April 4, 2017
The Honorable Hal Rogers, Chairman House Appropriations Committee
H-305, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Tom Cole, Chairman
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
2368-B Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Nita Lowey, Ranking Member House Appropriations Committee
1016 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro, Ranking Member House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
1016 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Frelinghuysen, Ranking Member Lowey, Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro,
We are writing to urge you to prioritize funding for Head Start, including implementation of the new streamlined Program Performance Standards called for in the bipartisan 2007 Head Start reauthorization, in the Fiscal Year 2018 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Like you, we are keenly aware of the serious constraints on the federal budget generally and on the Labor-HHS bill in particular. We believe that Head Start, which offers education, health and nutrition services to economically disadvantaged children, as well as parenting and employment supports to their parents, is a wise and cost-effective investment in families and local communities. Research has amply demonstrated that high quality early childhood education programs generate a significant return on investment, and that the advantage of Head Start can last a lifetime.
Through educational, health and comprehensive social services to children and families, Head Start promotes healthy development, school readiness, and lifetime success. It does so by tailoring high quality services to each community’s local preferences and priorities. But quality comes at a cost. In FY 2018, Head Start programs will strain to pay competitive wages and retain highly qualified staff. Implementation of the new performance standards will further enhance Head Start quality and improve child outcomes if properly resourced. The new performance standards emphasize local flexibility to respond to the needs of families by adding additional program hours and days so parents can work; serving more infants and toddlers; requiring more extensive background checks on Head Start staff; and elevating teacher quality through real-time mentoring and coaching.
Head Start represents our nation’s commitment to building strong families and communities, and to breaking the cycle of poverty that prevents too many children from achieving their God-given potential. Head Start graduates score higher on school readiness measures such as verbal achievement, perceptual reasoning, and social competence than their peers who do not attend preschool. For every dollar invested in Head Start children and families, the country realizes almost nine dollars in benefits through increased earning, decreased welfare dependence, and reduced reliance on other social programs.
We respectfully request that the FY 2018 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies mark maintain or increase the current number of children and families served while supporting progress on implementation of the new performance standards so that Head Start can continue to provide much-needed education, health and economic development services to America’s most vulnerable children and families.
Sincerely,
| KATHERINE CLARK Member of Congress |
LYNN JENKINS Member of Congress |
| DON YOUNG Member of Congress |
STEVE STIVERS Member of Congress |
| BRIAN FITZPATRICK Member of Congress |
SUSAN BROOKS Member of Congress |
| DAN DONOVAN Member of Congress |
JOHN FASO Member of Congress |
| RYAN COSTELLO Member of Congress |
CARLOS CURBELO Member of Congress |
| VICENTE GONZALEZ Member of Congress |
MARK DESAULNIER Member of Congress |
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