Take Action Now!

If you’d prefer to call, NHSA has set up a toll-free number that will direct you to your Senators and Representatives!  Call Toll Free (888) 622-NHSA (6472). Calling this number will connect you directly to the Capitol Hill Operator, who can then transfer you to your elected officials. Communicating with your members of Congress and expressing your policy priorities keeps them accountable to you and is an invaluable way to advocate for Head Start.

Not sure who your member of Congress is?  Map and links to federal officials; or a list of Washington State contacts.

Register to vote:   Register online here.

For more information about the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP and our advocacy and training activities, click here, or sign up for email updates.

 

Head Start is our nation’s premier school readiness program for at-risk children, yet it still gets caught up in political wrangling in DC and across the county.  With this in mind, independent fact-checkers and 300 national researchers reviewed the evidence and have come to a conclusive decision:

Head Start works.  It's been proven.

  • Studies of Head Start programs found that Head Start increases educational achievement: raising test scores, decreasing the need for children to receive special education services and making it less likely that children will repeat a grade. Head Start graduates are also more likely to graduate from high school and attend college.
  • Head Start's impact on child health is impressive. Likely because of its required medical screenings, vaccinations, and emphasis on nutrition, Head Start reduces mortality rates among 5- to 9-year olds as much as 50%. A Head Start child is 19 to 25 percent less likely to smoke as an adult.  And Head Start parents receiving health literacy decreased annual Medicaid costs by $232 per family.
  • Head Start graduates are 12 percent less likely to be booked or charged with a crime. This reduction translates into savings for crime victims; local, state, and federal governments; and the American taxpayer.

Congress is determining Head Start funding now and your help is needed.  Across the country millions of children remain in need of Head Start and Early Head Start services, but right now in D.C. Congress is poised to cut Head Start’s budget and threaten the futures of a generation. In Washington state, more than 20,000 children are eligible for Head Start but are not being served by either Head Start or ECEAP, our state pre-k program.  The number for Early Head Start is far higher – more than 95% of eligible children are NOT being served by Early Head Start programs.

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