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ELLSWORTH—Head Start, a federal program providing childcare,
education and special services for low-income preschool
children, is in danger, Maine Head Start directors say.
Changes
proposed by the Bush administration could “dismantle” Head
Start, according to the Maine Head Start Directors Association.
Child &
Family Opportunities runs the Head Start program in Hancock and
Washington counties. Head Start serves children from six weeks
to five years old.
The
agency’s director, Jeanie Mills, is the chair of the Maine Head
Start Directors Association.
President
Bush has proposed moving the Head Start program from the
Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of
Education, according to Phyllis Young, Child & Family
Opportunities’ executive assistant.
The move is
to make Head Start “more of a literacy program,” said Young.
Sounds
good, right?
No, says
the Maine Head Start Directors Association, because Head Start
is more than an early-education program.
Head Start
is a “comprehensive program,” Young said, which provides social,
developmental and health services for children.
Keeping
Head Start within the Department of Health and Human Services
will assure that the comprehensive services remain, according to
the association.
Another
change under the Bush plan entails Head Start funding. The money
would no longer go directly to the Head Start agencies,
according to Young. Instead, the federal government would send
it to the states for disbursement.
The
association opposes this proposed change as well, particularly
in light of state budget shortages. With state budgets
shrinking, fewer children would be served by Head Start,
according to the association.
Head Start
children in Hancock County will be served at the agency’s new childcare facility on
Avery Lane off Beechland Road.
Although
the childcare center has a waiting list, “we’re encouraging all
families to apply with age-eligible children,” said Young.
Young said
Child & Family Opportunities offers the same services, such as
nutrition advice or home visits, to all families whether the
family qualifies for reduced cost childcare under the Head Start
program or pays the full childcare cost.
When the
federal government began Head Start in 1965, it seemed to have
the idea that only low-income families needed parenting help,
said Elizabeth Ehrlenbach, a Child & Family board member.
There are
high-income families who do not have effective parenting skills,
Ehrlenbach said.
One aspect
of Head Start is its focus on empowering families.
To that
end, Head Start parents serve on a “policy council” at each Head
Start program to make decisions that affect their children.
“The parent
voice is very strong and very respected,” said Young.
“The
empowerment aspect is important” because low-income people
“often feel alienated from society,” Ehrlenbach said. |
