ICYMI: Senator Hassan Highlights Importance of Head Start as Trump Administration Threatens to Eliminate Funding
CLAREMONT – In case you missed it, Senator Hassan recently led a discussion at Claremont Head Start where she spoke with Head Start staff and other child care leaders about the harm caused by the Trump Administration’s threats to Head Start funding and the challenges that families face with the rising cost of child care. A draft budget proposal from the Trump Administration proposes eliminating federal funding for Head Start programs, which help more than 1,000 preschoolers in New Hampshire learn and grow. Already, the Trump Administration has shut down several regional Head Start offices including the office that serves New Hampshire. This makes it harder for New Hampshire child care centers to get support that they need.
Read more from Eagle Times and WCAX or see below:
By Katlyn Proctor
CLAREMONT, N.H. — In light of the Trump Administration’s proposed federal funding cuts, a large group of local child care leaders gathered Friday, April 25 at Claremont Head Start for a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan — and one thing was made perfectly clear: Any cuts to Head Start would have dramatic effects on Sullivan County.
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“One of the purposes of this visit is just to highlight the work you do, is to make sure that I’m hearing from all of you kind of what you know, what you don’t know about the administration’s plans, what has already happened in terms of funding slowdowns, freezes and staffing adjustments,” said Sen. Hassan. “I want to hear kind of what the state of play is, how things are going, but I also want to be able to take back to my colleagues in Washington a real understanding based on what’s happening on the ground here in New Hampshire about what these cuts would mean so we can fight against them.”
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Already, the Trump Administration has shut down several regional Head Start offices including the office that serves New Hampshire, inciting anxiety about what the future holds.
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WCAX: Proposed GOP budget would ax Head Start, Hassan says
By Adam Sullivan
CLAREMONT, N.H. (WCAX) - Several thousand preschoolers in New Hampshire and Vermont could be affected by proposed cuts to the federal Head Start Program.
New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan says a draft budget from the Trump administration proposes eliminating all federal funding for Head Start programs.
The Democrat spoke with staff members at the Claremont Head Start office on Friday. She says federal employees in New Hampshire who help coordinate the programs have lost their jobs. She says the program is crucial for families who otherwise could not afford it. “There are Head Start programs that also work with other private child care programs. We already know that child care is hard to come by and expensive in New Hampshire, and this would just make those resources even more scarce and the costs even higher,” Hassan said.
New Hampshire receives roughly $16 million annually for Head Start. Vermont receives over $14 million, which benefits about 1,200 children.
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