Head Start is underfunded and unequal, according to a new study, By Joe Helm, December 14, 2016, Washington Post: “Head Start, the federal program that provides education, nutrition and health services to low-income children and their families, is not adequately funded and is administered so differently from state to state that children do not benefit equally, according to a new report from the National Institute for Early Education Research…”
Head Start’s state-to-state gaps noted in most comprehensive report card yet, By Ellen Powell, December 14, 2016, Christian Science Monitor: “Head Start just received its first nationwide report card – and improving consistent quality is at the top of the agenda. In the most comprehensive study of the program yet, ‘State(s) of Head Start,’ released Wednesday, researchers from the National Institute for Early Education Research, at Rutgers University, looked at data on Head Start programs from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. The study calls for a revived discussion of how Head Start can serve all children in poverty. Increasing funding is a significant part of that conversation, the study’s authors say, noting that programs cannot serve all children – and serve them well – with their current limited resources…”
Is Head Start working for low-income latino kids? Depends on the state, By Suzanne Gamboa, December 14, 2016, NBC News: “Quality preschool can greatly benefit low-income children and families, yet the three states with the greatest numbers of Latino residents fell below national averages on enrollment and other measures in a state-by-state report of Head Start programs. On some measures, though, the states beat the national average. The evaluation by the National Institute for Early Education Research, NIEER, and Rutgers Graduate School of Education found great inconsistency among states in Head Start and Early Head Start programs, products of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty…”
STATE: Shutdown: Big pain in Michigan in less than a month, By Charles Crumm, October 3, 2013, Dearborn Press and Guide: “Michigan can weather a federal government shutdown for a few days, and maybe as long as a month. But some federally-funded programs — food stamps, heating assistance, school lunches, child nutrition — will feel the impact of a shutdown soon, says Michigan Budget Director John Nixon. Nixon held a teleconference Tuesday afternoon to talk about the effect of a federal shutdown on federally-funded programs in Michigan…”
Government shutdown: How much will it harm the economy?, By Mark Trumbull, October 2, 2013, Christian Science Monitor: “The US government shutdown that began Tuesday is a nuisance to many Americans and a hardship for legions of federal employees, but its impact on the economy is expected to be only modest – at least at first. That’s the widely held view of forecasters. Economic damage could rise, however, if this partial halt of federal activity starts running longer than a week or two…”
Federal help for heating bills, food threatened by shutdown, Kentucky officials say, By Valarie Honeycutt Spears, October 2, 2013, Lexington Herald-Ledger: “Low-income Kentucky families who get federal help with their home heating bills, food for young children or child care could be the first to suffer from the partial shutdown of the U.S. government, officials said Wednesday. Federal assistance for home heating bills is expected to be delayed by a week or more instead of arriving during the first week of November, said Rob Jones, executive director of Community Action Kentucky…”
9 million babies and mothers may be harmed by WIC shutdown, By Devon Merling, October 2, 2013, Deseret News: “The government shutdown is already impacting the vulnerable population of low-income moms and babies across the country who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly known as WIC…”
Shutdown already weighing on low-income Americans, By Joan E. Greve, October 2, 2013, ABC News: “The federal government’s partial shutdown is only two days old, but lower-income families have already been pinched by the ‘lapse of funding…'”
A federal government shutdown would deliver immediate, long-term hits to R.I., By Phillip Marcelo and Paul Edward Parker, September 30, 2013, Providence Journal: “As Monday’s midnight deadline for the federal government shutdown approached, Rhode Island agencies — from the Navy base in Newport to Head Start programs across the state — braced for impact. U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said the economic toll on the Ocean State would only increase the longer the congressional impasse lasted. The federal government is the state’s third-largest employer, with roughly 7,000 workers, according to the senator’s office…”
A government shutdown could hurt economy more now than it did in 1995, By Don Lee, September 30, 2013, Los Angeles Times: “The last time the federal government shut down, for three weeks in the winter of 1995-96, the American economy felt a jolt but recovered quickly. Things don’t look anywhere near as promising this time around.The nation is currently more than four years into an economic expansion with some momentum behind it. That also was the case in 1995. But this time, things are a lot more fragile…”
Park-goers, poor will be first hurt by shutdown, By Joe Garofoli, Justin Berton and John Coté, October 1, 2013, San Francisco Chronicle: “If the federal government doesn’t open for business Tuesday, park gates from Muir Woods to Yosemite National Park will slam shut. Many of the 169,000 federal employees in the Bay Area will be furloughed without pay, after Congress failed to avert the first shutdown in nearly two decades Tuesday night. Those who rely on food programs for the poor could feel the effects within days…”
WIC support for moms, babies threatened during shutdown, By Stephanie Condon, October 1, 2013, CBS News: “Low-income mothers, pregnant women, babies and young children who rely on government assistance to purchase food could see their help cut off now that the government is shut down. Nearly 9 million mothers and children receive benefits under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The federal program gives grants to states for supplemental food, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant women, new mothers, and to infants and children up to age five who are nutritionally at risk. The program serves 53 percent of all infants born in the U.S…”
Lengthy government shutdown would hit seniors, workers hard, By Randy Krehbiel, September 28, 2013, Tulsa World: “Seniors, travelers, the poor – and, of course, Oklahoma’s 48,000 federal employees – will likely be among the first to feel the government shutdown threatened by Congress’ inability to agree on a budget resolution, those who have looked at previous such events say. ‘All of these (effects of a shutdown) seem like inconveniences,’ said Oklahoma State University political science professor Brandon Lenoir, ‘and they would be inconveniences, (except) if the impasse lasts for weeks it becomes an effect … on livelihoods…'”
