WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) announced federal grants today to support Early Head Start and Head Start programs in Bridgeport and Stamford until 2019. Action for Bridgeport Community Development, or ABCD, will receive an additional sum of $1,848,754 to support its programs through October of this year, and will receive $9,681,217 yearly for the next five years. Child Care Learning Centers in Stamford will receive $1,037,364 in further funding for this year and $2,776,000 in annual grants.
“Early childhood education programs like Head Start are some of the smartest investments we can make as a nation. They lead to better academic, professional, and social outcomes for our children and improve our communities,” Himes said. “I congratulate ABCD and Child Care Learning Centers on being awarded these well-deserved grants, and thank them for all of their hard work in educating our kids in Southwestern Connecticut.”
“We accept this award with enormous pleasure and pride. Over the years ABCD has provided thousands of children and families with the highest quality of child care and developmental services in preparing our young with a solid foundation for achieving a successful future. Our dedicated staff will continue to make that happen. This award is a tribute to them as well and we applaud them,” said Charles B. Tisdale, Executive Director at ABCD.
"We at CLC are extremely pleased with this most recent grant. CLC has been working with Head Start for 40 years and look forward to continuing that relationship for many years to come. Most important it provides us an opportunity to continue to serve our Stamford children and community in delivering critical educational, child development and family services. We congratulate our staff for their commitment to our families and to excellence," commented Marc E. Jaffe, Executive Director of Childcare Learning Centers.
Himes has been a strong supporter of the Head Start program and an advocate for early education. Earlier this year, he introduced two bills to expand access to and improve the quality of early education programs. The Total Learning Act provides assistance to community partnerships focused on implementing advanced early education curricula, modeled after the renowned Total Learning program utilized with great success by Action for Community Development in Bridgeport. The Supporting Early Learning Act establishes two competitive grant programs to help states implement or improve early learning systems, particularly for children in low-income areas.