An early care and education program in Redding says it nearly lost its federal funding after initially not being included in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services annual budget last month.
REDDING, Calif. – An early care and education program in Redding says it nearly lost its federal funding after initially not being included in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services annual budget last month.
While Shasta Head Start (SHS) says its now back on track to receive $16.8M for its 230 employees thanks to budget revisions just last week. “What we focus on is social and emotional development, because the first 5 years of a child’s life is most important” Executive Director Gordon Chatham explained.
Now that SHS has secured the funding, they’re hoping to hold onto it, to continue helping families in Shasta, Trinity and Siskiyou Counties. “It’s not just childcare, it’s the fact that they wrap around a family and provide additional services to them to make sure their child’s needs are being met fully” SHS Board Member Wendy Dickens described to Action News Now.
SHS currently serves 456 people overall across 3 counties, including Tyson Casper’s.
Casper has enrolled all 4 of his children into SHS at one time or another, and says without the program, his wife would have to quit her job, cutting their income in half. “When they were actually getting ready to transition from the program into kindergarten, it made a world of difference when they went to test and find out where they were actually going to land.”
SHS says 90% of the families they serve are living at or below the federal poverty line, while 10% of the children they help have disabilities, or even might be fosters or homeless. “They may not have everything the rest of the population has, so when they come to SHS they have what they need to be successful” Chatham said.
With a lack of other programs like SHS in the region, Chatham, Dickens and Casper all warn of detrimental effects to educational services if funding is cut.
In addition to federal funding, the program accepts private donations as well. “The age group of 0-5 is one of the foundational times in building brains, and we need to have quality areas for people to take their children” Dickens said.
This year marks 60 years since SHS was founded.