March Forth For Child Care and Head Start

March 4th For Child Care and Head Start - Posted by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at the Care2 Election Blog)

Today is March Forth For Child Care and Head Start day, and you can help make a difference by calling or emailing your members of Congress. All day today, advocates for children will be joining-in to voice their support of an increase in funding for the Head Start program. This is such an important issue, and I hope you will consider taking action to support our children.

Earlier today, I wrote about my personal experience with this program, in a post at BlogHer — Bush’s War on the Single Mother. Here is an excerpt from a comment by Suzanne Reisman…

Head Start is one of the most cost-effective programs we have in this country. We need more Head Start, and we need full day Head Start programs (much of the funding only pays for a few hours of services) so that low income working parents can take advantage of the enormous benefits Head Start offers children and families. It is a comprehensive early learning program that supports the total well-being of children.

. . .

Further, study after study shows that quality early childhood programs like Head Start significantly reduce the incidences of teen pregnancy, juvenile crime, being held back in school, and other social ills that develop later in life. Every $1 we invest today in these programs saves taxpayers somewhere between $7 and $17 in future costs due to negative consequences of poverty.

From Womenstake: March Forth For Child Care and Head Start

Today, all across the country, thousands of advocates are joining together to March Forth in support of increased funding for child care and Head Start by calling or e-mailing their Members of Congress.

We are joining together because our children deserve a better and brighter future. Under the President’s budget, 200,000 low-income children and their families will lose child care assistance, and 14,000 children will lose Head Start.

Please add your voice by calling or e-mailing your Members of Congress today.

Here is how you can take action and help…

To call your representatives, use the script below and dial toll-free at 1-888-460-0813. The operator who answers the phone will ask which Senator or Representative you would like to speak to. To find out who your Senators and Representative are, search our directory before you call.

Tell the staffers who answer the phone in your representatives’ offices:

• Hi, my name is (INSERT NAME.) I’m a constituent. (If you are also a parent, child care provider, community leader, etc., feel free to mention that as well.)
• I am calling because I believe that child care and Head Start are essential programs for children and families. I urge Senator/ Representative (INSERT NAME) to support an increase of $874 million for child care and $1 billion for Head Start in this year’s budget.

I found this interesting statistic in a New York Times Op-Ed by Bob Herbert — The $2 Trillion Nightmare

And he cited the committee’s own calculations from last fall that showed that the money spent on the war each day is enough to enroll an additional 58,000 children in Head Start for a year,

Also See:

State Aide Helps Head Start…

The national Head Start program, which was a legacy of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society,” offers preschool to families unable to afford a private program. We don’t know how it functions elsewhere in the country, but in Morris County, Head Start is as refreshingly bipartisan as can be. Republicans and Democrats are on its board, and Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, R-Harding, long has been a supporter.

and

Children from poor families need a head start

I hope you will consider taking a moment today, to take action on this important issue.

My Top 10 Hot Topics From BlogHer Health and Wellness in 2007

It’s the last day of 2007, and I thought I would do this post on some of the hot topics from BlogHer Health and Wellness. So, in no particular order, here is what I think are the top ten. — read the full post at BlogHer.

And, my New Years wish for you…and the world.

Bush Vetoes HealthCare Bill SCHIP - Leaving Millions Of Children Without Health Insurance

Bush Vetoes Another HealthCare Bill For Children — By Catherine Morgan (links to my post at Care2)

SEE POST AT CARE2

Care2 Launches A New Election Blog

Hi everyone.  I want to take this opportunity to tell you that I am helping to launch a new blog by Care2.  It’s called the Care2 Election Blog, and I will be the primary blogger.  I hope you’ll stop by and check it out.

I’ll be here at the Care2 Election Blog each day with posts on the latest election news, political commentary and, of course, will address campaign issues that are especially important to the Care2 community, with an emphasis on non-profits. Since this is Care2’s first blog, I hope to get as much feedback from the members of the community as possible…and I look forward to hearing all of your comments and suggestions (so please…don’t be shy).  — read my full first post here

If you are not already familiar with Care2, you should go over and check them out.  It’s a site that makes it easy to take action on issues that are important to you.