April 09, 2019

Duckworth, Durbin Announce Over $6 Million in Grants to Central Illinois Head Start Programs

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $6,387,010 in federal funding to help children from low-income families in Central Illinois access Head Start and Early Head Start programs. The Embarras River Basin Agency, Inc., will receive $3,742,811 for its Cumberland County Head Start programs and Champaign County will receive $2,644,199 to expand its Early Head Start programs. These programs focus on education, nutrition, socio-emotional development and physical and mental health.

“I’m proud to support programs like Head Start that provide children in Central Illinois with the tools they need to succeed both inside and outside of the classroom,” said Duckworth. “Investments in early childhood education and parental support programs are essential to ensuring all children have a fair shot at accessing their full potential.”

“This federal funding helps ensure that children in Central Illinois have the strong foundation they need to flourish throughout preschool, elementary school, and beyond,” Durbin said. “Head Start programs are sources of countless success stories in our state and remain crucial for the healthy development of young children.”

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, and helps build strategic partnerships in order to promote the social and economic well-being of children and families.

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