Resolution - Head Start — File 25-0908

WHEREAS: The National Head Start Association, which serves over 750,000 low- income children with free pre-Kindergarten learning as well as social and emotional development, learned on April 11th via a journalist's interview request that the Trump administration is considering eliminating all federal funding for the Head Start program; and WHEREAS: The Trump administration closed the Boston Regional Head Start office earlier this month along with 4 other regional offices, accounting for half of the offices nationally; and WHEREAS: Approximately 275 children from ages 2 to 5 are served by Head Start in Somerville every year; and WHEREAS: Head Start provides nutritious meals, medical screenings, and dental care for these children while offering educational resources and childcare for caretakers; and WHEREAS: Childcare, particularly free childcare for low-income families, is a foundational need for families with young children in order to achieve economic security; and WHEREAS: Head Start was born out of Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty and its elimination will inject economic chaos directly into the homes of hundreds of Somerville families; and WHEREAS: This Council has a vested interest in anti-poverty programs that enhance the health and wellbeing of our constituents, particularly our youngest and most vulnerable ones; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Somerville City Council stands with our Head Start providers as well as the children and families that utilize the program by demanding that the program be fully funded; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Clerk send a copy of this resolution to Somerville's congressional delegation.