Millett bill would help more kids get quality early childhood education

Democrats on HHS Committee support increasing access to Head Start

A bill introduced by Sen. Rebecca Millett, D-Cape Elizabeth to provide additional funding for more children to attend Head Start received a party-line vote in the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on March 30.

The bill — LD 230, “An Act To Increase Access to Head Start” — provides $2.75 million each in both years of the upcoming biennium for the delivery of Head Start Services. The five Democrats present at the work session voted in favor of the bill while Republicans present split their votes. Some voted against increasing access to Head Start others voted to fund increased access through the use of TANF funds. According to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) provides “temporary help for children and their parents while the family works toward becoming self-supporting.”

Head Start funding was slashed in 2012, causing hundreds of children in Maine to lose access to their services. Even before the funding cuts, the state was unable to serve a majority of income-eligible children. Currently, Head Start agencies have over 1,100 children and families on waiting lists.

“Quality early childhood education, like that provided at Head Start programs, helps prepare our kids for school and life,” said Sen. Millett. “Early childhood education is also provides a better return on investment than having to intervene in a child’s life later on, making it good for the State as well as for the kids and their families.”

Head Start is designed to meet the whole needs of a child, including cognitive, social-emotional and health needs along with parent education, so that children are better prepared for school. It reaps long-term economic benefits for the state by improving lifetime educational attainment and health while reducing the likelihood of future criminal activity. According to Rob Grunewald, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, every dollar invested in quality preschool programs have between a $10 and $5 return in economic benefits.

Many people spoke in favor of the bill at a recent public hearing, including: a former Head Start student, Police Chief Phillip Crowell of the Auburn Police Department, the Maine Education Association, the Maine Head Start Directors Association, parents of children in Head Start, Maine Equal Justice Partners, the Maine Children’s Alliance, and 55 members (including Chiefs of Police and county Sheriffs) of the group Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.

No one spoke against the bill at the hearing, however James Martin, the Director of the Office of Child and Family Services in the Department of Health and Human Services submitted written testimony against the bill. DHHS said that the federal funding Maine receives for Head Start is “sufficient,” despite the long waitlists.

The bill now heads to the Senate for initial votes.