Washington, DC, April 5 -- Head Start is one of the most successful and important programs available to communities to assist poor children and their families and should not be significantly altered, according to officials of the National League of Cities (NLC). Responding to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report identifying flaws in financial controls over the 1,700 local programs, NLC officials called on Congress to support GAO recommendations to strengthen the administration of the federal agency overseeing Head Start?but urged them not to change its structure or funding mechanisms.
?Head Start is too valuable a program for almost one million children in the United States who rely on it,? said Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, NLC 2nd Vice President. ?We must continue to make it accountable, but we want to make sure it retains its unique community-based focus.?
The US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will hold hearings today on the GAO report, which found serious shortcomings in federal reviews of the program conducted by the US Department of Health and Human Services? (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF). GAO recommended several management-process changes to strengthen controls and urged more rigorous oversight.
?Proper federal oversight is critically important for the Head Start program?just as it should be for any program involving taxpayer dollars,? said Peterson. ?Federal officials should be consistent in conducting their reviews of Head Start. But we shouldn?t let a few accounts of financial abuse color the management of the entire program.?
According to the report, HHS found that 838 of the Head Start programs reviewed in 2000 were ?out of compliance? with financial management, program standards or recordkeeping and reporting. Three years later, half of these programs were again cited. The GAO report did not define or identify what type of problems were found; rather, the report focused on a series of management recommendations made to strengthen the administration by HHS?s Administration for Children and Families of the Head Start program. In fact, the report found that ?These improvements should go a long ways towards ensuring that those responsible for overseeing the Head Start program and its 1,680 grantees have the information they need to target oversight resources effectively and reduce the program?s risks.?
NLC officials concurred with that assessment and are urging Congress to reauthorize the Head Start program with a continued federal funding stream directly to local communities. ?The key to Head Start?s continued success is the full range of comprehensive social and health services available to at-risk children,? said Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell, who as then-chair of NLC?s Council on Youth, Education and Families led NLC?s opposition to an effort to block grant the program in 2003. ?We can provide nutrition support, immunizations, health and dental care, early efforts to learn numbers, letters and socialization skills?depending on what the community needs. Head Start is a proven investment in the future of America.?
In the FY 2006 budget, the Bush Administration proposed level funding for Head Start at $6.7 million, with $40 million set aside for a pilot program to be administered by several states. NLC is on record in opposing any effort to block grant the Head Start program to the states.
Lakewood, Colo., Mayor Steve Burkholder raised concerns that a block grant approach would only increase the bureaucracy of the program without any tangible benefit. ?This will only reduce accountability and add another layer of administrative costs. Who would benefit? Not the thousands of children who would have to be dropped from the program because funding would be reduced. At current funding levels, the program is only reaching six out of 10 eligible children. This would only exacerbate the funding crunch.?
Peterson, who is also a former chair of the NLC Council on Youth, Education and Families, said, ?This program has a proven track-record for helping low-income children become successful adults. Congress is right to expose the problems with the few ?bad apples? it has identified; but with better HHS management mechanisms in place, we will make sure they are dealt with properly without creating harm to the thousands other Head Start programs across the country that are a success.?
For more information on NLC?s Head Start policies, go to www.nlc.org or contact Jennifer McGee, 202-626-3173.
The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States
with a membership of more than 1,700 cities and towns, as well as 49 state associations of cities.