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Head Start programs awarded $11.7 million

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By JOSE PATINO GIRONA

jpatino@tampatrib.com

Published: October 23, 2009

TAMPA - Hillsborough County's Head Start and Early Head Start got a jolt of federal stimulus money with a whopping $11.7 million grant over two years.

The money will be used to attract an additional 700 children, from 2 months to 4 years old, into the programs, said Louis Finney Jr., Head Start and Early Head Start director.

There are 3,070 children in the programs, but the waiting list is estimated at more than 2,000, Finney said.

In addition, the federal money will help create and maintain 90 jobs, including preschool teachers and social service coordinators.

The county plans to work with Metropolitan Ministries, Lutheran Services, Easter Seals and the YMCA. These agencies will work with children who are homeless, the severely disabled or whose first language isn't English, Finney said.

The county will increase its child care providers from five to 51, Finney said. Under the child care provider program, a parent can take a child to the home of a licensed teacher who will care for and work with only four children.

The program has existed for 10 years and attracts working parents who prefer a more family-oriented and one-on-one setting, Finney said. The children and the families receive assistance from a nurse, social worker, mental health expert and dentist.
Head Start and Early Head Start, which are free to parents, assist the working poor, Finney said.

"The neediest of the needy is what we focus on," he said.

To qualify, a parent must work at least 20 hours a week or attend school or college and meet U.S. poverty guidelines.

The county will start using the stimulus money and expanding the programs in January.

For information or to apply, contact Lavonne Malphous, Head Start and Early Head Start enrollment manager, at (813) 272-5140.

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 259-7659.

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