Christopher Dodd

“ But leaving this undone will cost a great deal more over the long term. The costs will mount as we pay more for remedial education, more for welfare, more for prisons, and pay in terms of incredible lost potential. ”

“ And Head Start continues to improve in other ways. Partnerships between local Head Start, child care and preschool are flourishing on the local level to further the goal of providing working parents with access to full-day, full-year high quality care. This innovation is critical — With welfare reform, Head Start parents are working parents and must be served accordingly.
Early Head Start continues to grow and meet the needs of babies and toddlers. ”

“ We have worked closely together on my efforts to increase funding for the Child Care and Development Block grant which assists needy working parents get access to quality child care. These dollars are helping to build a better infrastructure for all children as well as Head Start children. ”

“ As clear as these arguments may seem to us, however, this is an uphill fight in Congress. While Head Start has many friends on both sides of the aisle, there are still many who question spending more dollars on needy children and their families. ”

“ Head Start brings together parents, teachers and others in the community to support young children and meet their needs. Sometimes that means health screenings and eye glasses; other times it means linking a parent up with job training services. It means constructive learning and play, care giving and nutrition. ”

“ There is no question that the Family and Medical Leave Act has provided a lifeline to families in offering guaranteed unpaid leave to families with new or sick children. But too many low-income families cannot take advantage of this policy because it is unpaid. ”

“ Frankly, we know that was what welfare reform was about and what the continued moves to pare back other spending on families is about - whether it be in cuts to the Social Services Block grant that we saw proposed last year or in plans to "reform" education programs right into non-existence. ”