As you know, the budget situation in Olympia is very dire, and we need to make sure that our legislators know how important ECEAP is. The governor has proposed very serious cuts in ECEAP for 2011-2013 - 662 children each year, including virtually all 3-year-olds.
Now is the time for us to make sure that our legislators hear from us.
Please email or call your 3 legislators TODAY, tell them about your experience with ECEAP, and make sure they know that we can't afford to cut this key program. If you are with Head Start, you can still contact our legislators about the importance of serving as many at-risk children as possible with high-quality early learning programs - we're all in this together! Our messages include:
- ECEAP is a proven program that gets our most at-risk children ready for school.
- The need for ECEAP services has grown. More than 4,000 children are on the wait list because programs do not have the necessary funding. This year there will be nearly 26,000 children in Washington who are eligible but not served by either Head Start or ECEAP.
- For many communities ECEAP serves as the only safety net, ensuring that at-risk children receive medical care, dental care, nutritious meals and mental health services when needed, and that their families access emergency services such as food and shelter.
For more information, see our ECEAP Fact Sheet (pdf).
Here's how you can help:
- Call the legislative hotline: 1-800-562-6000
- Find your legislators via the leg.wa.gov website, and email them: DistrictFinder
Also, don't forget to make your appointments with your legislators for WSA Advocacy Day, February 10th.
Thanks for supporting ECEAP!