August 30, 2018

After Recent Study on Kindergarten Preparedness in Illinois, Duckworth and Durbin Announce $62 Million for Head Start Programs

 

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced $62,694,857 in federal funding today to help children from in Illinois access Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Central Illinois, Northwest Illinois and the Chicagoland area. This funding comes through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) that allocates funding, provides technical assistance, helps build strategic partnerships and more in order to help promote the social and economic well-being of children and families. Today’s announcement comes on the heels of a recent Illinois Board of Education study that shows only 24 percent of Illinois kindergarten students were rated as prepared in all development areas for kindergarten, while 42 percent were not ready in any development area. 

“I’m proud to support programs like Head Start that give children in Illinois a fairer shot at reaching their full potential,” Duckworth said. “When we invest in childhood education and parental support services, we help provide children with the tools they need to succeed both in and outside of the classroom. With less than a quarter of Illinois children fully prepared to enter kindergarten, it is critical that we support these programs.”

“Head Start is a crucial program that helps lay the educational foundation for Illinois students to have an equal opportunity to succeed in school, starting with early education,” said Durbin. “I am proud to support such a great investment in the future of Illinois students.”

The following Central Illinois providers will receive funding for Head Start programs under this announcement:

  • Tazewell-Woodford Head Start (East Peoria): $1,516,095
  • Parent & Child Together for West Central Illinois (Mt. Sterling, IL): $3,759,836
  • Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity, Inc. (Peoria, IL): $4,096,534

The following Northwest Illinois providers will receive funding for Head Start programs under this announcement:

  • Project NOW, Inc. (Rock Island, IL): $1,433,442
  • City of Rockford (Rockford, IL): $4,713,821

The following Chicagoland providers will receive funding for Head Start and Early Head Start programs under this announcement:

  • Proviso Leyden Council for Community Actions, Inc. (Maywood, IL): $1,269,978
  • Christopher House (Chicago, IL): $1,332,961
  • Community Action Agency of McHenry County (Woodstock, IL): $1,821,958
  • Illinois Action for Children (Chicago, IL): $6,254,929
  • Two Rivers Head Start Agency (Aurora, IL): $9,488,539
  • Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago, Inc. (Chicago, IL): $11,724,404
  • City of Chicago (Chicago, IL): $15,282,360

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