TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Children’s Services Council of Leon County (CSC Leon) today announced an allocation of up to $300,000 to ensure operations at four Leon County Head Start centers continues amid a pause in funding resulted from the current federal government shutdown. This support will directly benefit approximately 322 young children and their families at the following sites:
- Mabry Street Family & Child Enrichment Center
- Head Start at Pineview
- Louise B. Royal Head Start (Duval Street)
- South City Head Start Center (South Meridian Street)
“This is a moment to honor the Council’s forethought and partnership,” Leon County School Board Member Darryl E. Jones, CSC Leon Chair said. “Thanks to the strategic decision made earlier this fall to expand our early childhood investments, the Council is positioned to fill this critical need as a stopgap for our community’s Head Start Centers. The children at the Mabry, Pineview, Royal and South City programs, and their families, will not lose services, but rather will continue to receive vital educational services. Stability matters!”
CSC Leon Executive Director Cecka Rose Green is confident that this type of assistance during a time of vast uncertainty is exactly what the organization should be doing. “The federal funding delay resulting from the shutdown required swift action,” she said. “In September, the Council approved a budget expanding on the community’s investment in Head Start. This allows us to step in to safeguard these centers, and the children and these families when they most need us.”
The partner operator, Capital Area Community Action Agency (CACAA), which manages the Head Start Centers in Leon County, praised the rapid response. Interim Chief Executive Officer Nina Singleton Self shared that for the families and staff, continuity is everything. “With CSC Leon’s support,” she said, “we can continue serving our children without disruption and maintain the quality programming our community relies upon.”
Funding provided by CSC Leon will be used to ensure staffing and meals remain in place at Leon County sites for the next month, with the hope that the federal appropriations impasse soon will be resolved. The Leon Head Start Centers will remain open, faculty and staff employed, and the County’s most vulnerable children and families served. Since the full Council is not scheduled to meet again until December, this action underscores how prior budget planning enabled a timely response.
“The children’s services council stepping in to assist with this unforeseen challenge is exactly what the community expects from CSC Leon,” said Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna, who also is a member of the Council. “We know that the learning our children receive when they are very young exponentially improves their success in school and life. Whatever we, as a community, can do to continue their learning is absolutely the right thing to do.”
“This local investment means that children don’t pay a costly price as we await federal funding to resume,” said Dir. Green. “No community can afford to have early learning programs falter; every day that a child is in a quality early learning environment matters to their and our future.”
One Response
This is awesome, thank CSC of Leon County..
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