{"id":11258,"date":"2025-04-23T14:18:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/?p=11258"},"modified":"2025-04-23T14:18:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:18:54","slug":"head-start-program-in-jeopardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/23\/head-start-program-in-jeopardy\/","title":{"rendered":"Head Start program in Jeopardy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Cleveland, OH, April 14, 2025: \u00a0<\/strong>Step Forward, Cuyahoga County\u2019s largest provider of Head Start services, is sounding the alarm as national discussions surface around a federal budget proposal that would eliminate funding for the Head Start program, a move that would deeply impact children, families, and the local economy.<\/p>\n

This potential loss comes at a time when critical support systems are already being scaled back. Recently, the federal government closed the regional Health and Human Services (HHS) office that oversaw Head Start programming and compliance in Ohio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not just talking about a line item in the federal budget,\u201d Dr. Thea Wilson, Step Forward\u2019s Vice President of Children and Families, said. \u201cWe are talking about removing a critical system that thousands of Cuyahoga County families depend on every single day. Without Head Start, many of our community\u2019s youngest children will have nowhere else to go and the educational gap they already face will only grow wider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head Start is a vital resource for more than 750,000 of America\u2019s most vulnerable children. Locally, Step Forward serves about 2,000 children annually, offering high-quality early education, health services, and family support. The program is free for income-eligible families.<\/p>\n

\u201cEliminating this support would not only create an immediate crisis in early childhood education, but in our workforce,\u201d Dr. Wilson said. \u201cLocal parents will be forced to choose between childcare and their jobs, putting their livelihoods and the local economy at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step Forward\u2019s Head Start program provides comprehensive, wraparound services to families in Cuyahoga County, ensuring that children are not only ready for school but also supported in their overall development. The agency provides essential resources, including formula and diapers for babies, as well as nutritious meals (breakfast, lunch, and a snack) for the children. In addition, Head Start offers free developmental screenings to assess and support early growth.<\/p>\n

As we face the potential elimination of this vital program, Step Forward joins Head Start programs nationwide in urging every community member – families, educators, alumni, and advocates – to take immediate action and call on their Members of Congress to protect Head Start funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cleveland, OH, April 14, 2025: \u00a0Step Forward, Cuyahoga County\u2019s largest provider of Head Start services, is sounding the alarm as national discussions surface around a federal budget proposal that would eliminate funding for the Head Start program, a move that would deeply impact children, families, and the local economy. This potential loss comes at a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_rtcl_gb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[254],"class_list":["post-11258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ohio"],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo-150x133.jpg",150,133,true],"medium":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"large":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"rtcl-gallery":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"rtcl-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"rtcl-gallery-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo-150x105.jpg",150,105,true],"psacp-medium":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo.jpg",300,133,false],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/step-forward-logo-45x45.jpg",45,45,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"LaPrensa Newspaper","author_link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/author\/laprensa\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Ohio<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Cleveland, OH, April 14, 2025: \u00a0Step Forward, Cuyahoga County\u2019s largest provider of Head Start services, is sounding the alarm as national discussions surface around a federal budget proposal that would eliminate funding for the Head Start program, a move that would deeply impact children, families, and the local economy. This potential loss comes at a","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11259,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11258\/revisions\/11259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11258"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=11258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}