National Head Start Association

Head Start Director Urges Lawmakers to Avert Sequester

100,000 Children Could Be Cut from Head Start and Early Head Start

Washington, D.C. – Local Head Start Director, Dr. Tammy Mann, testified today before the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies regarding the potential impact of the sequester on Head Start and Early Head Start Centers, which serve nearly one million vulnerable children each year across the United States.

As president and CEO of The Campagna Center in Alexandria, Virginia, Dr. Mann oversees the delivery of a range of early childhood, school age, youth, and family development programs designed to empower and engage parents as they address their children’s academic and social needs - to over 1,700 children in need. During her testimony, she addressed the constant demand to successfully braid and leverage a multitude of local, state, and federal funding with precious private investment and shared community resources to provide the highest quality services to the neediest families in Alexandria.

“The looming 7.8% cut to non-defense discretionary programs will have a serious, immediate, and disruptive impact on the vulnerable children and families we serve,” said Dr. Mann. “There is simply no way we can absorb this large of a reduction without cutting children, families, and staff from our program.”

Nationally, the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that this cut will result in 100,000 fewer children receiving Head Start and Early Head Start services, and 80,000 fewer children receiving child care assistance. In Virginia alone, it is estimated that more than 800 children and their families will no longer receive federally funded child care assistance. For Head Start and Early Head Start, the cut would also equate to the loss of roughly 1,140 children and their families in the state, according to the National Head Start Association.

“At a time when Americans are struggling to stay ahead of the curve, eliminating 100,000 Head Start and Early Head Start slots will not only widen the achievement gap Head Start was designed to close – but force more parents out of jobs,” said Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association. “Head Start and other non-defense discretionary programs are not the cause of our growing debt. Even completely eliminating all nondefense discretionary programs will not balance the budget, but these programs remain a popular target.”

Dr. Mann concluded her testimony by urging the subcommittee to take a leadership role in finding a balanced approach that averts the sequester and ensures that “this deficit reduction effort is not financed with cuts to programs that help our most vulnerable citizens.”

Additional information about The Campagna Center can be found at www.campagnacenter.org.

Additional information about the National Head Start Association can be found at www.nhsa.org.

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