Total Action for Progress (TAP) announces that on February 1, 2015, TAP’s Early Head Start program was awarded $2.7-million annual grant for five years. This expansion will allow nearly doubling the number of infants and toddlers from low-income families who will receive free, high-quality child care and comprehensive family and health services through the program. The majority of this influx of federal funds will go directly to existing child care providers in the Roanoke and New River Valleys, Alleghany Highlands and the Rockbridge area who are committed to caring for young children from income-eligible families so their parents can work.
An estimated 3,579 infants and toddlers in this area live in poverty. Before this grant was awarded, TAP only had funding for 180 Early Head Start (EHS) slots, leaving 95% of eligible children unserved. With this award from the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), TAP, along with 13 committed child care partners, will be able to care for and improve the kindergarten readiness of an additional 148 children in our communities, as well as greatly enhance the quality of child care throughout the region.
According to Selena Childress-Mayo, TAP Head Start and Early Head Start Director, “This expansion would not have been possible without the collaboration of Smart Beginnings coalitions in Greater Roanoke and the New River Valley, United Way of Roanoke Valley and several social service, health and family service providers who share our vision and our commitment to high-quality education for all children.”
TAP is already working with child care partners to prepare for this expansion and expects to start serving children at some sites within 45 days.
