Island Head Start centers to receive $27.5 million allocation

By The Star Staff

The federal program of primary learning and knowledge centers, better known as Head Start, will receive a new allocation of funds for Puerto Rico totaling $27,449,708, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón announced Monday.

The Head Start Office of the Administration for Families and Children, which is attached to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), approved $23,072,407 for the island Family Department and $4,377,301 for the Municipality of Guaynabo for Head Start programs and Early Head Start.

Congress appropriates nearly $10 billion annually for Head Start and Early Head Start centers around the nation that are managed by 1,600 entities.

Head Start centers were designed to help break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children from low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional and educational needs.

A key principle of the program is that it is culturally responsive to the communities it serves, and that communities invest in its success through the contribution of volunteer hours and other donations as a non-federal share.

For information on how to apply for the aforementioned federal funds, visit the following link:

https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/en/grant-application