Stimulus funding for Delaware Head Start

Delaware’s 57 Head Start centers will get $1.4-million in funding thanks to the federal stimulus program

Delaware’s 57 Head Start centers will get $1.4-million in funding thanks to the federal stimulus program. U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D) and Ted Kaufman (D) announced the funding at a Head Start Center in Wilmington.

The money will be used to provide training for staff at the centers.  It will also fund upgrades and renovations, and allow the centers to expand their hours of operation. Senator Carper says, “The money that we invest in this country in young kids, under the age of five, that’s the best investment that we’ll ever make.” He says in addition to helping educators and others working at Head Start keep their jobs, it also has long term benefits for the kids going through the program.

With more than 2,600 Delaware children enrolled in Head Start programs, Senator Kaufman says adding stimulus funding to the program is definitely money well spent.  He says Head Start is “probably  the best federal program we’ve ever had… There’s an incredible return for what money we spend on it.”  He says the single most important time in education is in pre-school children, aged 3 to5.

Nationwide, there are more than one million children enrolled in Head Start. In 2008, the federal government spent nearly $7-billion to fund the program.  The program serves children from families at or below the federal poverty level, which in 2008, was an income of $21,200 per year for a family of four.