.C. And in April, the administration announced that five of the 12 regional offices managing relationships with Head Start grantees would be closed immediately and all employees laid off, including Region 9, which covers four states, including California. This article is part of The Times' early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Poll: GOP voters want federal action on child care costs, match other political parties in support
Children in child care. (Photo by Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent) Research by a Republican polling firm shows child care expenses 'continue to be a major financial burden' and a majority of Republicans nationwide join other political parties in seeking action from the White House and Congress. The new national polling from UpONE Insights, commissioned by the child advocacy group First Five Years Fund and First Five Action, oversampled GOP voters in its 1,000 participants. The results showed 9 in 10 Republicans 'think it's a problem or crisis that Americans can't afford child care,' along with 91% of independent voters and 97% of Democrats. The research goes along with Ohio-level studies that have shown access to child care, or lack thereof, has an 'undeniable' impact on the state economy and support for child care assistance has the backing of members of all political parties locally as well. A Public Opinion Strategies poll released in January also found that 61% of non-full-time-working mothers would go back to work if they didn't have to stay home to avoid unaffordable child care costs. Of those polled in the January study, 86% said access to affordable child care 'will help strengthen Ohio's economy and help its workers.' A vast majority (79%) of GOP voters in the FFYF poll wanted President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans 'to do more to help working parents afford quality child care.' Increasing funding for and access to quality child care is as important for families as securing the border and stopping the increase of crime according to 55% of Republican voters, the study stated. Federal investments were generally supported in the new national poll, including 'especially strong' support for the Child Care Development Block Grant. The grant provides funding that is then distributed by states as subsidies for child care to benefit low-income families with children younger than 13. 'The majority of these funds support children under age 6, with the remainder dedicated to the care of older children during out-of-school time,' according to a separate analysis of the grants by the First Five Years Fund. States have discretion in the use of the grant funding, but the subsidies are aimed at helping access quality child care, and very few of the families who qualify for the funding receive it nationwide, the study found. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Office of Child Care reported more than $70.1 million in federal mandatory funds went to the state of Ohio as part of Child Care and Development Fund allocations in 2024. Allocations to the fund for each state are based on the state population of children younger than 5 and younger than 13 from U.S. Census Bureau figures. The allocations are also based on the state's amount of free and reduced-price school lunch program participation per the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the per-capita income reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Federal share matching funds were reported at $76.6 million, and the state share matching funds were estimated at $41.6 million. The state share includes a 9% 'quality spending requirement' and a 3% infant and toddler quality spending requirement, according to the federal department. The state share was up from $34.4 million in the same report for 2023 funds. Federal discretionary funds from the fund were $296.7 million, up from $272.7 million in 2023. The First Five Years Fund said the block grant funding can be used to pay child care providers directly to reserve slots in facilities, or for a voucher 'to use with their choice of approved local child care providers.' 'Additionally, states must invest a portion of the grant on improving the overall quality of child care for all families,' the First Five Years Fund explained. Gov. Mike DeWine's executive budget proposal, a list of recommendations and priorities he wants to see from the final legislative budget draft, includes the expansion of a Childcare Choice Voucher Program. DeWine's proposal would bring household eligibility up to 200% of the federal poverty level from the current level of 146%. DeWine has also proposed a refundable child tax credit that can be used for all sorts of costs related to caring for a child. The tax credit would be up to $1,000 per child through age 6. The First Five Years Fund polling showed a federal child tax credit, the expansion of which is currently awaiting U.S. Senate approval, is 'the only federal tax credit that specifically allows working parents to keep more of what they earn to pay for child care,' garnering 86% support for an increase. Child care has been a topic of debate on both sides of the aisle in Ohio, with bills coming in and out of the Ohio legislature over the last two years, and a new crop of bills popping up early in the new General Assembly. Two of the bills – companion legislation that promotes a cost-sharing model where the state, employers and employees would all contribute to child care costs – have seen action in Ohio House and Senate committees. Another bill that was passed last year, House Bill 7, had an overarching goal to improve outcomes and access in many aspects of child wellbeing, including better engagement with Early Head Start programs and support for child care providers. The bill passed without any financial appropriation, so the bipartisan sponsors of the bill are hoping the ongoing budget process will bring about the funds they need to implement further change originally intended in the bill. In 2023, Democrats attempted to introduce a tax credit similar to DeWine's proposal in his executive budget, a 'thriving families tax credit' that would have been up to $1,000 per child per year up to age five, and $500 per child annually up to age 17. The bill failed to garner enough support in the Republican supermajority to make it past the committee stages, and died at the end of last year's General Assembly. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who's vying to take over for DeWine as governor in 2026, recently brought up 'day care subsidies' as one of the potential uses for some of the $840 million allocated as part of state workforce agency JobsOhio's 15-year extension. Yost proposed the subsidies as part of a plan to 'promote job creation in high-growth industries while simultaneously supporting Ohioans who need assistance re-entering the workforce or upgrading their skills.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
