Speak out for the continued success of Head Start!

Speak out for Head Start!

Over one million young children and pregnant women are served by Head Start every year throughout the country. Head Start and Early Head Start serve a diverse group of children and families—38% are Hispanic/Latino, 29% are Black, 43% are white, and 2% are Asian. These programs promote school readiness and health for low-income students, help break the cycle of poverty, and provide family well-being by supporting parents and families in their own goals such as housing stability and continued education. Head Start is unique in the fact that it doesn’t just concentrate on brain development or promoting language and literacy learning (it does that too!), but it also looks at the whole child and provides our littlest learners with all they will need to be successful later in life—everything from nutritious meals, to oral health, to social skills, and emotional well-being.

But less than half of children who are income eligible for the program are able to access the advantages provided by Head Start! As Head Start celebrates its 52^nd birthday and our elected leaders begin to craft a national budget, we need Congress to protect and strengthen Head Start’s funding and build on its past success to guarantee that all children get the early learning skills they need to be successful later in life.

**Sign our letter to the U.S. Congress and tell your Senators and Representative to support the continued success of Head Start!

Dear member of Congress,

Head Start means success for low-income children and their families, a level playing field when they enter kindergarten, and readiness throughout their school years and later in life. In fact, studies show that Head Start students are more likely to complete high school, attend college, and even have better health and economic outcomes. They are also less likely to have been charged with a crime or become a teenage parent.

Investments in Head Start support our littlest learners, parents, and our economy. Head Start gives otherwise disadvantaged children the ability to learn and thrive in a structured environment. Over one million young children are served by Head Start every year in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the country. Head Start and Early Head Start serve a diverse group of children and families—38% are Hispanic/Latino, 29% are Black, 43% are white, and 2% are Asian. This program promotes school readiness and health for low-income students, helps break the cycle of poverty, and provides family well-being by supporting parents and families in their own goals such as job training, housing stability and continued education. Knowing their children are learning and thriving in a nurturing and safe environment allows Head Start parents to return to work, move up the economic ladder, and contribute to our local economies.

Right now, only 31% of income eligible three and four year old children are being reached by Head Start nationally. It is even lower for Early Head Start where only 6% of eligible infants and toddlers are being served by the program. In order to build on the success Head Start has achieved for the past fifty-two years, our elected leaders need to invest in this program in order to guarantee that all eligible children have access to early learning opportunities that will help them learn and grow into successful adults.

Federal investments in Head Start are widely supported by your constituents. In fact, a 2016 poll by the First Five Years Fund found that 90% of voters (both Republicans and Democrats) agree that our elected leaders should work together to make quality early childhood education, including Head Start, more accessible and affordable to low- and middle-income families.

Join me in supporting our littlest learners, their families, and our economy by supporting Head Start!

Contact Information

Name*

Email address*

ZIP Code*

Get text message alerts (Standard text message charges may apply)

Mobile Phone*

Privacy Policy (the basics): We do not share the information you've given us with unaffiliated groups without your explicit permission. For petitions, letters to the editor, and surveys you've signed or completed, we treat your name, city, state, and comments as public information. We will not make your street address publicly available, but we may transmit it to members of Congress, the President, or other targets specifically noted on the signup page. We will send you updates on this and other important campaigns by email. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from our email list, you may do so. For our complete privacy policy, click here.