THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608170227
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 103 lines
The state of Virginia has pulled out of an agreement to supply $1 million a year in federal block grants to keep 11 Head Start programs going in localities that previously didn't have the early childhood classes.
The Head Start programs serve about 750 low-income children in 25 localities. The $1 million, which is being shifted to a different program for low-income children, is expected to cut services for about 160 children in the expansion areas.
Officials in the mostly rural areas are struggling to make up for the shortfall, but they are worried some children will be left in the lurch.
``Everyone is always talking about family values and about creating strong families,'' said Sherman Saunders, who is executive director for the Pittsylvania County Community Action Agency, which has a Head Start program that serves four localities. ``Well, that's what we do, create strong families. I'm very disturbed about the state pulling out.''
Clarence Carter, the commissioner for the state Department of Social Services, said the $1 million in child care development block grants is not being cut, it's simply being shifted to a different type of program that also helps low-income families in Head Start programs.
He said cities and counties across the state will receive the funding, rather than just the 11 areas served by the expansion Head Start programs.
Carter said the money will be used in a so-called ``wraparound'' program, which will extend care for Head Start children from half days to full days, and from nine months to a full year in cities across the state.
The wraparound project, called the Parent To Work program, will enable parents to use the Head Start program to care for their children while they get training or employment. The extended day care is expected to be particularly helpful to parents who must go to work because of the state's welfare reform.
``Overall, the shift will increase the number of families in Virginia who are served,'' Carter said. ``We have to look for ways to give high-quality care to as many Virginians as possible.''
Carter could not supply figures on which localities or how many families would benefit from the money during the first year. But the shift in funds could benefit the Hampton Roads area because none of the expansion Head Start programs are located here.
Earlier this week, the state's Social Services department came under fire for letters that were sent to the federal government withdrawing from a different Head Start program, called the Head Start State Collaboration Project. That program would bring in $750,000 over the next five years.
Letters rejecting the funds were written by officials from a now-defunct state agency. But Carter said those letters were sent erroneously, and that the state is going to submit an application for the state collaboration grant by next week's deadline.
Once that controversy was put to rest, however, a second one arose over the shifting of money away from the expansion project, which is funded through child care development block grants, to the Parent To Work program.
Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer said he's concerned about the children and parents who depend on Head Start programs in the 11 expansion areas that may have to reduce their programs.
``My concern is not about starting new initiatives,'' Beyer said. ``It's about continuing old initiatives that have been so successful.''
Other legislators said they supported the idea of the Parent To Work program but are still concerned about the 11 Head Start expansion programs in Dinwiddie, Waverly, Halifax, Augusta County, Colonial Beach, Culpeper, Leesburg, Fredericksburg, Cumberland, Pittsylvania County and West Point.
Officials of those Head Starts have only begun to hear the news that they may lose money.
``There's absolutely no way we can make up for those funds,'' Saunders said. ``It's going to hurt.'' The Pittsylvania County program serves about 70 children and receives $93,000 a year from Virginia and $292,000 from the federal government for the expansion part of their program.
The expansion program began five years ago when the state and the federal government agreed to pool money to expand Head Start in areas previously unserved.
According to David Lett, who oversees Head Start program grants in six states for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agreement called for the federal government to supply $3.5 million for the coming fiscal year and the state to provide $1 million.
The state's money runs out at the end of September, but Lett said the federal government will continue to provide its part of the funding indefinitely and to make up for the state's withdrawal at least until the end of the year.
``We're trying desperately to find other sources of funding for next year,'' Lett said. ``If we can't, we'll face some tough decisions.''
The federal government has gradually taken on more of the burden of funding the expansion program since it began in 1992.
In that year, the federal government provided $800,000, and the state $3 million. By 1995, the federal government had increased its portion to $3.5 million, allowing the state to reduce its share to $1 million.
Lett said he didn't know how the $1 million in cuts would be made, whether a whole locality might be dropped or whether a few classes could be eliminated from each expansion area. He said the bulk of the programs will still be funded by the federal government.
William Smith, executive director for the Central Piedmont Action Council, said the Head Start there serves children in nine different jurisdictions.
He said the council, which is based in Cumberland, has experimented with wraparound programs, but they have not been as successful as the regular Head Start classes.
``We've had very limited success with it,'' Smith said. ``We feel it's more important to get children in the regular Head Start classes, which are well established. The shift in funds will definitely have a significant impact on us.''
KEYWORDS: HEAD START PROGRAM FUNDING VIRGINIA by CNB