Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL) attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony and made a major announcement at Hillsborough County’s Church Park Head Start Center, an early childhood education organization.
The announcement includes over $20 billion for early childhood education and childcare programs stemming from the $1.2 government funding bill.
Rep. Castor spoke on the importance of early education programs as the new Head Start center opened in Hillsborough County.
“Head Start provides young children with a head start in life,” said Rep. Castor. “Head Start works, and Head Start students are more likely to be ready for kindergarten, graduate high school and attend college, and less likely to suffer from an adverse health outcome or repeat a grade in school.”
Castor continued, “It’s difficult to find and retain high-quality, trained early childhood educators due to the level of pay, but there is good news! At the end of last week, Congress passed bipartisan funding, and one of the largest increases was to early childhood education, so now our community can start paying teachers and early childhood educators the money they need and deserve.”
With the passage of the $1.2 trillion government funding bill, $12.3 billion will go toward the Head Start organization and $8.7 billion will be directed to Child Care and Development Block Grants to “increase access to quality child care for working families and invest in the early childhood education workforce.”
Furthermore, Castor recently introduced bipartisan legislation known as the Early Action and Responsiveness Lifts Youth (EARLY) Minds Act, a bill that looks to provide early intervention and prevention services to children and adults struggling with mental health challenges.
According to Rep. Castor, statistics show that over 20% of youth report “serious contemplation of suicide” in the past year alone. Furthermore, 40% of teens report “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness,” a significant increase from years past.
The EARLY Minds Act aims to address these startling figures by allowing states to allocate up to 5% of their Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Mental Health Block Grant funding toward preventative and early intervention initiatives.
Additionally, the bill will require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to demonstrate a report to Congress every other year showcasing the results of the efforts made by each state in the Union.
